April 24, 2024 • 37 mins
The Essay Clinic - learn more here
Could your teen's next question unlock a universe of knowledge, or will it be lost in the echo chamber of artificial intelligence? Our latest episode is a treasure trove for parents and educators determined to fuel the intellectual fire of our younger generation. We unpack the art of questioning and its pivotal role in the development of teenagers as they navigate an AI-saturated landscape. With a blend of expertise and practical advice, we reveal how to cultivate a healthy dose of skepticism and an insatiable curiosity in our youth, guiding them to probe the information they're fed by algorithms and challenge the status quo.
As we dissect the intricacies of the digital realm, we confront the stark realities that today's teens face—from cyberbullying to the flood of online misinformation. This dialogue serves as a beacon for fostering debate and critical thinking, providing strategies to inspire teenagers to take the reins of their own learning journey. We delve into the tools necessary for adolescents to discern the credibility of their sources, equipping them to emerge as autonomous learners and thinkers. This episode is a call to action for anyone invested in preparing our next generation to thrive in a complex, digital society.
In the finale, we shine a spotlight on the limitations and potential biases inherent in AI technologies. Through vivid examples, we demonstrate how AI can misinterpret data and shape perceptions, emphasizing the importance of teenagers learning to critically examine the algorithms that increasingly influence their academic pursuits. Furthermore, we invite our listeners to weave classic literature into the modern discourse, using the hashtag Classic Lit Teacher to foster community engagement. This session is about more than just understanding AI; it's about arming our teens with the wisdom to use these tools judiciously, ensuring they become informed contributors to the world around them.
Grab your FREE copy of our 'Raising Questioners' guide with three activities and a list of suggested ("cool") topic starters to get those conversations flowing!
Links to further study:
The Foundation for Critical Thinking
Coursera
Khan Academy
**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 Essa
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):
Welcome to Challenge your Mind, change the World.
We are running a five-partseries on AI and education and
how it potentially can affectyour teenager.
Today we are on episode three.
We are looking at the art ofasking questions in our AI world
.
In today's episode, we delveinto a skill that is both
(00:20):
timeless and increasinglycrucial in our digital age it's
the art of asking the rightquestions as we navigate a world
where artificial intelligenceis becoming more pervasive.
The ability to questioneffectively is not just an
academic skill.
It's a vital tool for criticalthinking and for personal growth
(00:43):
.
So, parents, if you have got ateenager at home, listen up,
because today the rise of AIbrings a mix of optimism and
concern, especially when itcomes to teenagers' development
In educational settings.
Ai technologies can offerpersonalized learning
experiences and instant accessto a vast pool of information.
(01:06):
It's scary how much informationis at their fingertips without
filter, without any kind ofgatekeeping or inability for it
to be assessed critically.
So, while AI technologies canoffer personalized learning
experiences, the same technologyalso presents challenges.
(01:26):
There is the risk ofover-reliance, which might deter
deep thinking andproblem-solving skills amongst
our beautiful students, and,moreover, the content delivered
by AI might be biased orincomplete, potentially shaping
young minds in unforeseen ways.
And who out there has had thisworry at home?
(01:47):
Nod your head if you'relistening to this and you have
had the same concerns by the endof our discussion today.
Our aim is for you, aswonderful parents, to feel more
equipped to guide your teenagersin becoming discerning
questioners.
We want them to becomeindividuals who can navigate the
flood of information that AIoffers with skepticism and
(02:13):
intellectual curiosity.
Sounds impossible.
I don't think so.
It's attainable, it'sachievable and it's a lot easier
than you think.
For us to be able to guide ourbeautiful teenagers in this
world of AI, this new frontierof AI, really and the way that
we're going to do it is throughteaching them to ask the right
(02:35):
questions.
Questions challenge theresponses from AI and provide
you with practical exercises tostrengthen your teenager's
questioning prowess.
Are you ready?
All right, let's get into it.
I thought we would start today'spodcast with looking at the
(02:57):
power of questions, and there'sthree parts to this podcast that
I want to dive into.
The first part is the power ofquestions, and then I want to
move into questioning the AI inpart two and then in part three,
I really want to look at somepractical exercises.
Let's look at the power ofquestions to start, and I want
(03:19):
to look at the foundational rolethat questioning plays in
education and personaldevelopment.
Questions are the startingpoint for everything that we
teach.
When it comes to scaffoldingnew content, new ideas and new
subject matter for our teenagersin class and in life, we always
(03:40):
start with questioning, alwaysstart with questioning.
We always start with assessingwhat they know, asking them what
they know about a topic andthen, from there, drilling down
and defining what they don'tknow.
Questions are the engine ofintellectual curiosity, if you
like, and they are a key tool inthe pursuit of knowledge.
So we need to really honourthat idea and explain and look
(04:07):
at the importance of askingquestions and not just any
questions, the right kind ofquestions.
Asking questions is criticalfor intellectual growth because
it encourages individuals tothink deeply rather than to
accept information at face value.
That one word, why and it candrive us nuts as parents.
I know it can.
(04:28):
I've got two boys and they areforever asking me why, why this,
why that?
And it takes a lot of patiencesometimes to honour those why
questions and respond to them ina way that children can walk
away from a conversation andhave a good, comprehensive
knowledge of the question thatthey asked.
(04:51):
But we do need to encourage ourchildren to be asking questions
all the time, because by askingquestions is how you can grow
your understanding and yourappreciation of the world around
you.
It can grow your empathy forwhy people are different or why
(05:13):
not everybody is the same, whythat person dresses that way and
you're dressing that way, orwhy some people have more than
others, or why some people haveless than others, or why some
countries are fighting with eachother, or why some countries
are progressing well withclimate change and why other
countries aren't, or why thispolitical situation is happening
(05:36):
.
In this area and this politicalsituation, you can see how, why
questions can start at the verybasic and then they can deepen
and broaden into some quitecomplex ideas that shape the
world around us.
So by encouraging our childrento be constantly asking
questions, especially whyquestions, it means that they're
going beyond just acceptinginformation at face value, so
(06:06):
that in turn promotesproblem-solving skills, because
we're challenging learners,we're challenging our students,
we're challenging our childrento seek out the causes, the
effects and the underlyingprinciples, rather than just
simply memorizing facts asrobots, almost robotically, and
freedom of thought and freedomof expression.
All of these creative andcritical aspects to human
(06:26):
thought are not going to go awaywith the introduction of AI and
, if anything, they're going tobecome more crucial and more
important to preserve and toencourage and to teach by asking
questions.
It stimulates critical thinking, which is essential for
evaluating different viewpointsand making informed decisions,
is essential for evaluatingdifferent viewpoints and making
(06:47):
informed decisions, and thisskill is becoming increasingly
important as teenagers begin tonavigate more complex social,
academic and personal landscapes.
