National AI Literacy Day encourages collective action to learn more about AI and reflect on how it shapes the human experience in all aspects of life. On this day of action, we encourage you to take the opportunity to advance your learning journey, join a virtual or local event, and find educational resources to serve learners in your community.
Who is AI Literacy For?
AI literacy is for everyone. It’s for people who design technology and people who interact with technology–whether they choose to adopt the latest tools or not–because AI is increasingly embedded into traditional platforms and products. AI literacy is foundational to digital skills training, and a necessary condition for informed AI adoption, where individuals make decisions about their personal use of technology based on an understanding of how it works, how they can leverage it, and what the risks might be in different applications.
Digital inclusion practitioners teach a variety of digital skills to learners of all backgrounds – incorporating AI education is a natural extension of the educational services they already provide. Recognizing that AI literacy is a crucial component to contemporary digital skills training, many NDIA affiliates have started to think about ways to incorporate AI literacy into their digital skills programs, and some are already incorporating AI into their existing learning opportunities.
How NDIA Promotes AI Literacy
Many questions that those teaching digital skills might consider are similar to those for other types of education: Do we teach specific tools or general concepts that would be applicable to the learner across tools? How much does a learner need to know about how an AI tool works? Is AI a standalone topic to be covered or one to be integrated into teaching and learning foundational digital skills, such as those to navigate the internet, formulate effective search queries and select high-quality results, or utilize common productivity software packages? What does the learner need to know about potential risks and harms of AI tools? How can we assess what learners know about AI using knowledge-based and performance-based methods? What makes these considerations complex and distinct in adult education is an overall lack of standardization in the teaching and learning environment.
Digital inclusion practitioners have been teaching individuals how to use technology before the most recent AI advances, and they are the best equipped to tackle these questions and offer models that others can replicate. These practitioners are trusted by the people they serve and have extensive experience educating learners with some of the greatest barriers to learning about and adopting technology: access to devices, affordable internet, and access to digital skills training.
Here are some of the ways NDIA is partnering with digital inclusion leaders to learn about and uplift strategies to integrate AI into digital skills training:
Pilot Projects
Although integration strategies may look different across organizations, there are some instructional approaches that show promise for replication. NDIA is partnering with community organizations to launch pilot projects that explore methods for integrating AI learning into existing digital skills programs. Through these partnerships, we are learning and uplifting integration strategies with various program models (such as traditional classroom learning or one-on-one guidance); techniques for adapting AI educational material to learners of different skill levels; and insight into the instructor and learner experiences that can inform your approach to start your own AI curriculum integration model.
AI Working Groups
We love peer-to-peer learning–so much so that we put together a working group whenever big issues arise that need big ideas to meet the moment. Last Fall, we launched our first AI working group cohort, and a second one early this year. These conversations give practitioners an opportunity to talk about how they’re teaching AI to their communities (or how they’re thinking about getting started), resources they find helpful, and what’s working (or not working). If you’re an NDIA affiliate and doing this work in your community, we’d welcome your voice. Email [email protected] to learn about the working group.
What’s Next
In the coming weeks and throughout the year, we’ll share highlights from the pilot projects and the working group about strategies that seem promising and replicable for digital inclusion programs everywhere. Look out for an update about our most recent AI pilot project with WinstonNet, and our upcoming work with pilot projects focusing on AI in digital skills workforce development training.