Given current and forthcoming transformative applications of AI in the workplace, K-12 schools are coming to appreciate the need to introduce all students to AI before they go to college – yet there are many challenges to be overcome before AI becomes part of the K-12 curriculum.  Building on the combined expertise of UR faculty in computer science and education, this session will provide the foundations for a discussion engaging the audience on what key AI concepts should be taught and learned in high school; whether this content should be part of the computer science, mathematics, or science curriculum; and, how AI could be made more accessible to students with limited math and computational backgrounds.  The session will also encourage a conversation about how learning about AI in high school may promote students learning in STEM – as well as other subjects.   

Presenters’ Bios:

Zhen Bai

Assistant Professor, Department of Computer Science

Hajim School of Engineering – University of Rochester

Dr. Bai’s research focuses on human-computer interaction, Augmented Reality, education technology, and human-AI collaboration. She has already developed a multimodal computational framework of curiosity to support collaborative scientific inquiry for 9-14 year-old underrepresented students, as well as an intelligent conversational agent to elicit exploratory and collaborative learning with a science themed tabletop game and several augmented and tangible user interfaces to support socio-emotional learning for young children.

Raffaella Borasi

Frederica Warner Professor and Director, Center for Learning in the Digital Age (LiDA)

Warner School of Education – University of Rochester

A math educator by training, Dr. Borasi was the dean of the Warner School of Education from 2000 to 2018, and in that role in 2013 she developed the Warner Online Initiative, and later founded the Center for Learning in the Digital Age, which she is now directing.  The LiDA Center is currently incubating the K-12 Digital Consortium, a collaboration of over 20 school districts in the region that are engaging in technology-rich innovations.    

Michael Daley

Clinical Assistant Professor, Center for Professional Development and Education Reform

Warner School of Education – University of Rochester

Dr. Daley has combined expertise in several complementary domains – as he has been a scientist involved in extensive field-based research in ecology, a STEM faculty in a liberal arts college where he led significant innovations in the undergraduate science curriculum and taught online courses, and most recently a science educator providing professional development and coaching to high school science teachers. 

Dave Miller

Clinical Associate Professor and Associate Director for K-12 Education, Center for Learning in the Digital Age

Warner School of Education – University of Rochester

Dr. Miller has extensive experience with instructional technology, the implementation of school-based technology innovations, as well as business experiences. In his role as Associate Director of the Center for Learning in the Digital Age, he has been instrumental to the founding of the K-12 Digital Consortium. He also teaches a highly innovative course titled Entrepreneurial Skills for Educators that encourages creativity and innovation to promote change in education.