DigCompEdu Competence Area(s)

Digital resources, Teaching & learning, Empowering learners, Facilitating learners’ digital competence

Target groups

Adult migrants Group size: 10-20 Basic-Intermediate digital skills A2-B1 language level

By the end of this lesson, educators will be equipped to teach learners how to:

• Draft polite, culturally appropriate rental inquiry emails using AI templates.
• Use AI to summarise long rental contracts, highlighting key terms like “notice period,” “deposit,” and “utilities.”
• Identify potential red flags in rental listings by asking AI to analyse the text for common scam indicators.

• Source a realistic but fully anonymised sample rental advertisement and a generic rental contract (remove all personal names, addresses, and contact details).
• Prepare the “Tenant’s AI Assistant” prompt cards with tested prompts for: drafting inquiry emails, summarising contracts, and checking for red flags.
• Prepare a Red Flag Checklist covering common rental scam indicators (e.g. price too low, no viewing allowed, payment requested before signing).
• Test all prompts in ChatGPT and Claude to verify quality of outputs.
• Prepare a brief legal disclaimer slide: AI is not a legal advisor – always have a human or NGO check a contract before signing.

Part 1: First Impressions – Drafting the Inquiry Email (40 minutes)

• (15 min) Discuss the “First Email” problem. What makes a landlord reply? Explore the role of professionalism, clarity, and cultural tone in rental communication.
• (25 min) Learners use AI to draft an inquiry for a specific rental ad. Suggested prompt: “Write a professional email in [local language] expressing interest in this apartment. Mention I am a reliable tenant with a steady income.” Compare two or three AI-generated versions and discuss which is most effective.

Part 2: The Contract Decoder (30 minutes)

• (10 min) Paste a sample contract section into the AI. Suggested prompt: “List the 5 most important rules in this contract regarding the deposit and moving out.”
• (20 min) Learners compare the AI’s summary with the full contract text. Did it miss anything crucial? What does “notice period” mean in practice? Groups share findings.

Part 3: Spotting Red Flags (30 minutes)

• (15 min) Introduce common rental scam patterns. Learners use AI to analyse a suspicious rental listing: “Does this rental advertisement contain any red flags or signs of a scam? Explain each one.”
• (15 min) Groups compare the AI’s analysis with the Red Flag Checklist. Discuss: Can we always trust AI to spot scams? What should we do if we are unsure?

Closing (20 minutes)

• (10 min) Each learner finalises their inquiry email – ready to send or save as a template for future use.
• (10 min) Group reflection: What was the most useful thing AI helped with today? What would you still want a human to check?

• For high-skilled migrants: Focus on drafting more complex letters, such as requesting repairs, negotiating rent, or disputing a deposit deduction.
• For low literacy learners: Use AI to turn a written rental ad into a simple audio summary via text-to-speech tools.
• For learners with low digital confidence: Provide pre-written prompts on cards so learners can copy and paste without needing to compose their own.
• For multilingual groups: Allow learners to draft the email in their home language first, then use AI to translate and adapt it.

ChatGPT: https://chat.openai.com

Claude: https://claude.ai

DeepL Translator: https://www.deepl.com

Citizens Advice (UK tenants’ rights): https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/housing

Shelter (UK housing charity): https://www.shelter.org.uk

European Consumer Centre Network: https://www.eccnet.eu