The world that they're growingup in now is so completely
different to the world that youor I, as parents and as teachers
or educators, grew up in andthe types of things that our
teenagers nowadays have to faceor have to overcome or have to
(07:11):
navigate their way through.
We never had growing up and Ithink social media for one is a
huge element in their ownteenage development that they
have to navigate through andmake decisions on about what to
post, what not to post, what tocomment on, what not to comment
on, what type of comments topost, cyberbullying, cyber
(07:36):
harassment it just goes on andon and on, and we never had to
deal with that growing up.
So our teenagers nowadays areliving in a highly complex world
comparatively to what we weregrowing up in, and we therefore
need to equip them with atoolkit a mental toolkit, really
(07:56):
on how to work their waythrough all of these situations.
All of these situations, theaccess to information, the fact
that they are being exposed moreto images and quite senior
levels of information at youngerages, and there's no way that
that's going to slow down.
(08:17):
They've got tablets, they'vegot iPads, they've got phones,
we've got TVs now that have somany different apps on it for so
many different documentariesand TV shows and movies, and
everything is at theirfingertips.
Critical thinking is reallyimportant because it's the one
gateway or it's the gatekeeper,if you like that will pause and
(08:39):
stop them in their tracks beforethey make a decision, to really
evaluate whether or not it'sthe right decision to make, and
questioning helps with that.
Questioning drives curiosity,it drives learning and it drives
understanding.
Questions ignite curiosity byopening new lines of inquiry and
making learning an activeprocess.
(08:59):
When teenagers ask questions,they are essentially taking
control of their learningjourney and they're steering it
towards areas that interest them, are interested in because from
that comes motivation.
And then it's learning throughinquiry, it's learning through
(09:27):
going and finding out theinformation around that topic
and researching and talking toexperts in that field and really
have that student focused.
And that is all askingquestions and it's all
student-led, which is fabulous.
The students are in charge ofcoming up with the right
questions to ask in order todrive their learning.
Questions also lead to a deeperunderstanding by not just
(09:51):
asking what, but why and how,and we've talked about the why
questions previously, but thesetypes of questions encourage
students to connect concepts andapply knowledge in new contexts
, which is vital for theirlong-term retention and their
comprehension of the topic athand.
When students are looking atthe why and the how remember
(10:11):
it's the old Bloom's taxonomycoming into play here the higher
order thinking, the whyquestions then we know that our
students are well on the way todeveloping those critical
thinking skills, which is whatthey're going to need,
especially in those final yearsof high school education and
then beyond.
(10:32):
How do we encourage questionasking with our teenagers,
especially if our teens are notthat great at opening up to us
as adults or really taking thetime to reflect on the world or
to reflect on situations at hand?
Or perhaps they're not thegreatest talkers at home,
because we know that that's whatteenagers are like, and so the
(10:54):
way that we can encouragequestion asking is relating it
to everyday experiences for them.
Bring in examples relevant tobeautiful teenagers' daily lives
.
And in the classroom we can doit within class discussions, for
example.
As educators, I would quiteoften ask questions in class to
(11:15):
gain richer discussions and tocreate a more engaging learning
environment.
I would come up with topicalquestions that might be slightly
controversial to really start aclassroom debate, a respectful
classroom debate, but it was agreat way to just get the room
talking and to get peoplelooking and realising that not
(11:36):
everybody has the same opinion.
And when I say controversialtopics, just things like should
school uniforms be compulsory?
In schools that I was teachingat, they all had school uniforms
.
So of course, it was quite astrong opinion topic for
students as to whether or notthey should be wearing school
uniforms, as to whether or notthey should be wearing school
(11:56):
uniforms.
You can take any topicalquestion and use it as a warmer,
as an opening for your class ifyou're an educator listening to
this, or if you're at home, ifyou're a parent, and you can use
it at the dinner table wheneveryone is sitting down for
dinner or perhaps in the cardriving somewhere.
Start looking at ways that youcan introduce or encourage
(12:18):
question asking with yourchildren and see what different
sides of a topic come throughand then honour those sides of
the topic, listen to them andevaluate them.
Another way that we canencourage question asking with
our teens is using technology.
Well, while they are usingtechnology, so technology often
(12:39):
provides quick answers, as weknow, but I think by encouraging
teenagers to question theaccuracy and the sources of
these answers can lead to somereally good discussions too.
So this can be tied to usingsearch engines for school
projects.
So Google, for example, and youlook at a search engine like
(13:01):
Google and by pointing out toyour team that this is a
multi-billion dollar companythat obviously has a business to
run and it's got money to make,and that there are websites and
brands out there that arecompeting for keywords and they
are paying to be at the top ofthe search rankings.
(13:22):
When you are googling somethingand you'll see websites coming
up at the very, very top and itsays sponsored.
Well, that's because they'repaid to be at the top there, not
necessarily because they arethe best go-to source for what
you are looking for.
And also, I don't know ifyou've ever found this, but when
you're Googling something andthen you'll get related websites
that come up on the search pageand it might not actually have
(13:45):
anything to do with what you'relooking for, but you can end up
going down a real rabbit hole byclicking on these and suddenly
you're off on a differenttopical together, and that can
be confusing to navigate.
If you are a young teenagertrying to work out how to
research or how to look atdifferent sources critically,
it's really important that wepoint that out to them when they
(14:05):
are using technology and alsowhen they're consuming media.
So, with the vast amounts ofcontent available now and we
talked about it before with allthe apps on TV, netflix and
Disney and on the iPads andtablets, it's crucial that
teenagers learn to question thereliability and the bias of some
(14:25):
of the information that theyconsume, whether it's the news
articles, social media or evenadvertisements.
News, particularly, can be atricky minefield for our teens
to navigate through, because youwill have right-wing and
left-wing leaning media outletsand newspapers and online
publications, and this can comethrough even on social media,
(14:49):
through Facebook or whatever itis, because obviously the
algorithms exist and once youstart looking at one article,
then the algorithm will kickinto place and it will just
start bringing up more of thesame type.
And once you start looking atone article, then the algorithm
will kick into place and it willjust start bringing up more of
the same type of article thatyou've looked at.
So you're not going to get avery level playing field or a
very non-biased playing fieldwhen you are looking at things
online, because that's not whatGoogle or Facebook are
(15:12):
interested in.
They just want to keep showingyou more of what they think you
are looking for.
Whether or not that's biased,they don't really care.
So we have to be so carefulwith our teens and explain that
to them, and through that willcome questioning and you will be
asking your teens questionsabout how they can decipher what
(15:33):
is fact and what is bias andwhat is accurate and what is not
.
I would encourage you to fosteran environment where asking
questions is valued in your home, and I think that if we prompt
our teenagers with questionsthat require more than yes, no
answers so really looking at thewhy and the how questions we
(15:54):
are encouraging them to thinkcritically and articulate their
thoughts and their opinions morefully.
