A learner who knows how to use artificial intelligence to get “unstuck” when they encounter a challenge or need feedback.
A problem solver who can use AI to brainstorm possibilities.
A researcher who can use AI to independently verify information and find areas of widespread agreement.
Those are some of the key attributes of an “AI-ready” high school graduate as described by ISTE+ASCD, a professional development organization, in a profile unveiled earlier this year.
The nonprofit was inspired by a widespread trend among districts and states to define which skills a student should leave high school with, such as the ability to communicate clearly, collaborate effectively, and think creatively. Districts and states commonly illustrate these skills in their portraits, or profiles, of a graduate.
For the most part, when educators consider teaching students about AI, they focus on helping students understand what the technology is, how it functions, and how to use the AI tools.
But as the use of AI grows in industries like health care and agriculture—not to mention everyday tasks, such as choosing a movie to stream or shopping for a pair of socks—schools need to also help students harness the technology to generate ideas, communicate, and investigate complicated issues, said Richard Culatta, ISTE+ASCD’s CEO, in an interview earlier this year.
“This is about the human thinking that has to happen before you even get to [thinking] about what tool or what prompt to use,” Culatta said.
The profile includes six big buckets of skills that students should be comfortable using AI to tackle by the time they leave high school.
Beyond learner, problem solver, and researcher, the list includes a “connector,” or someone who can use AI to overcome language barriers or help those with different perspectives reach a common understanding.
It also includes a “storyteller,” or one who can use AI to communicate through text, pictures, audio, and video. That might mean realizing that certain content is easier to absorb in a format other than text, then using AI to create an engaging way to share it, such as through video or audio.
“Up till now, we’ve reverted to text as delivery, because most of us aren’t artists, most of us aren’t videographers, most of us aren’t composers, and so we default to using text-based narrative,” even when it isn’t the best way to get a message across, Culatta said.
Superintendent says schools need to use AI with ‘purposeful intention’
The profile asks students to become “synthesizers,” capable of using AI tools to comb through information and present it in an accessible format.
That’s important, given that “most of the information that any of us read at any given moment is either above or below the level of expertise that we have in a particular topic, right?” Culatta said. “And so one of the things that a synthesizer does is understand that you no longer have to accept information that isn’t appropriate for your level of expertise and purpose” because AI can help users shape content to meet their needs.
Virginia’s Winchester public school district has already embraced the “AI-ready profile,” posting the concept on the walls of its single high school.
The district, which is embracing AI use in education, sees it as “a nice entry step,” said Jason Van Heukelum, the superintendent. He believes the concept can help students and teachers “approach AI with a purposeful intention.”
