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Using AI Tools in Citizenship Preparation and Civics Education

2025 CCAE State, Fresno CA

Jennifer Gagliardi

jgagliardi@musd.org

May 2, 2025

Teaching U.S. Citizenship Preparation 2025

bit.ly/uscit-padlet

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Intro

Purpose:

Explore the role of AI in Civic/Citizenship education for adults.
Leverage the power of AI tools such as ChatGPT to target and tailor the creation of level-appropriate English language and U.S. civics course material for the Naturalization interview.

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Leveraging Tech to Teach EL Civics & Citizenship

From Windows 7 Paint (2007) to MS Designer Image AI (2024)

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Elements of Critical Democratic Literacy

Informed citizens apply multiple literacies (skillsets) to act on behalf on the common good.

Civic Literacy: knowledge of history, government, civil society, and current affairs

Information Literacy

ability to identify, locate, evaluate, and use information

Digital Literacy:

the ability to use digital technologies and tools (such as AI) effectively.

Media Literacy:

ability to critically analyze & evaluate media messages across different platforms

Critical Democratic Literacy

Chart based on ChatGPT Prompt: “What is the relationship between digital citizenship, digital literacy, information literacy, news literacy, and media literacy?” accessed 2024-06-17 accessed and edited by Jennifer Gagliardi

Digital citizenship, digital literacy, information literacy, news literacy, and media literacy are all interconnected concepts that contribute to an individual's ability to navigate the digital world effectively and responsibly:
Digital Citizenship: This is the overarching concept that encompasses all aspects of responsible behavior online, including the ability to critically engage with digital content, understand online safety and privacy, and participate in online communities respectfully.
Digital Literacy: This refers to the ability to use digital technologies and tools effectively, which is foundational to being a responsible digital citizen. Digital literacy includes skills such as using digital devices, navigating the internet, and understanding digital communication.
Information Literacy: This involves the ability to identify, locate, evaluate, and use information effectively and ethically. Information literacy is essential for evaluating the credibility of online sources, which is a key aspect of being a responsible digital citizen.
News Literacy: Focuses specifically on the ability to critically evaluate news sources and information. News literacy is a subset of information literacy and is crucial for understanding current events and making informed decisions as a digital citizen.
Media Literacy: This encompasses the ability to critically analyze and evaluate media messages across different platforms, including television, film, social media, and the internet. Media literacy is essential for understanding the impact of media on society and for engaging with media in a responsible manner as a digital citizen.
In summary, while each concept has its specific focus, they are all interconnected and contribute to an individual's overall ability to be a responsible and informed participant in the digital world. Together, they provide the skills and knowledge needed to critically evaluate information, engage with digital content responsibly, and participate meaningfully in online communities.

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NEW NEW NEW FROM TESOL.ORG

100 AI activities to boost English reading, writing, listening and speaking skills!

bit.ly/tesol-ai-cards

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AI & Civic Literacy in a Citizenship Classroom

Source: USCIS M-1175 One Nation, One People

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ESL Video used multiple AI tools to adapt One Nation, One People

Source: ESLVideo.com Ch 1 video

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Use Gen AI to create Leveled Readers

Using Pace AI with USCIS One Nation, One People

A1:The U.S. Constitution was written in 1787. It is very old. The Constitution makes the government. It protects people’s basic rights.

A2:The U.S. Constitution is very important. It was written in 1787. It is the oldest written constitution. The Constitution creates the government and protects people's rights.

B1:The U.S. Constitution was written in 1787 (66) . It is the oldest written constitution in the world. The Constitution sets up the government and protects the basic rights of people living in the United States (2).

B2:The U.S. Constitution was written in 1787, making it the world's oldest written constitution. It establishes the government and protects the basic rights of people living in the United States.

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AI & Digital Literacy in a Citizenship Classroom

Goal: complete the USCIS N-400 online

Smartphone Keyboard Basics & Logging In

18. Create a strong password.

Internet Basics

4. Identify domains(.gov, .edu, .com, .org).
6. Identify safe sharing of personal data
8. Verify identity via Two-Step Verification
9. Fill-out an online form.

Using Email

4. Log into email
8. Add an attachment to email

Information Literacy

3. Identify info needed to complete task.

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AI & Civic Literacy in a EL Civics Classroom

Goal: Civic Engagement

Smartphone Keyboard Basics & Logging In

11. Install an app on a smart phone

Internet

6. Identify safe sharing of personal data

Social Media

1. Identify types/functions of social media

Information Literacy

1-3. Identify info needed to complete task.
4-19. Evaluate the information including reliability, bias, and impact.

Present info via Windows/Google apps.

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Using Mobile AI app to Prep for Interviews

Prepping is Key!

