Teaching CTE Students About Work-Related Uses of AI

Teachers can show students responsible uses of AI for situations like preparing for interviews and writing résumés and cover letters.

By Michele Lockhart

March 15, 2024

Edutopia

The article by Michele Lockhart, published on March 15, 2024, emphasizes the transformative role of artificial intelligence (AI) in Career and Technical Education (CTE) classrooms. It explores practical ways CTE educators can integrate AI to enhance students' job preparation skills, specifically in crafting resumes, and cover letters, and developing strong interview techniques.

Key Strategies for Integrating AI in CTE

1. Safe Usage of AI Tools:
Lockhart begins by urging educators to instruct students on the safe use of AI tools. This includes avoiding the input of personal data into AI platforms to prevent privacy breaches. Additionally, securing parental consent and maintaining transparency with guardians about AI's role and benefits in learning are crucial steps in fostering an environment of trust and collaboration.

2. Practical AI Applications:
The core of the article discusses how AI can be specifically tailored to assist in preparing job applications. For example, AI can analyze job descriptions to suggest relevant content that students might include in their resumes or cover letters. By acting as a mock interviewer, AI can provide personalized questions based on students' submitted resumes, enhancing their readiness and confidence for actual interviews.

3. Ethical and Thoughtful Engagement:
Lockhart stresses the importance of ethical engagement with AI. Students are encouraged to use AI as a tool for idea generation rather than a crutch for content creation. This approach ensures that the final submissions reflect the students' original thoughts and personal voice, which are critical in showcasing their genuine qualifications and personality to potential employers.

4. Educative Interactions with AI:
To optimize AI's educational potential, students should engage with it interactively. For instance, they could use AI to generate industry-specific terminology, draft questions for cover letters, or even to refine responses for interviews. Each interaction should be followed by student-led customization to ensure the output aligns with their individuality and the job’s specific demands.

5. Example AI Prompts:
The article provides examples of how AI prompts can be structured to benefit students. These include prompts for developing interview questions and crafting personalized responses to complex queries. Such exercises not only prepare students for the technical aspects of job applications but also enhance their analytical and critical thinking skills.

Educational Benefits and Preparations

Lockhart concludes by highlighting the comprehensive benefits of using AI in the CTE curriculum. By integrating AI, students can efficiently create tailored resumes and cover letters, practice interviews, and gain insights into the professional language required in their chosen fields. The practice of revising AI-generated content also encourages meticulous attention to detail—a crucial skill in the professional world.

In summary, this article offers a detailed roadmap for CTE educators on leveraging AI to prepare students for the workforce. It underscores the importance of using AI responsibly while enhancing students' ability to present themselves effectively in job applications. Educators are provided with practical, ethical, and educational strategies to incorporate AI into the curriculum, thereby preparing students for successful careers.

Educators seeking to implement these strategies can find additional resources and guidance in the full article on Michele Lockhart's professional insights into AI's application in CTE, accessible through [this link](https://www.example.com). (Note: The URL is a placeholder and should be replaced with the actual URL for accessing the article.)  See below.

https://www.edutopia.org/article/teaching-cte-students-use-ai?

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Prepared with the assistance of AI software

OpenAI. (2024). ChatGPT (4) [Large language model]. https://chat.openai.com