Name: Breakout Session - What Sixth Graders Told Us About AI at School, Home, and Beyond, And Why It Matters For Your School Library
Start: 2026-10-29T15:15:00-0400
End: 2026-10-29T16:00:00-0400

Welcome to #MASL53! We are glad you are here.

You will be able to validate your attendance (Check-In to sessions) using your personal schedule.

Breakout Session - What Sixth Graders Told Us About AI at School, Home, and Beyond, And Why It Matters For Your School Library

Thursday October 29, 2026 3:15pm - 4:00pm EDT

West 1

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.

Speakers

Sessions

Conference Strands Curriculum & Programming
Interest Level All, Middle School

MASL 53 Annual Conference 2026

Liz Kolb

Jennifer Colby

Kristin Fontichiaro

Get help with the event

MASL 53 Annual Conference 2026

Liz Kolb

Jennifer Colby

Kristin Fontichiaro

Sign up or log in to save this to your schedule, view media, check-in, leave feedback and see who's attending!

Get help with the event