Use of AI in education is rapidly growing along with concerns about ways it might impact learning. There is a lot of responsibility on educators to help students understand how AI technology works, how it generates information, and the ways users can analyze results for correctness and bias. In this episode, Leslie talks to us about the potential uses for AI in STEM education, approaches educators can take when discussing AI use in their disciplines, and how they can help students learn empowerment and become interested in thinking about creative ways to use this technology.

Bio:
Leslie Bondaryk is the Chief Technology Officer at the Concord Consortium in Concord, MA, and a 2024 EdSafe AI Fellow. Her career has been spent introducing new technologies to educational research and publishing projects across computer science, mathematics, engineering and sciences, including the first Web Calculus text, The Analytical Engine Online (PWS Publishing, 1998), and Schaum’s Interactive Outline Series (McGraw Hill, 1994-2000). She is the author of papers, articles and book chapters on technology adoption in classrooms, citizen science, and more recently on collaborative technologies in STEM software. Her research interests include AI to support learning, data visualization, physical experimentation in classrooms, collaborative learning technologies, and novel interfaces to communicate modeling concepts. She is also the former owner of Wackenhammer's Clockwork Arcade, a STEAM entertainment venue that tried to teach concepts in math and physics while playing games.

References:
Andy Zucker and Penny Noyce on Spotting Scientific Misinformation

Concord Consortium's course on AI and how it works (Gr 8-12 appropriate)

Article about integrating AI into a language arts curriculum

Educational technology can provide opportunities for creative problem solving where users can build projects that are meaningful to them. Using technology as a tool for expressing one’s ideas is a powerful approach for helping learners become digital creators rather than just consumers. In this conversation, Dr. Natalie Rusk shares reflections about her work on the Scratch programming language, the Computer Clubhouse, and most recently the OctoStudio mobile program.

Bio:
Natalie Rusk, PhD, is a Research Scientist at the MIT Media Lab and is one of the lead creators of the Scratch programming language and the Computer Clubhouse after-school program. She currently leads the development of OctoStudio, a new mobile app that makes creating with code more accessible for children, families, and educators around the world. Her research focuses on young people’s interests as motivate learning. She is lead author of the Scratch Coding Cards and editor of the book, Start Making! A Guide to Engaging Young People in Maker Activities. She earned a PhD in child development from Tufts University and a Master's in Technology in Education from Harvard Graduate School of Education. 

Making a positive impact on the community through project-based work provides students with valuable experience in developing conceptual knowledge in science and engineering as well as building important experience in teamwork competencies. In this conversation, Bill shares his extensive knowledge in building engaging STEAM learning environments and ways of helping students learn to identify problems and solutions relevant to their community through the engineering design process.

Bio:

Bill Church works at the intersection of creativity, education, and the STEAM fields (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math). He is a lifelong maker and former public school physics teacher with academic training in science, engineering, and education. Bill has used computer science, engineering design challenges, inquiry, and technology toolsets in education settings for over twenty five years.  Bill has presented his work on project-based learning at many national and international conferences and co-authored a book of classroom activities entitled, Physics with Robotics.  In 2013, Bill founded White Mountain Science, a non-profit STEM outreach and curriculum development organization in Northern New Hampshire.  Currently, Bill is starting a new venture focused on connecting the public with research in Climate STEM topics. Bill and the WMSI team are regular collaborators with STEM education innovators near and far.