A practical tip I wouldencourage our teenagers to keep
a question journal where theycan write down questions that
arise from everyday observationsand interactions, which can
later be researched anddiscussed as a family, and you
can make it fun.
In the old days we used to dosticker charts for behavior.
(16:16):
Well, perhaps this can be somesort of a reward system where,
if we are encouraging our teensto keep a journal of questions
and then throughout the weekthey're adding to that, we can
look at that at the end of theweek and there's an incentive
there for them to be able to dothat.
And I think it brings familiescloser together when they can
discuss and analyze and talkfreely with each other.
(16:38):
And, at the end of the day,communication is one of the
things that we really need towork on with teens, because they
do have a tendency to bottlethings in and, especially as a
teacher in class, you've reallygot to try and draw out the
information sometimes out theinformation sometimes.
So by encouraging them to havesomething like a question
journal, we're actuallyequipping them to create a
(16:59):
healthy mindset, not just in theclassroom, but also to be able
to look at life in a moreevaluative way.
From here we move intoquestioning the AI.
So we've talked about theimportance of questioning and
we've talked about how we canencourage our teenagers to
develop those criticalquestioning habits, and the
reasons why and how it'simportant to have those skills,
(17:21):
those questioning skills.
Now we need to turn ourattention to questioning the AI
in particular.
Artificial intelligence, or AIfor short, surrounds us, for
short surrounds us.
It's deeply embedded in manytools that teenagers use every
day, from algorithms thatdetermine what they see on
(17:46):
social media, as we mentioned,to search engines that answer
their queries, like Google, andeven educational software that
aids in learning.
Ai's influence is pervasive andit is here to stay.
While AI can be incrediblyhelpful, it's crucial to
remember that it's just a tooland it's reliant on the data fed
into it and the programmingbehind it.
(18:08):
And this is what I was talkingabout before, with making sure
that your team knows andunderstands, when they are using
an AI website or an app.
Who is the manufacturer of thisAI tool and what is it that
they want to achieve by sellingit to you or promoting it or
(18:29):
having you use their software?
What is the bias?
Is there bias there?
What are they going to get outof this achievement, or this
agreement, this transaction, ifyou like.
We have to be really mindful ofthat.
We need to understand thelimitations and the biases of AI
.
It's not the be all and end all.
It's not the answer toeverybody's problems.
(18:52):
It's not going to suddenly doall the work for a teenager.
Get them through high school,get them into the ivy league
colleges, and your teens won'thave to lift a finger.
It's really important for teensto recognize that ai systems
have limitations and they havebias which can affect the
information that they provide.
(19:13):
There's three things to look atwith AI there's accuracy,
there's bias and then there'sdepth.
So firstly, with accuracy, weneed to stress the need for
critical examination of AIresponses in the software that
our teens are using, whetherthey're using it to write an
essay or they're using it for aresearch assignment.
We need to ask whether theinformation provided by AI is,
(19:39):
and we need to highlight howoutdated or poorly sourced data
can lead AI to present incorrector misleading answers.
The update yet, or they areperhaps not understanding
exactly what the specific taskis, that you are feeding it and
(20:10):
if you are creating a assignmentfor school or if your teen is
creating a research report orwriting an essay and the
teacher's really looking forsomething like those critical
thinking skills seen in theessay and that's the teenager's
ability to look at something andprovide their own opinions on
it, then AI is only going to getthem so far.
(20:31):
It's not going to completelysolve the problem.
For a teen, that can lead toincorrect or misleading answers.
We need to make sure that weare really really clearly
explaining to our teens theaccuracy of the apps that
they're using.
Have a chat with your teenagers.
Find out what type of softwarethey're using for their study.
Really look at if that's thebest path forward for them, for
(20:55):
your teen.
The second thing is bias.
Ai systems often reflect thebias presented in their training
data.
Often reflect the biaspresented in their training data
.
This can be bias relating torace, gender, culture or even
socioeconomic status.
Teens should question whetherthe information has an inherent
(21:17):
bias or if it's presenting abalanced perspective.
Who is the creator of thisinformation?
Who is the company behind it,or is it showing both sides of a
perspective?
So bias is really important tolook for.
And then the third element inunderstanding the limitations of
(21:38):
AI is depth.
Ai might often provide quick,surface level information, but
it lacks depth.
You'll get a very generalizedview of something but you won't
get the very in-depth,nitty-gritty examples and
details that is often needed forcritical examinations or
(22:00):
critical thinking.
We need to challenge ourchildren.
We need to challenge our teensto consider whether AI is
offering a thorough explanationof what it is that your teenager
is using it for, or is it justa brief overview?
So we need to be careful thatwhen our teens go into their
rooms to do their homework andthey have to do a full study
(22:24):
report or an essay, they don'tcome out after 20 minutes and
say they're done, becausethey've fed the topic into an AI
website.
It's printed out a very generaloverview of the topic and they
think great, I've got 600 wordshere, or I've got a thousand
words, I'm done.
Words here, or I've got athousand words, I'm done.
(22:47):
We need to encourage ourchildren to seek deeper
understanding, especially oncomplex subjects when they're
using this software, becausequantity doesn't necessarily
mean quality.
To give you some real examplesof AI misinterpretation, of AI
(23:07):
misinterpretation A virtualassistant might misinterpret a
question about the Cold War asabout banning cold weather
conditions, so the AI in thisscenario has missed the context
of the Cold War.
They have interpreted itliterally.
Another example could be wherea social media algorithm
promotes certain types ofcontent more frequently than
others and we've talked aboutthis previously in the podcast
(23:28):
and this can skew a teenager'sperception of what is popular or
accepted, and it therefore willgrow a bias within your teen.
So we need to make sure thatteens are exposed to balanced
perspectives on information.
And a third example could be aneducational app that provides a
(23:49):
summary of scientific conceptswithout going into the necessary
detail required to fullyunderstand complex theories or
experiments, and so, therefore,it's pointing out the lack of
depth, and our teens won't evenrealize that they are showing a
lack of depth because they areso reliant on these apps that
they think they've covered allbases.
(24:10):
They don't have to think aboutit, they're done, their project
is done, their homework is done.
So how can we counteract this?
We can with encouragingcritical questioning.
Encouraging criticalquestioning.
We can encourage our teenagersand we can encourage ourselves
as parents and educators, todiscuss these examples with our
(24:30):
teens and urge them to askcritical questions about the AI
tools they are using.
And here are three questionsfor you to ask your teen when
they're using an AI app orwebsite.
What is the source of thisinformation?
That's the first question.
Second question is why mightthis answer be biased?
(24:51):
And the third question is whatisn't this AI telling me?
