Computer Skills

Beginner

60 mins

Teacher/Student led

Learning Goals

Learning Outcomes

+80 XP

Pupils work on their own device

What you need:
Chromebook/Laptop/PC or iPad/Tablet

Your AI Copilot: Prompting AI to Do Better Work

Students learn to use AI assistants as a Drafter, Critic and Explainer on their own work. They practise prompt patterns that get genuine results (being specific, giving a role, showing examples and iterating) on their Something Real project.

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1 Introduction
2 Key Concepts
3 Step-by-step Task: Three Modes, One Project
4 Common Issues
5 Portfolio Build: AI Workbench
6 Reflection
7 Lesson Summary
Quiz

1 - Introduction ~5 mins

Illustration for Introduction

Today you will

use the AI tool your school has approved in three modes: Drafter, Critic and Explainer
write prompts that give you useful answers
decide what to keep, change or reject, and say why

Warm-up

Think about the last time you asked an AI for help. Was the first answer useful, or did you have to change your prompt?

👇 Mark your steps as done as you complete them.

+5 XP

2 - Key Concepts ~5 mins

Key word	What it means
Drafter	The AI writes a first version, and then you edit it.
Critic	You paste in your work and ask where it is weak.
Explainer	The AI explains an idea at the level you need.
Specific prompt	You give the AI a role, your real material and a limit.
The honesty line	Getting help from AI is fine, but handing in its work as yours is cheating.

Example

"Help me with my pitch" gets you a vague, general answer. "Act as a communications coach. Rewrite this opening in 25 words for my year head" works better.

👇 Mark your steps as done as you complete them.

+10 XP

3 - Step-by-step Task: Three Modes, One Project ~17 mins

You will take one weak pitch sentence for a TY bake sale through all three modes. Watch your teacher first, then follow the steps in the box below. When a step asks for a prompt, copy it from here.

Prompt 1: Drafter

Act as a school communications coach. I'm writing a 2-minute pitch to my year head. My opening line is: "We want to do a bake sale so we can go on our TY trip." Give me three alternative opening sentences that are more specific and more persuasive. Each must be one sentence long, mention the specific cause (a Galway trip), and be written in the voice of a TY student.

Prompt 2: Critic

Act as a direct, honest critic. Here is my pitch opening: "[paste your chosen sentence]". Find three specific weaknesses in clarity, evidence, or persuasiveness. For each weakness, explain in one sentence what a reader would think, and suggest one concrete fix.

Prompt 3: Explainer

Explain "break-even point" at Junior Cert business level. In the worked example, clearly distinguish fixed costs (which stay the same no matter how many items are sold, e.g. table hire €30 and flyers €10) from variable costs (which rise with each item sold, e.g. ingredients of €0.40 per brownie). Use a school bake sale with a selling price of €2 per brownie. Show how many brownies must be sold to break even. Keep the whole explanation to five sentences or fewer.

Follow-up, if you need it

I didn't get the fixed costs part; can you explain that with a different example from a school fundraiser?

+15 XP

4 - Common Issues ~3 mins

If you see	Do this
The answer is vague and general.	Add a role, your real material and a limit to your prompt, then send it again.
A fact sounds wrong.	AI can make things up, so check it somewhere else or don't use it.
The AI still answers about [paste your chosen sentence].	Send "Ignore my last message" and paste in your real sentence.

Two prompts and what comes back. The vague prompt, Help me with my pitch, gets a vague, general answer. The specific prompt has a role, your real material and a limit, and gets an answer you can use.

+10 XP

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