UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State has launched a new set of artificial intelligence (AI) literacy resources designed to help students and instructors thoughtfully and ethically engage with AI in writing and learning environments.
Penn State World Campus Online Faculty Development and the Penn State Program in Writing and Rhetoric in the Department of English collaborated to develop a new resource available in Canvas. The "AI for Writing" program includes a learning module designed specifically for students and an instructor-focused toolkit. These programs were designed around a writing literacy framework and aligned with the University’s broader AI literacy efforts.
The "AI for Writing" student module has been incorporated into sections of English 15, an introductory writing course taken by first-year students. This student-facing module is also available through World Campus’s Academic Development Services catalog, expanding access to all students.
The framework focuses on three areas of literacy: functional, critical and rhetorical. The framework aims to help students evaluate AI tools, understand their strengths and limitations, and consider how AI can be used throughout the writing process and in professional settings.
Using prompts and real-world scenarios, the module demonstrates how students can ethically leverage AI while maintaining intellectual control of their written work. The framework encourages students to ask questions, think critically about AI-generated content and develop effective writing practices for working with AI tools.
“Writing has always been a vehicle for critical inquiry, and that role becomes even more important in an age of AI,” said Stuart Selber, director of the Penn State Program in Writing and Rhetoric and author of the module. "Because writing is now the primary interface through which students engage with AI systems, the module helps them evaluate AI critically, recognize its limitations, and make informed choices about how it may or may not contribute to their writing processes and products.”
One component of the framework focuses on functional literacy and introduces students to strategies for evaluating information generated or surfaced by AI tools. Students learn to apply the SIFT Method, where SIFT stands for Stop, Investigate the source, Find better coverage, and Trace claims to their original context.
In addition to the student module, World Campus Online Faculty Development has launched an "AI for Writing" Instructor Toolkit. The toolkit helps faculty members explore the framework by offering guiding questions, instructional resources and examples that instructors can adapt to fit their teaching philosophies, disciplinary approaches and learning objectives.
Instructors can import toolkit content directly into their Canvas courses, allowing them to tailor it to meet the needs of their students.
“There is no one-size-fits-all approach to adopting AI in courses,” said Matt Dingo, assistant director for Online Faculty Development. “The Instructor Toolkit provides options and guidance while helping instructors examine AI in writing through a multiliteracies lens. It does not prescribe how or if to incorporate AI in writing assignments.”
Development of the toolkit resources began in late 2025. Penn State has launched a new set of artificial intelligence (AI) literacy resources designed to help students and instructors thoughtfully and ethically engage with AI in writing and learning environments.
“'AI for Writing' is a natural extension of institution-wide goals related to AI literacy,” said Chris Millet, acting associate vice provost for Online Education, Faculty Engagement. “We’re situating student AI use specifically in the discipline of writing, which has been significantly disrupted across higher education. It’s an issue that deserves this sort of deep-dive, and we’re fortunate to have Stuart’s expertise to guide this work.”
The "AI for Writing" student module and instructor toolkit are available now. Faculty can register for the toolkit through Online Faculty Development’s course catalog. Students can be directed to the module through the "AI for Writing" registration link.