Deepfakes. AI-generated images. Viral misinformation. Algorithmic rabbit holes. If your digital citizenship unit was built more than a year ago, it's missing half the story. Join Jennifer Ehehalt, Sr. Education Manager, Common Sense Media's as she showcases the all new classroom-ready news & media literacy collection -- including lessons, videos, and activities that reflect the information landscape students are actually navigating. You'll explore strategies for helping students think critically, practice digital empathy, and find their civic voice online. We'll also tackle AI literacy head-on: what students need to understand about how AI creates, curates, and sometimes distorts the content they encounter every day. Walk away with free resources you can use tomorrow & the confidence to lead conversations your students are already having without you.
The Michigan eLibrary (MeL) provides every Michigan student and educator with free access to high-quality e-resources that support research, literacy, career exploration, and classroom instruction. This session will introduce school librarians to MeL’s extensive collection of databases, eBooks, educator resources, and student-friendly tools that support K-12 learning. Participants will learn practical strategies for integrating MeL resources into instruction, reinforcing information literacy skills, and promoting equitable access to trusted information. Attendees will leave with a clear understanding of the most relevant MeL resources for K-12 settings, ideas for incorporating them into classroom and library instruction, and access to ready‑to‑use promotional and instructional materials.
Since 2022, when OpenAI made widespread access to free, high-speed generative AI tools, educators have grappled with how to adapt, reject, or harness the power of AI in learning. School librarians are particularly anxious about how generative AI tools are rapidly shifting the information landscape, transforming the research process (or lack of one), and stress-testing our information literacy curricula. We wanted to know what kids themselves thought about AI - so we asked them! In this session, we’ll report on a Spring 2026 survey taken by about 75 sixth graders involved in the Digital Wellness Initiative of the University of Michigan and the Ann Arbor Public Schools. We’ll share what these middle schoolers told us about AI as a tool to promote creativity, efficiency, learning, social relationships, positive mental health, and good grades. The results may surprise you.
