Artificial Intelligence (AI)
If AI feels like a foreign concept, it’s because it probably is. But not for many students who are learning AI in school! To put it in simple terms, AI is the computer’s way of thinking. Kids are teaching computers how to think. Basic concepts of AI are introduced to students, helping them understand how machines can learn and make decisions. They may work with simple AI tools or explore AI applications in various fields like video games, cars, and robots. If you thought learning to make a simple game on the desktop was hard, try teaching kids how to use AI! According to Create and Learn, “This progressive method of learning allows students to be the architects of their worlds. Students can program games, design art, and even program robots! Examples of data science and AI are robot vacuums, Siri, and Alexa. Artificial intelligence explained simply is programming computers to learn. Fun examples of machine learning are Netflix, video games, and self-driving cars.”
This is the future, and it’s good these kids start learning from a young age so they’re skilled when they’re older. Furthermore, an experiment was conducted where teachers underwent AI-based professional development or no additional training. According to the experiment, “On average, teachers spent 11 hours to complete the program. We then gave 1,727 of their students a math test. While students of these two groups of teachers started with no difference in their math performance, the students taught by teachers who completed the program increased their mathematics performance by 0.18 of a standard deviation more on average. This is a statistically significant gain that is equal to the average math performance difference between sixth and seventh graders in the study.” (Create and Learn).