May 14, 2024 • 37 mins
The Essay Clinic - learn more here
Are your teens armed with the secret weapon of critical thinking to navigate the digital world of AI? Join me, Francesca Hudson, as we wrap up our enlightening series on A.I with a deep exploration into fostering these essential skills in our youth. Embrace the power of curiosity and learn to challenge the status quo in our digital age, where artificial intelligence influences so much of our online consumption. We dissect misinformation spread by AI, using the CRAAP test to navigate the sea of data and distinguish fact from fiction—skills imperative for our teenagers to master as they shape their digital footprints.
Picture this: a dedicated learning space in your home where questions flow freely and technology is a shared adventure. In this episode, we reveal how to cultivate such an environment, sparking a passion for STEM and hands-on experiences that drive innovation and problem-solving from a young age. We share anecdotes and strategies that go beyond theory, offering a practical guide to nurturing entrepreneurship and adaptability in the face of rapid technological change. The inspiring tale of Jane, who embraced coding in her 50s, will remind you that it's never too late to feed a curious mind.
Lastly, we tackle the multifaceted impact of AI on teen's critical thinking, from shaping education to influencing social media dynamics and privacy concerns. This episode is a treasure trove of resources like the CRAAP test, designed to support teens in crafting well-informed research reports. Our discussions are intended to spark ongoing conversations at home and beyond, encouraging you to apply these insights to your daily tech interactions. So, tune in and let's empower the critical thinkers of tomorrow—today!
Link to the C.R.A.A.P framework to help students with their research and writing: CRAAP
**Brand New Course for Students on How To Write a Basic Literary Essay**
If your child is struggling in class with understanding how to write a literary essay - for their exams or other assignments where they can't use any other technology except for their good ol' brain, I have just launched my brand new digital course, The Essay Clinic. I'm offering super special launch pricing (but hurry as it won't be priced this good for long!) Come and take advantage of my 20+ years of teaching and education and give your child the extra boost they might need with their essay writing. I've got you with a full 3 module digital course! See you over at The Essay Clinic! (Oh, and it's open all hours too, as I know how busy every family's lives are these days!!)
- France
If you enjoyed today's episode, please take the time to rate our podcast. Your rating means the world to us and it allows us to continue to share and grow our message of support to other fabulous humans out there!
For more free resources, check out my guide to the 5 secret habits of teens who succeed. Jam packed with advice, tips and strategies. Yours free!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello friends, welcome back to Challenge your
Mind, change the World.
I am your host, francescaHudson, and I am thrilled to
have you join me here today.
We are wrapping up ourfive-part series on artificial
intelligence and its impact onour young people.
So for the last four episodes Ihave been going into all the
(00:21):
different ways that AI orartificial intelligence has
impacting our teens' study atschool, or the potential ways
that it could impact our teens'study at school, and how, as
parents and as educators and asadults, how can we prepare for
that and how do we respond tothat when we see our teenagers
(00:44):
using AI.
So we have gone through thewhole spectrum over the last
four episodes, and today Ireally wanted to spend this
fifth episode on what criticalthinking is and how it is our
teen's secret weapon in thisdigital age of AI, and also how
we can apply critical thinkingskills so that we don't have to
(01:06):
be intimidated by what's on thehorizon and by the technology
that our teens are using.
So in our previous episodes wehave covered everything from the
basics of AI, artificialintelligence, its role in
education, the social mediainfluences that it has and
privacy concerns.
So if you missed any episodes,be sure to catch up on our
(01:28):
platform.
So today we are going to belooking at some practical
strategies.
We want to encourage theimportance of staying curious,
and in our teenager's world,curiosity comes in many shapes
and forms not all that weunderstand sometimes, but I have
(01:50):
got some tips and somestrategies today to share with
you that you can pass on to yourteen or get them to listen to
this podcast about ways thatthey can begin to sort of sift
through some of that informationthat's coming their way.
I think you'll find that thesetools that we're going to go
through today really valuable tonavigate through an AI driven
(02:11):
world.
First up, I wanted to talk aboutstrategies and tools for
developing critical thinking,and here at the Classic High
School Teacher, that is what weare all about.
We are all about communicationand critical thinking.
Those two go hand in hand andwe need to break it down to a
really, really simple level forour young people and start to
(02:33):
develop those skills at a reallyearly age.
Emergence of AI and the amountof digital information that is
just unverified and there's nocontext to information that
people put up online.
There's no filtering, there'sno quality assurance.
(02:55):
So we need to make sure thatour teens and our young people
are able to begin to developthose skills for themselves to
determine what's relevant andwhat's not, and what's factual
and what's not.
What is critical thinking?
First and foremost, criticalthinking involves actively
analysing, synthesising andevaluating information gathered
(03:18):
from either what you can seeobservations, or your
experiences present experiences,past experiences, how you
reflect on things or how youreason your logic, how you
justify things or how youcommunicate.
And it's about being skepticaland questioning rather than
(03:42):
passively accepting information.
But rather than being skepticaland closed-minded, it's about
being open and making sure thatyou have looked at a situation
from not just your own limitedviewpoint, but perhaps other
contexts and other opinions thatmight have impact on the
(04:06):
situation that you're looking atyourself.
Ai shapes much of the digitalcontent that we consume, so
pretty much everything that youlook at online has had some kind
of influence with artificialintelligence.
So whether it's social mediathat you're following and
there's pages on social media,they will have.
Well, social media itself hasalgorithms, which is artificial
(04:29):
intelligence working out,predicting what you're into,
what sort of topics you would beinterested in viewing on social
media, and then putting it infront of you.
Or businesses will useartificial intelligence for
their own script writing ormarketing.
It's everywhere in a digitalcontext.
(04:49):
So our ability to think and lookat something and question it
and think, is this the truth oris this what somebody wants me
to believe, becomes reallycrucial.
So you can see where I'm goingwith this with teenagers,
because you can see howvulnerable.
So you can see where I'm goingwith this with teenagers,
because you can see howvulnerable our teenagers are to
being told information and thenjust accepting it at face value.
(05:10):
And the critical thinkingteaches them to stop looking and
taking things at face value andthink maybe there might be
something more underneath apiece of information than what
they're just being told.
And this can apply evensocially.
When they're told something atschool by their friends about
somebody else, rather than justsimply accepting it, they need
(05:31):
to be able to think forthemselves and form judgments on
that and maybe even start toquestion some of the information
that they're being given.
And having the confidence tostart questioning the
information that they're givenconfidence to start questioning
the information that they'regiven.
So critical thinking skills,even at its most basic level,
(05:56):
enables teenagers to discernbias and recognize when they're
being manipulated, and it alsohelps them to make informed
decisions in a landscape wheredata and AI-driven suggestions
can often mislead oroversimplify quite complex, at
times, issues.
Let's look at an example.
So a common one at the momenton social media that's floating
(06:17):
around is AI artificialintelligence will take over all
our jobs.
