Using AI with students is a double edged sword. AI can be a powerful learning tool, but when students use it to replace learning instead of enhancing it, problems arise. The challenge is to help students see AI as an accelerator for learning rather than a shortcut.
I was working with a teacher who wanted to introduce summarizing but didn't want the students just to use AI to complete the task. There are important skills in the process of summarizing and AI may not focus in on the aspects of importance to the students. The best way to defeat AI is to have the students actually summarize with AI and then check it for accuracy. Once they see some examples on how it is done (and not done) they can then create their own summaries. Since the teacher was covering Geography, we focused on Canadian Geography articles.
For a template of the activity, you can use the Google Slides Worksheet linked below:
The process:
- Introduce the idea of summarizing.
- Provide an example.
- Have students identify 4–5 key points.
- Use AI to generate summaries (using TLDR This and CodeBreaker, both of which require no login).
- Students critique AI-generated summaries using a checklist.
- Students reflect on AI's role in summarizing.
- Students choose an article and summarize it independently.
- Read&Write (a paid app) can help students highlight key information.
- Students use the checklist to edit their work.
- The final step is creating a citation using a template.
By engaging with AI critically—seeing its strengths and limitations—students learn to use it as a tool rather than a replacement for thinking. This 'see, think, do' approach builds confidence in summarizing while fostering responsible AI use.
In the comments below, let me know how it went!
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