Short answer
Teachers can use tools like DALL·E 2 and Stable Diffusion to make history and literature visible, to spark discussion about art and style, and to teach students how precise language shapes a result. Because OpenAI requires account holders to be 18 or older, the simplest approach for younger classes is for the teacher to run the tool while students write and critique the prompts.
Follow-up question What rules should students follow?
Since DALL·E 2 opened to everyone in September and Stable Diffusion was released for free in August, AI image generators have moved from tech news into staff rooms. Some teachers worry about them; others are curious. Both reactions make sense. These tools turn a written description, called a prompt, into a picture in seconds, and that can be a gift for teaching if it is used with a clear purpose and some ground rules.
The most useful way to think about them in class is as a thinking tool, not a shortcut. The image is rarely the point. The point is the conversation around it: what the prompt asked for, what came back, what the tool got wrong, and why.
Before you start: accounts and settings
Check the rules of the tool first. OpenAI's Terms of Use, which cover DALL·E, say users must be 18 or older, and accounts may not be shared. In most schools, that means the teacher holds the account and runs it from the front of the room, with students suggesting and revising prompts. Decide in advance which prompts you will run, so the session doesn't stall.
DALL·E's content policy also helps in a school setting. It asks users not to create images that are not G-rated, and it bans categories such as violence, hate, sexual content, political campaigning and images of public figures. Stable Diffusion is different: it is open, so anyone can download and run it, and it comes with a safety filter turned on by default that users can adjust. Its license puts responsibility for ethical and legal use on the person using it. For classrooms, the hosted, filtered option is usually the safer starting point.
Lesson ideas that work
Visualizing history, then fact-checking it. Have students write a prompt for a scene they are studying, such as a market in a medieval town or a classroom from the early 1900s. Generate the images, then ask: What looks right? What is clearly wrong or invented? Where could we check? The errors become the lesson, because students must use real sources to judge the picture.
Art critique and style. Generate the same subject in several styles: watercolor, woodcut, photograph, comic panel. Students describe how each choice changes the mood. This builds the vocabulary of art analysis: color, line, composition, light. It also opens an honest discussion about artists whose work these models learned from without being asked.
Precise writing. Image prompts reward specific words. Give students a vague prompt and have them improve it.
Version 1: a castle
Version 2: a stone castle on a cliff above a stormy sea, seen from a small boat, at dusk, painted in watercolorStudents compare the two results and list which added words changed the image most. That is a lesson in adjectives, point of view and setting, disguised as play.
Picturing a story. For literature, ask students to write a prompt for a key scene using only details found in the text. Comparing the generated image with the book shows which details they noticed and which the tool invented.
A worked lesson plan: history in 45 minutes
| Time | Activity |
|---|---|
| 5 min | Introduce the tool and its limits: it makes plausible pictures, not accurate records |
| 10 min | In pairs, students write one prompt each for a scene from the unit |
| 10 min | Teacher generates three or four of the prompts on the projector |
| 15 min | Groups list three things that seem accurate and three that seem wrong, then check them against the textbook or a primary source |
| 5 min | Class discussion: what would you change in the prompt, and why can't an image generator replace a historical source? |
Try it: Before using it with students, run the lesson yourself. Write a prompt for a scene from a unit you teach, generate four images, and list every detail you would need to check. If the list is long and interesting, the lesson will work.
What rules should students follow?
A short policy, agreed at the start and posted in the room, prevents most problems. Here is a starting version you can adapt to your school's own rules:
- The teacher runs the account. Students do not sign up for tools that require adult accounts.
- Keep it school-appropriate. Prompts must follow the tool's content rules and the class code of conduct. No real classmates, teachers or public figures.
- No uploading photos of people. DALL·E's policy forbids uploading images of people without their consent; in class, the simplest rule is none at all.
- Label AI images. Any AI-generated image in an assignment is clearly marked, along with the prompt used. OpenAI's own policy says users must not pass off AI work as entirely human-made.
- Images are not evidence. A generated picture of a historical event is an illustration, never a source.
- Respect artists. Don't use living artists' names to copy their style for assignments; describe the look instead.
Explain the reasons, not just the rules. Students who understand why an AI image cannot serve as evidence, or why an artist might object to having their style copied, are learning exactly the media literacy these tools demand. Revisit the policy as the tools change, because they are changing quickly.
Sources
- Content Policy (DALL·E) — OpenAI, September 19, 2022
- Terms of Use (updated September 19, 2022) — OpenAI, September 19, 2022
- Stable Diffusion Public Release — Stability AI, August 22, 2022