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Creativity & Creation in the Classroom

Month: April 2025

EDCI 568 Final Blog

April 4, 2025 / / 0 Comments

Where I Started:

When we first began this semester, my curiosity was around Artificial Intelligence and how we were going to move forward with curriculum and assessment in our classrooms as a result of all the huge changes we are seeing with ChatGPT.  In EDCI 568, one of the first readings that prompted this curiosity was “Why Minimal Guidance During Instruction Does Not Work: An Analysis of the Failure of Constructivist, Discovery, Problem-Based, Experiential, and Inquiry- Based Teaching” by Paul A. Kirschner , John Sweller & Richard E. Clark (2010).   Prior to reading this article, I had certainly heard of “IBL: Inquiry Based Learning” but I had never actually heard of “DBL: Design-Based Learning.”  I loved the article because it put into words what I was struggling with on Inquiry-Based Projects, where I found students “hitting walls” in their work and becoming frustrated or not knowing how to continue. This allowed me to self-reflect on areas I could improve the support I was providing to students as they progress through their IBL. I continued the semester by researching HOW do I can better support students as they move through Inquiry-Based learning, with the potential assistance of AI, to further their learning and help them develop their skills.

“When designing inquiry-based learning activities, teachers must deliberately select tasks that cannot be fully replaced by generative artificial intelligence (Hodges et al., 2023). Activities such as oral presentations, group collaborations, and hands-on practical tasks serve as prime examples of effective engagement. These types of activities require students not only to participate actively in practical exercises but also to develop essential teamwork and communication skills, which will help mitigate over-reliance on text generated by GAI.”

(Xu, 2024, p. 16)

I started to notice that in many ways I’m already incorporating the value of soft skills through the projects I do with my students.  If I expect them not to lean on tools of AI to complete their entire assignment, then I cannot be doing basic recall questions that they can easily use AI to respond to.  In my current English classroom, it is easy to create assignments where students would be reading a passage, then answering basic knowledge questions on the reading.  What is more difficult, is to create assignments that cannot be mimicked by an AI tool, like applying their knowledge of the story to create a greater piece. 

Indigenous Play Puppet Show:

I enjoy applying these concepts to my teaching practice. One such way was through my students creating Puppet Shows last semester.  For a First Peoples English course, I designed a unit that would achieve the curricular objectives in accompaniment with the guiding principle that I wanted a clear boundary of what they could use AI for in the project, and what could be achieved only by them.

Students were given an option of seven different Indigenous plays.  Once they made their choice, they could use AI to tell them which part of the play would be best for them to act out to the class.   Students were given limited time on this project and I wanted the focus to be on them using oral language skills, having dialogue, and using the cricut machine, and green screen app to create. They could use AI to ask what part of the play would be best for x amount of individuals. They then used a cricut machine and green screen app to create an edited video of a certain part of the play.

  • Did they use AI? Yes.
  • Did they use it in a clear, defined way? Yes.
  • Did it enhance their play? Perhaps it solidified a direction for those students who would otherwise be lost in deciding which part of the play to present to the class.
  • Did it help facilitate support in an Inquiry-Based Project? Yes.

(Fester, 2025).

Where I’m Headed:

The research I have completed this semester has created curiosity around challenging and redefining the traditional views on knowledge and assessment in our classrooms. In application, the question I hope to answer is: HOW do we create lesson plans that embrace responsible AI use, and WHAT do those lesson plans look like?

Moving forward in my thesis project, I am now searching for educators who are using AI Policy Frameworks, making creative lesson plans, and challenging the status quo. It’s also worth noting that in this journey to embrace AI learning, I’m also curious about projects that cannot be mimicked by AI. As an educator, I embrace the challenge of finding projects that encourage students to develop their soft skills like collaboration, communication, problem-solving and creativity to create a project that simply couldn’t be replicated by a computer. Focusing on the process, rather than the product, is also a key component of the addition to my pedagogical approach.

Resources I Am Exploring:

  1. Acceptable Use Policy Framework for an ELA Classroom: https://alicekeeler.com/2023/05/24/acceptable-use-policy-for-ai-in-the-ela-classroom/

This resource provides clear guidelines to use in the classroom around AI use.

  • Acceptable use guidelines
  • Acceptable prompts
  • Letter to parents regarding acceptable use
  • Very clear guidelines

(Keeler, 2023)

2. 6 Tenets of Post-Plagiarism

In a Lecture: Dr. Sarah Elaine Eaton – “Writing in the Age of AI”, 50 minutes in, Dr. Sarah Elaine Eaton shares an infographic, titled the “6 tenets of post-plagiarism.” She suggests there is space for us to consider a co-creation with AI in the near future, and guides us to consider how that approach might take place in practical application. I am continuing to explore what this might look like in my classroom next year with clear boundaries and expectations on students for accountability in their use of technology, as well as a guide to understanding that AI is a part of the future of education.

(“6 Tenets of Postplagiarism,” 2023)

3. What’s Cheating?

Matt Miller of, “Ditch that Textbook”, provides a plethora of relevant graphics, tools, templates, policies, and resources that I intend to use in my thesis project. His progressive approach provides clarity to educators and students alike. There is not absence of critical thinking in his work and he seems to approach each of the lessons with ethical considerations in mind. Here are a few of the examples I intend to explore further:

(Miller, 2023)

4. Specific Lesson Plans:

I intend to explore the following lesson plans and resources further in Chapter 3 of my Thesis Project:

Works Cited:

AI Algorithms: How Well Do They Know You? | Common Sense Education. (n.d.). Retrieved April 4, 2025, from https://www.commonsense.org/education/digital-citizenship/lesson/ai-algorithms-how-well-do-they-know-you

Keeler, A. (2023, May 24). Acceptable Use Policy for AI in the ELA Classroom. Teacher Tech with Alice Keeler. https://alicekeeler.com/2023/05/24/acceptable-use-policy-for-ai-in-the-ela-classroom/

6 Tenets of Postplagiarism: Writing in the Age of Artificial Intelligence. (2023, February 25). Learning, Teaching and Leadership. https://drsaraheaton.com/2023/02/25/6-tenets-of-postplagiarism-writing-in-the-age-of-artificial-intelligence/

MacDowell, D. P., Moskalyk, K., & Korchinski, K. (n.d.). Teaching and Creating with Generative AI. Retrieved April 4, 2025, from https://openpress.usask.ca/etad402teachingandcreatingwithgenai/

Miller, M. (2023, August 29). AI in the classroom: What’s cheating? What’s OK? Ditch That Textbook. https://ditchthattextbook.com/ai-cheating/

MIT RAISE: Responsible AI for Social Empowerment and Education. (n.d.). Retrieved April 4, 2025, from https://raise.mit.edu/

Navigating a World of Generative AI: Suggestions for Educators | Welcome to TeachOnline. (n.d.). Retrieved April 4, 2025, from https://teachonline.ca/webinar/navigating-world-generative-ai-suggestions-educators

Recommendation on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence—UNESCO Digital Library. (n.d.). Retrieved March 19, 2025, from https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000381137

Understanding AI Bias | Common Sense Education. (n.d.). Retrieved April 4, 2025, from https://www.commonsense.org/education/digital-citizenship/lesson/understanding-ai-bias

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