By Laura Hyde |
Microsoft has updated and expanded its AI Classroom Toolkit: Unlocking Generative AI Safely and Responsibly, created in partnership with online safety organisation Cyberlite.
The toolkit is a classroom-ready resource with the new version featuring a deeper focus on critical thinking, verification and AI literacy to help students judge AI outputs and make informed decisions about what to trust online. The toolkit includes realistic, scenario-based lessons and interactive activities to teach students how to navigate an AI-driven digital landscape. Lessons focus on evaluating the credibility of online content, recognising the limitations and risks of AI tools, understanding data privacy responsibilities and developing more informed AI usage habits.
“When we created the first Classroom Toolkit: Unlocking Generative AI Safely and Responsibly with Microsoft in 2023, most of the conversation was about using AI safely,” said Michelle Yao, co-founder of Cyberlite. “Today, the questions young people ask about AI have grown sharper and more personal, like what to believe online or how far to trust a chatbot’s answer. Our hope is that every student leaves a little surer of their own judgment, and that everyone feels more confident deciding how AI fits into their lives.”
Since it was launched in 2023, the first version of the toolkit has reached educators in 10 countries and 11 languages, with 93 per cent of participating educators in South Korea reporting improved knowledge and understanding of ethical issues, privacy and bias related to AI.
Microsoft also provides support for an AI and Critical Thinking lesson from The Economist Educational Foundation, in which students debate whether to accept, question or rework an AI tool’s answers. It is available alongside other media literacy lessons in Microsoft Learning Zone and has reached students in 116 countries.
“Education is one part of the equation; our commitment to media and AI literacy also shows up in how we design products and the policies we support,” said Jenny Lay-Flurrie, corporate vice president and head of the trusted technology group at Microsoft. “AI will keep changing how people find information and the content they encounter. Our goal is to help people meet that change with confident, informed judgment about the AI they use and the information they trust so they can fully take part in civic and democratic life.”
The updated AI Classroom Toolkit: Unlocking Generative AI Safely and Responsibly will be rolled out, in different languages and with localised content, in 2027.