IO3. GENERATION AI School Programme for Primary Education Students - Cyprus Pilot Implementation

The lesson course “Artificial Intelligence in Primary Education” consists of one (1) of the five (5) courses of the GEN-AI Programme. The lesson plans of the course introduce learners (ages 6 to 12) to the topic of “Problem-Solving” digital competence by investigating the question: Can AI help us promote sustainability? The lesson starts with a brief introductory video followed by a learning activity and a challenge in the form of an AI-based game. During this activity, students try to find ways in which artificial intelligence can change the world and help us promote sustainability. Through the challenge, students will develop their own game using Pictoblox and Quarky, and/or Machine Learning and Scratch. 

With this game, children will programme a system to differentiate the waste based on its type (biodegradable waste or non-biodegradable waste). The lesson plan is supplemented by a step-by-step guide for programming an AI game, and a tutor handbook with implementation tips. The duration of the lesson activity is expected to be a total of 120 minutes.

Pilot phase Methodology

  • 28 students and two (2) teachers
  • Pilot phase and implementation phase 
  • Lesson Plan 1 (Basic)
  • Pilot phase: Wednesday 4 May 2022
  • Lesson Plan 2 (Advanced) 
  • Pilot phase: Tuesday 3 May 2022
  • Both teachers received training and attended workshops on AI in Education
  • Teachers and students were surveyed 
  • Teachers were interviewed upon the completion of the lessons
  • Lesson plans were prototyped, designed, developed, evaluated and modified to their ultimate version

Remarks

  • Students overall enjoyed the lessons and reported that they have learned how AI can support them their everyday routine. 
  • Students have found the resources of the lessons very interesting (the highest percentage was the games element) and mentioned that they would recommend them to their peers.
  • Teachers’ overall responses illustrate that the Generation AI Lesson plans are useful and helped them develop their PD by improving their AI – knowledge.  
  • Teachers rated the quality of learning activities; the challenges, and the games as excellent components of the AI lesson plans.  
  • Finally, they would recommend the Generation AI School program to other primary education teachers and would be happy to share them. List cognitive skills that AI affects
  • Differentiate strong from weak AI
  • Classify AI tools and methods that can be used in the primary classroom
  • Outline the benefits of integrating AI in education 
  • Detect already developed AI platforms for primary education
  • Generate own AI activities’ content from given best practices

A teachers’ e-Guide, offers a summary of the training event, including all the workshops, accompanied by the learning objectives, reading materials, and quizzes to self-assess your obtained knowledge. The document can be used as a guide through the slides of the training event. This is available here https://generation-ai.eu/download/e-guide/