Artificial intelligence willtake over all our jobs.
In 20 years time, or even less,if you listen to some of the
scientists and experts, ai willhave completely eradicated the
human workforce and we will allbe unemployed.
Do we accept that at face valueor do we look at it and think?
(06:38):
Let's break down this argumenta little further.
So there's two premises to thisargument, or this common claim.
The first one is that AItechnologies are advancing
rapidly.
Well, yes, they are, andthere's plenty of research and
there's plenty of articles thatyou can look up to see how a lot
(07:00):
of the world's greatest mindsare very worried about the
advancement of AI and howquickly it is advancing in our
society.
The other premise is that manyjobs currently require tasks
that AI can perform.
Well, this is true too, thatthere will be a whole lot of
jobs that will be affected by AI, just like when we had the
(07:24):
industrial revolution lastcentury or in the 1800s that a
lot of jobs became redundantthen because technology industry
really took over what wasessentially human manual tasks.
We're in that next wave of anindustrial revolution, but
instead of it being the machineand factories, it's the computer
(07:47):
.
We've got these two premiseshere that AI technologies are
advancing rapidly and many jobscurrently require tasks that AI
can perform.
These are both true, but thenwe jump to this massive
conclusion that AI willeventually replace all human
jobs, and that is a massiveassumption.
Ai will eventually replace allhuman jobs, and that is a
(08:08):
massive assumption.
So we need to look at that andhow do we make the jump from?
Yes, this potentially couldhappen.
We've got two potentialsituations happening to.
Suddenly, ai is going to takeover all human jobs.
We need to look at the premisesand we need to decide whether or
not they logically support thisassumption.
This conclusion I calloversimplification of complex
(08:28):
issues that you see on socialmedia.
I call them assumptions ratherthan conclusions, but we need to
encourage questioning on theevitability implied by this
conclusion.
Ai will eventually replace allhuman jobs.
Is that true or are we justassuming that?
So what sort of questions?
(08:49):
Or how do we break that down.
How do we start to look at thismassive assumption and decide
whether or not it actually isvalid?
We need to separate arguments,assumptions into premises and
conclusions, like we've justlooked at, and then we need to
examine whether the premiseslogically support the conclusion
(09:11):
.
Okay, here are some ways thatwe can teach our teenagers.
I'll put a link to thisinformation on the podcast page
so that you can download it andgo through it with your teenager
at home if you want to explorethis idea further.
But the first step is to readand understand the argument.
Read the argument carefully ifyou see it online, trying to
(09:33):
understand the overall point.
What is the author's point thatthey're trying to make?
Okay, so that's the first step.
The second step is jumpstraight to the conclusion, or I
call it an assumption if it'son social media, and you can
often find what the conclusionis, because there'll be words
like therefore or hence or thus,which often is find the
(10:02):
premises.
So look for the pieces ofevidence.
Look for the reasons that thesocial media post is pointing
you in the direction of thisassumption.
So look for phrases likebecause or since, which
typically introduce premises.
And then step four is outlinethe argument.
(10:23):
So draw a simple map or listout the premises leading to the
conclusion Okay, so let's lookat it again AI will take over
all our jobs.
That is the social media post.
If we look at the conclusion orthe assumption, ai will
eventually replace all humanjobs.
That is the assumption.
That is what is said on thiscommon claim on social media,
(10:45):
the assumption.
That is what is said on thiscommon claim on social media.
How do we know that this istrue?
Well, it's not because it'sassuming that AI will eventually
replace all human jobs.
But we've got no proof.
There's no proof in the socialmedia claim to say, by the year
2030, all jobs will be replacedby AI.
(11:05):
We just don't know.
It's making a guess aboutsomething that might or might
not happen in the future.
Now, I don't know what's goingto happen in the future.
I'm not saying one way or theother about AI.
That's a whole different topic.
But to be able to say AI willtake over all our jobs, that is
(11:25):
a huge claim and there justisn't any proof.
We haven't seen any proof tocount to support that claim.
So we need to make sure that,yes, ai technologies are
advancing rapidly and, yes, manyjobs currently require tasks
that AI can perform.
But then to make that jump tothe statement AI will eventually
(11:46):
replace all human jobs well,that's just too big a jump.
There is no proof within thosetwo premises that AI will
replace all human jobs.
It will replace probably quitea lot if we follow the premises
in this statement, but there'snothing in these premises that
says AI will replace all humanjobs.
(12:07):
What I am leading towards isthat when you are looking at a
statement on social media orwhen your young person is
looking at a statement on socialmedia and they're repeating it
back to you, ask them to stopand reread the statement and
look for the separate argumentswithin that statement and we
(12:28):
call them premises.
In other words, they'resupporting reasons that the
person's making the statement.
So look for the supportingreasons in the statement and
then find the conclusion thatthe statement is trying to lead
you towards the assumption thatit wants you to believe.
Right, you've got supportingreasons and then you've got the
assumption or the conclusion.
(12:48):
Look for that in the statementwith your teenager and then
encourage them, encourage youryoung person, to examine whether
or not those supporting reasons, those premises, logically
support the conclusion or theassumption, and check for
(13:08):
anything within that statementthat just doesn't logically make
sense and we call that logicalfallacies and critical thinking.
So I'll say that again.
So the way to look at astatement online that your teen
is repeating back to you and youare trying to teach them Maybe
you need to look at that again.
(13:29):
Are you sure?
Where did you get yourinformation from?
Look at the statement with themand look for the supporting
reasons within the statement andthe assumption.
So I always start with whatassumption is the statement
making and then go backwardsfrom there and find the
supporting reasons that theperson's trying to come up with
to support their conclusion, tosupport their assumption.
So look at it like that withyour teen and then talk to your
(13:53):
teenager about whether or notthose supporting reasons, those
premises, if they logicallysupport the conclusion or if
there is something logically notquite right.
Another way you can look atinformation online is evaluating
the evidence.
I'll give you another scenario.
When researching the impact ofAI on privacy, a teenager comes
(14:13):
across a blog post claiming AIinvades our privacy more than
humans do.
All right, so straight away mybrain is thinking who's written
this post, what's theirincentive, what you need to do
or what your teenager needs todo is to look at how credible
the source is.
Is it a tech expert that'ssaying this or is that just an
(14:36):
anonymous blog?
Okay, so that's the first step.
Knee-jerk reaction that yourteenager needs to learn to do is
like who is giving me thispiece of information?
What is their incentive?
And a great way to do this isit's called now, excuse my
language it's called the CRAAPtest, c-r-a-a-p.
(14:58):
The way you can go through thisis the currency how recent is
the information?
How recent is the information?
How current is the information?
That's C C for currency, r isfor relevance Does the
information meet the needs ofyour research?
A is for authority who is theauthor or the publisher of the
(15:19):
source and are they reputable?