I'll say those questions againwhat is the source of this
information?
Why might this answer be biased, and what isn't this AI telling
me?
So by regularly engaging insuch questioning, teenagers can
develop a more critical approachto this technology that they
(25:14):
interact with, and it thereforefosters better awareness and a
smarter use of AI.
Let's move into part three ofthis podcast, the importance of
actively practicing questioningskills we've talked about.
I wanted to give you someexercises that are designed to
help you guide your teens inbecoming more critical and
(25:34):
thoughtful in their questioning,whether interacting with AI or
engaging in everyday discussions.
The first exercise and thereare three exercises here, so the
first one is identifyingquestions.
The objective of this activityis to encourage you to help your
teens think more deeply aboutthe subjects that they discuss,
(25:57):
and the way that you can do thisis recall a recent conversation
or a topic your teen showedinterest in.
Have a think it could besomething from a school project,
it could be a news item, or itcould be a personal hobby.
My son is mad about learningthe keyboard at the moment, so
that's all we talk about at home.
So have a think about a recentconversation or topic that your
(26:21):
teen was interested in.
Have a think about a recentconversation or topic that your
teen was interested in, and thenlist several questions that you
might ask your teen to probedeeper into the topic, and these
could include a mix of whatquestions?
So the factual questions, thewhy, questions for reasoning and
how questions.
So, for example, if the topicwas climate change, questions
(26:46):
could range from what are themain causes of climate change?
That's a what effect yourquestion to, why is it important
to address climate change nowand how can we reduce our carbon
footprint.
By sharing these questions withour teens and discussing their
responses, we can really get anidea of the depth and the
(27:07):
thoughtfulness of theconversation that follows.
That would be my firstrecommendation.
Let's start identifyingquestions that we can ask our
teens.
Second activity was all aboutevaluating AI responses, so this
is to teach our teens tocritically assess the
(27:27):
information provided by AI, andso what you can do as a parent
at home is find an AI tool thatyour teen uses or that you as a
family might use, such as avoice assistant or a chat bot,
as a family might use, such as avoice assistant or a chatbot to
(27:48):
ask questions about a commonhigh school subject like biology
or history or English, seeingas I'm an English teacher and
ask a series of questions tothis AI piece of software and
write down its responses.
So questions should vary incomplexity and be really
specific to test the AI'scapability.
(28:09):
So, once you've written downyour questions to ask the AI and
you've collected the responses,analyze them for the following,
and there's three things.
Remember that we talked aboutthe accuracy, the bias and the
depth.
So analyze the AI's response toyour questions with accuracy.
Are the responses factuallycorrect?
(28:29):
Look for the bias Do theresponses seem to favor a
particular viewpoint?
And then look at how deep theAI response goes.
Are the answers detailed enoughor do they remain superficial?
So, for an example, questioningan AI about the causes of World
War II and then evaluate thecompleteness of historical
(28:50):
context provided, and you mightfind that you will get a very
general overview from the AI andthen you will need to prompt it
by asking more specificquestions.
So, once again, that isencouraging your teen and it's
teaching your teen that theyneed to ask more questions to
get deeper understanding.
So the third exercise and thisis the last one I promise is the
(29:11):
question formulation technique.
I'd like to introduce to you astructured method to develop
more effective questioningstrategies.
It's a systematic approach todeveloping questions and it's
called the question formulationtechnique, or QFT for short.
What you could do with yourteen is present a statement or a
(29:34):
topic so, for example,renewable energy sources are
essential for sustainabledevelopment and then see if you
can produce as many questions asyou can about the statement
without stopping to discuss orrevise them.
So this is almost a bit like agame, if you like.
And then, once you havebrainstormed and written down as
(29:56):
many questions as you can aboutthe statement, refine the
questions by opening closed onesand closing open ones.
I'll say that again refine thequestions by opening closed
questions, so the yes or noquestions.
Rewrite them as open questions,using why or how, and close the
(30:20):
open ones, so the openquestions are the why or the how
questions.
Turn them into yes or no,factual ones, and then consider
the impact of each format andthen, from there, prioritize the
questions based on theirpotential to provoke critical
thinking and deeper inquiry.
It's quite an in-depth exercise.
(30:43):
If you like, I will put theinstructions for this QFT the
question formulation techniqueon the podcast website.
I'll put the link there for itas a free download so that you
can have a bit of fun with thisPlay around.
I'll give you some exampletopics or I'll give you some
example statements or topics.
That will be fun, that willengage your teen, and then, once
(31:05):
you've had a go playing thisand you've modelled it for your
teen and I've had a go playingthis, reflect on how the
different types of questionsmight lead to richer and more
varied exploration of the topic.
Regular practice of theseexercises can significantly
enhance the questioningcapabilities for both ourselves
and our teens.
(31:25):
If we encourage continuedpractice, then I would love to
hear your feedback on how youwent with these exercises and
the outcomes.
It can be fun.
It's great to step out frombeyond the classroom and talk to
them about some of these topics, as they're getting older, that
we can really understand.
(31:45):
Well, they can really begin tounderstand now and have an
opinion on, and we can encouragethem to have opinions.
Opinions are great.
It's how we communicate.
Opinions is the key part ofcritical thinking and making
sure that we are looking atdifferent aspects of a topic of
(32:16):
questioning as a fundamentalskill that supports critical
thinking and intellectualdevelopment.
We need to make sure that thisskill is especially crucial in
the digital age, where AI andtechnology are constantly
present and are constantlypresenting information that we
have to scrutinize and evaluate.
We need to make sure that ourteens are developing questioning
skills that can help them notjust in academic settings, but
(32:41):
in everyday life, and we aresupporting and aiding them in
becoming more thoughtful,inquisitive and informed
individuals.
I think the value of practicingthese questioning skills that
we've just talked aboutalongside our children is a
great way to show modeling orscaffolding of how, as adults,
(33:03):
we use critical thinking and bymaking this a regular part of
our interactions, whether we'rediscussing the daily news or
viewing a movie or evennavigating social media.
To foster a habit of criticalanalysis and deeper
understanding is so important,and I think that if we are
creating a home environment thatvalues and rewards curiosity
(33:26):
and skepticism, these are vitalfor navigating a world rich with
information yet fraught withmisinformation.
I think that, if you areinterested in this topic,
there's a website for the peoplethat are more interested in
online information calledcriticalthinkingorg, which
provides tools and techniquesfor developing critical thinking
(33:48):
skills, and then there areonline courses from platforms
like Coursera or Khan Academythat focus on digital literacy
and AI fundamentals.
I will link all those in theshow notes, too, if you're
interested in learning more,going further with this, but I
would ask you to engage with thepodcast.
(34:08):
If you have enjoyed this episode, I would love for you to engage
with the podcast by sharingyour experiences or the
questions you have developedwith your teens.
