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The AI Chalkboard Issue #11: A Chance to Shape Government Policy and More

Your weekly guide to integrating AI thoughtfully and effectively.

Author

Mike Kentz
March 13, 2025

In this week’s newsletter, we share a call for input from The National Science Foundation on the development of AI in America. We urge all educators to make their voice heard on this point. Every voice counts.

From there, we’re sharing videos, articles, and information on everything from AI-powered music generation apps, deepfake protection for students, and my article on teaching AI Literacy as a metacognitive skill - rather than a tech skill. We hope you enjoy!

Was this email forwarded to you?

Make Your Voice Heard!

The National Science Foundation has published a call for input on the Development of an Artificial Intelligence Action Plan for America. The NSF is looking for input via email from all interested parties regarding the direction of AI development in our country. The call closes at 11:59 pm EST on March 15!

Here are the details: 2025-02305.pdf

You can email [email protected] with your take and priorities. 

I sent over an email this morning. Here is what I wrote:

To whom it may concern:

The government should fund a massive project for the development of AI literacy in education. This project should not center only around the development of new platforms, models, and machine learning systems - but also a meaningful understanding of what it means to use Large Language Models thoughtfully and creatively. We want citizens who are not blindly addicted to AI but use it wisely, creatively, and produce interesting content with it. It doesn't benefit anyone to have a nation of human drones that can't do anything by themselves. The way to navigate through that is to fund education projects inside and outside of schools. Education around prompting, machine learning, creative use cases, and reform for education practices is imperative.

AI literacy is, in my opinion, the most important skill that can and should be developed in schools in 2025. But schools need funding to make that a reality, otherwise they will sit on their hands and not develop the skills in their faculty that are necessary to pass on to their students.

Every voice counts. Make yours heard.

Using AI is just using your Metacognition!

The more I explore this work, the more I see that using AI and practicing metacognition have become inseparable. Metacognition—thinking about our thinking—allows us to refine strategies and achieve better outcomes, whether as educators, students, creatives, or writers. In my recent article, I explore a common misconception—that teaching AI literacy means becoming an “AI teacher.” This fear, prevalent among educators, stems from the belief that mastering AI requires deep technical expertise. In reality, AI literacy is about teaching metacognition. You don’t need to master prompt engineering or every AI tool. Instead, the focus should be on helping students develop the self-awareness and critical thinking skills needed to use AI effectively. When students use AI thoughtfully, they engage in self-reflection, ask better questions, improve communication, problem-solve, and critically assess their own thinking. As my mentor, Ken Liu, puts it, "You have to force AI to force you to be more human."

This approach encourages students to articulate their reasoning and refine their ideas. However, the dominant approach to AI literacy often leans too heavily on prompt engineering acronyms and general metacognitive questions. Just as we wouldn't expect a student to write a strong essay by giving them a formula without real examples, we can't expect them to develop AI literacy without clear benchmarks and concrete demonstrations of ethical and effective AI use. While teaching High School English in Savannah last year, I realized that AI could be taught much like writing. I regularly used comparative text analysis, having students examine essays side by side to understand what made writing effective. This method led me to an insight: AI use is subjective and language-based, just like writing. Instead of comparing essays, I had students compare AI chat transcripts—and Comparative Transcript Analysis was born.

In future posts, I’ll show how this method helps define and model ethical AI use in a holistic and metacognitive way. As a thank-you to my supporters, paid subscribers will gain early access to these materials in the coming months.

Video Rundown

Suno, an AI-powered music-generation tool, lets users transform their writing into produced songs in under a minute—complete with vocals and instrumentals in any genre. 

In this video, Edutopia Assistant Editor Daniel Leonard demonstrates how Suno works and explores how teachers are using it to make learning more engaging. You could set poetry to music, turn history lessons into ballads, or create original class anthems, all of which could provide useful engagement opportunities that allow students to analyze material through different mediums and from different perspectives.

Thinking about AI and productivity? Here’s a rundown from Futurepedia on the way to use seven different AI tools for productivity purposes:

Interested in Responsible AI? Here’s a fascinating conversation on human-centered education from Stanford HAI. One of the panelists, Erin Mote, leads the EDSAFE AI Alliance Catalyst Fellowship, of which I am a part, and is a great thought leader in this space:

How to Use AI Tools

On a more practical level, Dr Philippa Hardman offers specific tools and strategies for using AI in instructional design. Her Substack is fabulous, and I recommend that anyone involved in designing, executing, and analyzing evaluations consider this blog if you are looking for ways to leverage AI to step up your evaluation game.

If you are engaged in research, give this one a try. This helpful guide to two new AI tools for deep research is very helpful, and can give you a starting point for evaluating these tools in your work!

Practical Strategies for AI in the Classroom

Phil Alcock is one of my favorites. He runs an outfit that is embedding AI into PBL experiences to support faculty, students, and policymakers to better understand if, where, when, and how AI may support educational journeys. Give it a read!

Blog Rundown

Even though we at the AI Chalkboard think students need guidance around AI use, we also believe in taking in different perspectives. We do not benefit from staying in echo chambers of our own creation.

That’s why I’m sharing Cate Denial’s essay in The Important Work about her reasons for saying no to GenAI. It’s a thoughtful and useful take on why we might not choose to use AI - in a given situation or overall – that I think faculty and students alike should read. Enjoy!

Here’s some guidance on what to do about DEEPFAKES:

With AI advancing rapidly, distinguishing real from fake content is becoming harder, especially with deepfakes and AI-generated media. Instead of cynicism, we should lead with skepticism—asking questions, verifying sources, and cross-checking information.

Misinformation spreads when people don’t question what they see. By fostering media literacy, critical thinking, and responsible AI use, we can equip students to navigate a digital world where appearances can be deceiving.

A very interesting post that is worth reading from Miriam Scott here!

Want to test yourself? Try this deepfake detection test and see how well you can spot fake content!

I hope you find this newsletter insightful and we will continue to support you in your journey. One step at a time! 

Until next week,
Mike Kentz