Using generative AI tools to develop AI literacy in the context of human–AI collaborative writing among secondary students

This chapter demonstrates the effectiveness of using Generative AI (GenAI) to develop AI literacy in the context of human-AI collaborative writing among secondary students. The study used Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development to scaffold students' understanding of AI concepts and their application of AI tools in the context of AI-assisted digital writing. Four courses were conducted to teach students four AI applications: POE, DeepAI, Sudowrite, and MidJourney. Ten students participated in the course learning, and three attended semi-structured interviews. The results showed that GenAI is beneficial in enhancing students' writing inspiration, generating amazing images for their productions, improving their prompt literacy, enhancing meta-cognition, and strengthening emotional expression and creative thinking. However, the study also found that GenAI poses challenges for students due to high requirements for prompt skills, easy-to-distracted attention, and strict AI ethics. Future research can explore different learning outcomes of this relevant research in various educational levels, such as K-12 and higher education. Copyright © 2025 Xiaoxuan Fang and Hao Deng.