Georgia First Graders Learn AI 'User Experience' by Building Toy Homes for 20 Classmates
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · May 30
Georgia First Graders Learn AI 'User Experience' by Building Toy Homes for 20 Classmates
1 articles · Updated · The New York Times · May 30
About 20 first graders at Harmony Elementary in Buford, Georgia, built sturdy homes for toy figurines in a lesson framed as learning AI "user experience."
Teacher Shanaz Lakhani asked students to design for the toy as a "user," testing whether their structures could withstand an earthquake or strong wind by shaking the table.
The exercise sat inside the school's AI learning framework, which also includes programming, data science, mathematical reasoning, creative problem solving, ethics, AI applications and robotics.
The New York Times opinion piece argues the school's appeal is less the AI branding than the hands-on, human-centered teaching that gets 7-year-olds solving problems together.
Is 'A.I. for kids' just a fancy new name for teaching classic problem-solving skills?
How can schools teach kids A.I. without them losing the ability to think for themselves?