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Dimensions of AI Literacies for Learners

The Dimensions of AI Literacies for Learners is a framework of eight interconnected dimensions that describe what it means to engage meaningfully with AI. Each dimension includes alignment to the ISTE Standards for Students (ISTE, 2024), making the framework immediately actionable for educators working within K–12 and beyond. The framework also uses Dr. Ruben Puentedura's SAMR Model as a design lens, helping educators identify where students' current AI engagement might be amplified to move from simple use toward deeper transformation.

About the Taxonomy

How might we support learners in developing the skillsets and mindsets needed to succeed in an AI-enabled world?

The Dimensions of AI Literacies for Learners serves as a much-needed companion to the original resource. Where the Dimensions of AI Literacies taxonomy speaks to the literacies that educators and leaders activate across their professional contexts, this companion asks a different question: what does it look like when learners themselves are developing these literacies? Together, the two resources offer a shared vocabulary and approach that spans the full arc of teaching and learning in an AI-enabled world.

In practice, these dimensions rarely operate alone. A single assignment, project, or conversation with an AI tool will almost always activate more than one dimension at once. We call these intersections constellations, and recognizing them helps learners and educators alike see AI literacies as they actually unfold: connected, layered, and shaped by context.

The Dimensions of AI Literacies for Learners

The Dimensions of AI Literacies for Learners was created by Dr. Angela Gunder, Dr. Heather Farmakis, Dr. Nicole Johnson, Dr. Josh Herron, Dr. Nicole Weber, Dr. Colette Chelf, and Dr. Cristi Ford. It builds on the Dimensions of AI Literacies taxonomy (Gunder, Herron, Weber, Chelf, & Birdwell, 2024), created by Dr. Angela Gunder, Dr. Josh Herron, Dr. Nicole Weber,  Dr. Colette Chelf, and Dr. Sherry Birdwell. Both frameworks are a remix of the work presented in Dr. Doug Belshaw's book, The Essential Elements of Digital Literacies, and is openly shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license.

Cultural AI Literacies

Recognizing how your identity, community, and background shape your relationship with AI tools and the content they produce.

How do my individual experiences and contexts influence how I engage with AI tools and the content they produce?
  • I can use AI tools to explore how different groups, contexts, and perspectives are represented in AI-generated outputs.
  • I can identify how one’s background and personal experiences shape the way they interpret and respond to AI-generated content.
  • I can discuss how AI tools designed in one cultural context may behave differently in another.
  • I can evaluate an AI-generated response by asking whether multiple viewpoints are represented.
  • I can identify potential gaps, limitations, or incomplete representations in AI outputs and adjust use accordingly.

ISTE STANDARDS  Global Collaborator  ●  Digital Citizen

Cognitive AI Literacies

Expanding your intellectual capabilities by exploring how both you and AI learn, and using that understanding to strengthen how you think and engage with knowledge.

How does understanding the way both I and AI learn change how I think and engage with knowledge?
  • I can explain how prompts function as inputs that shape AI outputs, and use that understanding to construct prompts that produce more accurate and useful results.
  • I can explain how AI models learn from training data and compare that process to how I learn, articulating meaningful similarities and differences.
  • I can identify common limitations in AI-generated outputs, such as hallucinations, outdated information, and overconfident responses, and use that understanding to inform how I engage with AI-generated knowledge.
  • I can recognize that different AI tools have different cognitive capabilities and limitations, and select among them based on what a given task requires.
  • I can reflect on how working with AI changed my approach to a problem or question, and articulate what that shift reveals about my own thinking.

ALIGNMENT TO ISTE STANDARDS  Empowered Learner  ●  Computational Thinker

Constructive AI Literacies

Understanding how AI tools are built and using that knowledge to construct, remix, and generate new content that reflects your own thinking, creativity, and intentions.

How can I use what I know about how AI works to build something meaningful and original?
  • I can explain the basic components of how an AI tool is built, including how training data, models, and design choices shape the outputs it produces.
  • I can use AI as a collaborative tool to develop a draft, outline, or design, then significantly revise and extend it with my own thinking.
  • I can design a process or workflow that incorporates AI tools, then iterate on and improve that process based on AI's performance and my own evaluation of the results.
  • I can articulate the choices I made when using AI to construct something, including where I accepted, rejected, or modified AI suggestions, and distinguish between using AI as a crutch and using it as a scaffold.
  • I can remix AI-generated content from multiple sources into a coherent, original argument or creative work that reflects my own knowledge and intentions.

ALIGNMENT TO ISTE STANDARDS  Knowledge Constructor  ●  Innovative Designer

Communicative AI Literacies

Engaging in purposeful dialogue with AI and using AI to convey your ideas across different audiences, while recognizing how your background and context shapes what AI produces.

