Empowering Critical Thinkers in the Age of Artificial Intelligence 🧠💻

Course Schedule – Online Zoom Sessions

Course Overview 🔍

This thought-provoking program equips teens aged 15-17 with essential skills to navigate today’s AI-influenced media landscape. Students will explore how AI shapes the information they consume daily, learn to identify AI-generated content, understand algorithmic bias, and develop critical thinking tools to become responsible digital citizens in an increasingly AI-driven world.

No technical background required—just curiosity and critical thinking! 💭✨

Learning Outcomes 🎯

By the end of this educational journey, students will:

• Define AI systems and recognize their presence in everyday media platforms
• Explain how AI algorithms learn from data and make decisions
• Analyze examples of bias in AI and understand the importance of fair, diverse datasets
• Distinguish between authentic and AI-generated media content
• Design and present a media literacy project that educates others about AI’s influence
• Apply ethical frameworks to evaluate AI’s impact on information sharing

6-Week Course Curriculum 📚

Week 1: What Is AI and How Does It Shape Our World? 🌐

Digital Activities:

• Explore the evolution of AI from traditional to generative systems
• Distinguish between real and AI-generated images
• Examine the components of AI (NLP, Computer Vision, Machine Learning)
• Investigate how Artificial Neural Networks function in everyday applications

Students will gain a foundational understanding of AI technologies and recognize how they influence the media ecosystem we navigate daily.

Week 2: How AI Learns from Data 🧮

Digital Activities:

• Analyze the relationship between data quality and AI performance
• Explore the “Garbage In, Garbage Out” principle in AI training
• Examine forward pass and backpropagation in neural networks
• Create a hand gesture detector using Teachable Machine

Students will understand how AI systems learn from data and the critical importance of data quality in determining AI behavior and outputs.

Week 3: AI Bias—Can AI Be Unfair? ⚖️

Digital Activities:

• Analyze search engine results and AI chat responses for potential bias
• Complete Code.org’s “Understanding Bias” interactive activities
• Identify causes of AI bias including class imbalance and unequal representation
• Develop a simple email spam checker in Google Colab

Students will recognize how AI systems can perpetuate and amplify biases, and explore strategies to create more equitable algorithms.

Week 4: Responsible AI—Can We Trust What We See? 🔎

Digital Activities:

• Explore the 5 principles of Responsible AI
• Analyze real-world examples of AI failures due to biased implementation
• Build a decision tree classifier for hiring decisions
• Evaluate the fairness of AI-powered decision-making systems

Students will develop frameworks for evaluating AI systems based on fairness, transparency, and accountability principles.

Week 5: How AI Can Spot Misinformation 🔍

Digital Activities:

• Examine the role of AI in both spreading and combating misinformation
• Build a fake news classifier using machine learning techniques
• Test and refine the classifier with real and fabricated headlines
• Implement explainable AI features to understand model decisions

Students will create practical tools to identify potential misinformation while developing critical media evaluation skills.

Week 6: Final Presentations 🎤

Digital Activities:

• Present enhanced fake news classifiers to peers
• Provide and receive structured feedback on projects
• Reflect on ethical considerations in AI media tools
• Discuss future applications and improvements

Students will demonstrate their understanding through project presentations and engage in critical peer review of AI-powered media literacy tools.

Course Features ✨

Digital Tools Used: 🧰

• Code.org‘s AI curriculum modules
• Google Colab for coding activities
• Teachable Machine for creating custom AI models
• Kaggle datasets for training examples
• Data Science Dojo resources on Responsible AI

Learning Approach: 📝

• Interactive demonstrations and discussions
• Hands-on coding activities and model building
• Critical analysis of real-world AI examples
• Ethical debate and scenario exploration
• Project-based assessment with peer feedback

Requirements 📋

• Computer with internet access
• Web browser (Chrome or Firefox recommended)
• Google account for accessing Colab notebooks
• Basic computer navigation skills
• No prior coding experience required
• Critical thinking mindset

Join This Critical Educational Journey! 🚀

Limited enrollment available to ensure meaningful discussions and personalized guidance.

This course offers a unique opportunity for teens to develop essential media literacy skills for an AI-driven world, combining technical understanding with ethical awareness and critical thinking.

Register now to empower the next generation of informed digital citizens! 🌟

All digital tools used are free, web-based, and designed for educational purposes. Live instructor guidance provided throughout each session. 👨‍🏫👩‍🏫