Teach Primary Issue 18.5

WEEK 1 Learning objective l To be able to explain what AI and machine learning are and how AI has been developed, and know some of the most common AI platforms. Begin by assessing what your class know about AI. Ask the following questions as a starting point: -Where have you encountered AI? -What is AI? -How can AI be used? Try not to confirm or deny what the children say at this stage. Just listen and make note of good explanations and misconceptions which you can circle back M E D I U M T E R M P L A N UKS2 ICT Download your FREE resource sheets at tinyurl.com/tp-AI-MTP DOWNLOAD RESOURCES AT R ecent advances inmachine learning have catapulted artificial intelligence into the news headlines with breathless hyperbole. AI is changing business, culture, and learning. But, like any tool, we need to learn how to use it well and understand its limitations. This challenging unit of work for Year 6 explores what AI is and is not. Before teaching this unit, you’ll need to ensure that you are familiar with all the platforms you’ll be using and with your school’s policy on AI. Be ready to have the sort of conversations that will prepare children to react with caution and integrity when they encounter AI as a consumer or creator. In particular, set aside plenty of time to discuss and clarify when people shouldn’t use AI. to later. Now listen to the Magnaphone podcast about AI (Spotify: bit.ly/ magnaphoneai , or search your podcast platform of choice), stopping at key points to discuss and ensure the children have understood. Some suggested prompt points to pause and discuss: 0:55: How might AI change the world in the future? 1:15 How might an AI show its creativity? 2:35 How are AI tools different from traditionally coded tools? 5:35 How might AI training data be problematic? Return to the original questions. Have your learners’ answers changed? Correct any misunderstandings the children have. Next, watch the BBC video at bit. ly/5thingsai It’s important the children understand that, despite its name, ‘artificial intelligence’ is not intelligent. A more accurate name for it would be ‘applied statistics’ – text is generated by crunching a lot of data and then predicting the most likely next word. Emulate this by asking a pair of learners to try taking turns at building a sentence one word at a time (listeners of I’m Sorry I Haven’t a Clue will know this game as ‘Cheddar Gorge’). Pupils should now have all the information they need to complete Worksheet 1 . Assessment Assess pupils from verbal responses during the discussion, as well as their accuracy in completing the worksheet. WEEK 2 Learning objective l To be able to identify the main features of a generative AI platform and understand how to use it to generate text using accurate prompts. Writing a good prompt to yield the desired result within an AI platform is something that takes practice and refinement. To explore this point, use a generative AI platform like ChatGPT, Microsoft’s Copilot, or Google’s Gemini to create an example of the trickster Jinn legend. Relate the basic storyline to your learners (they may be familiar with the Simpsons’ monkey paw parody) and ask them what prompts you could FRIEND OR FOE? MART I N BURRETT 22 | www.teachwire.net