Edge•U Learning Luminary: Shauna Oakwood – Modeling Ethical AI Usage

We are thrilled to shine a spotlight on our newest Edge•U Learning Luminary, Shauna Oakwood! As a dedicated Media Specialist, Ed Tech Coach, and Dual Credit Instructor from Indianapolis Public Schools’ Crispus Attucks High School, Shauna embodies the spirit of innovative and ethical technology integration in education.

The Challenge

Shauna’s journey to this spotlight was powered by her exploration of the AI in Education: Create Edge•U Badge. Shauna's most significant "A-ha!" moment centered on transparency and ethical use. She realized that by being honest with students about her own use of AI as a teaching tool, she could facilitate a deeper, more ethical discussion about its role in their learning.

“This topic was ideal because we just finished our last essay and some students tried using AI to write their essays and they are mad that the AI outputs did not meet expectations, so I was honest about using AI for this lesson and explained why and how it was different than their essay assignment.”

The Application

Shauna leveraged her learning to tackle a cornerstone of her English curriculum: argumentative writing. To kick off the unit, she used the AI tool Diffit to create a tailored reading passage. She then integrated a suite of activities generated by the tool, including SAT-style multiple-choice questions, short-answer prompts to incorporate evidence, and Think-Pair-Share prompts to scaffold the students' writing practice in the familiar CER (Claim-Evidence-Reasoning) format.

The Impact

The result was far more than a successful writing lesson; it was a powerful teachable moment about technology ethics. Students engaged in a great, argumentative discussion about technology's value in their work. More importantly, they began to understand the critical difference between using AI as a tool for brainstorming and collaboration versus submitting AI-generated content without credit.

"Some students seemed to understand how AI is a great tool for brainstorming, but we need to credit when we use AI so we are not trying to represent it as our own work because that is not ethical."

Shauna's Advice for Educators

“There are badges for every education interest. Find whatever you love and start with those badges. Then, you can find badges that learn the new skills you learned and just keep learning new software and skills.”