Are librarians the key for teaching AI literacy?

As information processing system scientific discipline pupil Kavya Raval learns near Java computer programming this term, she may ask an AI chatbot to break down a tricky concept or create practice problems for her ahead of exams. She might even ask it to give feedback on her answers.

"It's like I have a tutor available for me at all times, and I can get my doubts cleared instantly," the 18-year-old said.

Still, the first-year Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) student also knows to be balanced and careful in using artificial intelligence tools — concepts emphasized in new workshops from TMU's library services she recently completed to earn an AI badge.

Having attended "really traditional" schools in India that banned electronic devices, Raval previously steered clear of AI. Now in Canada, however, she's happy the workshops have taught her how to responsibly leverage the technology.

"AI is being integrated into every single field that we see, so it is really important to us to understand what's the proper use of it," she said.

School and higher-ed librarians already help students with research strategies and media literacy, copyright and new technologies. This makes them perfect for teaching about the power and pitfalls of AI and how to ethically use it to boost rather than compromise learning.

Yet students — from kindergarten to post-secondary — lose out on this valuable expertise if librarians are overlooked as the education sector tackles AI.

Library workshops spark deeper thinking about AI

Steven Guirguis, an MBA student at TMU juggling work in health care at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre in Toronto, said he found the library-led sessions a welcoming and stress-free space to learn, ask all sorts of questions and take time to deeply reflect on the concepts discussed and explored in assignments. Because they aren't mandatory, he said he believes participants are more engaged learners.

"Any time you are volunteering to learn, you're naturally invested in it," he said. "You could approach it without having to [stress about] notes or anything. You could let it sink in and reflect on it a little bit better on a personal level."

Although instructors and professors do address generative AI in courses, the library workshops — inspired by increasing student and faculty questions, and identified as a need by library staffers — offer "an extra opportunity" and more flexible framework to delve into AI, said Reece Steinberg, head of TMU's library learning services.

"We are really offering a way of thinking about using AI in a way that's sort of separated from any marking or specific projects, so that [students] can think about it and use it to apply on their own," he said, noting brisk sign-ups for the upcoming sessions after an enthusiastic response from about three dozen inaugural participants late last fall.

Known for helping people find, evaluate and use information effectively, librarians have seen their work grow to include guiding people to navigate "complex digital environments and misinformation — and AI literacy is a natural extension of that," said Janice Kung, who recently completed a stint with the Canadian Association of Research Libraries as its visiting program officer for AI and library services.

How this librarian teaches students and faculty about AI

Along with workshops like those at TMU, other Canadian higher-ed librarians are prepping AI guidance for instructors, developing online resources and creating modules on the topic both for faculty and students, Kung said, adding that many libraries are working on upskilling and professional development for staff, too — an ongoing challenge given how quickly AI is evolving.

"We've been doing this forever, and that's why I feel that we are well equipped to support students in the current AI landscape ... Because it's simply another tool."

Yet Kung, the health services librarian at the University of Alberta, laments libraries often being left out of discussions about AI literacy.

"The library is often overlooked as a key partner," she said from Edmonton. "We have to remind people [that] we have expertise. AI literacy is information literacy. This is our wheelhouse. We are part of the conversation."

Similarly, in elementary and secondary schools, teacher-librarians serve as the information and media specialists supporting students and educators to "untangle" and make sense of the world and what kids are seeing and hearing, while also supporting young people to create as well, said Joseph Jeffery, chair of the non-profit organization Canadian School Libraries.

"To teach students good information skills and be able to determine what is real and what isn't, we need to be on top of those things ... And so there is a huge appetite amongst teacher-librarians to gain [AI] skills so they can keep up with the students," he said from Prince George, B.C., where he also serves as a district-level teacher-librarian.

While classrooms teachers tend to change annually as students progress, librarians are more constant, Jeffery said, with some youngsters choosing to seek help and guidance "in a way that sometimes they won't do with their classroom teachers."

Yet funding cuts and reallocations have resulted in fewer educators dedicated to libraries and a diminishing role for teacher-librarians. That's contributed to a widening information and media literacy gap between those who have these specialized educators and those without, he said.

"Teacher-librarians do not have enough time in front of students," Jeffery said.

"To use us for nothing except checking out books, which is what a lot of elementary schools end up doing because they can't afford to have a library clerk ... Takes away that opportunity for working with the students on these kind of things. The same is true in high schools, where often there's very limited teacher-librarian support."

Using AI to teach kids about critical thinking

Adults may not even notice all of the ways AI surrounds us today, said Toronto elementary school teacher-librarian Diana Maliszewski, making it even more important to introduce the topic to students — even when they're young — so as to build a strong foundation of knowledge.

"By addressing it before they're even able to use it, hopefully we're giving them the critical skills to be aware of ... How to address it and how to name and notice it," she said, noting that even kindergarten students can be taught valuable lessons and concepts about algorithms and AI.

Maliszewski said she feels particularly happy when she hears junior or intermediate students "use those naming and noticing tools" she taught them in years prior, saying, "'I think that's an algorithm' or 'the algorithm is the thing that's generating that' [from] a lesson that was done in kindergarten and Grade 1 and 2," said Maliszewski, who's also a vice-president of the Association for Media Literacy.

"I get excited when the speed [of AI] no longer wows them in quite the same way, because they'll look at it and say, 'Well, that's nice, but that looks fake' or 'That came up with a result, but I don't know if I can use it.' That's when you know that you've made a difference."

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