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Developing AI Literacy in Multimodal Context

Attribution

Original work: "Educators' guide to multimodal learning and Generative AI" — Tünde Varga-Atkins, Samuel Saunders, et al. (2024/25) — CC BY-NC 4.0
Adapted for UK Nursing Education by: Lincoln Gombedza, RN (LD)
Last Updated: December 2025

In the previous section, we emphasised the importance of the critical and responsible use of GenAI in education. This is tied to developing AI literacy, enabling educators and learners to effectively and critically engage with GenAI in a multimodal learning context.

Why AI Literacy Matters in Nursing​

Critical Importance

Developing AI literac(ies) is of critical importance whether you're engaging or disengaging from the technology. If one does not understand the platforms, their functions, contexts, impacts and perceptions, one cannot justifiably use it, or justifiably reject it.

For nursing specifically:

  • 🏥 Clinical Reality: Nurses are increasingly encountering AI in patient monitoring and diagnostics.
  • 🛡️ Safety: Future nurses must understand how to work alongside AI safely and effectively.
  • 📜 Regulation: NMC standards require competence in digital technologies.
  • ⚖️ Accountability: Professional accountability demands understanding the tools we use.

📐 Three Levels of AI Literacy​

We visualize AI literacy as a progressive journey. You don't need to be an expert immediately; start at the base and build up.

🟢 Basic Literacy​

Awareness of multimodal GenAI platforms, their capabilities, and appropriate uses in educational context.

🩺 Nursing Activities
  • Creating prompts for patient scenario generation
  • Generating visual care pathway diagrams
  • Understanding when GenAI is appropriate vs. inappropriate (e.g., NOT for calculating drug doses)

🟡 Intermediate Literacy​

Ability to co-create multimodal content, critically evaluate multimodal AI outputs, and scaffold uses.

🩺 Nursing Activities
  • Transforming lecture notes on wound care into visuals or podcasts
  • Critically evaluating AI-generated patient scenarios for accuracy
  • Identifying biases in AI-generated health information
🧩 LD Nursing Spotlight: Easy Read Co-creation

Activity: Use AI to draft an "Easy Read" guide for a gastrostomy procedure. Skill: Critically evaluate the AI's language—is it truly accessible? Does it follow Photosymbols principles?

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🔴 Advanced Literacy​

Designing activities or assessments that incorporate multimodal uses of GenAI, fostering critical analysis and engagement, and leading ethical and philosophical discussions.

🩺 Nursing Activities
  • Creating assessment rubrics that incorporate appropriate AI use
  • Leading discussions on AI ethics in healthcare
  • Designing clinical simulations that integrate AI tools appropriately

🌊 From Literacy to Fluency​

While AI Literacy is the foundation, AI Fluency is the practice. You cannot have true fluency without literacy first.

  • AI Literacy is like knowing pharmacology theory — understanding how models predict text, knowing what hallucination is, and understanding GDPR data privacy limits.
  • AI Fluency is like medicine administration on a busy ward — it's the practical, real-time application. It’s the ability to interact with the AI iteratively, adapt prompts when the first answer isn't quite right, and critically evaluate the output before clinical use.

According to the Anthropic AI Fluency Index (2026):

"Fluency is strongly associated with conversations that exhibit iteration and refinement... building on previous exchanges rather than accepting the first response."

A true AI literate and fluent nurse does not accept the first output. They interrogate it, refine it, and shape it to the clinical reality.

🎓 Key Teaching Competencies​

To teach effectively with AI, focus on these three core skills:

1. Scaffolded Prompting

Advising students how to craft and iterate on prompts to refine outputs.

❌ Poor: "Create a care plan"

✅ Better: "Create a person-centred care plan for a 75-year-old patient with Type 2 diabetes..."

2. Evaluation Frameworks

Encouraging students to critique GenAI content for:

  • Accuracy
  • Bias (e.g., skin tone representation)
  • Coherence
  • Evidence-base

3. Ethical Protocols

Establishing clear boundaries:

  • ❌ No personal data input
  • ❌ No AI for pure reflection
  • ✅ Use for clinical brainstorming
  • ✅ Use for scenario generation

🚀 Strategies Across Different Levels​

Select your level of operation to see specific strategies:

For Students​

  • Workshop Participation: Join sessions on GenAI use in nursing tasks.
  • Prompt Practice: Practice crafting prompts for clinical scenarios.
  • Transparency: Document AI usage in reflective assignments.

For Educators​

  • CPD: Engage in professional learning (e.g., HEE digital capabilities framework).
  • Experimentation: Try low-stakes uses of GenAI (e.g., generating quiz questions).
  • Reflection: Reflect on the ethical implications of your tools.

For Practice Educators​

  • Modelling: Demonstrate safe AI use in clinical settings.
  • Verification: Show students how to cross-reference AI outputs with NICE Guidelines or BNF.

Next Steps for Nursing Educators​

  1. Assess current literacy — Where are you? Where are your students?
  2. Start small — Pick one module to experiment with AI literacy activities
  3. Build competencies — Use the frameworks above to structure development
  4. Share practice — Join communities like FONS, RCN digital groups, or nursing education networks
  5. Align with standards — Map to NMC competencies and HEE frameworks
Get Started Now

Begin with a simple activity: ask students to generate a patient scenario using AI, then critique it for clinical accuracy and person-centredness.