And then another A is foraccuracy Is the information
supported by evidence and is itconsistent with other sources
that you've read online that arecredible?
And then, finally, P is forpurpose.
Why was this informationpublished in the first place?
Was it to inform, was it topersuade, was it to entertain or
(15:44):
was it to sell?
And this is where teensespecially can get manipulated.
So we need to be looking atthat P purpose.
So that's the CRAAP testC-R-A-A-P Currency relevance
authority, accuracy purpose andI will put this on the podcast
page for you to download so thatyou can print it off and show
(16:06):
it to your teenager.
It's really good for researchpapers and assignments and also
if they are writing a piece.
In English we used to teachthis about how to argue, how to
write an argument, a writtenargument, and this is also great
for history, for social studies, any humanities topic.
Really Use the CAP test.
(16:30):
I think they'll really enjoythat title too.
They've gone through the testto examine the information, to
assess whether or not it'scredible and to make sure that
they know what the purpose ofthe information is that they're
reading.
The next part that I think ourteens need to develop in this
computer very basic level is theability to stay curious, and by
(16:53):
staying curious, our teens willembrace lifelong techniques to
keep an open mind.
The value of curiosity is ahuge driver in developing
thinking in our young people, inour teenagers.
It motivates us to seek newinformation, to ask questions
(17:16):
and to challenge existingassumptions.
Think about in the context ofAI, where technology evolves
rapidly.
If we maintain curiosity and ifwe teach our young people to
continue to be curious, it willlead us to a deeper
understanding of how AI works,so we can begin to take the fear
(17:38):
away and its implications onsociety for better or for worse.
On society for better or forworse.
Curious minds are betterequipped to recognize the
opportunities for innovation.
By keeping an open mind, bystaying curious and looking at
what is coming up on theforefront of technology, how is
(17:59):
it going to shape our society?
How is it going to impact ourinteractions with each other?
People that are curious willrecognize the opportunities for
innovation and will be able toanticipate any ethical
implications of new technologiestoo.
So staying curious isn't justabout looking for the latest
(18:21):
idea that you can make a lot ofmoney from or you can help a lot
of people from.
It's about ethics as well andensuring that, whatever
technology is coming up, it'sgoing to impact and help
humanity in a good way, in apositive way, and if not, what
are the implications?
How do we counteract that?
(18:43):
So by encouraging our teenagersto see curiosity as the
foundation of innovation, wewill be teaching them how to
question, because curiousindividuals who question how and
why AI systems make decisionsare often the ones who drive the
(19:03):
improvements in thesetechnologies and develop novel
applications that benefitsociety, and isn't that what we
want for our teenagers, Don't wewant them to rise up through
the ranks and contribute in thebest way that they can to
society, in whatever shape orform that is, whether that's
(19:25):
sports or music or arts, or evenjust being able to contribute
within a group.
We all have a role to play, andour teenagers coming through
are no different.
I'd like you to consider thestory of Jane, a librarian who
witnessed the transformation ofinformation management from
(19:45):
physical card catalogs todigital databases, to AI-powered
search systems.
It's been a huge evolution inthe library system, and Jane's
curiosity about each newtechnology led her to learn
coding in her 50s.
(20:05):
Right, and coding is a wordthat a lot of us think is
relegated to the world of tech,but our children at school and I
have got kids that are atprimary school level are
learning coding Like at age fiveupwards.
They are learning coding, andso coding, the word itself,
(20:26):
doesn't have to be thishigh-tech computer hacker level.
It's the ability for any of usto pick up a new technology and
create something out of it.
So Jane's curiosity about eachnew technology that had happened
during her journey in thelibrary.
So, from physical card catalogsto digital databases, to AI
(20:48):
power systems, that curiosityled her to learning about coding
in her 50s, allowing her tocreate better search tools for
her library.
Her story highlights that, withcuriosity, learning never stops
and age is not a barrier toadapting to technological
(21:08):
challenges.
How do we foster a learningenvironment like that at home?
Well, to start with, encouragequestions.
Make it a habit to havediscussions at home where every
family member can ask questionsor express curiosity about how
things work, includingtechnology.
Pick a time of day to do it.
Maybe it's breakfast time, aseverybody's rushing out the door
(21:29):
and you've got 10 minutes.
It's your only time during theday that everybody sits still
and eats.
Or maybe it's dinner time, ifyou are lucky enough to be
organized where everybody cansit down together over the
dinner table and eat together.
Or it could just be in the caron the way to sports drop-off or
practice or school drop-off.
Find a time and make that yourquestion asking time and
(21:52):
questions can be about anything.
It doesn't have to be aboutcritical thinking or technology
or AI, just anything in life,anything that is topical in your
family.
Ask open-ended questions, andopen-ended are the types of
questions that the other personcan't say yes or no to.
They have to actually use words.
So, rather than saying do youthink you're going to work hard
(22:16):
today at school and they caneither say yes or no, you would
say what subject do you thinkyou need to make the most
improvement with today at schooland why?
And then they would have toelaborate on that chosen subject
.
So question time is reallyimportant.
Another thing is exploretogether as a family,
(22:38):
occasionally choosing atechnology at home or an AI
concept, and explore it togetheras a family.
And when I say AI concept, itcould just even be a new app
that's available on Apple or oniTunes, or it could be like the
latest phone iPhone coming outor smartphone coming out.
Choose something technologicaland explore it together as a
(23:01):
family.
Read the reviews, look atwhat's been said about it online
.
Make it a real familydiscussion about what upgrades
you're going to make if you'relooking at upgrading a piece of
technology at home or justsimply experiment with some of
the AI tools available forpersonal use.
I mean, there's so manydifferent chatbots, chat, gpt,
(23:22):
those sorts of things that canassist you with a whole range of
different tasks at home.
There's so much that you canuse AI for that you can find on
the net, and then the other waythat you can foster a learning
environment at home is creatinga learning zone.
So designate a space at homethat's filled with resources
like books or magazines or acomputer, and you can encourage
(23:47):
your young people, yourteenagers, to use the space to
explore their interests,particularly those related to
science and technology, or STEM.
Science, technology, engineeringor maths is a hugely popular
trend with parents at the momentlooking at what sort of STEM
activities children and youngpeople can do.
(24:11):
For my children, we've got amonthly craft box that comes
from KiwiBox.
Now, I'm not an affiliate toKiwiBox, but I have been using
it since we had the lockdownsand we were stuck at home and I
needed something to keep thembusy, and that's where I
discovered it when they wereyoung.
But they absolutely adore theseboxes when they come every
month and they are designed toencourage technology and
(24:36):
learning and learning aboutscience, but doing it in a very,
very approachable, hands-on way, and so I would encourage you
to have somewhere at home whereyou can have something like this
set up, and for younger kids,for families with younger kids,
it could be a craft room or acraft area.
As I say, we have these Kiwiboxes and there is a bit of
(24:57):
craft involved with that,assembling and making.