I'd love to hear what you comeup with.
I would love for you to tag anyof these on social media with
the hashtag Classic Lit Teacher,and then we can get a community
(34:30):
discussion going, or submityour stories and questions
through the email that we've got, which is help, at
classicliteratureteachercom.
I would love for you to give ussome feedback on the episode as
well.
Give us a rating on Apple orwhatever the platform is that
you're listening to this on, andI would love to know what
(34:52):
worked for you, what didn't workfor you and what you would like
to learn more about in futureepisodes.
So thank you for being with uson this very comprehensive
episode today.
Thank you for your time and Ihope that this episode has
provided you with some valuableinsights and tools, and remember
that the power of questioningand cultivating an informed and
(35:13):
critically thinking generationis what we are all about here at
the Classic Literature Teacher.
Challenge your mind, change theworld.
Until next time, my friends,keep thinking critically.
Welcome to Challenge your Mind, change the World.
We are running a five-partseries on AI and education and
how it potentially can affectyour teenager.
Today we are on episode three.
We are looking at the art ofasking questions in our AI world
.
In today's episode, we delveinto a skill that is both
(00:20):
timeless and increasinglycrucial in our digital age it's
the art of asking the rightquestions as we navigate a world
where artificial intelligenceis becoming more pervasive.
The ability to questioneffectively is not just an
academic skill.
It's a vital tool for criticalthinking and for personal growth
(00:43):
.
So, parents, if you have got ateenager at home, listen up,
because today the rise of AIbrings a mix of optimism and
concern, especially when itcomes to teenagers' development
In educational settings.
Ai technologies can offerpersonalized learning
experiences and instant accessto a vast pool of information.
(01:06):
It's scary how much informationis at their fingertips without
filter, without any kind ofgatekeeping or inability for it
to be assessed critically.
So, while AI technologies canoffer personalized learning
experiences, the same technologyalso presents challenges.
(01:26):
There is the risk ofover-reliance, which might deter
deep thinking andproblem-solving skills amongst
our beautiful students, and,moreover, the content delivered
by AI might be biased orincomplete, potentially shaping
young minds in unforeseen ways.
And who out there has had thisworry at home?
(01:47):
Nod your head if you'relistening to this and you have
had the same concerns by the endof our discussion today.
Our aim is for you, aswonderful parents, to feel more
equipped to guide your teenagersin becoming discerning
questioners.
We want them to becomeindividuals who can navigate the
flood of information that AIoffers with skepticism and
(02:13):
intellectual curiosity.
Sounds impossible.
I don't think so.
It's attainable, it'sachievable and it's a lot easier
than you think.
For us to be able to guide ourbeautiful teenagers in this
world of AI, this new frontierof AI, really and the way that
we're going to do it is throughteaching them to ask the right
(02:35):
questions.
Questions challenge theresponses from AI and provide
you with practical exercises tostrengthen your teenager's
questioning prowess.
Are you ready?
All right, let's get into it.
I thought we would start today'spodcast with looking at the
(02:57):
power of questions, and there'sthree parts to this podcast that
I want to dive into.
The first part is the power ofquestions, and then I want to
move into questioning the AI inpart two and then in part three,
I really want to look at somepractical exercises.
Let's look at the power ofquestions to start, and I want
(03:19):
to look at the foundational rolethat questioning plays in
education and personaldevelopment.
Questions are the startingpoint for everything that we
teach.
When it comes to scaffoldingnew content, new ideas and new
subject matter for our teenagersin class and in life, we always
(03:40):
start with questioning, alwaysstart with questioning.
We always start with assessingwhat they know, asking them what
they know about a topic andthen, from there, drilling down
and defining what they don'tknow.
Questions are the engine ofintellectual curiosity, if you
like, and they are a key tool inthe pursuit of knowledge.
So we need to really honourthat idea and explain and look
(04:07):
at the importance of askingquestions and not just any
questions, the right kind ofquestions.
Asking questions is criticalfor intellectual growth because
it encourages individuals tothink deeply rather than to
accept information at face value.
That one word, why and it candrive us nuts as parents.
I know it can.
(04:28):
I've got two boys and they areforever asking me why, why this,
why that?
And it takes a lot of patiencesometimes to honour those why
questions and respond to them ina way that children can walk
away from a conversation andhave a good, comprehensive
knowledge of the question thatthey asked.
(04:51):
But we do need to encourage ourchildren to be asking questions
all the time, because by askingquestions is how you can grow
your understanding and yourappreciation of the world around
you.
It can grow your empathy forwhy people are different or why
(05:13):
not everybody is the same, whythat person dresses that way and
you're dressing that way, orwhy some people have more than
others, or why some people haveless than others, or why some
countries are fighting with eachother, or why some countries
are progressing well withclimate change and why other
countries aren't, or why thispolitical situation is happening
(05:36):
.
In this area and this politicalsituation, you can see how, why
questions can start at the verybasic and then they can deepen
and broaden into some quitecomplex ideas that shape the
world around us.
So by encouraging our childrento be constantly asking
questions, especially whyquestions, it means that they're
going beyond just acceptinginformation at face value, so
(06:06):
that in turn promotesproblem-solving skills, because
we're challenging learners,we're challenging our students,
we're challenging our childrento seek out the causes, the
effects and the underlyingprinciples, rather than just
simply memorizing facts asrobots, almost robotically, and
freedom of thought and freedomof expression.
All of these creative andcritical aspects to human
(06:26):
thought are not going to go awaywith the introduction of AI and
, if anything, they're going tobecome more crucial and more
important to preserve and toencourage and to teach by asking
questions.
It stimulates critical thinking, which is essential for
evaluating different viewpointsand making informed decisions,
is essential for evaluatingdifferent viewpoints and making
(06:47):
informed decisions, and thisskill is becoming increasingly
important as teenagers begin tonavigate more complex social,
academic and personal landscapes.
The world that they're growingup in now is so completely
different to the world that youor I, as parents and as teachers
or educators, grew up in andthe types of things that our
teenagers nowadays have to faceor have to overcome or have to
(07:11):
navigate their way through.
We never had growing up and Ithink social media for one is a
huge element in their ownteenage development that they
have to navigate through andmake decisions on about what to
post, what not to post, what tocomment on, what not to comment
on, what type of comments topost, cyberbullying, cyber
(07:36):
harassment it just goes on andon and on, and we never had to
deal with that growing up.
So our teenagers nowadays areliving in a highly complex world
comparatively to what we weregrowing up in, and we therefore
need to equip them with atoolkit a mental toolkit, really
(07:56):
on how to work their waythrough all of these situations.
All of these situations, theaccess to information, the fact
that they are being exposed moreto images and quite senior
levels of information at youngerages, and there's no way that
that's going to slow down.
