AI Literacy Education Program
Program Description
Generative artificial intelligence (AI) continues to emerge as an extensive and rapidly evolving technology in education and society at large. To help prepare the SF State community for an ever-changing technology environment, Academic Technology (AT), the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CEETL), and Information Technology Services (ITS) collaborated to develop the AI Literacy Education Program. This comprehensive training program instills essential competencies for effective and responsible engagement with generative AI, both in personal and professional contexts. This includes the ability to understand, use, evaluate, and ethically navigate generative AI to enhance human thought and work.
The curriculum consists of two core prerequisite courses addressing effective prompting strategies for practical applications with chatbots and the critical analysis of generative AI and its outputs. The program also includes several elective offerings that cover specialized AI tools and role-specific AI best practices for faculty, staff, and administrators. In addition to these synchronous courses, participants receive access to an online Canvas course site containing supplemental learning materials, AI resources, and assessments to measure learning. Through this program, SF State community members cultivate substantive, transferable AI knowledge and skills to employ in their current work and beyond.
Participants who successfully complete all of the following requirements will receive a digital badge to demonstrate AI literacy:
- Attend and actively participate in both prerequisite courses
- Attend and actively participate in at least one elective course
- Pass all pre-course assessments in the Canvas course site
- Pass a cumulative final assessment in the Canvas course site
Courses (Spring 2025)
Description: This course introduces generative AI to those with little or no prior experience engaging with this emerging technology. Participants obtain a foundational understanding of generative AI, its associated opportunities and implications, and basic strategies for composing and iterating prompts. Participants will be expected to engage in hands-on interaction with the Microsoft Copilot chatbot to begin generating practical outputs for personal and professional use cases.
This course is an elective that counts toward receiving a digital badge for the AI Literacy Education Program.
Objectives: In this course, you will learn to:
- Summarize what generative AI is, how it works, and how it differs from other AI types
- Describe accuracy and ethical considerations associated with generative AI
- Identify task-related opportunities with generative AI
- Apply foundational prompting strategies to produce practical outputs with generative AI chatbots
Duration: 90 minutes
Experience Level: Little or no familiarity with generative AI and/or AI chatbots
Register now
| Date | Time | Registration Link |
|---|---|---|
| Wednesday, February 5, 2025 | 11:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. | Register here |
| Thursday, February 6, 2025 | 2:00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. | Register here |
| Tuesday, March 4, 2025 | 2:00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. | Register here |
| Wednesday, March 19, 2025 | 11:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. | Register here |
| Wednesday, April 16, 2025 | 11:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. | Register here |
Description: This course offers a focused exploration of prompting and iteration strategies for generative AI chatbots like Microsoft Copilot. Through collaborative, hands-on activities and interactive exercises, participants will learn to write clear, effective prompts, apply refinement techniques such as prompt chaining, and assess AI-generated outputs for accuracy and relevance to achieve more reliable and useful results in a variety of academic and non-academic contexts.
This course is required to receive a digital badge for the AI Literacy Education Program.
Objectives: In this course, you will learn to:
- Write effective prompts to get accurate and useful results from AI tools
- Refine and improve AI outputs using practical feedback and iteration techniques
- Evaluate AI-generated content to determine its accuracy and relevance to your needs
Duration: 90 minutes
Experience Level: Basic familiarity with generative AI chatbots like Microsoft Copilot or ChatGPT
Register now
| Date | Time | Registration Link |
|---|---|---|
| Wednesday, February 12, 2025 | 11:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. | Register here |
| Thursday, February 13, 2025 | 2:00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. | Register here |
| Wednesday, March 5, 2025 | 11:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. | Register here |
| Wednesday, April 2, 2025 | 11:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. | Register here |
| Thursday, April 17, 2025 | 2:00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. | Register here |
| Wednesday, April 30, 2025 | 11:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. | Register here |
Description: This course explores the critical analysis of generative AI to support responsible use of this technology. Learn how AI models are trained and why misinformation and biases may occur in AI-generated content. Develop strategies to analyze AI outputs and assess AI tools for quality and ethical considerations. Participants will be expected to engage in the evaluation process through collaborative, hands-on activities and reflective discussions.
