Having a fundamental understanding of artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming essential in today’s world, where technology is rapidly reshaping every aspect of our lives. From the algorithms that curate social media feeds to sophisticated autonomous driving systems, AI is increasingly integrated into our daily routines and professional endeavors. Students who understand this will not only be able to navigate this evolving landscape with confidence, but they’ll also be prepared to critically evaluate the ethical and societal implications of AI’s influence.
I started teaching back in 1995—long before AI became the household acronym that it is today—after earning my engineering degree and a master’s degree in technology. I learned about VHS Learning through a College Board forum about five years ago. Since joining the company, I’ve revised and expanded our computer science program to provide critical opportunities for computer science education to students around the world. I’ve developed courses including AP Computer Science A, AP Computer Science Principles, Discrete Mathematics, Cybersecurity, Data Science, and our newest course piloting this spring, Artificial Intelligence.
5 Ways Schools Can Prepare Students for AI
Artificial intelligence has been around for decades, but now that it is an integral part of all our lives, we must support our students in developing the skills to be informed users of it.
At VHS Learning, our target audience for our Artificial Intelligence course is the high school student who is curious about AI and the impact it has on their life. In our work to develop this exciting new course we identified five important goals that may be helpful for any school that is considering how to teach students about AI:
1. Expose students to a wide variety of applications of AI: While most students are aware of AI, they may have a very limited knowledge based on fictional representations and social media influence. In our AI course, students are constantly exploring the use of AI across many different fields. For example, students may not realize that AI-driven medical cancer screening programs—approved by the FDA a couple years ago—can now detect cancer earlier because the programs are trained to detect abnormalities beyond what the human eye can detect. Prompting students to explore how AI is used in various fields and contexts is a great way to get them interested in learning more about how artificial intelligence works.
2. Present the big picture of AI: Most students assume a technology degree will in some way involve computer coding, but do not understand how AI is truly the intersection of programming, machine learning, neural networks, and deep learning. Students do not need extensive programming experience to have a basic understanding of how AI works. In our course, for example, students can explore how AI is based on computer code without any prior programming knowledge. They are provided with friendly versions of code that allows an app to function and are then prompted to explore how making changes in the code affects the functionality of the app. Students then shift their focus to explore the general concepts of machine learning, neural networks and deep learning in later units of the course.
3. Provide opportunities for hands-on experience: In the beginning of our AI course we use Google’s Teachable Machine to allow students to create an AI model that is trained to distinguish between two animals. They upload photos of their favorite animals and then input data to train their model to identify the different types of animals by key characteristics. Students explore how processing more images with their model allows the AI app to get smarter by helping to identify where further training is needed. This is a very simple yet effective model to teach students the power of AI, how machine learning works and why limitations or biases may exist.
4. Explore the impact of AI on careers: We ask our students to try and identify an industry that’s not going to be impacted by AI in some way. As high school students consider their future and potential career fields, we want to ensure they consider how AI will impact those fields. This is yet another reason why schools should be embedding AI learning into their curricula across disciplines. No matter what career students choose, they will need to have a general understanding of AI, how it works, and how it’s being used — as well as how it shouldn’t be used.
5. Engage students in critical thinking about the ethical implications of AI: We recognize that AI can be a scary topic for students and set out to make the ethics of AI a central theme in our course. Each week students discuss applications of it and consider both the benefits and potential harm of those applications. In our final module, Living in an AI World, students spend time exploring human centered design and the responsible use of AI, including ethical frameworks, privacy and empathy maps, and consider the future of AI. When developing this course, we were intentional about looking at AI through different lenses, to allow students to understand the complex nature of the technology and its applications, to empower them to make educated decisions about their use of AI, and to be informed decision makers that will help shape future AI policies.
The Responsibility and Challenge of Teaching Students about AI
Instead of shying away from AI tools, we should be integrating them into curriculum from day one. Students need to learn not just how to use these tools, but also how to critically evaluate their output. We’ve seen students attempt to use AI to cheat, demonstrating a troubling lack of understanding of AI’s limitations, such as its propensity to “hallucinate” or generate inaccurate information. With school-appropriate AI platforms, we can teach students how to use AI responsibly, analyze generated content, and delve into the source of the information to investigate limitations and bias—all while preparing them for success in a wide variety of careers and industries.
Finally, there’s a perception that today’s students are very highly technically trained — this is simply not the case for many. While there is good progress being made in expanding access to computer science education, the bottom line is that many schools still don’t have access to qualified teachers who can teach subjects such as AI. By using a high-quality online learning program such as VHS Learning, which features many highly qualified computer science teachers who bring a wealth of knowledge, experience, and passion to our program, schools can equip their students with the essential knowledge and understanding of technological advancements shaping their future, regardless of their prior exposure to computer science.