(08:17):
They've got tablets, they'vegot iPads, they've got phones,
we've got TVs now that have somany different apps on it for so
many different documentariesand TV shows and movies, and
everything is at theirfingertips.
Critical thinking is reallyimportant because it's the one
gateway or it's the gatekeeper,if you like that will pause and
(08:39):
stop them in their tracks beforethey make a decision, to really
evaluate whether or not it'sthe right decision to make, and
questioning helps with that.
Questioning drives curiosity,it drives learning and it drives
understanding.
Questions ignite curiosity byopening new lines of inquiry and
making learning an activeprocess.
(08:59):
When teenagers ask questions,they are essentially taking
control of their learningjourney and they're steering it
towards areas that interest them, are interested in because from
that comes motivation.
And then it's learning throughinquiry, it's learning through
(09:27):
going and finding out theinformation around that topic
and researching and talking toexperts in that field and really
have that student focused.
And that is all askingquestions and it's all
student-led, which is fabulous.
The students are in charge ofcoming up with the right
questions to ask in order todrive their learning.
Questions also lead to a deeperunderstanding by not just
(09:51):
asking what, but why and how,and we've talked about the why
questions previously, but thesetypes of questions encourage
students to connect concepts andapply knowledge in new contexts
, which is vital for theirlong-term retention and their
comprehension of the topic athand.
When students are looking atthe why and the how remember
(10:11):
it's the old Bloom's taxonomycoming into play here the higher
order thinking, the whyquestions then we know that our
students are well on the way todeveloping those critical
thinking skills, which is whatthey're going to need,
especially in those final yearsof high school education and
then beyond.
(10:32):
How do we encourage questionasking with our teenagers,
especially if our teens are notthat great at opening up to us
as adults or really taking thetime to reflect on the world or
to reflect on situations at hand?
Or perhaps they're not thegreatest talkers at home,
because we know that that's whatteenagers are like, and so the
(10:54):
way that we can encouragequestion asking is relating it
to everyday experiences for them.
Bring in examples relevant tobeautiful teenagers' daily lives
.
And in the classroom we can doit within class discussions, for
example.
As educators, I would quiteoften ask questions in class to
(11:15):
gain richer discussions and tocreate a more engaging learning
environment.
I would come up with topicalquestions that might be slightly
controversial to really start aclassroom debate, a respectful
classroom debate, but it was agreat way to just get the room
talking and to get peoplelooking and realising that not
(11:36):
everybody has the same opinion.
And when I say controversialtopics, just things like should
school uniforms be compulsory?
In schools that I was teachingat, they all had school uniforms
.
So of course, it was quite astrong opinion topic for
students as to whether or notthey should be wearing school
uniforms, as to whether or notthey should be wearing school
(11:56):
uniforms.
You can take any topicalquestion and use it as a warmer,
as an opening for your class ifyou're an educator listening to
this, or if you're at home, ifyou're a parent, and you can use
it at the dinner table wheneveryone is sitting down for
dinner or perhaps in the cardriving somewhere.
Start looking at ways that youcan introduce or encourage
(12:18):
question asking with yourchildren and see what different
sides of a topic come throughand then honour those sides of
the topic, listen to them andevaluate them.
Another way that we canencourage question asking with
our teens is using technology.
Well, while they are usingtechnology, so technology often
(12:39):
provides quick answers, as weknow, but I think by encouraging
teenagers to question theaccuracy and the sources of
these answers can lead to somereally good discussions too.
So this can be tied to usingsearch engines for school
projects.
So Google, for example, and youlook at a search engine like
(13:01):
Google and by pointing out toyour team that this is a
multi-billion dollar companythat obviously has a business to
run and it's got money to make,and that there are websites and
brands out there that arecompeting for keywords and they
are paying to be at the top ofthe search rankings.
(13:22):
When you are googling somethingand you'll see websites coming
up at the very, very top and itsays sponsored.
Well, that's because they'repaid to be at the top there, not
necessarily because they arethe best go-to source for what
you are looking for.
And also, I don't know ifyou've ever found this, but when
you're Googling something andthen you'll get related websites
that come up on the search pageand it might not actually have
(13:45):
anything to do with what you'relooking for, but you can end up
going down a real rabbit hole byclicking on these and suddenly
you're off on a differenttopical together, and that can
be confusing to navigate.
If you are a young teenagertrying to work out how to
research or how to look atdifferent sources critically,
it's really important that wepoint that out to them when they
(14:05):
are using technology and alsowhen they're consuming media.
So, with the vast amounts ofcontent available now and we
talked about it before with allthe apps on TV, netflix and
Disney and on the iPads andtablets, it's crucial that
teenagers learn to question thereliability and the bias of some
(14:25):
of the information that theyconsume, whether it's the news
articles, social media or evenadvertisements.
News, particularly, can be atricky minefield for our teens
to navigate through, because youwill have right-wing and
left-wing leaning media outletsand newspapers and online
publications, and this can comethrough even on social media,
(14:49):
through Facebook or whatever itis, because obviously the
algorithms exist and once youstart looking at one article,
then the algorithm will kickinto place and it will just
start bringing up more of thesame type.
And once you start looking atone article, then the algorithm
will kick into place and it willjust start bringing up more of
the same type of article thatyou've looked at.
So you're not going to get avery level playing field or a
very non-biased playing fieldwhen you are looking at things
online, because that's not whatGoogle or Facebook are
(15:12):
interested in.
They just want to keep showingyou more of what they think you
are looking for.
Whether or not that's biased,they don't really care.
So we have to be so carefulwith our teens and explain that
to them, and through that willcome questioning and you will be
asking your teens questionsabout how they can decipher what
(15:33):
is fact and what is bias andwhat is accurate and what is not
.
I would encourage you to fosteran environment where asking
questions is valued in your home, and I think that if we prompt
our teenagers with questionsthat require more than yes, no
answers so really looking at thewhy and the how questions we
(15:54):
are encouraging them to thinkcritically and articulate their
thoughts and their opinions morefully.
A practical tip I wouldencourage our teenagers to keep
a question journal where theycan write down questions that
arise from everyday observationsand interactions, which can
later be researched anddiscussed as a family, and you
can make it fun.
In the old days we used to dosticker charts for behavior.
(16:16):
Well, perhaps this can be somesort of a reward system where,
if we are encouraging our teensto keep a journal of questions
and then throughout the weekthey're adding to that, we can
look at that at the end of theweek and there's an incentive
there for them to be able to dothat.
And I think it brings familiescloser together when they can
discuss and analyze and talkfreely with each other.
(16:38):
And, at the end of the day,communication is one of the
things that we really need towork on with teens, because they
do have a tendency to bottlethings in and, especially as a
teacher in class, you've reallygot to try and draw out the
information sometimes out theinformation sometimes.
