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I really like this example as I’ve been caught out by AI images a few times myself. The Pope in the white puffer jacket is a great example, and some of the Donald Trump images have been very convincing too. It really shows how easy it can be to mistake AI-generated images for real ones.
I think this is a great activity for helping pupils understand that they should question what they see online and check information before believing or sharing it. Developing these critical thinking skills is becoming more important than ever.
Curriculum Area and Learning Intention: Stage 3
SESE Geography: Learn about Germany, including its location, landmarks, culture and traditions.
Modern Foreign Languages (German): Become familiar with some simple German words and cultural elements.
Learning Intention: As German will be our modern foreign language from next year, I think this would be a nice way to introduce children to aspects of German culture while also developing their AI literacy skills.
Children will learn some facts about Germany and begin to understand that AI-generated content is not always accurate and should be checked before it is accepted as true
AI Concept Being Explored: Accuracy and Bias – AI can make mistakes, leave out important information or present information from a particular viewpoint.
Activity Outline: I would ask an AI tool to generate 10 fun facts about Germany for children. Then I’d give groups the AI fact sheet and ask them using one or more of the websites we have used in the past for fact files (including Scoilnet, National Geographic Kids and Britannica Kids) to compare the AI-generated fact file with information from these websites.
The children would be asked to look at each of the facts and using one of the 3 colours compare the information
Green = Fact confirmed by another source
Yellow = Can’t find evidence
Red = Incorrect or misleadingHow the children Will Be Supported to Think Critically:
Asked to check different sources to see how they compare with ach other.
They will be prompted to
Pair and share
Say why they think something is right or wrong.
Use simple prompt questions like:
“How do we know this is true?”
“Can we find this somewhere else?”
“Is anything missing?”How I Would Gather Evidence of Learning:
Listening to group and class discussions.
Children’s completed comparison sheets. The traffic light system is something we have used in the past for fact checking.Responsible use consideration:
The children would be asked to reflect on their findings and open the discussion about the role of AI in their learning going forward. They would be able to see at the conclusion from this exercise that AI is a tool that can support their learning, that it is useful for giving them ideas, checking facts and finding information quickly but that it can make mistakes. As a teacher I feel that it is important that we support critical thinking but also embrace AI so being able to demonstrate to the children that it is a useful tool but also understand that it can make mistakes and be biased is an important.Hi Rachel, I hadn’t looked at this Minecraft lesson but after reading your review and how you would use it I can really see how useful it could be. I really liked that you added in to modify the lesson you would modify the support levels, while many of the children are tech-savvy, some will definitely need extra help just navigating the game controls so they don’t get frustrated, like I did.
Most importantly, your focus on supporting children who struggle to understand or express themselves is really important. I have found with a number of our children that game conflicts can sometimes feel very real to them. Adding simplified reflection sheets, or matching feelings to colour-coded zones (I still use Zones of Regulation- my kids seem to like it and are able to relate) will make sure every child can participate and learn from the lesson, regardless of their emotional literacy level.
I chose Cybersafe: Bad Connection because I feel that online safety is such an important issue for children today. It is also very relevant at the moment, with discussions around age restrictions on social media in Australia and the UK, and the possibility of similar measures being introduced in Ireland. It was also something that came up in our senior classroom this past school year.
The world helps children learn how to make safe choices online. As they move through the game, they are faced with different situations and have to decide how they would respond. It gets them thinking about sharing personal information, interacting with others online and how to stay safe when using technology.
The lesson focuses on building children’s understanding of online safety and digital citizenship. It includes many opportunities for discussion and reflection for the children about their own online behaviour. One thing I particularly liked was how it can be used to start a conversation with children about their online activities without feeling like a lecture. I also really like that the game highlights the importance of reporting unsafe online interactions, and I think the lesson does a great job of making this seem ok and not as big deal.