Fill out N400 with meaningful changes to protect privacy.
Download mobile app and create a free account.
Create a portrait using the biodata.
Ask app take on the role of an officer in Settings.
Tell the “officer” to ask q at a time and allow for a response.
Tell the “officer” to ask 5 qs based on one part of the N-400.
Expand to include more N-400 sections in the correct order.
Note obsolete N-400 questions.
Conclude with 2 civics qs

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AI & Media Literacy in a EL Civics Classroom

ChatGPT prompt: Compare and contrast (urls of two articles).

Include summary for CEFR level 1 immigrant parents of school-aged children.

ChatGPT results

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Media Literacy: AI and Social Media (fun!)

Simulator.com and IFakeTextMessage.com

Facebook Simulator https://simitator.com/
https://ifaketextmessage.com/
Foday.com News Clipper Generator https://www.fodey.com/generators/newspaper/snippet.asp
Claude https://claude.ai/chat/545813bb-abaf-44bb-9ddf-8d4dcfb3d3c5
Cats Granted Right to Vote in Berryessa
SAN JOSE, CA - In a stunning move, the city council of Berryessa, a neighborhood in San Jose, has voted to allow cats to participate in local elections going forward. The council voted 4-3 in favor of the Cat Voter Rights Act, granting suffrage to all felines residing within the Berryessa city limits.
"Cats are intelligent beings and they absolutely should have a voice in deciding the leadership and policies that affect their community," said Councilmember Tabitha Pawlins, who sponsored the bill. "For too long, they have been discriminated against and denied their fundamental democratic rights just because they voice their political views with meows instead of English."
Under the new law, any cat over the age of 6 months will be automatically registered to vote using data from animals registered with local veterinarians. Cats will be able to cast their votes by using their paws to leave imprints on mail-in ballots which will be delivered to a special cat litter polling station set up for each election.
The decision has sent ripples through the close-knit Berryess community, with some celebrating the landmark voting rights victory and others outraged at the concept of animals participating in elections.
"I've got two wonderful cats, Sasha and Duke, and you can bet they're going to be enthusiastically filling out their ballots," said Berryess resident Jonathan Palmer. "Their voice is just as valid as mine or any human's."
"This is preposterous and makes a mockery of the entire democratic process," countered Amanda Wilson, another local. "The day rats, pigeons and raccoons get to vote is the day I surrender my citizenship card."
Pawlins says she expects legal challenges to the controversial law and a furry fight ahead. But for now, the cats of Berryess finally have a say in how their city is run.

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Media Literacy: AI and Traditional Media (fun!)

Claude, Fodey, MS Designer

Foday.com News Clipper Generator https://www.fodey.com/generators/newspaper/snippet.asp
Claude https://claude.ai/chat/545813bb-abaf-44bb-9ddf-8d4dcfb3d3c5
Cats Granted Right to Vote in Berryessa
SAN JOSE, CA - In a stunning move, the city council of Berryessa, a neighborhood in San Jose, has voted to allow cats to participate in local elections going forward. The council voted 4-3 in favor of the Cat Voter Rights Act, granting suffrage to all felines residing within the Berryessa city limits.
"Cats are intelligent beings and they absolutely should have a voice in deciding the leadership and policies that affect their community," said Councilmember Tabitha Pawlins, who sponsored the bill. "For too long, they have been discriminated against and denied their fundamental democratic rights just because they voice their political views with meows instead of English."
Under the new law, any cat over the age of 6 months will be automatically registered to vote using data from animals registered with local veterinarians. Cats will be able to cast their votes by using their paws to leave imprints on mail-in ballots which will be delivered to a special cat litter polling station set up for each election.
The decision has sent ripples through the close-knit Berryess community, with some celebrating the landmark voting rights victory and others outraged at the concept of animals participating in elections.
"I've got two wonderful cats, Sasha and Duke, and you can bet they're going to be enthusiastically filling out their ballots," said Berryess resident Jonathan Palmer. "Their voice is just as valid as mine or any human's."
"This is preposterous and makes a mockery of the entire democratic process," countered Amanda Wilson, another local. "The day rats, pigeons and raccoons get to vote is the day I surrender my citizenship card."
Pawlins says she expects legal challenges to the controversial law and a furry fight ahead. But for now, the cats of Berryess finally have a say in how their city is run.

fluffy orange tabby cat marking a ballot with his paw print in a U.S. voting booth

https://designer.microsoft.com/image-creator

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News & Media Literacy Resources

Does a free press support democracy?

