Canada's AI strategy needs educators who feel prepared, not just trained

Canada's AI strategy, AI for All, has two main goals: enhancing trust and creating opportunities. Schools and post-secondary institutions are crucial in ensuring future generations understand how to properly and ethically utilize AI. Over the past year and a half, researchers working with over 800 educators explored their understanding, discussions, and responses to generative AI.

This led to the creation of the GenAI-dentity Survey and Workshop project, which helps educators reflect on their comfort levels and the role of generative AI in education. The project aims to build trust and create opportunities for discussions on AI use in educational settings. Many educators feel unprepared and uncomfortable with the new technology, which can lead to ignoring AI rather than mentoring students on its use.

The survey and workshop found that educators don't neatly fit into simple categories of being for or against AI. They asked educators about their comfort levels with AI, which differs from comfort with other educational technologies as it encompasses technical, ethical, pedagogical, professional, and emotional questions. Some educators may feel uneasy identifying themselves on an AI comfort spectrum, and that's okay.

The workshop provides a space for these educators to discuss their hesitation, uncertainty, or discomfort without needing to label themselves. The four comfort personas, or sparks, help educators reflect on their AI comfort depending on context, purpose, role, and risk. Students are already using AI, often without structured guidance.

Educator comfort with AI directly impacts students, as they may be left to navigate inconsistent expectations on their own. To complement the educator-facing survey and workshop, a learner comfort spectrum is being developed to sit alongside the educator spectrum. This will help make AI literacy a shared conversation among educators and students.