I would link this world to SPHE/Wellbeing, particularly around personal safety, relationships and making good decisions. It also ties in well with the Digital Learning Framework. During the last school year, we had a number of online safety concerns, including a pupil sharing too much personal information online, so I found this world very relevant to the realities of school life.
I would use the world mostly as it is. I would start with the Minecraft game first rather than influence the children and have them tell me what they think I want to hear. I would then pause after each act and discuss what eh children experienced and to share openly. As the 5th and 6th class are on the slightly less mature side, I would slow the process down and perhaps break into days than a whole devoted session. I think pupils would benefit from talking about real-life situations and working together to create a class internet safety agreement afterwards. I would also involve their parents and tie this in with an online safety talk for parents so that the discussion can continue at home within the family.Hi Michelle,
I liked the simplicity of your game for the junior class as it makes it realistic for them to complete both as a game but also in terms of starting their coding journey. The clear link to maths with the goal of collecting stars to improve counting skills is something we could do on the IWB as a class also. The inclusion of a target score also gives the players a clear goal during play.
code link: https://makecode.com/_hoW99AXPFA98
Game Type: Chaser
Game Title: Healthy Lunch Hunt
Curriculum Area: SPHE
Learning Objective: Pupils will identify healthy food choices and understand the importance of a balanced diet.
Storyboard
Location: outside
Player: A healthy food hunter
Game Elements: Apples and chicken drumsticks appear around the screen.
The player moves around the playground collecting healthy foods.
Each healthy food collected earns a point.
The aim is to collect as many healthy foods as possible before the timer runs out.
Computational thinking:
Debugging: Testing the game to ensure the food appears correctly and the score increases when items are collected.
How used: : I used debugging by testing my game regularly and fixing any problems I found. For example, I checked that the player could collect the items and that the score increased each time. Specifically I found that my score was not increasing nor my projectile disappearing when trying to collect. I hadn’t changed the variable in the final block of code from player to projectile. I also changed times of projectiles falling as with 2 different ones the timing seemed to high for the items to be falling so needed to increase this.I really like how you made this activity suitable for Junior Infants and linked it to things they already know. The links you’ve made across Science, Maths, SPHE and Technology are very practical. The idea of feeling their heartbeat after running around is a great hands-on way to introduce the lesson.
I really like the idea of starting this as an unplugged computational thinking activity before moving on to the coding. The children could colour in squares to create a heart shape and even work in pairs giving the instructions and drawing the heart. Thanks for a nice idea to get me started when we are back
The tutorial I completed on MakeCode Micro:bit was the coin toss activity. In this tutorial I programmed the Micro:bit to display a coin flipping in the air and then if it landed on heads it was a smiley face and if tails it was on a stick figure. To keep the suspense of what it would land on there are 2 other images prior to the final one.
Share link
https://makecode.microbit.org/_1ThUmoVXsERC
I could use this activity as part of a STEM lesson by linking coding with maths. Pupils could program the Micro:bit coin toss and then use it to investigate probability. They could predict how many heads and tails they think will appear, record their results and create a simple graph to show their findings.I found your reflection really thought provoking and has me reflecting on my own practice. I’m not very familiar with UDL plus one myself, but it’s something I’d like to really embrace after having a quick look into it, especially working in a small school where we have a wide range of needs in the one classroom. I like the idea of making learning more accessible for all pupils from the start.
I also really like your focus on pupil reflection and self-assessment. Your ideas around Mentimeter and Book Creator sound really practical and are definitely something I’d like to try myself. Thanks for sharing your ideas – you’ve given me a few things to think about and practical strategies to apply!
I regularly use digital technology in teaching and learning and encourage pupils to work together, solve problems and think creatively through a variety of classroom activities. Our children have access to a range of different technologies from laptops, to ipads and digital camreas. I have a huge interest in STEAM and as I am a teacher in small school, I find we have more opportunity to explore and develop a STEAM culture. We run a STEAM Day each year and support this year we supported this with monthly STEAM sessions where the children from both classes work in smaller mixed-age groups. This year we also introduced more ICT into STEM and the children used stop-motion animation and filmmaking apps to create short videos as part of our Egg Drop Challenge.
