K-12

AI Shapes Students and Society 

Florida is among the first states to adopt a K-12 artificial intelligence education program to prepare its youth for the growing global demand for an AI-enabled workforce. As educators, you are key to preparing students to thrive in a world where AI is an integral part of their lives and careers. Today’s students will face AI ubiquitously throughout their careers, so it is important they understand what it is and how to use it properly.

UF faculty from the Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering and the College of Education have been at the helm of designing the framework for the Florida public schools’ AI coursework. This framework is modeled after the National Science Foundation’s national guidelines for teaching AI in elementary and secondary schools.

AI coursework increases students’ awareness of how AI is used in their everyday lives. It also increases their knowledge of how AI works in the world.

Careful Planning for AI in K-12

(The Longer Version)

Many minds have collaborated to build a useful K-12 AI curriculum

In May 2018, the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AAAI) and the Computer Science Teachers Association (CSTA) formed a joint working group to develop national guidelines for teaching K-12 students about artificial intelligence. The AI for K-12 guidelines define what students in each grade band should know about artificial intelligence, machine learning, and robotics.

Teaching materials were initially unavailable for AI instruction at the statewide or national levels. To address that need, UF faculty has helped to build an inclusive repository of AI curriculum resources embedded into an inclusive curriculum.

Build on what others have done

UF uses the AI for K-12 guidelines (developed by the AAAI and the CSTA) to help create and increase AI learning opportunities for students across the state. We began with a framework for the learning standards for AI courses taught in Florida’s K-12 classrooms that includes:

• Specifying course descriptions, learning standards, and benchmarks.
• Ensuring that state learning standards are met, especially in computer science.
• Outlining courses that a student needs to earn a certificate or credential.
• Establishing the standards for K-12 teachers to meet Florida Department of Education (FDOE) certification to teach AI.
• Providing educators with guidance on lesson plans and instructional resources.

Test and improve 

Three school districts in Florida—Orange, Osceola and Broward counties’ public schools—piloted this AI curriculum. Additional Florida school districts are considering or in the process of implementing it.