Learning Design with ChatGPT: Implications for AI Literacy

By Hajime Kataoka, director, online learning services, continuing studies, University of Victoria

On October 16, 2024, as part of the BCcampus EdTech Sandbox Series, we reviewed how generative AI tools, such as ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot, can be used in learning design. Generative AI is a form of information technology that analyses and interprets sounds, texts, and images, and produces outputs based on prompts, while learning from the data supplied. The tool is readily available to anyone with modern devices that have internet access.

Strengths of using generative AI for learning design

From the perspective of learning design, generative AI offers two major strengths for educators. First, it can help educators overcome writer’s block. Full-time educators often have to produce tremendous amounts of learning materials for teaching and, sometimes, we are not sure where to start. Generative AI gives answers to almost any of our prompts that meet the tool’s usage guidelines. The answer may not be what we are looking for, but it can give us a draft that we can critique, adapt, and expand upon. Second, generative AI is becoming increasingly ubiquitous in our lives, which has tremendous implications for our digital literacy skills to use generative AI effectively and ethically. It gives us an opportunity to educate learners to develop digital literacy skills by experimenting it.

What to consider before using generative AI for learning design

It is my view that we must be accountable for anything we produce and present to our learners. Thus, outputs we receive from generative AI are never sufficient for us to publish. We need to review, fact-check, revise, and synthesize the outputs to make sure that the learning materials we publish are ethically and pedagogically sound. Thus, we cannot automate decision making using generative AI

Digital literacy skills and generative AI

As part of the session, we worked on an activity to help learners develop digital literacy skills using generative AI. BC’s Digital Literacy Framework defines digital literacy as “the interest, attitude and ability of individuals to use digital technology and communication tools appropriately to access, manage, integrate, analyze and evaluate information, construct new knowledge, and create and communicate with others.” (Government of British Columbia – Ministry of Education, n.d.)

To exercise digital literacy skills using generative AI tools, I believe that we must have a clear sense of why we want to use generative AI and that we make sure the purpose is appropriate. Without having a clear reason why we are using generative AI, we will not be able to produce an effective prompt or evaluate an output. If we have an unethical purpose (e.g. to deceive someone using generative AI), we simply are not able to make sure that the use of generative AI is appropriate.

Activity

This activity helps learners exercise their digital literacy skills by challenging them to have a clear and appropriate sense of why they want to use generative AI tools. During the sandbox session, we walked through a simple workflow:

Identify why we want to use the tool to produce output and what is the desired output.

Produce an output.

Critique the output based on the intended purpose.

We used learning design as an example for the activity. We established pedagogical approaches and intended learning outcomes. Our goal was to overcome writer’s block by producing written materials. It was not to automate the development of materials. We evaluated the output to look for strengths and weaknesses in the instructions. In the discussion, we identified concerns regarding the lack of clear evaluation criteria, lack of depth in the instructions, and no considerations for accessibility. Having identified these gaps, it is our job, as humans, to think about how to bridge the gaps. We may opt for refining the prompt or revising the pain points to make them more appropriate for learning and teaching.

The activity can be adapted for other subject areas to teach digital literacy. For example, if you would like to help learners develop research skills, you can establish a specific topic and evaluation criteria and ask generative AI to produce an essay. Have learners to grade the produced essay and compare results with each other. I found that collaboratively engaging in the evaluation of the output is very helpful because we all bring our own perspectives and that can draw attention to something that you may have never thought about.

Reflections

In the question-and-answer segment, we spent a fair bit of time talking about academic integrity. Some participants expressed concerns because they deal with this issue regularly. I have observed stress and concerns arising from uncertainty surrounding generative AI. I feel strong sympathy for my colleagues, and I wish that I had an answer to these concerns. Another thing I heard is that when learners violate academic integrity by submitting paper written by generative AI, they often do not seem to understand the limitations of the tool. I believe it is an educational opportunity to help learners develop digital literacy.

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Hajime Kataoka (he/him) is an uninvited guest from Kobe, Japan, and lives on the traditional territory of Lək̓ʷəŋən and WSÁNEĆ Peoples. As a director of online learning services at the Division of Continuing Studies at the University of Victoria, he provides leadership in the advancement of the Division’s online learning strategy, working closely with the Dean’s office and other directors.