A mechanical brain is centered against a pink background with stylized electric wire extruding around the brain.

AI Literacy Lesson Plans

Quick activities to help students think critically about the impacts of AI

The AI Education Project

Excite and empower students with crucial AI literacy lessons

Learning rating

Community rating

Based on 1 review

Privacy rating

Expert evaluation by Common Sense

Grades

6–12

Subjects & Topics

Artificial Intelligence, Computer Science, Digital Citizenship, News & Media Literacy

Price: Free
Platforms: Web

Pros: Teachers don't need content knowledge. Requires minimal setup. Highly relevant content.

Cons: Teachers need a Google account to access materials, and ideally Google Classroom.

Bottom Line: This is a much-needed curriculum that helps students explore complex concepts through low-tech lessons and high-interest projects.

How Can I Teach with This Tool?

The AI Education Project (aiEDU) provides a variety of resources for teaching students about artificial intelligence (AI), most notably their free nine-week high school course. The Introduction to Artificial Intelligence course contains 36 45-minute lessons. It uses project-based learning to help students build an understanding of AI from the ground up. Students participate in hands-on activities and digital simulations to learn about the complexities and nuances of AI. There's a major focus on bias and data quality. The curriculum is built in Google Slides and comes with a printable student workbook and teacher guide. Teachers and students don't need computer science or coding knowledge, as the course uses a coding-free platform called Hugging Face for student projects. However, this curriculum could also make a great unit in a year-long CS course.

If you just have a few minutes, check out the AI Snapshots curriculum designed for use in any middle or high school classroom. AI Snapshots includes 180 warm-up-style prompts designed to engage students for five minutes as they consider how AI affects their everyday lives. The prompt topics are divided evenly between the core subjects: math, reading, science, and social studies. Any teacher can integrate AI Snapshots into their daily classes, picking and choosing the questions that fit best.

In addition to creating curricula, aiEDU partners with the Center for Security and Emerging Technology to promote courses, community programs, events, internships, and other opportunities for students and teachers to learn more about AI.

Disclaimer: While this tool has received a Common Sense Selection for Learning, its privacy policy contains unclear information which should be considered when using the tool.

To see how this tool works, watch our video overview of AI Education Project.

Learning Rating

Overall Rating
Engagement

Lesson materials reflect teens' lives with references to relevant tech, media, and common experiences.

Pedagogy

Beautifully designed, research-based lesson materials support teachers and students.

Support

Detailed yet flexible lesson plans make implementation a breeze, though teachers may need to manually differentiate for students with special learning needs.

Common Sense reviewer
Melissa Powers
Melissa Powers School Library and Technology Specialist

An effective and interesting way to teach students about AI

This platform is an extremely well-organized and engaging educational experience for students. It requires minimal involvement from teachers and also is entertaining for students. Learning about AI is very important in modern society, and this is an effective way to do so.

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Privacy Rating

Data Safety How safe is this product?

  • Unclear whether this product supports interactions between trusted users.
  • Users can interact with untrusted users, including strangers and/or adults.
  • Personal information can be displayed publicly.

Data Rights What rights do I have to the data?

  • Users can create or upload content.
  • Processes to access or review user data are available.
  • Processes to modify data are available for authorized users.

Ads & Tracking Are there advertisements or tracking?

  • Unclear whether personal information are shared for third-party marketing.
  • Unclear whether this product displays traditional or contextual advertisements.
  • Unclear whether this product displays personalised advertising.

Continue reading about this tool's privacy practices, including data collection, sharing, and security.

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