This course is required to receive a digital badge for the AI Literacy Education Program.
Objectives: In this course, you will learn to:
- Describe how AI models are trained on data
- Summarize how misinformation and biases occur from training data
- Identify types of biases that arise in AI outputs
- Critically analyze AI outputs for accuracy and potential biases
- Explain how to critically evaluate AI tools
Duration: 90 minutes
Experience Level: Basic familiarity with generative AI chatbots like Microsoft Copilot or ChatGPT
Register now
| Date | Time | Registration Link |
|---|---|---|
| Wednesday, February 19, 2025 | 10:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. | Register here |
| Thursday, February 20, 2025 | 2:00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. | Register here |
| Wednesday, March 12, 2025 | 11:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. | Register here |
| Thursday, April 3, 2025 | 2:00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. | Register here |
| Wednesday, April 23, 2025 | 11:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. | Register here |
Description: This course introduces participants to the Zoom AI Companion and its practical applications within a university setting. The course covers key features such as meeting summaries, real-time Q&A, interactive smart recordings, and whiteboard tools for generating sticky notes, tables, mind maps, and flowcharts. Participants will learn how to apply these tools to enhance productivity, collaboration, and learning in academic and administrative contexts through guided demonstrations and hands-on activities.
This course is an elective that counts toward receiving a digital badge for the AI Literacy Education Program.
Objectives: In this course, you will learn to:
- Describe the main features of Zoom AI Companion
- Identify practical scenarios where Zoom AI Companion can enhance productivity, collaboration, or learning outcomes
- Demonstrate how to use Zoom AI Companion features to accomplish specific tasks
Duration: 90 minutes
Experience Level: Little or no familiarity with generative AI tools
Register now
| Date | Time | Registration Link |
|---|---|---|
| Wednesday, February 26, 2025 | 11:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. | Register here |
| Thursday, March 13, 2025 | 2:00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. | Register here |
| Thursday, April 10, 2025 | 2:00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. | Register here |
| Thursday, April 24, 2025 | 2:00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. | Register here |
Description: This course offers an exploration of visual generative AI (GenAI) tools for image and design generation. Participants will gain a primer on visual GenAI tools, considerations for using GenAI, and some best practices for creating effective and accessible designs. Through hands-on activities, participants will develop skills in crafting descriptive prompts and selecting appropriate visual styles to generate unique images using Adobe Firefly. Additionally, they will learn how to generate visual elements to be incorporated into designs using Adobe Express.
This course is an elective for the digital badge for the AI Literacy Education Program.
*Disclaimers:
- This course utilizes Adobe tools which are available to faculty, staff, and select student populations. Students will need to ensure they have access to Adobe apps before attending this workshop.
- Adobe Firely and Express are accessed via the web; you do NOT need to download Adobe Creative Cloud.
Objectives: In this course, you will learn to:
- Understand the basics of AI image and layout generation technology
- Write descriptive prompts and use visual style options to generate images that meet their needs. (Adobe Firefly)
- Write effective prompts to generate elements for graphic design. (Adobe Express)
- Understanding of general best practices for visual design while we use Adobe Express, including:
- Accessibility considerations (color contrast, font size, etc.), creating compositions (weight, size, repetitiveness, spacing), and exporting files
Duration: 90 minutes
Experience Level: Little or no familiarity with generative AI tools or visual design
Register now
| Date | Time | Registration Link |
|---|---|---|
| Thursday, February 27, 2025 | 2:00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. | Register here |
| Thursday, March 20, 2025 | 2:00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. | Register here |
| Wednesday, April 9, 2025 | 11:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. | Register here |
| Wednesday, May 7, 2025 | 11:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. | Register here |
Schedule
Additional AI Resources
Systemwide Generative AI Resources (genai.calstate.edu)
- The CSU offers free training and a credential for generative AI: https://genai.calstate.edu/online-courses
Academic Technology (AT)
Information Technology Services (ITS)
Your participation helps prepare campus programming, trainings, and resources.
Participate now!