Area for development
I would like to develop computational thinking skills more deliberately across the school. We have done some coding with the older classes and the children really enjoyed creating games, recording their voices and adding sound effects. However, I feel that they were often more focused on these creative elements than on the problem-solving skills involved. I would like to use more unplugged activities to help children understand concepts such as sequencing, pattern recognition and debugging before moving on to coding activities.
Specific, measurable actions
Include at least one unplugged computational thinking activity in each monthly STEAM session next year.
Introduce coding activities linked to at least two STEM themes during the school year.
Build in opportunities for pupils to explain how they solved problems and debugged their work during coding activities, rather than focusing only on the finished product.Diffit is something I am also interested in seeing how it can be used to support the different learners in the classroom. Thanks for suggestion of Reading Coach for getting to all the children in the class.
Develop a lesson plan incorporating AI concepts and write about how you plan to use it and other AI tools in your teaching
The lesson that I would like to do would really be a series of lessons and I mentioned it in an earlier post after seeing another teachers suggestion for use of teachable machine.
Lesson Objective: Help the child recognize and differentiate between four key emotions—happy, sad, mad, and excited—using facial expressions and body language through the use of teachable machine interactive photo-based learning.
Learning Outcome:
The child will record short videos showing different emotions—happy, sad, mad, and excited—using their face and body. .
Student will upload photos of 4 emotions under 4 different categories into Teachbale Machine
Student will play guess the emotion using the the trained model
The student will use Teachable machine and webcam to see how their own expressions are interpreted by the program.
Student will show a feeling with face and body and the computer will identify it
Ihis lesson plan was aided and in part developed using copilot and chatGPT to help me refine and organise the lesson into a coherent and methodical way to best teach the child and use the AI technology.
My experience with AI in the past has been limited to using Copilot or CHat GPT to help devise lessons. Now I am able to incorporate other AI programs that I have learnt about into my lesson planning. What I have learnt from these technologies as welll sa through this course is the importance of asking the right question, then using and adapting what is suggested by AI into my knowledge of the class/student – the 80/20 ruleI love the idea of using teachable machine in SET to look at faces and different feelings and identify the differences. I work with children with austim and we always look at pictures and flash cards of faces and discuss the feeling and how to identify the feeling. I have also had children take their own photos showing each emotion. Being able to collate and use Teachable to review the images would be a great opportunity for the child as it s less abstract- its their faces and bodies and they can see it and review it . Thanks a great idea
I have used Scratch for the past 2 years and the students enjoy it. What I like about Scratch is that it teaches the students about coding but it also improves the children’s familiarity with the computer and its capabilities including accessing and using the microphone- a firm favourite. I have used the guided lessons offered by Scratch whats nice is that they offer a printable scaffolded plan for children that need that level of support, but then they can experiment and play around within it.
I am interested to extend this learning with Robogarden. In my review of Robogarden what I am liking is the cross curricular applications. The hour of code lessons I reviewed introduce the children to coding in a progressive manner but also educate and them whilst coding, giving snippets of information throughout. The math missions will be a nice addition to our maths week activities, reinforcing to the children the cross applications and capabilities of computers and coding.
Osmo leanring looks interesting. We invested in ipads for our junior classes last year and this looks really exciting and would be a great tool to incorporate technology and hands on learning. Like everything though cost is an issue, It would be great if we could get our hands on these and trial before purchase to see the benefit of them in the classroom.AS an SET teacher I too see great potential in Microsoft Learning Accelerators. Having a child be supported in a !:! session and then have it carried through to the classroom or at home with microsoft reader offers a huge opportunity for learning . Then being able to use the Speaker for the same child to be able to hear their reading and have targets set for what they can work on to develop their fluency etc is exciting
