TULSA, Okla. — Earlier this week, we told you that Broken Arrow Schools launched a new course focusing on tech.
Students in the Esports, Media, and Technology class at Edison High School spend a lot of time discussing A.I., especially as they launch a new course focused on the tech and sports.
Right now, the students are learning to create their own video games, with the goal of producing a finished product they can use at home.
“I’m making a game where it’s a museum, and it’s haunted by a ghost that you play as,” said Jaden Monroe.
Student Jaden Monroe says he likes the lessons he’s learned and the new skills he’s developing.
“This is an entirely new software and everything for me,” said Monroe. “I’ve never done anything like this before.”
He says he also appreciates the classroom conversations about artificial intelligence, especially as they study it further in the coming weeks.
“It’s only getting more and more realistic,” said Monroe. “If you look at a couple of years ago, A.I., you could easily tell it wasn’t real, and now things are looking completely real, so it can cause problems with being accused of things.”
His classmate, Chris Ollar, says A.I. makes him cautiously optimistic.
“I do think there is good to be brought from A.I., but a lot of work needs to be done to get to the point where it could bring good, in my opinion,” said Chris Ollar.
Their teacher, Wyatt Pursley, says conversations about the technology typically focus on media literacy and digital citizenship. They spend time discussing how to discern what’s real and what’s not, and asking deeper questions.
“Who is the author of the thing that you’re looking at?” asked Wyatt Pursley. “Why do they want you to see it if they’re making something fraudulent? Maybe it’s as harmless as them wanting extra clicks on their funny video of an animal, but maybe there’s something larger at play. Maybe it’s someone who wants you to think a certain way.”
It’s something students say they often think about.
“I always feel like I can just tell when something doesn’t feel right, doesn’t sit right with me,” said Monroe.
Pursley says the students will only benefit from learning about AI because it’s not going anywhere.
“Definitely, the idea isn’t meant to make students think a certain way; they just need to be able to think for themselves, and having that digital citizenship is a very important component of that,” said Pursley.
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