How can educators prepare students for an evolving future influenced by artificial intelligence? Explorations of ai and its practical use in school environmentsa ai” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener nofollow”>I AM YOU initiative funded by General Motors, provides professional learning opportunities for educators, giving them the tools and knowledge to integrate ai into their classrooms and prepare students for future careers in ai, while emphasizing a human-centered learning approach. The emphasis on a human-centered approach underscores the commitment to cultivating a balanced perspective on ai integration. Educators are encouraged to view ai not simply as a technological advancement but as a tool to enhance and augment the human experience.
Recently, EdSurge spoke with three participants in the ai Explorations program to learn about its impact on K-12 classrooms: Dr. Jackie Gerstein, Dr. Brandon Taylor, and Dr. Stacy George. Gerstein teaches gifted education at a Title 1 school within Santa Fe Public Schools and online graduate courses for Walden and Antioch Universities. Taylor serves as academic dean and associate athletic director at Chicago Prep Academy. George is an assistant professor in the College of Education at the University of Hawaii at Mānoa. These innovative educators discussed how ai education makes students and themselves more human by sharing their experiences in planning and implementing ai activities in their classes.
EdSurge: How have you incorporated ai teaching into the classroom?
Gerstein: I taught machine learning activities to students with ISTE standards using Google Teachable machine like the tool. The website has many other machine activities that can be taught. I shared the resources with my students, including the rock, paper, scissors video, and they trained the machine. The teachable machine's software looked at his hands using the camera and recognized rock, paper, scissors. The students then learned to code with graphical programming language. Finally, the machine played with the children.
I also taught ai-assisted text generation activities. When they (ai-assisted text generators) came out, I had my kids explore them and write stories. They came up with suggestions like creating a story about a black cat and seven chickens reading a giant book, and then used GIVE HIM to generate an image that goes with it.
I am learning to teach ai together with students. I am bilingual and teach Spanish-speaking students, so I am considering asking students to do their ai chatbot activities in English or Spanish. Several students asked me to do it in Spanish and I didn't think about it then, but I would let them do it in a classroom activity in a couple of weeks.
I also asked my students to come up with a promise to use (ai-assisted text generators). They articulated how they would and would not use (ai-assisted text generators) in school and built the ethics with their understanding and discussion. I created a shared (document) and asked students to submit their ideas, followed by a class discussion. I segmented the students' ideas into two parts: the first was about use (ai-assisted text generators) and the second was about use (ai-assisted text generators) for positive learning.
I created using (ai-assisted text generators) for positive learning because I noticed that students came up with great ideas, like using (ai-assisted text generators) for funny stories and rap songs. They found that (ai-assisted text generators) could give them inspiration and ideas and motivate them to write. They used it in a future city project. They also added what they won't do with (ai-assisted text generators) in the commit, such as, I won't use (ai-assisted text generators) for assignments and presentations.
Taylor: The head coach and I were familiar with ai/” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener nofollow”>court. Use the ISTE-GM ai Practical Guide for Elective Teachersspecifically “Project 2: Designing an ai Agent,” to help students design their ai tools as we consider bringing the ai tool to student-athletes with the ai/hcpe” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener nofollow”>HomeCourt Physical Education Curriculum. There is no coding, just referencing the ai agent, so students design or improve something like this ai tool.
We completed the entire lesson on the court, including the artificial intelligence tool discussion and training. I set up four stations for dribbling, agility, free throws, and other shots with three or four student-athletes at each station. They pivoted to look at different aspects of the application and metrics. It became a fun competition. We then discussed what the students thought, how they could design an ai agent, what design was good in the application, and what they thought could be improved. For example, one student mentioned that she had cameras on the basketball backboard to see more of the ball through the app. Another example was about making the app easier to use because the first time we used it, it could have been more intuitive.
What human-centered design did you or your trainees use to help students learn ai?
George: One of my trainees taught machine learning in the classroom with second graders. He taught machine learning to young students by understanding the characteristics of animals. It is one of many activities in the ISTE-GM ai Exploration Practice Guides for Primary Teachers. The activity is “Two tasks that ai does well and two tasks that ai does not do so well.” The idea is to identify different characteristics of animals and recognize them. My future teacher modified it to fit her classroom; She used animals that students know in Hawaii, such as chickens and wild pigs.
For a pollination lesson, students used Teachable Machine to identify flowers that could be pollinated and created the engineering design. They developed a pollination device using robotics to pollinate flowers. The activity develops students' problem-solving, critical thinking, communication and collaboration skills.
Gerstein: ai has helped me learn alongside students, addressing their questions and interests. When I don't know an answer, I can use ai to create a learning experience that meets students' needs. For example, one of my students wants to learn about medieval times. I leveraged ai to develop activities I could do with him to spark his interest in the Middle Ages while also meeting language arts standards.
One day, at the harvest festival, an eighth grade history teacher questioned the student about some historical facts and he answered them correctly. The student asked her and she didn't know the answers! I asked the student to start a conversation with Code Breaker about his historical ideas. Afterwards, we had critical conversations together about what I had learned. ai helped us both become lifelong learners.
What soft skills do you think students develop when learning about ai?
Taylor: Through the ai lesson and the use of an integrated augmented reality tool, students develop self-reflection and critical thinking skills. The ai tool is a basketball training tool that shows the shooting angle. You can observe footwork and dribbling to provide feedback. In fact, the NBA uses a version of this tool in its training.
Students may not reflect as much on their performance when watching the training video, but this tool helps them with self-reflection and continuous improvement.
