K 12 StarTrek The Urgency of AI Preparing Schools to Meet Workplace Demands

Richard Culatta - CEO, ISTE

Jobs of the future will increasingly demand a knowledge of how to leverage and program Artificial Intelligence as a tool for problem solving.  Unfortunately, most teachers around the world are not prepared to provide students with the basic skills required to understand how to use AI for work and learning.  In fact, the International Society for Technology and Education (ISTE) has found that most teachers cannot even explain what AI is or identify AI when given specific examples.  In a unique collaboration between ISTE and General Motors, ISTE has designed the first-ever online program preparing teachers to understand the basic skills and concepts related to AI and how to facilitate discussions with their students about what they will need to know about AI to be successful in their future lives and careers.  In this presentation we will share details about the activities we’ve found teachers can use to prepare their students to be AI ready as well as how this approach of working in public/private partnerships can be replicated by other education systems around the world to make sure all students will be successful in an AI-intertwined world.