But STEM toys are also thingslike those magnetic, those
magnet locks.
They click together and you canbuild towers and castles and
things like that.
So that's for younger peopleand then for older people, have
it more like a computer roomthat's filled with books or
(25:18):
magazines or something reallycomfy, some comfy cushions or
beanbags, just a place toencourage quiet learning and
quiet curiosity.
Curiosity is the key word here.
So my call to action forteenagers we've talked about
encouraging curiosity and we'vetalked about what is critical
(25:38):
thinking at a really basiclogical level, and so now my
call to action for teenagers isto take charge of their learning
, and that starts withmotivation.
Teenagers' education isn't justabout absorbing information
given in school.
It's about engaging activelywith this information,
(26:00):
questioning it and applying itin various contexts.
To actively engage it helpsdevelop a deeper understanding
and a personal connection totheir learning material.
Learning through experience isthe best way to learn.
When I was a teenager Iorganized my high school formal
(26:23):
after party.
Funny story here I'msidetracking a little bit, but
our school put on the formal orthe prom in America they call it
, you guys would call it butthey were not going to be
affiliated or in charge of anyafter parties.
So I took that role andorganized our school's after
party and it was a Catholicgirls' school, very small
(26:46):
Catholic girls' school.
There was about 30 of us in theentire year group and so we're
not talking like a massively outof control wild party.
It was very ladylike.
But the after party venueobviously had a surcharge fee,
so I created tickets, we soldtickets to everybody that wanted
to come and obviously theybrought partners and we had a
surcharge fee.
So I created tickets, we soldtickets to everybody that wanted
to come and obviously theybrought partners and we had a
(27:08):
great night.
But that was my first foray intoentrepreneurship, because we
found the problem obviously thatneeded to be solved was that we
had no after party and I wantedto step into that void and
provide a solution, which wasthe after party that we put on
and luckily I had a dad who wasa graphic designer, so he
(27:29):
designed the tickets and weprinted them all out and it
looked really professional and Idecorated the venue with my
friends and we made it.
We almost made it feel like Ihad a brand to it.
You know, right back when yousaid when I was 17, 18, learning
about branding.
But there was a small profitmade from that and it was my
first foray into creatingsomething, selling it and
(27:53):
getting a return on that.
Now, obviously, at that age webreak even, but really fostered
in me a hunger forentrepreneurship and creating
something to provide solutionsto problems that people have,
and that is an example ofexperiential learning that
(28:14):
teenagers, I think, reallythrive with.
When they can see the relevanceof what they're doing and how it
applies in the real world, thenthey will rise to the challenge
.
So encourage activeparticipation in learning.
I would encourage teenagers toview knowledge as a tool for
empowerment.
(28:35):
Understanding complex subjects,including AI, equips teenagers
with the power to make informeddecisions and influence the
world around them right.
So if we as parents and aseducators and as caregivers,
encourage them to takeinitiative by researching topics
that they're interested in, orstarting projects that they're
interested in, or participatingin clubs or workshops where they
(28:58):
can apply their knowledge, thenonce again, it's that real
world application of making itrelevant to what they're
learning about and that keepsthe motivation up.
So, then, they're developingthese critical thinking skills,
and now we need to encourage ouryoung people to apply it in an
AI driven world.
With social media algorithms,for example, we know that the
(29:20):
algorithm will just show a userwhat they're interested in, or
what the algorithm thinks thatthey're interested in.
It doesn't necessarily givethem a wide, open perspective of
what other pieces ofinformation are out there on the
web.
Our teenagers need to usecritical thinking.
We need to ask our teenagers toconsider why certain posts are
(29:41):
promoted on their feed and whyothers aren't, and what is the
impact of this.
What might it have on theirperceptions and therefore their
behavior?
So we want to challenge them tothink about how they might use
social media differently if theyunderstood these mechanisms
better.
And the other way online is withonline privacy.
Think about online privacy inthe age of AI and how personal
(30:07):
data is collected and usedonline, for example,
personalized advertising.
If you click on a link and signup to something, then AI
collects your data.
They collect your name or yourbirth date or your email address
, and then they know that you'reinterested in that topic.
We need to be teaching ourteenagers to really critically
evaluate what information theyshare online themselves, and
(30:32):
also consider the potentiallong-term impacts of data
sharing when they give awaytheir important data to online
forums or online pages or onlineshops.
And so this leads us todecision-making right.
The importance of using criticalthinking to make decisions,
especially when it's using AI intheir own lives, becomes really
(30:54):
important as well.
For example, they're decidingto download a new app on their
phone.
We need to encourage them toreally think about the
permissions the app is askingfor and why it needs those
permissions, and think about thebenefits that the teens are
getting by downloading this appagainst potential privacy
(31:14):
concerns especially, you know,you think about those apps like
the photo apps where they canmanipulate pictures of
themselves, or the filters theycan put on selfies or all of
those sorts of apps.
Online there's so many that canpotentially start to tap into
your personal data.
We need teens to start toquestion this before they
download.
They don't just blindlydownload the latest and greatest
(31:37):
.
My challenge to us as parentsand educators is to work with
our young people to set specific, achievable goals that promote
ethical thinking on a verygeneralized basis.
To get the ball rolling, soexamples could be reading a new
book each month on a topic thatchallenges them.
(31:58):
Or it could be exploring a newsubject through online courses
or workshops, especiallysubjects like coding or
statistics or ethical studiesthat directly complement
understanding of AI, if AI issomething that you are
particularly worried about as aparent, but it could just be a
new subject in general, just tospark curiosity in our young
(32:21):
people.
Or it could be discussingcurrent events critically with
friends or family.
This could be structured as amonthly discussion club where
they pick a topic, they canresearch different viewpoints
and come together to discussthose viewpoints critically, but
you would need to use evidenceand reason arguments, and it
should be about finding currentevents that are outside of your
(32:42):
comfort zone rather than in youralready developed algorithm,
because, remember, the algorithmis only going to bring up more
of what you like to read or moreof what you believe in, so
finding current events and thendiscussing it critically needs
to be outside of your comfortzone.
That's the whole point inbeginning to foster those
critical thinking skills, andjust remember that the goal
(33:03):
isn't just to achieve theseobjectives, but it's to make a
habit of thinking criticallyaround our world.
I encourage us, as parents andeducators, to support these
goals by providing resourcesthat our kids need, like, as I
say, it doesn't have to be theKiwiBox example that I gave
before, but providing otherresources that they might need
(33:26):
access to, even if it's just acomputer at home, magazines or
discussing ideas, or perhapseven just joining in on those
monthly challenges that Imentioned above.
So by encouraging our teens andour young people to take these
active steps, and by developingtheir critical thinking skills
and by setting regular goals,they can become more informed,
(33:46):
thoughtful and empoweredindividuals, ready to face the
challenges of an AI-driven world.
And isn't that what we want?
Don't we want the best for ourkids?