So by encouraging them to havesomething like a question
journal, we're actuallyequipping them to create a
(16:59):
healthy mindset, not just in theclassroom, but also to be able
to look at life in a moreevaluative way.
From here we move intoquestioning the AI.
So we've talked about theimportance of questioning and
we've talked about how we canencourage our teenagers to
develop those criticalquestioning habits, and the
reasons why and how it'simportant to have those skills,
(17:21):
those questioning skills.
Now we need to turn ourattention to questioning the AI
in particular.
Artificial intelligence, or AIfor short, surrounds us, for
short surrounds us.
It's deeply embedded in manytools that teenagers use every
day, from algorithms thatdetermine what they see on
(17:46):
social media, as we mentioned,to search engines that answer
their queries, like Google, andeven educational software that
aids in learning.
Ai's influence is pervasive andit is here to stay.
While AI can be incrediblyhelpful, it's crucial to
remember that it's just a tooland it's reliant on the data fed
into it and the programmingbehind it.
(18:08):
And this is what I was talkingabout before, with making sure
that your team knows andunderstands, when they are using
an AI website or an app.
Who is the manufacturer of thisAI tool and what is it that
they want to achieve by sellingit to you or promoting it or
(18:29):
having you use their software?
What is the bias?
Is there bias there?
What are they going to get outof this achievement, or this
agreement, this transaction, ifyou like.
We have to be really mindful ofthat.
We need to understand thelimitations and the biases of AI
.
It's not the be all and end all.
It's not the answer toeverybody's problems.
(18:52):
It's not going to suddenly doall the work for a teenager.
Get them through high school,get them into the ivy league
colleges, and your teens won'thave to lift a finger.
It's really important for teensto recognize that ai systems
have limitations and they havebias which can affect the
information that they provide.
(19:13):
There's three things to look atwith AI there's accuracy,
there's bias and then there'sdepth.
So firstly, with accuracy, weneed to stress the need for
critical examination of AIresponses in the software that
our teens are using, whetherthey're using it to write an
essay or they're using it for aresearch assignment.
We need to ask whether theinformation provided by AI is,
(19:39):
and we need to highlight howoutdated or poorly sourced data
can lead AI to present incorrector misleading answers.
The update yet, or they areperhaps not understanding
exactly what the specific taskis, that you are feeding it and
(20:10):
if you are creating a assignmentfor school or if your teen is
creating a research report orwriting an essay and the
teacher's really looking forsomething like those critical
thinking skills seen in theessay and that's the teenager's
ability to look at something andprovide their own opinions on
it, then AI is only going to getthem so far.
(20:31):
It's not going to completelysolve the problem.
For a teen, that can lead toincorrect or misleading answers.
We need to make sure that weare really really clearly
explaining to our teens theaccuracy of the apps that
they're using.
Have a chat with your teenagers.
Find out what type of softwarethey're using for their study.
Really look at if that's thebest path forward for them, for
(20:55):
your teen.
The second thing is bias.
Ai systems often reflect thebias presented in their training
data.
Often reflect the biaspresented in their training data
.
This can be bias relating torace, gender, culture or even
socioeconomic status.
Teens should question whetherthe information has an inherent
(21:17):
bias or if it's presenting abalanced perspective.
Who is the creator of thisinformation?
Who is the company behind it,or is it showing both sides of a
perspective?
So bias is really important tolook for.
And then the third element inunderstanding the limitations of
(21:38):
AI is depth.
Ai might often provide quick,surface level information, but
it lacks depth.
You'll get a very generalizedview of something but you won't
get the very in-depth,nitty-gritty examples and
details that is often needed forcritical examinations or
(22:00):
critical thinking.
We need to challenge ourchildren.
We need to challenge our teensto consider whether AI is
offering a thorough explanationof what it is that your teenager
is using it for, or is it justa brief overview?
So we need to be careful thatwhen our teens go into their
rooms to do their homework andthey have to do a full study
(22:24):
report or an essay, they don'tcome out after 20 minutes and
say they're done, becausethey've fed the topic into an AI
website.
It's printed out a very generaloverview of the topic and they
think great, I've got 600 wordshere, or I've got a thousand
words, I'm done.
Words here, or I've got athousand words, I'm done.
(22:47):
We need to encourage ourchildren to seek deeper
understanding, especially oncomplex subjects when they're
using this software, becausequantity doesn't necessarily
mean quality.
To give you some real examplesof AI misinterpretation, of AI
(23:07):
misinterpretation A virtualassistant might misinterpret a
question about the Cold War asabout banning cold weather
conditions, so the AI in thisscenario has missed the context
of the Cold War.
They have interpreted itliterally.
Another example could be wherea social media algorithm
promotes certain types ofcontent more frequently than
others and we've talked aboutthis previously in the podcast
(23:28):
and this can skew a teenager'sperception of what is popular or
accepted, and it therefore willgrow a bias within your teen.
So we need to make sure thatteens are exposed to balanced
perspectives on information.
And a third example could be aneducational app that provides a
(23:49):
summary of scientific conceptswithout going into the necessary
detail required to fullyunderstand complex theories or
experiments, and so, therefore,it's pointing out the lack of
depth, and our teens won't evenrealize that they are showing a
lack of depth because they areso reliant on these apps that
they think they've covered allbases.
(24:10):
They don't have to think aboutit, they're done, their project
is done, their homework is done.
So how can we counteract this?
We can with encouragingcritical questioning.
Encouraging criticalquestioning.
We can encourage our teenagersand we can encourage ourselves
as parents and educators, todiscuss these examples with our
(24:30):
teens and urge them to askcritical questions about the AI
tools they are using.
And here are three questionsfor you to ask your teen when
they're using an AI app orwebsite.
What is the source of thisinformation?
That's the first question.
Second question is why mightthis answer be biased?
(24:51):
And the third question is whatisn't this AI telling me?
I'll say those questions againwhat is the source of this
information?
Why might this answer be biased, and what isn't this AI telling
me?
So by regularly engaging insuch questioning, teenagers can
develop a more critical approachto this technology that they
(25:14):
interact with, and it thereforefosters better awareness and a
smarter use of AI.
Let's move into part three ofthis podcast, the importance of
actively practicing questioningskills we've talked about.
I wanted to give you someexercises that are designed to
help you guide your teens inbecoming more critical and
(25:34):
thoughtful in their questioning,whether interacting with AI or
engaging in everyday discussions.
The first exercise and thereare three exercises here, so the
first one is identifyingquestions.
The objective of this activityis to encourage you to help your
teens think more deeply aboutthe subjects that they discuss,
(25:57):
and the way that you can do thisis recall a recent conversation
or a topic your teen showedinterest in.
Have a think it could besomething from a school project,
it could be a news item, or itcould be a personal hobby.
