The Scaffolded AI Literacy (SAIL) Framework

This page hosts materials related to the development of the Scaffolded AI Literacy (SAIL) Framework.

AI Literacy

The concept of Artificial Intelligence (AI) literacy has become increasingly prominent in recent years. For example, The World Economic Forum in their 2022 report Without universal AI literacy, AI will fail us have promoted the need to foster universal AI literacy and assert that each of us (students, educators, non-profits, governments, parents, and businesses) needs to become literate about AI, to know when it is being used, and be able to evaluate its benefits and limitations in our lives.

As part of this effort, a research project has been set up by academics from three New Zealand higher education institutions – the University of Canterbury, academyEX, and Auckland University of Technology to develop an AI literacy curriculum framework addressing all levels of education.

The Scaffolded AI Literacy (SAIL) Framework Project

The project used a Delphi study of national and international experts to decide the key elements of AI literacy at each of four levels of a capability model. The first three levels of the framework are the core AI literacy framework, with level 4+ being steps beyond literacy into specialist expertise. Panel members were chosen from a broad range of fields and included professionals working in AI, academics, educators, and cultural experts.

The output from the final cycle of the Delphi Study has been presented in a range of contexts to seek feedback, and further refinements have been made to the framework, which comprises six categories of AI literacy, across three knowledge areas.

You can view an AI generated summary video on YouTube

You can find the complete framework, with details of each level, in The Scaffolded AI Literacy (SAIL) Framework for Education document. This includes some indicative examples of how the framework can be applied using the same AI tools at various levels by adapting the pedagogy to meet the audience.

To cite this report:

MacCallum, K., Parsons, D., & Mohaghegh, M. (2024). The Scaffolded AI Literacy (SAIL) Framework for Education: Preparing learners at all levels to engage constructively with Artificial Intelligence. He Rourou, 1(1), 23. https://doi.org/10.54474/herourou.v1i1.10835

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Current Phase

Now that the first version of the framework has been finalised, we are working with educators to explore how it can be applied in practice contexts at each of the different levels.

Related Publications

Early results from this study, based on the first round of data gathering and focusing on level 1, were published at the 2023 ASCILITE conference:

MacCallum, K., Parsons, D., & Mohaghegh, M. (2023, December). Identifying the Components of Foundational Artificial Intelligence (AI) Literacy – Early Results from a Delphi Study. In proceedings ASCILITE 2023. December 3 – 6, 2023, Christchurch, New Zealand. https://publications.ascilite.org/index.php/APUB/article/view/672

The AI Literacy Design Analyser has been developed to help educators assess their courses against level 1 of the framework and is freely available for anyone to use. An article discussing this work was presented at the AI in Higher Education Symposium 2024 – Supporting Tertiary Students’ Critical AI Literacy: A Practical Tool for Educators.

Another presentation given at the symposium, which analysed a student survey addressing level 2 of the framework, was  Understanding AI Literacy for Higher Education Students: Implications for Assessment.

Further publications will follow, describing the full study process and framework, and comparing it to other related work undertaken elsewhere (including the UNESCO framework).