Center for Civic Education and NAMLE: Project Community: Engaging All Students in Media Literacy and Public Policy page | video playlist
iCivics: Mini Media Literacy Library collection
Newseum: Edtools collection
NewsLit: Teaching About AI page
NewsLit: RumorGuard page
ProLiteracy: Navigating Todays Media course

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AI & Information Literacy in a Citizenship Program

USCIS Eligible to Naturalize Factsheets: LPRs to Voter$$$

California

LPR Fresno Info Grant Letter via ChatGPT

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Info Literacy: Use Data to Drive Advocacy

Counting people to make sen$e

California Immigrant Data Portal site

Data Summaries pages
Civic Participation Indicators pages

USC Dornsife site

2023 Eligible to Naturalize Interactive Report & Map site

PIACC Literacy Maps site

Survey of Adults Skills 2023: US site

Census.gov: Constitution Day site and AI-generated LP

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More Examples of Using AI in a Citizenship Class

Promote 2-Gen Civics with Text-to-Image Gen AI Tools

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Gen AI Apps to Prepare for the Citizenship materials

ChatGPT & MS Copilot

Generate questions asked during an USCIS Naturalization Interview.
List questions in the USCIS Form N-400 Application for Naturalization
List 5 Questions Common to a Job Application and USCIS N-400 Application for Naturalization CEFR 1-4 (slides 5-17)
List Questions Common To USCIS N-400 And USCIS 100 Civics Questions (slides 18-20)
Voting Rights Timeline (slides 21-23)

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Use AI to create a progressive of N-400 & KYR scripts

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Link to full chat

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Use AI to Create Web Searches about Levels of Gov’t

Claude 3.0 App

Use directed web to understand the different levels of government, access services, participate in civic life.
As students gain familiarity, modify the prompt to focus on different government organizations that immediately touch students’ lives such as school boards, transportation agencies, recreational facilities, etc.
Collate and present their findings via slide decks and videos to encourage public engagement.
Practice digital literacy skills (embed links, photos)

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Use AI to Generate Qs to Check for Understanding

Magic School’s YouTube Video Questions (video)

Copy and paste a video url into Magic School’s or Twee’s You Tube Video Questions.
Chose the grade level of questions, how many questions, and question type.
From there you copy and paste the questions and answer choices into another app such as Quizlet, Kahoot, or EdPuzzle
Or paste the answer choices only into a form or document and play the audio only for your students (much like the CASAS 965/966 G/H assessment.
Summarize the answers and translate them into another language.

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Use Gen AI Interviews to Connect Historical Figures’ Life Lessons to Adult Students’ Lives

Humy.AI-generated Harriet Tubman Interview

Adapt Google Applied Digital Skills: Introduction to Research and Interview a Person from History and supplement with NPS.gov: Underground Railroad
Students see parallels between her escape and their own immigration journey.
Extend both the historical research and digital skills objectives by submitting the first two interview questions from GADK’s Harriet Tubman (plus added their own clarification questions) to Humy AI Chat with Harriet Tubman
The novelty of using a generative AI chatbot exposed common ground of growth, loss, and the need to carry-on, students emerged from the Humy.AI interview (source) with a much deeper connection with their adopted culture, not only with the historical figure, Harriet Tubman, but with each other.

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AI & Info Hallucination in Citizenship Data

Prompt: Which USCIS field office in California has the shortest case processing time for form N-400 Application for Naturalization?
Response: The information available to me does not specify which USCIS field office in California has the shortest processing time for N-400 forms.

USCIS.gov: You can check the USCIS website for processing times. They usually have a tool or page dedicated to this.

Prompt: What is the average processing time for an N-400 application at the San Bernardino, Sacramento, SF, SJ, Fresno, LA, and San Diego field offices in California. Report the info in a chart.

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Final Questions to Consider

CivXNow: Uncharted Waters Education, Democracy, and Social Cohesion in the Age of Artificial Intelligence

Student Reflections: How does AI change the trustworthiness, reliability, or accuracy of online information, and does the change make people feel more or less inclined to participate civically in their community?
Educator Reflections: How has the ubiquity of AI changed how educators teach civic education or what they think needs to be taught in civic education?
Educator Practice: What educational practices (within or outside of formal schooling) empower students to sustain and strengthen our constitutional democracy?

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Frequently Cited

Resources:

USCIS One Nation One People Civics Textbook

bit.ly/uscis-1n1p

OTAN Web-based Classroom Activities

https://otan.us/Resources/WebBasedClassActivity/AllActivities

US Citizenship Podcast

uscitizenpod.com YouTube @uscitizenpod

Teaching U.S. Citizenship Preparation 2024-2025

bit.ly/uscit-padlet

Voting Padlet | News Media Padlet

bit.ly/voting-padlet | bit.ly/ae-medialit

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END SLIDE