This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Vanderbilt University's Golnaz Arastoopour Irgens, assistant professor of human-centered learning technologies at Peabody College of Education and Human Development, partnered with Sarah K. Burriss (Ph.D. '23, Peabody's Department of Teaching and Learning), assistant professor of the practice at the College of Connected Computing, to rethink how kids should learn about artificial intelligence.
In a framework published in the journal Educational Researcher, they lay out how educators can embed social, ethical and critical thinking about AI into any lesson. The framework comes amid the publication of 2025 results from the Program for International Student Assessment revealing that globally, students are becoming less creative in how they use digital technologies. "It's a troubling shift from creating to consuming, from producing to scrolling," said Andreas Sleicher, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development's director for education and skills, in a webinar announcing the findings.
Countering that trend toward passive consumption, the researchers want children to actively question AI. Critical thinking should be interwoven with technical competency, they argue. Students can learn to ask: Where did the data come from?
Who designed the tool I'm using? Is it helping me achieve my goals? Queries like these prepare K–12 learners to thoughtfully evaluate how they might improve AI tools and whether they want to use them at all.
"We wanted to help people expand the idea of ethics in AI literacy and make it accessible," Arastoopour Irgens said. Pulling from guidelines that their research teams use, she and Burriss built a practical, four-part approach that differs from existing AI teaching methods, which tend to prioritize technical skills but might include just a single lesson on ethics. The core concepts—being, knowing, acting and making—are interconnected and allow teachers to jump in at whatever stage fits their classroom.
"There's a lot of evidence about not just learning things in isolation, but how different topics can connect for students. So, we encourage educators to think about how they can draw on these four components to have a more holistic, humanistic approach to AI literacy," Arastoopour Irgens said. Each component plays off the others, making the approach flexible.
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