How do I express my intentions clearly to AI, and how can AI help me convey my ideas to others in appropriate and effective ways?
  • I can express my intentions clearly to AI by providing relevant context about my goals, audience, and expectations, and adjust my approach when AI misunderstands what I am asking for.
  • I can sustain a productive multi-turn dialogue with AI, building on previous exchanges to refine direction and deepen the quality of the conversation.
  • I can use AI to adjust the tone, vocabulary, structure, and clarity of a message to fit a specific audience.
  • I can use AI to support communication across languages and abilities, while recognizing the limitations of machine translation and AI-assisted accessibility tools.
  • I can evaluate whether an AI-assisted communication is more or less authentic and effective than one I would have produced independently.

ALIGNMENT TO ISTE STANDARDS  Creative Communicator  ●  Global Collaborator

Confident AI Literacies

Building your readiness to engage with AI-enabled environments, solve problems within them, and manage your own learning by understanding their features and possibilities.

How do I build the confidence and capacity to solve problems and manage my own learning in AI-enabled environments?
  • I can approach new AI tools and environments with a willingness to experiment, recognizing that any entry point is a valid starting place and that confidence grows through experience.
  • I can set a learning goal, identify which AI tools might support it, and reflect on whether they actually helped.
  • I can push back on AI when it produces inaccurate, overconfident, or misleading outputs, and trust my own judgment enough to challenge, correct, or override what AI generates.
  • I can describe my own strengths and areas for growth as a learner in AI-enabled environments, and recognize when my reliance on AI tools is supporting my growth versus undermining my independence.
  • I can apply my experience with AI to new contexts, including academic, professional, and real-world situations, with a growing sense of readiness and capability.

ALIGNMENT TO ISTE STANDARDS  Global Collaborator  ●  Digital Citizen

Creative AI Literacies

Taking new approaches to solving problems and creating solutions by using AI to discover possibilities and produce original ideas within your own contexts.

How can I use AI to expand what I am able to imagine and make?
  • I can use AI to brainstorm a wide range of ideas, then make deliberate choices about which to develop and why.
  • I can use AI generation tools to prototype a creative concept and iterate on it based on feedback.
  • I can experiment with new and unexpected ways of using AI tools, testing their potential across different tasks, subjects, and contexts.
  • I can create an original work that intentionally integrates AI-generated elements alongside my own contributions, and explain how each shaped the final product.
  • I can reflect on how working with AI changed my process, what it opened up, and what it limited.

ALIGNMENT TO ISTE STANDARDS  Innovative Designer  ●  Creative Communicator

Critical AI Literacies

Examining what AI produces, how it was built, and who it affects, and using that analysis to make informed decisions about when and how AI should be trusted, challenged, or set aside.

What might this AI be getting wrong, leaving out, or not accounting for, and what should I do about it?
  • I can analyze an AI-generated output and whether the output omits relevant information or perspectives that affect its accuracy, reliability or completeness.
  • I can verify AI-generated information by cross-referencing it with credible independent sources before using it in my work, and explain why verification matters even when outputs appear authoritative.
  • I can evaluate an AI tool's data practices and terms of service, including what personal data I generate and how it may be stored and used, and make an informed decision about whether and how to use that tool.
  • I can identify situations where AI should not be used and articulate why human reasoning, creativity, or ethical judgment should take precedence in those contexts.
  • I can assess whether an AI tool is helping or harming my learning in a specific situation, explain the basis for that assessment, and propose what should be done differently.

ALIGNMENT TO ISTE STANDARDS  Digital Citizen ●  Knowledge Constructor

Civic AI Literacies

Applying your AI knowledge and skills to contribute positively to your community and society, fostering engagement, empowerment, and progress.

How can I use AI to contribute something meaningful to my community and the world beyond it?
  • I can identify and discuss how AI is being used in civic, governmental, or societal contexts, and evaluate those uses for accountability and impact.
  • I can use AI tools to research and analyze a local or global issue that matters to my community, and share what I learn in ways that reach and inform others.
  • I can identify and discuss how differences in access to AI tools and resources may impact how individuals and groups are able to use technology effectively.
  • I can use AI to create content that raises awareness about an issue that is important to me or my community, while ensuring that content is accurate and fair to all communities it represents.
  • I can contribute to a project that uses AI-generated data or analysis to address a specific community need, and propose practical approaches to ensuring participation remains accessible regardless of resources.

ALIGNMENT TO ISTE STANDARDS  Global Collaborator  ●  Digital Citizen

How to Cite

Gunder, A., Farmakis, H., Johnson, N., Herron, J., Weber, N., Chelf, C., & Ford, C. (2026). Dimensions of AI literacies for learners. Opened Culture. https://openedculture.com/projects/dimensions-of-ai-literacies/ 

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AI Literacies Applied

How do the dimensions of AI literacies appear in our work based on our roles and the focus of our work?
Empirical findings on the appearance of AI literacies shows that they are multidimensional, interconnected, and socioculturally informed. As such, how they show up is dependent upon multiple factors including our roles, environment, and communities that we belong to. As part of our research on the Dimensions of AI Literacies, we are sharing case examples from around the globe. You can explore them below and share examples from your own work here on this website.
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