IN THE CLASSROOM: “AI for Children and Youth Learning and Creating in K-12 Education”

Course title: “AI for Children and Youth Learning and Creating in K-12 Education”
Taught by: Lori and Michael Milken President’s Distinguished Professor Yasmin B. Kafai and Penn AI Fellow and PhD candidate Luis Morales-Navarro

Course Description:
This seminar course reviews how artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) approaches have been adopted for children, youth, and families to learn about AI/ML and make creative applications in K–12 education. Drawing on work from the history of AI, computing education, the learning sciences, child-computer interaction, and ethical issues around digital technologies, instructors and students examine how children, youth, and their families understand how AI/ML systems work by learning to create various AI/ML-powered applications. As part of the seminar, students also complete a series of ML tool explorations, with the final class project focusing on designing an AI/ML tool, lesson, or activity for in- or out-of-school learning.

The Instructors Say:
“It’s essential that today's university students not only know how to use generative AI in an efficient manner but also understand how the data and technology works and where it falls short, so they can design effective solutions," said Yasmin Kafai.

“Many AI literacy efforts center on preparing children to be users of AI,” said Luis Morales-Navarro, a current PhD candidate in the Learning Sciences and Technologies program and the co-instructor and co-developer of the course. “When Yasmin and I designed the class in 2023, we wanted to provide a space where students could learn about approaches to AI literacy in which children have opportunities to create AI systems and evaluate them. The class is interdisciplinary, bringing together perspectives from the learning sciences, human-computer interaction, and AI education. This allows our students to learn about how tools for children are designed, how and what children learn when creating AI applications, and how ethics and values are embedded in AI systems. This is the fourth time I’ve taught this class, and it is interesting to see how every year there is more interest from students in taking it.”

Students’ Reactions: 
"With my experience as an educator, I entered this class hoping to learn how to integrate AI into class lessons for children.” says Diana Seo, a master’s student in the International Educational Development Program. “Beyond fulfilling my goal through hands-on exploration projects with educational AI tools, the course provided deeper insight into the principles behind teaching and using AI with children. Most significantly, I have realized the importance of guiding students to understand how AI works, that it relies on human data and probability, and that it can make mistakes. This truly shifted my perspective from simply teaching students to efficiently use AI in class as a tool to teaching students how to question its principles and engage with it thoughtfully, as I look forward to continuing this work."