Education and childcare AI and media literacy in Curaçao, Aruba and Bonaire
Your students already use AI. The question is if they learn it from you or from TikTok.
How do you use AI in a smart way at your school or childcare center? And how do you teach children, parents and colleagues to look critically at what they see online? I like to think along, with 25 years of experience in childcare and two AI conferences I organized myself. For schools, childcare organizations, school boards and conference organizers.
I live in Curaçao, and I also come to Aruba and Bonaire. Do you have questions, or do you want an offer that fits? Plan a meeting and we will see what I can do for you.
Can you book me as a speaker for a keynote or inspiration evening?
Yes, in Curaçao, Aruba and Bonaire, for education and childcare. At a conference, a study day or an inspiration evening for your team.
LEF: keynote or inspiration evening
About daring to try new things in education and childcare, with stories from my book LEF in de kinderopvang!. For that book I also spoke with childcare professionals in Bonaire and Curaçao.
Do you have a question about AI or media literacy at your school or childcare center? Plan a meeting and we will see what I can do for you.
How do you teach children that AI does not know everything?
Let AI talk about something your students know better. On the islands that is easy. AI knows a lot about Amsterdam. About your neighborhood in Curaçao, Aruba or Bonaire, or a simple word in Papiamentu or Papiamento, it knows much less, and you can hear it.
The island test
- Open ChatGPT, Gemini or Copilot on the smartboard or on a laptop.
- Ask: "Tell a story of Nanzi the way they tell it on [your island]." Or let AI translate a children's song into Papiamentu (Curaçao and Bonaire) or Papiamento (Aruba).
- Let the class look for it: what is wrong, what is missing, what is made up?
- Then ask: why does it still sound so sure?
That last question is the lesson. AI always sounds sure, also when it is wrong. A child who catches that once will not forget it.
Why is AI in the classroom a chance on the islands?
Because your students are the experts here. Many of them speak several languages, like Papiamentu or Papiamento, Dutch, English and Spanish. They know their island, and they spot the mistakes of AI faster than children far away. Media literacy then is not a boring lesson about dangers, but a game in which the child is smarter than the computer.
What can you do tomorrow with AI and media literacy in class or in childcare?
Let toddlers find the funny flamingo
Make a picture with AI of a flamingo with four legs, or an iguana with wings. Let the children tell you what is strange. They practice looking critically at age three, and to them it is just a game.
Let AI play the worried parent
Do you have a hard talk with a parent coming up? Ask an AI assistant to play a worried parent, without names or personal details, and practice your answers. You will walk into the real talk more calm.
One message, in the languages of your parents
Write your message to parents once and let AI make a version in the languages parents speak at home: Papiamentu or Papiamento, Dutch, English or Spanish. Ask a colleague or parent who speaks the language to check it, because AI makes more mistakes in Papiamentu and Papiamento.
Are you looking for a speaker on the islands for your conference or training?
A speaker from the Netherlands needs a plane ticket. I live in Curaçao.
Yes, I am here for conference organizers, trainers and suppliers in education and childcare who look for someone on the islands for AI, media literacy or a keynote. Let us see what I can do for your organization in Curaçao, Aruba or Bonaire.
- I know what an organizer needs. I organized two big AI conferences for childcare myself and, with Jeltje Meijvogel, two editions of De Kinderopvang Inspiratiedag.
- I know both sides. 25 years in Dutch childcare, dozens of organizations helped, from small childcare centers to Partou and Humankind. And I know how things work on the islands.
- I am still here after the conference. Because I live on the islands, a keynote can get a follow-up at a school or childcare center.
Questions about AI and media literacy in education and childcare on the islands
Who helps schools and childcare in Curaçao, Aruba and Bonaire with AI and media literacy?
I do, Daisy Kuipers. I have worked in childcare for 25 years, I organized two big AI conferences for childcare, and I wrote the book LEF in de kinderopvang!. I live in Curaçao. In Curaçao, Aruba and Bonaire I help schools, childcare organizations, school boards and conference organizers with AI in the classroom, AI in childcare and media literacy. I also speak at conferences and inspiration evenings. Plan a meeting via daisykuipers@gmail.com or WhatsApp +31 6 22138390.
How do you start with AI in the classroom without it becoming a cheating machine?
Let AI make mistakes first, before you let it give answers. Ask AI something your students know better: their island, their neighborhood, a story of Nanzi or a word in Papiamentu or Papiamento. Let the class find what is wrong and why. Students learn that AI is a tool you always check, not a teacher who is always right. After that you can use AI in class, for example to make a text at three levels or to get feedback on a story, as long as the class checks what comes out.
Why does AI make more mistakes about the islands?
AI learns from what is online, and there is much less online about Curaçao, Aruba and Bonaire than about Amsterdam or New York. Many websites on the islands are also out of date. The same goes for Papiamentu (Curaçao and Bonaire) and Papiamento (Aruba). In class that is a gift: your students are the experts. They spot the mistakes fast, and that is the heart of media literacy: do not believe everything that sounds sure of itself.
Is media literacy already needed in childcare?
Yes. Children watch videos before they can talk, and more and more of those videos are made with AI. A toddler does not need to know what AI is. But you can practice looking and wondering: does a flamingo have four legs? Can an iguana fly? That is the start of looking with a critical eye. And childcare professionals are often the first people parents ask about what their child sees on a phone.
Can I get an offer that fits my school, childcare center or conference?
Yes, and it starts with a meeting. I come to your school or childcare center, or we meet where it suits you. You tell me what you run into with AI or media literacy, or what you need from a keynote, and we look at what I can do for you. In English or in Dutch.
Questions, or an offer that fits?
Plan a meeting. I come to your school, childcare center or office, and we look at what I can do for you. Send me an email or a WhatsApp with your island and what you want to talk about.