Best for
Vocabulary front-loading, reading support, digital technologies units, and helping learners use key language confidently in writing and kōrero.
Digital Technologies / Language Support • Years 7-12 • Ready to use tomorrow
AI & Technology Glossary
Use this bilingual glossary to support ākonga as they read, discuss, and write about artificial intelligence and digital technologies. The aim is not just translation, but clearer conceptual access through both English and te reo Māori where possible.
Use this free glossary, then adapt the unit
Start with the shared vocabulary here, then move into Te Wānanga if you want a differentiated reading, sentence frame, or follow-up task for your class.
Kaiako planning snapshot
- Best used for: 10-20 minute vocabulary unpack or as an ongoing reference throughout a digital technologies unit.
- Grouping: Whole-class modelling first, then paired rehearsal using the key terms in context.
- Prep: Choose which terms are essential for this lesson and which ones can stay as extension vocabulary.
- Teaching move: Treat vocabulary as conceptual access. Make students use the terms in explanation, not just copy definitions.
Resources already provided
- Bilingual glossary for key AI and digital technologies terms
- Active-use prompts and sentence support
- Teach-this-tomorrow classroom guidance
- Curriculum companion for planning and reporting links
Ngā Whāinga Akoranga / Learning Intentions
- We are learning to use important AI and technology vocabulary accurately.
- We are learning to recognise these terms in reading, speaking, and writing.
- We are learning to strengthen access through both English and te reo Māori where appropriate.
Paearu Angitu / Success Criteria
- I can explain key AI and technology terms in my own words.
- I can use at least some of the vocabulary correctly in a discussion or written response.
- I can recognise that technical language carries meaning, power, and access implications.
Curriculum integration / Te Marautanga alignment
This glossary supports literacy access inside digital technologies work. Use the curriculum companion to show how vocabulary development sits alongside understanding systems, data, and ethical use.
Language is part of technological power
If learners do not understand the language of a field, they are kept at the edge of it. A bilingual glossary helps ākonga build confidence, connect new technical ideas to familiar language, and see that digital technologies can and should be discussed in ways that honour Aotearoa contexts.
Mātauranga Māori treats language as a taonga — a treasure that carries knowledge, whakapapa, and tikanga. When we bring te reo Māori into technical vocabulary, we make space for Indigenous ways of knowing to shape how technology is understood, used, and held accountable. Kaitiakitanga (guardianship) applies not only to the environment but to knowledge systems too.
Glossary terms
- Artificial intelligence (AI): Computer systems that perform tasks that appear to need human-style judgement or pattern recognition.
- Algorithm: A set of steps a computer follows to solve a problem or make a decision.
- Data / raraunga: Information collected and used by a system.
- Bias / whakatoihara: An unfair leaning or pattern that advantages some people or ideas over others.
- Model: The trained system that uses data to produce outputs.
- Prompt: The instruction or question given to an AI tool.
- Output: The response produced by the system.
- Training data: The examples used to teach or tune an AI system.
- Consent: Permission that is informed and freely given.
- Data sovereignty / rangatiratanga raraunga: The right of a people or community to control data about themselves.
Use the glossary actively
- Circle three terms you already understand well.
- Highlight two terms you need to practise using in a sentence.
- Choose one term that matters especially in an Aotearoa or Māori context and explain why.
The term I will focus on is:
I chose it because (include a tikanga or mātauranga connection if possible):
In my own words, this term means:
Sentence starters
- An algorithm works by...
- Bias becomes a problem when...
- Training data matters because...
- Data sovereignty is important in Aotearoa because...
Teach this tomorrow
Print / share
- One copy per learner or class set for table groups
- Optional digital copy for annotation
Decide before class
- Which terms are essential for the lesson and which are extension
- Which terms you want students to use in kōrero or writing by the end
Look for by the end
- Students can use technical language more precisely and confidently
- Students can connect vocabulary to real ethical or technological examples
All key resources are provided for
- This glossary provides the core vocabulary scaffold.
- Pair it with the linked AI ethics lesson and related comprehension/protocol handouts.
- If learners need a differentiated or bilingual writing task, adapt it through Te Wānanga rather than building a fresh worksheet.
Hononga Marautanga · Curriculum Alignment
Digital Technologies — Hangarau Matihiko
Level 4–5: Build vocabulary for discussing digital systems and AI; understand and use technical and te reo Māori terminology accurately; apply new vocabulary in reading, discussion, and written analysis tasks.
Social Sciences — Tikanga ā-Iwi
Level 3–4: Understand how technology shapes relationships, power, and identity within communities; evaluate the impacts of digital innovation on society and culture.
Aronga Mātauranga Māori
The act of naming something in te reo Māori is not translation — it is creation. When the Māori Language Commission coined terms like rorohiko (computer) and ipurangi (internet), it was asserting that te ao Māori has the intellectual resources to meet any domain of knowledge — including the digital. This bilingual glossary honours that tradition. Students who learn both English and te reo Māori terms are not learning two words for the same thing; they are learning two ways of understanding — and keeping te reo alive in new domains.
Ngā Rauemi Tautoko · Support Materials
- All Unit 7 handouts — this glossary supports vocabulary use across the entire unit
- Introduction to LLMs (introduction-to-llms.html) — core technical vocabulary in context
- AI Ethics and Bias (ai-ethics-and-bias.html) — justice and ethics vocabulary
- AI News Analysis (ai-news-analysis.html) — apply vocabulary to current events
Curriculum alignment
- Digital Technologies — Progress Outcome: Students understand how digital systems store, represent, and transmit data and consider the ethical implications of digital technologies on society.
- Digital Technologies — Progress Outcome: Students can identify and describe the key components of digital systems and how they interact.