Artificial intelligence is showing up in more facets of everyday life from job application screening and workplace communication tools to customer service help and healthcare check-ins. For adult learners, developing confidence with AI is becoming a key ingredient for fuller participation in work and civic life. This past year, EEC took meaningful steps to meet that moment, both by bringing AI literacy into the classroom and by grounding that work in what leading national and international frameworks say it should look like.
What AI literacy means and why it matters now
In February 2026, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) released its Artificial Intelligence Literacy Framework, the first federal guidance of its kind for workforce and education programs. It identifies five core areas every worker should develop: understanding how AI works, exploring uses of AI, effective prompting, evaluating AI outputs, and using AI responsibly. Crucially, it emphasizes that these skills are best developed through hands-on practice.
Internationally, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the European Commission jointly released a draft AI Literacy Framework in 2025 with a broader educational lens that foregrounds critical thinking, information and media literacy, ethics, curiosity, and human agency alongside practical skills. The DOL framework focuses on using AI responsibly and effectively. The OECD goes a step further, emphasizing human agency in deciding whether and how to engage with AI at all. Together, they point toward a usable definition of AI literacy: knowing how to use these tools and evaluating whether you should.
But frameworks only matter if they translate into good teaching. Rachel Riggs and Sarah Cacicio state it plainly: educators should "prioritize learning goals over tools and ensure that the use of GenAI tools and features supports learners in meeting their unique and diverse learning needs and aspirations." This shapes how we approach AI literacy. Rather than just teaching learners to use AI, we aim to help them understand it, evaluate it, and decide whether to use it. This puts learner agency, not technology, at the center.
What we built: A three-part lesson series
We developed a series of lesson plans and accompanying materials on artificial intelligence for adult English learners at a high beginning level and above. The lessons address AI 101, AI Benefits and Risks, and Using AI to Support English Learning. Each is designed around the same principle emphasized in those frameworks: learning by doing.
To preview the lessons and access the full materials, watch this short video and complete a brief form.
EEC gives special thanks to PwC for their support in funding the development of these lessons.
What instructors and learners shared
After piloting the lessons in fall 2025, we gathered feedback from participating teachers. Their responses were candid and encouraging.
The AI 101 lesson earned the highest marks. One instructor gave all three lessons a 5 out of 5, noting that the slides required active student participation and generated "very engaging" discussion.
What the pilot confirmed is something our spring 2025 student focus groups had already suggested: adult learners are not necessarily waiting to be taught about AI. Many are already using it. Learners in our focus groups described turning to AI tools as independent language learning aids:
“I like to speak with ChatGPT. I think that's one of the most efficient ways for me to study English. Actually it's really patient – you can ask any question you want, you have no shame about asking ChatGPT about anything.
“I will go back to ChatGPT, ask them like what's the language, like what's this slang or idiom come from, like what that means.”
“I will use ChatGPT and try the writing, then I ask ChatGPT to improve my writing. So, these practices, every day and every time.”
Our lessons focus on building foundational knowledge and skills, while inviting learners to think more broadly about how AI works and how they might wish to use it. One instructor noted that students raised thoughtful concerns about their children using AI to complete homework, worried about a generation that might not know how to work hard or how to learn.
Instructors adapted the lessons in learner-centered ways. One connected AI to something that students already encounter daily, comparing deepfakes to false or misleading advertising to build critical thinking skills. Another teacher directed students to search for examples of AI-generated fake images online. And another teacher, for learners to practice AI prompts, focused on interview prep.
The feedback also surfaced honest challenges. Some vocabulary was demanding for some beginning-level learners, and defining AI abstractly proved tricky. As one instructor observed: "Defining AI is a mouthful. Hard for ELLs. Basically, they know it when they see it." That's a useful insight, and one we will carry into future iterations and resource curation.
Why instructor readiness matters
The pilot also reminded us that AI literacy for learners depends on the instructor’s confidence with technology. Our own survey data reflects a reality common across adult education programs: about two-thirds of EEC instructors in the fall reported feeling comfortable using technology for instruction, yet one-third expressed mixed feelings or discomfort.
EEC actively supports instructor readiness through formal training and informal conversations. Staff work with instructors on their own AI literacy, sharing practical ideas like using AI to write custom stories that make content more relevant or to brainstorm multilevel activities for diverse classrooms. Instructors also share successes and challenges with each other during weekly instructor chats. The following resources are curated with both experienced and less confident instructors in mind.
- AI Literacy Matters – practical examples of AI literacy in everyday life
- Glossary of AI Vocabulary – learn the terms used to talk about AI
- Crash Course: Teaching with Generative AI – 30-minute, self-paced course
- When do I AI? – guiding questions for deciding whether to use AI to support instruction
- Using AI to Reduce Lesson Planning Time – basic training on prompting AI
- Open Prompt Book – sample prompts used by teachers
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EEC’s Guidance on Generative AI Use by Teachers, Class Aides, Tutors, and Advisors If you use generative artificial intelligence tools (e.g., Claude, Gemini) to assist with EEC-related work: · Do not enter confidential or personal information about students, volunteers, or staff into AI tools. · EEC staff maintain and periodically update a list of vetted AI tools. Contact EEC staff for guidance before using other tools. You may share AI tool suggestions with EEC staff for consideration. · Review AI-generated content for accuracy and appropriateness before sharing. |
Looking ahead
In the coming months, we will expand our AI literacy work to career and workforce readiness with support from skills-based volunteers from Accenture. The module will cover basic and appropriate ways to use AI tools, how AI can support grammar, writing, and job-search language, how to use AI to better understand job descriptions, and/or simple ways to prepare for interviews using AI prompts. We are excited to continue expanding access to this work to meet the diverse needs and aspirations of our learners.