Following our ongoing efforts to develop AI literacy within Further Education (FE), we’ve now extended our focus to include learners. As the role of generative (Gen) AI in education continues to grow, it’s essential that students have a basic understanding of these tools, not only for their future careers but also to support their current studies.
Earlier this year, we formed a working group from the FE community, which concentrated on equipping staff with the necessary skills to navigate Gen AI and developed the Generative AI Literacy: Fundamental Level, recognising its importance across various educational roles. Building on that progress, the working group has now developed a core level of Gen AI literacy aimed specifically at FE learners.
The objective is straightforward: to provide all learners with a guide to build a solid foundation in understanding Gen AI. This includes understanding what Gen AI is, how it can be used, and the key considerations involved in its application. We’ve kept the focus at a fundamental level to ensure that these concepts are accessible to all learners, regardless of their background or area of study.
Generative AI literacy: Core level
Introduction
Generative AI is a type of artificial intelligence that can create content such as text, images, artwork, code, video and music. These four steps aim to provide a core level of generative AI literacy for Further Education learners, supporting your education and encouraging your responsible use of AI tools. On the left side, you’ll see the steps we need to follow. On the right side, there’s an example topic, but remember, it’s just an example, not a complete list.
Step 1. How it worksUnderstanding how to generate relevant content efficiently |
Example |
| Basic concepts: Learn the basics of how generative AI systems work, including their capabilities and limitations. | Generative AI is a type of technology that uses the information it’s been trained on (like words and pictures from the internet and books) to create sentences and pictures. Different AI tools can do different things. For example, some can write text, others can create images, and some can search the internet live to find the latest information and use it to make new content. Some AI tools have live access to the internet, while others don’t. |
| Practical knowledge: Gain an understanding of how to appropriately apply generative AI tools across various subjects and tasks. | Think about the different tasks and activities that generative AI could help with. For example, it can:
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| Realistic expectations: Understand what generative AI is good at and what it might get wrong, so that you can use it responsibly. | Understand that while generative AI can give answers that seem right, the information might be wrong, so it’s important to check the facts. Because of the way generative AI works, there is no guarantee the answer it generates is correct.
Another example:
Obviously, this is incorrect! But it shows how AI can give wrong or even dangerous information if it doesn’t have the right answer. This can include:
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Step 2. How to use itUnderstand how to generate content using generative AI |
Example |
| Learn to use AI tools: Understand how to ask generative AI the right questions so it can create content that fits what you need. | For example, depending on the AI tool, you can either give lots of details at the start, or you can chat with the tool to improve what it creates as you go along.
Tips for Using AI:
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| Explore AI technologies: Make sure you know your institution’s guidelines or rules, and only use AI apps that your school has approved. | *** Institution to insert link to policy if appropriate**. |
Step 3. How to use it responsibly |
Example |
| Ethical considerations: Understand the importance of using AI in a responsible way, ensuring originality and honesty in your work
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Assessment:
What is ok: Research a topic to learn more about it, then carefully check the AI-generated content and make sure to reference it following your institution’s guidelines. Writing assistance: AI can aid writing skills by suggesting improvements in grammar, style, and flow. What is not ok: Copying and pasting AI-generated text and pretending it’s your own work for an assignment is wrong and counts as plagiarism. Misrepresenting your own abilities by using AI to make it seem like you’re more skilled or worked harder than you actually did is dishonest and unfair. Legal awareness: What is ok: Think about where you will use AI-generated content, whether it’s for personal or public use. Always fact check that AI-generated content is correct before sharing or publishing it. What is not ok: Don’t share false information or create inappropriate or fake content like text, images, videos, or sound recordings. Don’t enter factually incorrect information.
Sustainable practices: Like any IT service, the more you use it the more power it uses, the more the environmental impact. So, use it wisely, and consider whether, say, a simple google search would do instead. |
| Data security: Be responsible with data security for yourself and others. Learn how to protect your personal information when using AI tools. | Just like you decide whether to accept cookies or marketing emails, you can choose what personal or sensitive information to put into AI tools, be aware of how the tool you are using might use your data.
For example, you shouldn’t enter personal or sensitive information into some AI tools because they might learn from it.
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| Safe practices: Use safe and responsible practices when creating, changing, and sharing AI-generated content. | For example, don’t share images you know are fake. Be careful not to share AI generated content that might be misleading or hurtful, and always give credit if you use something made by AI. |
| Awareness of age: Understand what is allowed and when you need to get permission. | For example, some AI tools aren’t allowed for anyone under 18, but others can be used by people over 13 if they have permission from a parent or guardian. |
Step 4. How to check itUnderstand how to evaluate generative AI outputs |
Example |
| Assess quality: Develop skills to evaluate the trustworthiness, accuracy and relevance of AI-generated content. | For example, you might check if the content is current, correct, or if it includes any false information. |
| Identify biases: Learn to recognise potential biases and errors in AI outputs. | Some AI-generated content might not represent different genders, races, or ages fairly. Make sure that the content is accessible to everyone. For instance, check that a presentation can be read by a screen reader. |
| Ensure integrity: Take measures to identify and fix any mistakes in the AI-generated content, so it meets high standards of quality. Always mention that you used AI in your work and reference it properly. | For example, if you use content generated by AI and post it online or submit it, you are still responsible for checking and correcting it just as if you had written it yourself.
When referencing always follow your institutions referencing rules but these may include; Name the AI tool you used
Save a screenshot of the questions you asked and the answers you got |
Contributors:
Bryony Evett – Coleg Sir Gar
Mark Ludlam – Gower College Swansea
Claudia Boerescu – Newham College
Sylvia Davies – Grŵp Llandrillo Menai
Roddy Peters – Windsor Forest Colleges Group
Michele Smith – UHI Moray
Rebena Sanghera – World Skills UK
Paddy Shepperd – Jisc
James Hodgkinson – Jisc
What’s next?
In the coming weeks, we will be rolling out resources to assist learners in embedding this core level of AI literacy into their educational activities. With the core level of Gen AI literacy now established, our focus will shift towards developing the next stage of AI literacy. While the exact name of this level is yet to be determined, we will put out a call for a new working group to explore and consider the most appropriate title as we build on the core already in place. This next step will aim to provide learners with a deeper understanding and more advanced skills, ensuring a clear and structured path to becoming fully AI literate.
Find out more by visiting our Artificial Intelligence page to view publications and resources, join us for events and discover what AI has to offer through our range of interactive online demos.
For regular updates from the team sign up to our mailing list.
Get in touch with the team directly at AI@jisc.ac.uk