Don't we want them to be ready,when they leave school and head
out into the wide, open world,to be able to face these
challenges head on?
We've covered a lot today and inthe last four episodes or five
episodes if you count today'sone about AI and its impact on
(34:07):
critical thinking in ourteenagers.
We've gone through theintroduction to AI.
We've talked about AI ineducation, in social media and
privacy concerns and how we canenhance our critical thinking
skills.
We have got so many more topicsthat I can't wait to dive into
(34:28):
with our wonderful parentaudience.
If you have any questions abouttoday's episode.
Please drop me a line at infoat
theclassichighschoolteachercom.
And in the meantime, Iencourage everyone to keep the
conversations going at home,discuss what you've learned with
your children, with yourfriends, your family, your peers
, experiment with the tools andstrategies we've used and see
(34:49):
how they can change yourinteraction with technology.
I will put on the podcast pagea link to that CRAAP test that
crap sorry it sounds very crasssaying that that test that teens
can really get a lot out ofwhen they are writing research
reports at school.
So I'll put that link on thepodcast page and remember when
(35:09):
you challenge your mind, you canchange the world.
This is Francesca Hudsonsigning off.
Stay curious, my friends, andkeep thinking critically.
Hello friends, welcome back to Challenge your
Mind, change the World.
I am your host, francescaHudson, and I am thrilled to
have you join me here today.
We are wrapping up ourfive-part series on artificial
intelligence and its impact onour young people.
So for the last four episodes Ihave been going into all the
(00:21):
different ways that AI orartificial intelligence has
impacting our teens' study atschool, or the potential ways
that it could impact our teens'study at school, and how, as
parents and as educators and asadults, how can we prepare for
that and how do we respond tothat when we see our teenagers
(00:44):
using AI.
So we have gone through thewhole spectrum over the last
four episodes, and today Ireally wanted to spend this
fifth episode on what criticalthinking is and how it is our
teen's secret weapon in thisdigital age of AI, and also how
we can apply critical thinkingskills so that we don't have to
(01:06):
be intimidated by what's on thehorizon and by the technology
that our teens are using.
So in our previous episodes wehave covered everything from the
basics of AI, artificialintelligence, its role in
education, the social mediainfluences that it has and
privacy concerns.
So if you missed any episodes,be sure to catch up on our
(01:28):
platform.
So today we are going to belooking at some practical
strategies.
We want to encourage theimportance of staying curious,
and in our teenager's world,curiosity comes in many shapes
and forms not all that weunderstand sometimes, but I have
(01:50):
got some tips and somestrategies today to share with
you that you can pass on to yourteen or get them to listen to
this podcast about ways thatthey can begin to sort of sift
through some of that informationthat's coming their way.
I think you'll find that thesetools that we're going to go
through today really valuable tonavigate through an AI driven
(02:11):
world.
First up, I wanted to talk aboutstrategies and tools for
developing critical thinking,and here at the Classic High
School Teacher, that is what weare all about.
We are all about communicationand critical thinking.
Those two go hand in hand andwe need to break it down to a
really, really simple level forour young people and start to
(02:33):
develop those skills at a reallyearly age.
Emergence of AI and the amountof digital information that is
just unverified and there's nocontext to information that
people put up online.
There's no filtering, there'sno quality assurance.
(02:55):
So we need to make sure thatour teens and our young people
are able to begin to developthose skills for themselves to
determine what's relevant andwhat's not, and what's factual
and what's not.
What is critical thinking?
First and foremost, criticalthinking involves actively
analysing, synthesising andevaluating information gathered
(03:18):
from either what you can seeobservations, or your
experiences present experiences,past experiences, how you
reflect on things or how youreason your logic, how you
justify things or how youcommunicate.
And it's about being skepticaland questioning rather than
(03:42):
passively accepting information.
But rather than being skepticaland closed-minded, it's about
being open and making sure thatyou have looked at a situation
from not just your own limitedviewpoint, but perhaps other
contexts and other opinions thatmight have impact on the
(04:06):
situation that you're looking atyourself.
Ai shapes much of the digitalcontent that we consume, so
pretty much everything that youlook at online has had some kind
of influence with artificialintelligence.
So whether it's social mediathat you're following and
there's pages on social media,they will have.
Well, social media itself hasalgorithms, which is artificial
(04:29):
intelligence working out,predicting what you're into,
what sort of topics you would beinterested in viewing on social
media, and then putting it infront of you.
Or businesses will useartificial intelligence for
their own script writing ormarketing.
It's everywhere in a digitalcontext.
(04:49):
So our ability to think and lookat something and question it
and think, is this the truth oris this what somebody wants me
to believe, becomes reallycrucial.
So you can see where I'm goingwith this with teenagers,
because you can see howvulnerable.
So you can see where I'm goingwith this with teenagers,
because you can see howvulnerable our teenagers are to
being told information and thenjust accepting it at face value.
(05:10):
And the critical thinkingteaches them to stop looking and
taking things at face value andthink maybe there might be
something more underneath apiece of information than what
they're just being told.
And this can apply evensocially.
When they're told something atschool by their friends about
somebody else, rather than justsimply accepting it, they need
(05:31):
to be able to think forthemselves and form judgments on
that and maybe even start toquestion some of the information
that they're being given.
And having the confidence tostart questioning the
information that they're givenconfidence to start questioning
the information that they'regiven.
So critical thinking skills,even at its most basic level,
(05:56):
enables teenagers to discernbias and recognize when they're
being manipulated, and it alsohelps them to make informed
decisions in a landscape wheredata and AI-driven suggestions
can often mislead oroversimplify quite complex, at
times, issues.
Let's look at an example.
So a common one at the momenton social media that's floating
(06:17):
around is AI artificialintelligence will take over all
our jobs.
Artificial intelligence willtake over all our jobs.
In 20 years time, or even less,if you listen to some of the
scientists and experts, ai willhave completely eradicated the
human workforce and we will allbe unemployed.
Do we accept that at face valueor do we look at it and think?
(06:38):
Let's break down this argumenta little further.
So there's two premises to thisargument, or this common claim.
The first one is that AItechnologies are advancing
rapidly.
Well, yes, they are, andthere's plenty of research and
there's plenty of articles thatyou can look up to see how a lot
(07:00):
of the world's greatest mindsare very worried about the
advancement of AI and howquickly it is advancing in our
society.
The other premise is that manyjobs currently require tasks
that AI can perform.
Well, this is true too, thatthere will be a whole lot of
jobs that will be affected by AI, just like when we had the
(07:24):
industrial revolution lastcentury or in the 1800s that a
lot of jobs became redundantthen because technology industry
really took over what wasessentially human manual tasks.
We're in that next wave of anindustrial revolution, but
instead of it being the machineand factories, it's the computer
(07:47):
.
We've got these two premiseshere that AI technologies are
advancing rapidly and many jobscurrently require tasks that AI
can perform.
