Navigating AI Literacy: UTM Prof Launches New Pedagogical Resource for Educators and Students
In a moment of rapid technological change, educators are being asked not just to keep pace, but to rethink how learning itself is shaped. That challenge is at the heart of Navigating AI Literacy, a new generative AI Online Educational Resource (OER) developed by Chris Eaton, an Assistant Professor, Teaching Stream and the Associate Director, Research of the Institute for the Study of University Pedagogy (ISUP).
Eaton’s goal is to make the site accessible, flexible, and responsive to emerging research. It consolidates many of the core principles that are starting to emerge within AI scholarship on writing, literacy, and education. And whether AI is central to their teaching or not, the resource is designed to meet educators where they are.
“I think it’s inevitable that AI is going to be central to teaching,” Eaton says. “But it will fade into the background and become a common aspect of classrooms, much like the internet is today. We need to structure classroom activities around that reality. It needs to be an organic part of the way we build our pedagogies and engage students.”
For Eaton, it’s also a matter of timing. Students and faculty are engaging with AI at different paces. Some are already comfortable using these technologies, while others are more hesitant. And there are many who avoid it altogether. This resource offers a way to thoughtfully integrate AI into both teaching and learning — and users wouldn't have to learn the whole field.
I think it’s inevitable that AI is going to be central to teaching. But it will fade into the background and become a common aspect of classrooms, much like the internet is today. We need to structure classroom activities around that reality. It needs to be an organic part of the way we build our pedagogies and engage students.
Not to mention, he points out, the widening gap between fast-moving AI technologies and publishing.
“Publishing on AI in the academic sense is not really good for the current technological moment. The research can’t move fast enough to meet the technology,” says Eaton. “Pedagogical needs are immediate – and adaptable resources like this OER help educators respond in real time. My hope is that this becomes a space where teachers can find emerging research, adapt it, and find practical ways to bring it into their classrooms.”
The site is designed to support both instructors and their students. It connects everyday AI use to broader theoretical frameworks, helping users to leverage the technology with greater awareness and impact. Students will gain a deeper understanding of how to use AI effectively, while instructors will find research-driven strategies to incorporate AI into classroom activities.
And the resource itself is rooted in classroom experience and student research. Navigating AI Literacy reflects insights from Eaton’s study of 35 undergraduates, which explored not just how students use AI, but how they think with it. Those findings helped shape the site’s thematic focus and pedagogical approach.
Pedagogical needs are immediate – and adaptable resources like this OER help educators respond in real time. My hope is that this becomes a space where teachers can find emerging research, adapt it, and find practical ways to bring it into their classrooms.
Drawing on design-based principles and multimodal learning, Eaton collaborated with student designer Fatima Nawaz to create a dynamic site that features categories such evaluating AI outputs, probing biases, working rhetorically with AI systems, and human-machine collaboration. Audio clips, graphics, and layered content allow users to engage with complex ideas in ways that suit their learning styles.
“I see this as a portal to other pedagogies,” Eaton explains. “It’s a resource that instructors can tap into to teach specific concepts or connect students to the literature on AI. A quick graphic or audio clip can be useful in a lecture or classroom activity, or the larger site be used in professional development and workshops.”
Looking ahead, Eaton envisions expanded content, an activity archive, and maybe even an online handbook. “This is a living resource that will evolve over time,” he says. “And it might be the tip of the iceberg, but it gives us a way to respond now and to evolve alongside other research and resources.”
