🧺 Te Kete Ako

Video Activity: Prompt Engineering and AI

Video Activity: Prompt Engineering and AI · Years 7–10

Year LevelYears 7–10
TypeStudent handout — classroom resource

Ngā Whāinga Akoranga · Learning Intentions

  • Understand how digital technologies and AI systems work and affect society
  • Evaluate the social, cultural, and ethical implications of digital tools
  • Apply critical thinking to assess digital content, systems, and their impacts
  • Connect digital literacy skills to concepts of data sovereignty and tino rangatiratanga

Paearu Angitu · Success Criteria

  • I can explain how a digital system or AI tool works in my own words
  • I can identify at least two ethical considerations relevant to this technology
  • I can connect digital issues to real impacts on Māori and Pacific communities
  • I apply my learning to make an evidence-based judgment or recommendation

Video Companion · Video Activity: Prompt Engineering and AI

Use this handout before, during, and after viewing.

Before You Watch

Think about a time you used an AI tool (like a chatbot or image generator). What did you ask it? Were you happy with the result? What would you change about your request?

While Watching

Note: (1) What makes a good prompt? (2) What are some common prompt failures and how are they fixed? (3) What ethical considerations are raised? (4) How does the speaker describe AI "red teaming"?

After Watching

Try it: Write a prompt for a task you genuinely want help with. Then revise it using what you have learned. Compare your first and second versions.

Critical Thinking Questions

1. Prompt design

What are three characteristics of an effective prompt? Give an example of a weak prompt and explain how you would improve it.

2. AI limitations

What are two limitations of AI systems that prompt engineering cannot fully overcome? Why is it important for users to understand these limitations?

3. Ethics and data sovereignty

What ethical questions should we ask before sharing personal or community information with an AI system? How do Māori concepts of data sovereignty (mana motuhake o ngā raraunga) apply here?

Hononga Marautanga · Curriculum Alignment

Digital Technologies — Hangarau Matihiko

Level 4–5: Understand how digital systems and AI tools work; evaluate the social, cultural, and ethical implications of technology; design and apply computational thinking skills to real problems.

Social Sciences — Tikanga ā-Iwi

Level 3–4: Analyse how technology shapes relationships, power, and identity within communities; evaluate the impacts of digital innovation on society, including effects on Indigenous data sovereignty and cultural representation.

Tuhia ōu whakaaro · Write Your Thoughts

Reflect on your learning. What was the most important idea? What question do you still have?

Aronga Mātauranga Māori

In te ao Māori, data and knowledge are not neutral — they carry whakapapa and obligations. Māori Data Sovereignty (Mana Motuhake i ngā Raraunga) holds that Māori have the right to govern, own, and interpret data about themselves and their communities. When digital systems are designed without this understanding, they risk perpetuating colonial patterns of extraction. The concept of kaitiakitanga extends naturally to the digital realm — guardianship of what is collected, stored, and shared about us is as important as guardianship of land, water, and living knowledge systems.

Ngā Rauemi Tautoko · Resources already provided

  • AI Ethics framework card — key principles and discussion prompts
  • Digital Citizenship checklist — for safe and responsible online practice
  • Māori Data Sovereignty explainer — context for indigenous data rights

📋 Teacher Planning Snapshot

Ngā Whāinga Ako — Learning Intentions

Students will develop critical digital literacy by examining the ethical dimensions of AI systems, exploring how kaupeka matihiko (digital technologies) reflect and shape our values, and connecting concepts of tino rangatiratanga (self-determination) to digital sovereignty and data rights in Aotearoa.

Ngā Paearu Angitū — Success Criteria

  • ✅ I can identify ethical issues within AI systems and explain their real-world impact.
  • ✅ I can apply a te ao Māori lens to evaluate digital technologies and their effects on communities.
  • ✅ I can articulate what digital sovereignty means and why it matters for tangata whenua.

Differentiation & Inclusion

Scaffold support: Provide worked examples of AI bias scenarios with entry-level sentence starters. Offer extension tasks requiring students to research and present a case study of algorithmic injustice affecting indigenous communities.

ELL / ESOL: Pre-teach key digital technology vocabulary (algorithm, bias, data, sovereignty). Allow students to discuss concepts in home language before writing in English.

Inclusion: Use accessible formats with clear headings and visual supports. Neurodiverse learners benefit from structured ethical frameworks (e.g. decision trees) to navigate complex AI ethics scenarios.

Mātauranga Māori lens: Connect AI ethics to tikanga Māori values — particularly kaitiakitanga of data (who owns and controls information about Māori communities) and the principle of manaakitanga in how technologies should serve people equitably. Discuss the risks of algorithmic bias replicating colonial harm.

Prior knowledge: Best used after introductory digital technology concepts. No specialist prior knowledge required for entry-level engagement.

Curriculum alignment