These are both true, but thenwe jump to this massive
conclusion that AI willeventually replace all human
jobs, and that is a massiveassumption.
Ai will eventually replace allhuman jobs, and that is a
(08:08):
massive assumption.
So we need to look at that andhow do we make the jump from?
Yes, this potentially couldhappen.
We've got two potentialsituations happening to.
Suddenly, ai is going to takeover all human jobs.
We need to look at the premisesand we need to decide whether or
not they logically support thisassumption.
This conclusion I calloversimplification of complex
(08:28):
issues that you see on socialmedia.
I call them assumptions ratherthan conclusions, but we need to
encourage questioning on theevitability implied by this
conclusion.
Ai will eventually replace allhuman jobs.
Is that true or are we justassuming that?
So what sort of questions?
(08:49):
Or how do we break that down.
How do we start to look at thismassive assumption and decide
whether or not it actually isvalid?
We need to separate arguments,assumptions into premises and
conclusions, like we've justlooked at, and then we need to
examine whether the premiseslogically support the conclusion
(09:11):
.
Okay, here are some ways thatwe can teach our teenagers.
I'll put a link to thisinformation on the podcast page
so that you can download it andgo through it with your teenager
at home if you want to explorethis idea further.
But the first step is to readand understand the argument.
Read the argument carefully ifyou see it online, trying to
(09:33):
understand the overall point.
What is the author's point thatthey're trying to make?
Okay, so that's the first step.
The second step is jumpstraight to the conclusion, or I
call it an assumption if it'son social media, and you can
often find what the conclusionis, because there'll be words
like therefore or hence or thus,which often is find the
(10:02):
premises.
So look for the pieces ofevidence.
Look for the reasons that thesocial media post is pointing
you in the direction of thisassumption.
So look for phrases likebecause or since, which
typically introduce premises.
And then step four is outlinethe argument.
(10:23):
So draw a simple map or listout the premises leading to the
conclusion Okay, so let's lookat it again AI will take over
all our jobs.
That is the social media post.
If we look at the conclusion orthe assumption, ai will
eventually replace all humanjobs.
That is the assumption.
That is what is said on thiscommon claim on social media,
(10:45):
the assumption.
That is what is said on thiscommon claim on social media.
How do we know that this istrue?
Well, it's not because it'sassuming that AI will eventually
replace all human jobs.
But we've got no proof.
There's no proof in the socialmedia claim to say, by the year
2030, all jobs will be replacedby AI.
(11:05):
We just don't know.
It's making a guess aboutsomething that might or might
not happen in the future.
Now, I don't know what's goingto happen in the future.
I'm not saying one way or theother about AI.
That's a whole different topic.
But to be able to say AI willtake over all our jobs, that is
(11:25):
a huge claim and there justisn't any proof.
We haven't seen any proof tocount to support that claim.
So we need to make sure that,yes, ai technologies are
advancing rapidly and, yes, manyjobs currently require tasks
that AI can perform.
But then to make that jump tothe statement AI will eventually
(11:46):
replace all human jobs well,that's just too big a jump.
There is no proof within thosetwo premises that AI will
replace all human jobs.
It will replace probably quitea lot if we follow the premises
in this statement, but there'snothing in these premises that
says AI will replace all humanjobs.
(12:07):
What I am leading towards isthat when you are looking at a
statement on social media orwhen your young person is
looking at a statement on socialmedia and they're repeating it
back to you, ask them to stopand reread the statement and
look for the separate argumentswithin that statement and we
(12:28):
call them premises.
In other words, they'resupporting reasons that the
person's making the statement.
So look for the supportingreasons in the statement and
then find the conclusion thatthe statement is trying to lead
you towards the assumption thatit wants you to believe.
Right, you've got supportingreasons and then you've got the
assumption or the conclusion.
(12:48):
Look for that in the statementwith your teenager and then
encourage them, encourage youryoung person, to examine whether
or not those supporting reasons, those premises, logically
support the conclusion or theassumption, and check for
(13:08):
anything within that statementthat just doesn't logically make
sense and we call that logicalfallacies and critical thinking.
So I'll say that again.
So the way to look at astatement online that your teen
is repeating back to you and youare trying to teach them Maybe
you need to look at that again.
(13:29):
Are you sure?
Where did you get yourinformation from?
Look at the statement with themand look for the supporting
reasons within the statement andthe assumption.
So I always start with whatassumption is the statement
making and then go backwardsfrom there and find the
supporting reasons that theperson's trying to come up with
to support their conclusion, tosupport their assumption.
So look at it like that withyour teen and then talk to your
(13:53):
teenager about whether or notthose supporting reasons, those
premises, if they logicallysupport the conclusion or if
there is something logically notquite right.
Another way you can look atinformation online is evaluating
the evidence.
I'll give you another scenario.
When researching the impact ofAI on privacy, a teenager comes
(14:13):
across a blog post claiming AIinvades our privacy more than
humans do.
All right, so straight away mybrain is thinking who's written
this post, what's theirincentive, what you need to do
or what your teenager needs todo is to look at how credible
the source is.
Is it a tech expert that'ssaying this or is that just an
(14:36):
anonymous blog?
Okay, so that's the first step.
Knee-jerk reaction that yourteenager needs to learn to do is
like who is giving me thispiece of information?
What is their incentive?
And a great way to do this isit's called now, excuse my
language it's called the CRAAPtest, c-r-a-a-p.
(14:58):
The way you can go through thisis the currency how recent is
the information?
How recent is the information?
How current is the information?
That's C C for currency, r isfor relevance Does the
information meet the needs ofyour research?
A is for authority who is theauthor or the publisher of the
(15:19):
source and are they reputable?
And then another A is foraccuracy Is the information
supported by evidence and is itconsistent with other sources
that you've read online that arecredible?
And then, finally, P is forpurpose.
Why was this informationpublished in the first place?
Was it to inform, was it topersuade, was it to entertain or
(15:44):
was it to sell?
And this is where teensespecially can get manipulated.
So we need to be looking atthat P purpose.
So that's the CRAAP testC-R-A-A-P Currency relevance
authority, accuracy purpose andI will put this on the podcast
page for you to download so thatyou can print it off and show
(16:06):
it to your teenager.
It's really good for researchpapers and assignments and also
if they are writing a piece.
In English we used to teachthis about how to argue, how to
write an argument, a writtenargument, and this is also great
for history, for social studies, any humanities topic.
Really Use the CAP test.
(16:30):
I think they'll really enjoythat title too.
They've gone through the testto examine the information, to
assess whether or not it'scredible and to make sure that
they know what the purpose ofthe information is that they're
reading.
The next part that I think ourteens need to develop in this
computer very basic level is theability to stay curious, and by
(16:53):
staying curious, our teens willembrace lifelong techniques to
keep an open mind.
The value of curiosity is ahuge driver in developing
thinking in our young people, inour teenagers.
