Week 7: The Ethics Lab – Creating a Classroom of Responsible Tech Explorers
Big Idea: Ethics is best taught through doing.
How do we teach ethics in a way that sticks? Not by handing students a list of rules, but by inviting them to explore messy, real-life dilemmas. In this week’s post, I’m sharing how to turn your classroom into an AI Ethics Lab: a space where students lead the conversation on what it means to use AI responsibly.
Step 1: Frame the Lab with Inquiry
Begin with open-ended questions that spark curiosity and debate. Post them around the room, use them as journaling prompts, or launch a fishbowl discussion. Some starter questions:
Should AI write our essays, or is that cheating?
If a student uses AI to brainstorm, does the work still count as their own?
Should teachers use AI to grade student writing?
Who’s responsible if an AI tool gives biased or harmful responses?
Should facial recognition be used in schools for security?
These questions don’t have easy answers, and that’s the point.
Step 2: Set Up the “Ethics Lab” Structure
Break students into small groups and assign each group a real-world or fictional AI scenario. Their task: investigate the case, debate the implications, and present their recommendations.
Here’s a simple structure for each lab team:
Case Brief – Read a short scenario card with the context.
Stakeholder Map – Identify who is affected and what they care about.
Ethical Dilemma – What’s the main issue, and why is it complicated?
Discussion & Decision – What do you think should happen? Why?
Share Out – Present your findings in a format of your choice (poster, video, skit, podcast).
This model emphasizes student voice, empathy, and critical thinking—all while building media literacy and real-world ethics.
Step 3: Provide Realistic Scenario Cards
Want to make it easy to launch? I’ve created a set of printable Ethics Lab Scenario Cards you can download and use in your classroom. Topics include:
AI-written college applications
Automated grading in schools
AI friend apps and loneliness
Facial recognition on campus
Deepfakes in student elections
➡️ [Download the Ethics Lab Scenario Cards (PDF)]
Bonus: Invite Student-Generated Scenarios
After going through the lab, challenge students to create their own ethical dilemmas based on AI tools they’ve used. This not only deepens understanding, it gives them ownership of the learning. I have included blank cards on the canva.
Why This Matters
Teaching ethics in the age of AI isn’t optional, it’s essential. But lecturing won’t cut it. We need spaces where students can wrestle with uncertainty, listen to multiple perspectives, and speak up about the kind of digital future they want.
An Ethics Lab is one way to make that happen.