My son is mad about learningthe keyboard at the moment, so
that's all we talk about at home.
So have a think about a recentconversation or topic that your
(26:21):
teen was interested in.
Have a think about a recentconversation or topic that your
teen was interested in, and thenlist several questions that you
might ask your teen to probedeeper into the topic, and these
could include a mix of whatquestions?
So the factual questions, thewhy, questions for reasoning and
how questions.
So, for example, if the topicwas climate change, questions
(26:46):
could range from what are themain causes of climate change?
That's a what effect yourquestion to, why is it important
to address climate change nowand how can we reduce our carbon
footprint.
By sharing these questions withour teens and discussing their
responses, we can really get anidea of the depth and the
(27:07):
thoughtfulness of theconversation that follows.
That would be my firstrecommendation.
Let's start identifyingquestions that we can ask our
teens.
Second activity was all aboutevaluating AI responses, so this
is to teach our teens tocritically assess the
(27:27):
information provided by AI, andso what you can do as a parent
at home is find an AI tool thatyour teen uses or that you as a
family might use, such as avoice assistant or a chat bot,
as a family might use, such as avoice assistant or a chatbot to
(27:48):
ask questions about a commonhigh school subject like biology
or history or English, seeingas I'm an English teacher and
ask a series of questions tothis AI piece of software and
write down its responses.
So questions should vary incomplexity and be really
specific to test the AI'scapability.
(28:09):
So, once you've written downyour questions to ask the AI and
you've collected the responses,analyze them for the following,
and there's three things.
Remember that we talked aboutthe accuracy, the bias and the
depth.
So analyze the AI's response toyour questions with accuracy.
Are the responses factuallycorrect?
(28:29):
Look for the bias Do theresponses seem to favor a
particular viewpoint?
And then look at how deep theAI response goes.
Are the answers detailed enoughor do they remain superficial?
So, for an example, questioningan AI about the causes of World
War II and then evaluate thecompleteness of historical
(28:50):
context provided, and you mightfind that you will get a very
general overview from the AI andthen you will need to prompt it
by asking more specificquestions.
So, once again, that isencouraging your teen and it's
teaching your teen that theyneed to ask more questions to
get deeper understanding.
So the third exercise and thisis the last one I promise is the
(29:11):
question formulation technique.
I'd like to introduce to you astructured method to develop
more effective questioningstrategies.
It's a systematic approach todeveloping questions and it's
called the question formulationtechnique, or QFT for short.
What you could do with yourteen is present a statement or a
(29:34):
topic so, for example,renewable energy sources are
essential for sustainabledevelopment and then see if you
can produce as many questions asyou can about the statement
without stopping to discuss orrevise them.
So this is almost a bit like agame, if you like.
And then, once you havebrainstormed and written down as
(29:56):
many questions as you can aboutthe statement, refine the
questions by opening closed onesand closing open ones.
I'll say that again refine thequestions by opening closed
questions, so the yes or noquestions.
Rewrite them as open questions,using why or how, and close the
(30:20):
open ones, so the openquestions are the why or the how
questions.
Turn them into yes or no,factual ones, and then consider
the impact of each format andthen, from there, prioritize the
questions based on theirpotential to provoke critical
thinking and deeper inquiry.
It's quite an in-depth exercise.
(30:43):
If you like, I will put theinstructions for this QFT the
question formulation techniqueon the podcast website.
I'll put the link there for itas a free download so that you
can have a bit of fun with thisPlay around.
I'll give you some exampletopics or I'll give you some
example statements or topics.
That will be fun, that willengage your teen, and then, once
(31:05):
you've had a go playing thisand you've modelled it for your
teen and I've had a go playingthis, reflect on how the
different types of questionsmight lead to richer and more
varied exploration of the topic.
Regular practice of theseexercises can significantly
enhance the questioningcapabilities for both ourselves
and our teens.
(31:25):
If we encourage continuedpractice, then I would love to
hear your feedback on how youwent with these exercises and
the outcomes.
It can be fun.
It's great to step out frombeyond the classroom and talk to
them about some of these topics, as they're getting older, that
we can really understand.
(31:45):
Well, they can really begin tounderstand now and have an
opinion on, and we can encouragethem to have opinions.
Opinions are great.
It's how we communicate.
Opinions is the key part ofcritical thinking and making
sure that we are looking atdifferent aspects of a topic of
(32:16):
questioning as a fundamentalskill that supports critical
thinking and intellectualdevelopment.
We need to make sure that thisskill is especially crucial in
the digital age, where AI andtechnology are constantly
present and are constantlypresenting information that we
have to scrutinize and evaluate.
We need to make sure that ourteens are developing questioning
skills that can help them notjust in academic settings, but
(32:41):
in everyday life, and we aresupporting and aiding them in
becoming more thoughtful,inquisitive and informed
individuals.
I think the value of practicingthese questioning skills that
we've just talked aboutalongside our children is a
great way to show modeling orscaffolding of how, as adults,
(33:03):
we use critical thinking and bymaking this a regular part of
our interactions, whether we'rediscussing the daily news or
viewing a movie or evennavigating social media.
To foster a habit of criticalanalysis and deeper
understanding is so important,and I think that if we are
creating a home environment thatvalues and rewards curiosity
(33:26):
and skepticism, these are vitalfor navigating a world rich with
information yet fraught withmisinformation.
I think that, if you areinterested in this topic,
there's a website for the peoplethat are more interested in
online information calledcriticalthinkingorg, which
provides tools and techniquesfor developing critical thinking
(33:48):
skills, and then there areonline courses from platforms
like Coursera or Khan Academythat focus on digital literacy
and AI fundamentals.
I will link all those in theshow notes, too, if you're
interested in learning more,going further with this, but I
would ask you to engage with thepodcast.
(34:08):
If you have enjoyed this episode, I would love for you to engage
with the podcast by sharingyour experiences or the
questions you have developedwith your teens.
I'd love to hear what you comeup with.
I would love for you to tag anyof these on social media with
the hashtag Classic Lit Teacher,and then we can get a community
(34:30):
discussion going, or submityour stories and questions
through the email that we've got, which is help, at
classicliteratureteachercom.
I would love for you to give ussome feedback on the episode as
well.
Give us a rating on Apple orwhatever the platform is that
you're listening to this on, andI would love to know what
(34:52):
worked for you, what didn't workfor you and what you would like
to learn more about in futureepisodes.
So thank you for being with uson this very comprehensive
episode today.
Thank you for your time and Ihope that this episode has
provided you with some valuableinsights and tools, and remember
that the power of questioningand cultivating an informed and
(35:13):
critically thinking generationis what we are all about here at
the Classic Literature Teacher.
Challenge your mind, change theworld.
Until next time, my friends,keep thinking critically.
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