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ATLANTA—May Myat Noe Hnin, a 10th grade chemistry teacher at Discovery High School in Gwinnett County Public Schools (GCPS), wasn’t very familiar with using artificial intelligence (AI) and was a little hesitant to incorporate it into her classroom.
But after attending the first in a series of AI training workshops for teachers this spring, she’s excited to find ways she and her fellow teachers could use AI in effective ways.
“I feel more confident and encouraged to use AI after this workshop,” she said. “I think it could be a good time management tool when planning lessons and assignments.”
Georgia State University Associate Professor Natalie King is collaborating with Microsoft and World Wide Technology (WWT) to provide five AI workshops to 60 elementary, middle and high school teachers from several metro Atlanta school districts this spring, including Gwinnett County Public Schools, Fulton County Schools and Rockdale County Public Schools.
Participants will learn how educators can incorporate Microsoft’s AI for Education resources into their lesson plans, how they can personalize learning for individual students and what strategies they can use to ensure students use AI responsibly.
“We are truly grateful for our new collaboration with Microsoft and World Wide Technology, which will provide AI upskilling opportunities and help transform STEM education for the future,” King said. “AI tools are essential for STEM educators as they enhance teaching, streamline complex data analysis and personalize learning experiences for students. As we prepare students for jobs that do not yet exist, integrating AI into education ensures they develop critical problem-solving and computational thinking skills.”
Ashley Schrage, a former third grade teacher who now manages a team of program managers for World Wide Technology’s Sales Development Programs, developed the curriculum for the workshop series.
In the first two workshops, she provided in-depth guidance on the evolution of AI and effective prompting techniques to fully leverage the tool. She also led a discussion on the perspectives of students, teachers and parents regarding AI, which helped develop a strategy for incorporating regular classroom discussions on digital literacy and responsible AI use.
“STEM is a laser focus for WWT. As AI usage and understanding becomes a bigger challenge for all, being able to provide support to educators is important," said Katrina Scott, chief engagement advisor for web services at World Wide Technology. "We’re pleased to be able to participate in this initiative and contribute to the advancement of education for teachers and students. It's an exciting opportunity to make a meaningful impact."
Sydney Henry, an eighth grade physics teacher at Northbrook Middle School, has found several ways to incorporate AI in her classroom, including creating rubrics for assignments and aligning activities for her gifted students to the GCPS Academic Knowledge and Skills standards.
However, Henry hadn’t tried out Copilot before, so the workshop provided an opportunity for her to try that AI program and consider how she can utilize it with her students.
“They’ve given us a lot of insight on how to prompt AI, and the other teachers discussed different ways AI can be used,” she said. “I want to keep pushing to see what else it can do.”
This workshop series demonstrates how Microsoft’s AI programs can support teachers and encourage students’ academic achievement and creativity.
"Introducing STEM education early on is essential for shaping the future of technology across all industries," said Darrell Booker, tech community acceleration manager at Microsoft. "A key component of this success is equipping our educators with the skills they need to drive innovation."
This work is supported by two National Science Foundation grants: King’s Alan T. Waterman Award and the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program, the latter of which Associate Professor Christopher Jett is a co-principal investigator.
Photo caption: Georgia State University faculty members Natalie King and Christopher Jett join local teachers and representatives from Microsoft and World Wide Technologies for a group photo outside the Microsoft offices in midtown Atlanta.