Course Syllabus | AI with Purpose: A Human-Centered Guide for Education, Work, and Life

Welcome to our human-centered guide to learning about artificial intelligence (AI), a fully online, self-paced course designed to introduce you to the fundamentals of AI and its applications in supporting learning, teaching, creative work, and everyday tasks. Whether you're an educator, student, worker, or lifelong learner, this course will help you build confidence using AI tools ethically and effectively.

🧭 Course Format

- This is a fully online, asynchronous course.
- There are no assignments to submit—explore, try, and reflect at your own pace.
- All quizzes are auto-graded and for learning reinforcement only (no scores are recorded).
- Estimated time per part: 2-3 hours, including activities and quizzes.
- All course materials are accessible and mobile-friendly.

🎯 Learning Outcomes (Goals)

With the successful completion of this course, participants will be able to:

Describe the basics of AI and point out what generative AI can’t do.
Plan and test AI help for a school task, a work task, and a personal task; compare results with and without AI.
Use an ethics checklist to judge an AI example, list risks (privacy, bias, giving credit), and suggest fixes.
Write and improve an AI prompt through at least two revisions, then check if the output meets a given checklist.
Complete a multi-step real task with two AI tools and submit a short write-up of what you did and what worked.

📚 Course Outline

This course is divided into four parts. Feel free to explore all four modules—each has useful takeaways for different parts of life. Start with Foundations for the basics, dip into AI for Educators if you support learners, check out AI for Students to level up your learning, and visit AI in the Workplace to boost creativity, productivity, and innovation. Together, these four modules form a handy toolkit for thriving with AI. You can move through them in order or jump to the sections most relevant to you.

- Part 1: Foundations in AI
  Learn what AI is, how it works, and how it impacts everyday life.
- Part 2: AI for Educators
  Discover how AI can support teaching, communication, and accessibility.
- Part 3: AI for Students
  Use AI as a study partner, creative tool, and confidence booster.
- Part 4: AI for the Workplace
  Explore how AI supports productivity, planning, and communication on the job.

💡 How to Engage

- Work through the embedded interactive tasks to practice and test your understanding of AI.
- Use the "Explore with AI" prompts to apply your understanding with real-world practice.
- Engage with the "Knowledge Checks" to reinforce your learning—no pressure, no grades.

🔐 Accessibility and Support

- This course follows accessibility best practices. If you encounter any issues, reach out to our support team.
- Technical or course-related questions? Contact canvashelp@mccd.edu.

This course is designed to grow with you. Return to any part at any time, and remember, your journey with AI is just beginning.