Google.org, the tech company鈥檚 philanthropy arm, plans to invest over $25 million to support five education nonprofits in helping educators and students learn more about how to use artificial intelligence.
The initiative plans to reach over half a million K-12 and college students, as well as educators, giving them the skills they need to use AI responsibly in the classroom and the workplace.
Teens are more likely to use AI tools responsibly if their teachers discuss the technology鈥檚 potential benefits and pitfalls, according to a survey released Sept. 18 by Common Sense Media, a nonprofit that examines the interaction between youth and technology.
But most educators aren鈥檛 getting the training they need in AI.
More than 7 in 10 teachers said they haven鈥檛 received any professional development on using AI in the classroom, according to a nationally representative EdWeek Research Center survey of 953 educators, including 553 teachers, conducted Jan. 31 to March 4.
The survey data show that teachers who are in urban districts, those in districts where at least 75 percent of students receive free or reduced-price meals, and those who teach elementary grades are more likely than other educators to say they haven鈥檛 received any AI training.
鈥淎s AI skills are increasingly seen as foundational digital skills, it鈥檚 crucial that teachers are prepared to guide students in understanding and responsibly using the technology,鈥� Maggie Johnson, the vice president of Google.org, said in an emailed response to questions from 91制片厂视频 Week.
A big focus of Google鈥檚 grants will be developing and delivering culturally relevant curriculum for AI, and ensuring AI literacy lessons reach students from a range of demographic groups.
AI tools tend to reflect long-standing societal biases. One way to mitigate that problem, experts say, is to include people from many backgrounds in developing the technology.
In fact, districts already doing deep work on AI literacy, such as Georgia鈥檚 Gwinnett County schools, say part of their mission is to ensure students from groups historically underrepresented in tech fields鈥攕uch as girls and students of color鈥攃an access AI coursework.
鈥淏ringing a broader group of people with varied life experiences into using these tools actually does help identify and help improve bias,鈥� said Richard Culatta, the CEO of ISTE+ASCD, in an interview. Culatta鈥檚 organization鈥攚hich provides professional development to educators for a variety of skills鈥攚ill be one of the beneficiaries of the Google investment.
Culatta emphasized that teachers need to understand how to talk to students about AI鈥檚 bias problems.
鈥淚 think that鈥檚 one of the biggest challenges, is that there鈥檚 bias in all these tools and in lots of technology,鈥� Culatta said. 鈥淏ut when it just sort of sits there and we don鈥檛 call it to our attention, that鈥檚 really where the danger is.鈥�
ISTE+ASCD will receive $10 million of the $25 million over three years to reach about 200,000 educators. The organization will collaborate on its AI-related initiatives with six other organizations that focus at least in part on teacher and/or leader training: the , , , , , and .
The work will include 鈥渄eep dive professional learnings鈥� aimed at helping educators understand AI better, including online courses and webinars. Culatta said the sessions will explore questions such as: what is AI and how does it work?
鈥淎I is not magic. We have to be really clear about that,鈥� Culatta said.
The goal of the Google investment is to build 鈥榚nduring AI skills鈥�
ISTE+ASCD plans to also create communities that allow educators to share best practices on using AI, and conduct research to make sure that their efforts are having the desired impact.
The work won鈥檛 focus on specific AI tools but on the technology more broadly, Culatta said.
鈥淚n order to help kids be successful, what we really need is to help them have enduring AI skills, because the tools will change,鈥� Culatta said. 鈥淭he tools that we鈥檙e using today are the least capable AI tools that we鈥檙e ever going to see, because they鈥檙e just going to keep getting better.鈥�
Other grantees include:
- 4-H, a nonprofit that offers students the chance to complete projects in agriculture, health, science, and other fields. It will provide training on AI to rural students and educators.
- aiEDU, a nonprofit focused on equitable AI literacy. It will help deliver AI curriculum to rural and Indigenous communities.
- STEM From Dance, a nonprofit that uses dance to engage girls in science, technology, engineering, and math curriculum. It will help girls use AI to enhance dance choreography through sound, animation, and technology.
- The 5th grantee, , will create industry-reviewed AI coursework for Black, Latino, and Indigenous college students who are studying computing.
