AI For STEM Education

Sep 02, 2023

Enhance STEM education with resources and discussions that investigate the world of artificial intelligence, chatbots, and machine learning.

Artificial intelligence, chatbots, and machine learning have transformed many industries—including education. As educators facing the challenges and opportunities presented by these new technologies, you want to understand how it works, what the ethical implications are, and how to help your learners navigate AI safely and effectively.

We’ve got you covered! This month, Science Friday is offering educational resources and online discussions that investigate the world of AI. You’ll discover exciting ways to use these new technologies to enhance education and prepare your learners for the future.

Scroll down to learn more!

Livestreams | Activities | The AI Team

AI can be a complex topic to tackle, but you don't have to do it alone! SciFri has teamed up with expert educators to lead you through the basics and offer tips to make teaching AI exciting and rewarding for your learners.

Tuesday, May 9, 2 pm & 8 pm EST

It's a brave new world of technology as artificial intelligence breaks into the mainstream. But what will it mean for the future of education? Meet Andy Forest, Reade Richard, and Brenda Shivanandan from Steamlabs, a non-profit education-innovation organization dedicated to building AI and coding experiences for educators and their students. They’ll explain the basics of how the technology works, share tips for teaching the technology, and discuss the ethics of AI. Whether you’re a ChatGPT expert or just starting out, this is the perfect opportunity to discover the best ways to bring AI to your learning space. Bring your questions!

Watch the recording! Download the slides!

Tuesday, May 30, 8 pm EST

Science Friday is sharing new artificial intelligence and machine learning educational resources. Let's talk about how you use those resources, or plan to use them, in your classroom or other learning space. We’ll have our AI Dream Team of educators on hand to answer questions and share their tips. Plus, we’ll share some of the fantastic work from students who explored AI, chatbots, and coding in May. Please feel free to bring any additional resources you’ve used with students too. This is an opportunity to share!

Watch the Recording!

The best way to learn science is to do science. So we’ve worked with our expert educators to create two educational resources you can try at home or in school. As you explore, you’ll learn how popular technologies like chatbots work and discover how AI can be used in gaming. Both activities will encourage and empower you to be creative, think critically, and solve problems.

The activities will be released in May 2023. Join our newsletter for updates.

Combine a visual programming language, artificial intelligence, and machine learning into an interactive game that teaches you how to code and interact with your computer using hand gestures. This project uses a pre-trained machine learning model to recognize the player's hand so you can code an interactive game that allows you to interact with different objects on the screen. You will learn all the necessary steps to create and play the game using a visual programming language, while also gaining a deeper understanding of AI and how it works. Then you can unleash your creativity to create your own games. Spanish version coming soon!

Create An Interactive Game Using AI

In this activity, learners will open up the black box of AI and peer inside to see how it works. This lesson will help you build your understanding of Artificial Intelligence (AI) by exploring the evolution of how we communicate with each other and, more recently, with machines. By the end of the lesson, you should have a solid understanding of how AI is powering chatbots to make them act more like humans, why we use them, and how to create one for the classroom, school, or yourself.

AI For Kids: A Chatbox Exploration

Become a chatbot engineer as you design, make and test your own AI assistant. In this activity, you will have the opportunity to create and edit your very own chatbot. To do that, you’ll go behind the scenes and learn how chatbots can understand and interact with your comments. Plus, you’ll discover some of the main reasons why chatbots are important for both the users and the people creating them.

Design A One-Of-A-Kind Chatbot

Andy is a tech entrepreneur and educator. As an educator, he leads steamlabs.ca and has built AI education experiences for Canada Learning Code, Amazon, the Ontario Science Centre, the Oslo Teknisk Museum, and many other organizations around the world. He has given talks and keynotes on the future of technology and education to Mozilla, the Canadian Internet Registration Authority, UNESCO, the Association of Science and Technology Centers, the Ontario Ministry of Education, and many more. As a tech entrepreneur, he leads teams developing large AI machine learning projects such as Berlitz's global online virtual classroom which has served more than 2.5 million live student lessons over a 15 year period.

Anthony is an educator and founder of EdTech, LLC and the on-profit Student Success Foundation. He has worked as a Biology teacher for the Chad Science Academy in Newark, NJ, and earned his Master's in Instructional Design and Technology from Seton Hall University in 2004. Anthony went on to contribute his knowledge and experience as an Educational Technology Coordinator for Orange Public Schools. He worked to integrate technology into the classroom environment and is serving similarly at the Newark Public Schools. His work was recently featured on Good Morning America. In addition to continuing his own professional development, he continues to lead and support educators in using technology to advance student learning.

Brenda (she/her) is a visual designer, illustrator, and maker! Starting her career in architecture, her work has been featured in the Australian design journal IDEA (the interior design + interior architecture educators association), and she has collaborated on projects featured in ArchDaily and Canadian Council for the Arts. With a focus on exhibit design and AI education, she has developed AI exhibits and workshops for Amazon Future Engineer, the Pacific Museum of Earth, and the Teknisk Museum. She has presented AI workshops at conferences such as Mozilla Mozfest, European Network of Science Centres and Museums in Germany, Association of Science and Technology Centres, and the micro:bit Conference. She has done illustrations and graphics for the Ontario Science Centre, Canadian Association of Science Centres, OCAD University, and the Toronto Metropolitan University. She lives in Mississaugas of the Credit, the Haudenosaunee, the Anishinaabe (ᐊᓂᔑᓈᐯᒃ) and the Huron-Wendat, in Treaty 13 (Toronto Purchase) territory.

Camila and Diego are the founding members of MoonMakers, a community of creators passionate about knowledge. They host a Makerspace, an open space with different digital manufacturing machines, and a YouTube channel where they promote science, technology, and the maker movement. They have collaborated to create educational content with companies such as Sesame Stree and Make: Community in the U.S. and Educational Television and Fundación Televisa in Mexico. Camila also teaches workshops throughout the Mexican Republic with Talent Land, the Secretary of Education in Jalisco, Conacyt, Centro Cultural España.

Reade is a Maker Educator, Author, and Curriculum Developer from Toronto, Ontario, where he creates a wide range of micro:bit and AI-focused activities for classrooms across Canada, He has worked with Steamlab's for over 7 years educating kids and adults alike on the wonders of digital fabrication and DIY projects. Previously, Reade has helped develop maker spaces and activities for organizations such as the Ontario Science Centre, ASTC(Association of Science and Technology Centres), and Western University. In his spare time, Reade serves on the Board of Directors for the Institute for Resource Based Economy and assists with their offshoot non-profit organization: The Toronto Tool Library. He also loves to travel and has presented at conferences and science centres around the world, including locations such as Beijing, China and Oslo, Norway. His most recent book, "Make:AI Robots" will be out Summer 2023 through Make Community.

Sandy Roberts is Science Friday's Education Program Manager, where she creates learning resources and experiences to advance STEM equity in all learning environments. Lately, she's been playing with origami circuits and trying to perfect a gluten-free sourdough recipe.

As we move towards self-aware artificial intelligence, engage students in discussion and writing about teaching robots the difference between right and wrong.

In this hands-on classroom activity, students learn how computers actually store and transmit data.