It motivates us to seek newinformation, to ask questions
(17:16):
and to challenge existingassumptions.
Think about in the context ofAI, where technology evolves
rapidly.
If we maintain curiosity and ifwe teach our young people to
continue to be curious, it willlead us to a deeper
understanding of how AI works,so we can begin to take the fear
(17:38):
away and its implications onsociety for better or for worse.
On society for better or forworse.
Curious minds are betterequipped to recognize the
opportunities for innovation.
By keeping an open mind, bystaying curious and looking at
what is coming up on theforefront of technology, how is
(17:59):
it going to shape our society?
How is it going to impact ourinteractions with each other?
People that are curious willrecognize the opportunities for
innovation and will be able toanticipate any ethical
implications of new technologiestoo.
So staying curious isn't justabout looking for the latest
(18:21):
idea that you can make a lot ofmoney from or you can help a lot
of people from.
It's about ethics as well andensuring that, whatever
technology is coming up, it'sgoing to impact and help
humanity in a good way, in apositive way, and if not, what
are the implications?
How do we counteract that?
(18:43):
So by encouraging our teenagersto see curiosity as the
foundation of innovation, wewill be teaching them how to
question, because curiousindividuals who question how and
why AI systems make decisionsare often the ones who drive the
(19:03):
improvements in thesetechnologies and develop novel
applications that benefitsociety, and isn't that what we
want for our teenagers, Don't wewant them to rise up through
the ranks and contribute in thebest way that they can to
society, in whatever shape orform that is, whether that's
(19:25):
sports or music or arts, or evenjust being able to contribute
within a group.
We all have a role to play, andour teenagers coming through
are no different.
I'd like you to consider thestory of Jane, a librarian who
witnessed the transformation ofinformation management from
(19:45):
physical card catalogs todigital databases, to AI-powered
search systems.
It's been a huge evolution inthe library system, and Jane's
curiosity about each newtechnology led her to learn
coding in her 50s.
(20:05):
Right, and coding is a wordthat a lot of us think is
relegated to the world of tech,but our children at school and I
have got kids that are atprimary school level are
learning coding Like at age fiveupwards.
They are learning coding, andso coding, the word itself,
(20:26):
doesn't have to be thishigh-tech computer hacker level.
It's the ability for any of usto pick up a new technology and
create something out of it.
So Jane's curiosity about eachnew technology that had happened
during her journey in thelibrary.
So, from physical card catalogsto digital databases, to AI
(20:48):
power systems, that curiosityled her to learning about coding
in her 50s, allowing her tocreate better search tools for
her library.
Her story highlights that, withcuriosity, learning never stops
and age is not a barrier toadapting to technological
(21:08):
challenges.
How do we foster a learningenvironment like that at home?
Well, to start with, encouragequestions.
Make it a habit to havediscussions at home where every
family member can ask questionsor express curiosity about how
things work, includingtechnology.
Pick a time of day to do it.
Maybe it's breakfast time, aseverybody's rushing out the door
(21:29):
and you've got 10 minutes.
It's your only time during theday that everybody sits still
and eats.
Or maybe it's dinner time, ifyou are lucky enough to be
organized where everybody cansit down together over the
dinner table and eat together.
Or it could just be in the caron the way to sports drop-off or
practice or school drop-off.
Find a time and make that yourquestion asking time and
(21:52):
questions can be about anything.
It doesn't have to be aboutcritical thinking or technology
or AI, just anything in life,anything that is topical in your
family.
Ask open-ended questions, andopen-ended are the types of
questions that the other personcan't say yes or no to.
They have to actually use words.
So, rather than saying do youthink you're going to work hard
(22:16):
today at school and they caneither say yes or no, you would
say what subject do you thinkyou need to make the most
improvement with today at schooland why?
And then they would have toelaborate on that chosen subject
.
So question time is reallyimportant.
Another thing is exploretogether as a family,
(22:38):
occasionally choosing atechnology at home or an AI
concept, and explore it togetheras a family.
And when I say AI concept, itcould just even be a new app
that's available on Apple or oniTunes, or it could be like the
latest phone iPhone coming outor smartphone coming out.
Choose something technologicaland explore it together as a
(23:01):
family.
Read the reviews, look atwhat's been said about it online
.
Make it a real familydiscussion about what upgrades
you're going to make if you'relooking at upgrading a piece of
technology at home or justsimply experiment with some of
the AI tools available forpersonal use.
I mean, there's so manydifferent chatbots, chat, gpt,
(23:22):
those sorts of things that canassist you with a whole range of
different tasks at home.
There's so much that you canuse AI for that you can find on
the net, and then the other waythat you can foster a learning
environment at home is creatinga learning zone.
So designate a space at homethat's filled with resources
like books or magazines or acomputer, and you can encourage
(23:47):
your young people, yourteenagers, to use the space to
explore their interests,particularly those related to
science and technology, or STEM.
Science, technology, engineeringor maths is a hugely popular
trend with parents at the momentlooking at what sort of STEM
activities children and youngpeople can do.
(24:11):
For my children, we've got amonthly craft box that comes
from KiwiBox.
Now, I'm not an affiliate toKiwiBox, but I have been using
it since we had the lockdownsand we were stuck at home and I
needed something to keep thembusy, and that's where I
discovered it when they wereyoung.
But they absolutely adore theseboxes when they come every
month and they are designed toencourage technology and
(24:36):
learning and learning aboutscience, but doing it in a very,
very approachable, hands-on way, and so I would encourage you
to have somewhere at home whereyou can have something like this
set up, and for younger kids,for families with younger kids,
it could be a craft room or acraft area.
As I say, we have these Kiwiboxes and there is a bit of
(24:57):
craft involved with that,assembling and making.
But STEM toys are also thingslike those magnetic, those
magnet locks.
They click together and you canbuild towers and castles and
things like that.
So that's for younger peopleand then for older people, have
it more like a computer roomthat's filled with books or
(25:18):
magazines or something reallycomfy, some comfy cushions or
beanbags, just a place toencourage quiet learning and
quiet curiosity.
Curiosity is the key word here.
So my call to action forteenagers we've talked about
encouraging curiosity and we'vetalked about what is critical
(25:38):
thinking at a really basiclogical level, and so now my
call to action for teenagers isto take charge of their learning
, and that starts withmotivation.
Teenagers' education isn't justabout absorbing information
given in school.
It's about engaging activelywith this information,
(26:00):
questioning it and applying itin various contexts.
To actively engage it helpsdevelop a deeper understanding
and a personal connection totheir learning material.
Learning through experience isthe best way to learn.
When I was a teenager Iorganized my high school formal
(26:23):
after party.
Funny story here I'msidetracking a little bit, but
our school put on the formal orthe prom in America they call it
, you guys would call it butthey were not going to be
affiliated or in charge of anyafter parties.
So I took that role andorganized our school's after
party and it was a Catholicgirls' school, very small
(26:46):
Catholic girls' school.
