AI Goes Rural hosts summer camps to teach rural students the basics of artificial intelligence.
(Kyungbin Kwon)
An Indiana University School of Education project brings the new frontier of technology to the country for the third and final year.
As rural schools sometimes miss out on cutting-edge technology and teaching resources, AI Goes Rural introduces students and teachers to artificial intelligence education in local rural middle schools. The project’s leaders provide rural schools with AI learning curriculum and professional development opportunities, associate professor and principal investigator Kyungbin Kwon said.
“By introducing AI to the rural schools, we can bridge this gap and provide equal opportunities for students and even teachers to engage with emerging technologies,” Kwon said.
The project received three years of funding from the National Educational Defense Program and will end in 2024, according to the project’s website. Kwon said he’s looking into funding for the future.
AI Goes Rural was created to bridge a gap in education for rural students, Kwon said. By introducing rural students to AI in middle school, he said AI Goes Rural can influence students’ future course choices, interests and career paths.
A 2021 Gallup study showed historically underserved students — “particularly rural students in low income households” — lack computer science learning and exposure despite expressing interest in the field.
Kwon said economic growth and innovation can be stimulated by more rural students getting involved in AI. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, computer and information technology jobs are expected to grow 15 percent by 2031, much higher than the national average for all other occupations.
“By equipping students with AI knowledge and skills, we empower them to drive local technological advancement, seek new solutions to regional challenges and contribute to the overall development of their community,” Kwon said.
Students learn the basics of AI at summer camps. The most recent camp “AI For Good,” held in June, focused on how AI can improve life and influence society.
Activities help students learn how to solve real-world problems, Kwon said.
For example, the students develop their own solutions to problems in the camp, like an exercise in creating a “smart house” that uses AI programming to regulate temperatures and save energy.
He said one student group created a house that could lower itself into the ground and cool off when it’s hot or make its roof transparent to bring in sunlight when the weather is cold.
“Sometimes they have a naive concept about AI, but still it is very creative and innovative way to solve and develop solutions,” Kwon said.
The project also focuses on teachers. Kwon said the project educates middle school teachers and co-designs curriculum. AI Goes Rural helps grow the teacher’s confidence in the subject so they continue to teach it after the project ends.
“We know that teachers have lots of responsibilities on top of teaching new topics,” Kwon said. “If teachers cannot teach AI, who can learn AI? That’s our big question.”
Kwon said the project has grown to work with 10 teachers in local rural schools. Five teachers who once knew nothing about AI education have already added AI curriculum in their classrooms, he said.
One of the project’s objectives for the 2023-2024 school year is to create a network of teachers, matching those with more AI experience to mentees, Kwon said. Many of the teachers who work with AI Goes Rural are the only people in their schools to teach AI.
Educators in Indiana in general deserve more structural and financial support, Kwon said, and he hopes future policymakers will take notice of the issue.
“If you help our kid’s education, you help our society,” Kwon said.
Aubrey is our higher education reporter and a Report For America corps member. Contact her at aubmwrig@iu.edu or follow her on Twitter at @aubreymwright. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
