Tools, training and future of education

Like most students in their class, teachers also adopt AI. The use by generating AI educators increased from 51% to 67% between school years 2022-23 and 2025-24, According to K-12 Dive. Now, Microsoft and Openai, in partnership with the American teachers' federation, launch a AI training program for educators.

Andrew Katz is an associate professor in Virginia Tech Engineering education department And believes that when used correctly, “early AI exposure could allow students to build fundamental digital literacy”.

Amy AllenAssistant professor of social studies in the elementary education program, has seen examples of how the use of AI in class can build the literacy of fundamental AI in real time.

“We have seen Chatgpt is wrong and provide incorrect information. But that helps us teach students the human discernment and the importance of knowing a subject before using a Genai tool as a support,” said Allen.

While concerns about AI persist, experts indicate potential advantages. For example, these tools could help fill the gap in engineering labor. “Early exposure to AI in K-12 can demystify complex engineering concepts,” Katz said. “For example, students can use coding assistants powered by AI to learn programming, experiment with generative design tools to create 3D models or use automatic learning models in robotics clubs to analyze sensor data.”

Katz hopes that the A-Training Academy helps teachers to use AI as a simple technical assistant. “The objective should not only be to teach educators how to use a specific AI tool, but also to give them confidence and competence to integrate AI into their teaching in a thoughtful way,” he said.

When he was asked what support that educators need, Allen said that AI conversations should also occur at the local level.

“What we need is professional development by experts in specific fields that help teachers understand what AI looks like when she does not cheat.

Generation of opportunities

The new national AI training program can be particularly useful for students and kindergarten teachers in the 12th year in rural school districts and other subdressources, which often do not have access to more recent technologies.

“Many schools are lacking trained teachers, up -to -date resources or support for the program, and for certain districts, these shortcomings are enormous,” said Sally HamoudaCOLLEGIAL INFORMATION AGRICULATION. “Educators are often supposed to teach emerging technologies without having the opportunity to learn them themselves, while managing complete classrooms, limited budgets and a lack of time.”

Hamouda and her research team have teamed up with educators in the southwest of Virginia And Virginia Tech Center for educational networks and impacts To help fill these shortcomings with online tools, mentorship of students from the region, the Hokie for a day programand other awareness events.

Allen and David HicksAnother member of the faculty of the History and Social Sciences Education Program, has teamed up with Virginia Tech Center for the Humanities Work with history teachers during service through the Commonwealth on the integration of AI into classrooms. They have specifically focused on assistance to educators to establish a large understanding of AI, to consider ethical implications, to learn to design personalized GPTs and to use the ChatPPT for the analysis of primary sources.

“One of the things we come back to as a history educators and teachers' educators is that if we don't learn more about how to use these tools, people who know less than what quality education is like to determine how they are used and implemented,” said Allen.

While national efforts like the NFT IA program are a big step forward, colleges and universities also have a role to play.

“We need more partnerships between nursery schools in the 12th year and higher education that provide mentoring, resources and programs co-developed with teachers,” said Hamouda. “Professors and researchers can help simplify AI and IT for teachers, offer workshops or summer training, and ensure that educational tools are designed with class realities. More importantly, we must listen to teachers and co-create solutions rather than simply provide content. ”

Ensuring wide access to AI and IT teaching is not only a matter of equity, it is important for economic development and labor.

“If we do not intentionally include all students of the historically marginalized and rural communities, we risk designing systems that reflect only a close segment of society,” said Hamouda. “We have to start early and make education in computer science and fair AI to guarantee that today students can occupy jobs in the future.”

By Tonia Maxley and Samantha Palmer