There was about 30 of us in theentire year group and so we're
not talking like a massively outof control wild party.
It was very ladylike.
But the after party venueobviously had a surcharge fee,
so I created tickets, we soldtickets to everybody that wanted
to come and obviously theybrought partners and we had a
surcharge fee.
So I created tickets, we soldtickets to everybody that wanted
to come and obviously theybrought partners and we had a
(27:08):
great night.
But that was my first foray intoentrepreneurship, because we
found the problem obviously thatneeded to be solved was that we
had no after party and I wantedto step into that void and
provide a solution, which wasthe after party that we put on
and luckily I had a dad who wasa graphic designer, so he
(27:29):
designed the tickets and weprinted them all out and it
looked really professional and Idecorated the venue with my
friends and we made it.
We almost made it feel like Ihad a brand to it.
You know, right back when yousaid when I was 17, 18, learning
about branding.
But there was a small profitmade from that and it was my
first foray into creatingsomething, selling it and
(27:53):
getting a return on that.
Now, obviously, at that age webreak even, but really fostered
in me a hunger forentrepreneurship and creating
something to provide solutionsto problems that people have,
and that is an example ofexperiential learning that
(28:14):
teenagers, I think, reallythrive with.
When they can see the relevanceof what they're doing and how it
applies in the real world, thenthey will rise to the challenge
.
So encourage activeparticipation in learning.
I would encourage teenagers toview knowledge as a tool for
empowerment.
(28:35):
Understanding complex subjects,including AI, equips teenagers
with the power to make informeddecisions and influence the
world around them right.
So if we as parents and aseducators and as caregivers,
encourage them to takeinitiative by researching topics
that they're interested in, orstarting projects that they're
interested in, or participatingin clubs or workshops where they
(28:58):
can apply their knowledge, thenonce again, it's that real
world application of making itrelevant to what they're
learning about and that keepsthe motivation up.
So, then, they're developingthese critical thinking skills,
and now we need to encourage ouryoung people to apply it in an
AI driven world.
With social media algorithms,for example, we know that the
(29:20):
algorithm will just show a userwhat they're interested in, or
what the algorithm thinks thatthey're interested in.
It doesn't necessarily givethem a wide, open perspective of
what other pieces ofinformation are out there on the
web.
Our teenagers need to usecritical thinking.
We need to ask our teenagers toconsider why certain posts are
(29:41):
promoted on their feed and whyothers aren't, and what is the
impact of this.
What might it have on theirperceptions and therefore their
behavior?
So we want to challenge them tothink about how they might use
social media differently if theyunderstood these mechanisms
better.
And the other way online is withonline privacy.
Think about online privacy inthe age of AI and how personal
(30:07):
data is collected and usedonline, for example,
personalized advertising.
If you click on a link and signup to something, then AI
collects your data.
They collect your name or yourbirth date or your email address
, and then they know that you'reinterested in that topic.
We need to be teaching ourteenagers to really critically
evaluate what information theyshare online themselves, and
(30:32):
also consider the potentiallong-term impacts of data
sharing when they give awaytheir important data to online
forums or online pages or onlineshops.
And so this leads us todecision-making right.
The importance of using criticalthinking to make decisions,
especially when it's using AI intheir own lives, becomes really
(30:54):
important as well.
For example, they're decidingto download a new app on their
phone.
We need to encourage them toreally think about the
permissions the app is askingfor and why it needs those
permissions, and think about thebenefits that the teens are
getting by downloading this appagainst potential privacy
(31:14):
concerns especially, you know,you think about those apps like
the photo apps where they canmanipulate pictures of
themselves, or the filters theycan put on selfies or all of
those sorts of apps.
Online there's so many that canpotentially start to tap into
your personal data.
We need teens to start toquestion this before they
download.
They don't just blindlydownload the latest and greatest
(31:37):
.
My challenge to us as parentsand educators is to work with
our young people to set specific, achievable goals that promote
ethical thinking on a verygeneralized basis.
To get the ball rolling, soexamples could be reading a new
book each month on a topic thatchallenges them.
(31:58):
Or it could be exploring a newsubject through online courses
or workshops, especiallysubjects like coding or
statistics or ethical studiesthat directly complement
understanding of AI, if AI issomething that you are
particularly worried about as aparent, but it could just be a
new subject in general, just tospark curiosity in our young
(32:21):
people.
Or it could be discussingcurrent events critically with
friends or family.
This could be structured as amonthly discussion club where
they pick a topic, they canresearch different viewpoints
and come together to discussthose viewpoints critically, but
you would need to use evidenceand reason arguments, and it
should be about finding currentevents that are outside of your
(32:42):
comfort zone rather than in youralready developed algorithm,
because, remember, the algorithmis only going to bring up more
of what you like to read or moreof what you believe in, so
finding current events and thendiscussing it critically needs
to be outside of your comfortzone.
That's the whole point inbeginning to foster those
critical thinking skills, andjust remember that the goal
(33:03):
isn't just to achieve theseobjectives, but it's to make a
habit of thinking criticallyaround our world.
I encourage us, as parents andeducators, to support these
goals by providing resourcesthat our kids need, like, as I
say, it doesn't have to be theKiwiBox example that I gave
before, but providing otherresources that they might need
(33:26):
access to, even if it's just acomputer at home, magazines or
discussing ideas, or perhapseven just joining in on those
monthly challenges that Imentioned above.
So by encouraging our teens andour young people to take these
active steps, and by developingtheir critical thinking skills
and by setting regular goals,they can become more informed,
(33:46):
thoughtful and empoweredindividuals, ready to face the
challenges of an AI-driven world.
And isn't that what we want?
Don't we want the best for ourkids?
Don't we want them to be ready,when they leave school and head
out into the wide, open world,to be able to face these
challenges head on?
We've covered a lot today and inthe last four episodes or five
episodes if you count today'sone about AI and its impact on
(34:07):
critical thinking in ourteenagers.
We've gone through theintroduction to AI.
We've talked about AI ineducation, in social media and
privacy concerns and how we canenhance our critical thinking
skills.
We have got so many more topicsthat I can't wait to dive into
(34:28):
with our wonderful parentaudience.
If you have any questions abouttoday's episode.
Please drop me a line at infoat
theclassichighschoolteachercom.
And in the meantime, Iencourage everyone to keep the
conversations going at home,discuss what you've learned with
your children, with yourfriends, your family, your peers
, experiment with the tools andstrategies we've used and see
(34:49):
how they can change yourinteraction with technology.
I will put on the podcast pagea link to that CRAAP test that
crap sorry it sounds very crasssaying that that test that teens
can really get a lot out ofwhen they are writing research
reports at school.
So I'll put that link on thepodcast page and remember when
(35:09):
you challenge your mind, you canchange the world.
This is Francesca Hudsonsigning off.
Stay curious, my friends, andkeep thinking critically.
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