The latest episode of the AI for Educators Design Lab podcast hosted by Next Path Design is live! Episode 3 focuses on design challenges associated with AI literacy. While students are adopting AI at high and growing rates, use and a critical understanding are not the same thing.
While students are using AI to find sources, synthesize information, and draft assignments, active use is not the same as critical understanding. Many learners interact with these tools without knowing how those outputs are generated, where the tools might make mistakes, or the underlying ethical stakes. The central design tension we examine in this episode is that students are consuming AI content without developing the skills and knowledge required to navigate and assess the AI outputs critically.
Listen: Podcast Episodes Available Now
👉 nextpathdesign.com/podcast | Spotify | Apple | YouTube
Here's a recap of the episodes available now:
- S1E0: AI for Educators Design Lab Podcast Trailer introduces the podcast's mission to help educators navigate the complexities of AI integration in teaching and learning.
- S1E1: Academic Integrity in the Age of AI examines academic integrity and assignment vulnerability as a learning experience design challenge, not a detection problem.
- S1E2: Rethinking Learning Goals in the AI Era explores how AI not only makes assignments more vulnerable but also prompts a review of traditional learning goals.
- S1E3: AI Literacy: Helping Learners Think Critically About AI makes the case that AI literacy needs to be a consistent design intention running through the full learning experience.
In this latest episode, I walk through five design considerations to help you embed AI literacy as a consistent thread throughout your learning experience. We start by contemplating what literacy and fluency mean for your learners, identifying where these skills can live within existing learning moments, grounding AI in the human stakes, designing for evaluative judgment alongside proficiency, and making AI use visible and reflective.
Design: Free Companion Design Briefs
👉 nextpathdesign.com/designbriefs
The free Design Brief for Episode 3 picks up where the podcast leaves off. You’ll select one of your own learning experiences and then use an AI Literacy Integration Map to identify two or three natural touchpoints for embedding AI literacy and to determine what students would need to practice at each of those moments. This Design Brief activity takes about 15–20 minutes and helps you move from awareness to a concrete design plan for your own context.
When you sign up for the free Design Briefs, you get access to the full library. This includes the Episode 1 AI Assignment Vulnerability Audit, the Episode 2 Learning Goals Audit, and all future briefs as they are released with new podcast episodes.
Looking Ahead: Summer Design Sprints
👉 Add your name: Design Sprint waiting list
Later this summer, we'll be hosting AI for Educators Design Sprints, short design challenges where small cohorts move from diagnosing the problem to making design decisions tailored to your context. While the podcast and Design Briefs help you surface the design tensions, the Sprints are where we pivot to application. More details coming soon.
Thank you for being here. I look forward to engaging with you in this conversation.
Jennifer Maddrell, PhD
Next Path Design
About the Podcast Series:
With AI, we're facing a tension I like to call the convergence of messy and the magical. AI promises exciting innovation and efficiency, but it also raises significant concerns. This podcast series isn't quick tips or AI tools to hype. Instead, it's about the agency we have to design effective learning experiences and make informed decisions in the face of this new reality.
