Mine or the AI's? Honest Schoolwork
Smart helpers can explain, fix and even write a whole text. What is honest help, and what is already someone else's work shown as yours? Today you will find out — and make a poster for your class.
For the parent: a one-page guide — questions for dinner and a talk about honest work.
01Remember
Think about each question, then open the answer.
What does it mean to copy a classmate's answer?
The work is not yours but someone else's, and you give it as yours. So the teacher cannot see what you have learned.
Can you say “Mum helped me” and still be honest?
Yes. When you say who did what, everything is clear and honest.
Who decides the rules in the class?
The teacher together with the class. In different classes the rules may be different.
02Story
This story is made up.
Ivo has to write a text about bees. He asks a smart helper: “Explain to me how bees make honey.”
The helper explains. Ivo reads, understands and writes in his own words. At the end he adds a line: “Help: a smart helper explained how honey is made. I wrote the text. Mum read it.”
Mira has a task too. First she wants to hand in a text the helper wrote instead of her. Then she stops: “This is not me.”
Mira deletes the text and writes a new one — in her own words, from what she understood. It is not perfect, but it is hers.
The teacher reads both texts. To Ivo she says: “Thank you for writing what helped.” To Mira: “I can see your voice in the text.”
Nobody is punished. Everybody knows who did what.
03Worked example
The traffic light helps us decide. It is a hint, not a law — the rules of your class are set by your teacher.
🟢 Green
The helper explains or checks, and I do the work. It is still good to say that I used it.
🟡 Yellow
It depends on the task and the class rules. I ask the teacher and then say what I did.
🔴 Red
The work is not mine, but I hand it in as mine. That is not honest, because nobody can see what I have learned.
1. What I did myself. 2. What I was helped with (a person or AI). 3. Who checked me.
Why do we learn this? The European Union requires organisations that use AI to see that their people understand it (AI Act, art. 4, in force since 2 February 2025). That is why you learn it too — calmly and with joy, not out of fear.
04Try it now
1 · Predict
What matters most in honest work? Choose before you check.
2 · Run: the traffic light
Here are eight invented situations. Choose a colour for each and read why. My answer is a hint — you and your teacher may decide differently.
3 · Change: a note about the help
Make a note for one of your own tasks. Choose from the lists — nothing is saved or sent.
05No screen: the class poster
You need: a big sheet of paper, coloured markers and two or three classmates or your family. If you are in a class — the teacher is part of the talk.
Divide the sheet into three columns: 🟢, 🟡, 🔴. Each person thinks of one situation from school life and says which column it goes in.
In the 🟡 column write the question: “I ask the teacher”. At the bottom add the line: “I always say who did what.”
Draw a little bee next to the poster — a symbol of honest work (from the story).
Show the poster to the teacher. They may accept it, change it or add rules of their own. That is fine — the rules belong to them and the class.
06Make your own
You already know the traffic light. Time to pass it on.
- Explain to someone else: tell the traffic light to a younger child or a parent in your own words with one example.
- Make for someone: draw a draft poster of class rules — for the teacher. They decide whether to accept or change it.
- Put the three-line note about the help on the poster.
- Do not write anything personal (names, addresses) and do not post the poster anywhere except the class.
07What I learned
- Honest work says who did what. Green, yellow and red are a hint.
- With yellow I ask the teacher. The class rules are decided by the teacher.
- A note about the help has three lines: what I did myself, what I was helped with, who checked me.
Honest work says who did what. And you — how will you tell about the help you get?
Check yourself
1. What is most important in honest work?
2. You are not sure if the help is allowed. What do you do?
3. Who decides the rules for help in your class?
It is yours when you can explain the traffic light to someone else and write a note about the help in three lines. No points and no ranking — only a skill.
08I have a question
Do you still have a question? Write it here. It goes to your parent, not to strangers. Your parent confirms their e-mail first.
The form is loading… If it does not appear, write your question on paper and show it to a parent or teacher.
·Sources
- Title: Mine or the AI's? Honest Schoolwork (DB-II-05) · Author: Children's Library, East Accelerator Foundation · Source: original content and original game code, 2026 · Rights: CC BY-SA 4.0.
- The story is made up. All situations in the game are invented; no real AI tool is used and no registration is needed.
- On the EU and AI literacy: Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 (AI Act), art. 4 — organisations that use AI must see that their people understand it; applies since 2 February 2025. Read 2026-11-01 on an unofficial copy of the text — EUR-Lex could not be read automatically ⚠️ final confirmation by a human against EUR-Lex.
- The rules for using AI in the class are set by the teacher; the lesson does not replace school rules. School link: Informatics and IT / class-teacher hour, grades 6–7 ⚠️ unverified, not shown as a link.
- Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0 · Children's Library, East Accelerator Foundation, 2026. You may share and adapt this lesson if you credit the author and keep the same licence. Learning is free forever.