RGU awarded funding to improve AI skills among schoolchildren

RGU has received funding to design a new series of their digital skills project, ‘Maddie is Online’, to empower school children with skills and knowledge to use artificial intelligence safely.

Six projects across the UK, have been awarded a share of £500,000 funding from Responsible Ai UK, who are a consortium of experts from UK universities working to develop trustworthy artificial intelligence.

The team at RGU will develop the ‘Maddie is Online’ programme to help young learners and secondary pupils learn about AI and how to use GenAI responsibly.

Over the next year, a team from RGU will partner with secondary school students to co-create a series of educational Generative Artificial Intelligence Skills in Schools resources to explore the responsible use of GenAI.

As part of the project the team will produce an open educational toolkit with resources on GenAI academic integrity, information literacy and critical thinking skills in schools, which they will share with young people via school workshops.

The project will also develop resources to help teachers integrate AI into the curriculum and tools to help students become critically aware of the limitations of AI.

Dr Konstantina (Dina) Martzoukou, Associate Professor School of Law and Social Sciences at Robert Gordon University and lead of the ‘Maddie is Online’ digital skills project, said: “We are delighted to be awarded this funding by Responsible AI UK to expand our online safety course ‘Maddie Online’. We are looking forward to working with teachers, school children and school librarians across Scotland, to help them navigate the complexities of AI.

“Our aim is to build on our ‘Maddie is Online’ series, specially created for and with young people aged 9 – 12, which centres around the everyday life of a fictitious pre-teen girl called Maddie, who experiences troubles online. We want to co-create an interesting and fun set of resources to enhance young people’s understanding of generative artificial intelligence.

“Artificial intelligence is increasingly becoming integral to our everyday lives, and it is vital that we equip young people, and the wider community with the skills to navigate AI. RGU is committed to contributing to the health and well-being of society, and through our project, we are giving back something tangible that will contribute to the economic, social and cultural development of Scotland.”

Dr Pascal Ezenkwu, Lecturer, School of Computing, Engineering and Technology, at Robert Gordon University said: “As Artificial Intelligence continues to expand its capabilities into areas involving human-level intellect and creativity, Gen AI skills will increasingly become important for the modern world. This is particularly crucial for young people who will face the full impact of the disruption caused by this technology. Our project aims to develop an educational toolkit that will better prepare young people to understand how to responsibly leverage Gen AI, co-creating with it while being aware of some of the risk factors, and why the human element in the use of AI will ever remain crucial”.

As part of the project, the team from RGU will work with school librarians across Scotland to create the new AI online safety programme, and to help empower young people’s voices.

One of those involved in the project is Ioannis Panayiotakis, a school librarian from Eastwood High School in East Renfrewshire.

Ioannis said: “School librarians have always been the guardians of information integrity. It is now their duty and privilege to educate students on how to effectively use this new tool that will transform our world, and we look forward to working with RGU, and young people, to develop a better understanding about artificial intelligence.”

Diane Scott, Library Resource Centre Co-ordinator, Hazlehead Academy in Aberdeen said: “Our pupils are really excited about being a part of this project, both to learn more about using AI responsibly and effectively as well as having the opportunity to help share that information with others.”

Emma Grey, School Librarian at Forfar Academy, said: "We're thrilled to be working on this really important, timely project — AI has become ubiquitous in society and it's essential that we educate young people not only about the dangers of misinformation, but also about the exciting possibilities that come with AI"

The UK’s Library and Information Association, CILIPs, will also work closely with academics from RGU to support with consultancy, dissemination and to liaise with school libraries and inclusivity networks.

Sean McNamara, CILIPS Director, said: “Generative AI is an important topic for libraries and librarians all across Scotland - with many keen to understand how they can support their users to understand it and also how they can apply it themselves. This project will be a fantastic way to collaborate over these issues and to help young people better understand Gen AI as well as create some useful resources”

Kirsten MacQuarrie, CILIPS Sector Development Manager said: “We hear daily from CILIPS members of all sectors about the opportunities and challenges alike that they see presented by Gen AI, and an absolute priority for library and information professionals is that this work, like all other aspects of our activities, is rooted in ethical principles.

“We are delighted to be part of such an important project, investing in the skills, capabilities and confidence of young people as they learn how best to harness Gen AI in today's rapidly shifting digital landscape, and the unique collaborations this research represents also stand to enrich the AI literacy of a diverse range of library communities over time.”

Images show image of Dr Konstantina (Dina) Martzoukou, pupils from St.Andrew's and St.Bride's High School who worked on the first Maddie is Online series, Dr Pascal Ezenkwu, Diane Scott, Library Co-ordinator, Hazlehead Academy and Kirsten MacQuarrie, CILIPS Sector Development Manager.