Entering a World of AI
Middle School students taking Technology and Digital Citizenship were treated to a special trip to Google’s Toronto headquarters on January 16. The boys were hosted by Meg Jansen, Enterprise AI Specialist for Google Cloud and sister of Crescent faculty and alumnus Griffin Bush ’06.
They learned how the major players in AI are addressing issues of energy and water consumption used to power the technology, and various forms of sustainability. For instance, students learned how Google is helping scientists count and track bird populations. “They can use bird calls to identify male and female populations, the exact number of birds in that area, and track migration patterns,” says Ashley Cridland, Middle School Technology and Digital Citizenship teacher. The visit included a Q&A with Sean Cunningham ’02, Head of Industry for Telecom, Technology and Entertainment at Google.
While downtown, they also visited Arcadia Earth, a multi-sensory journey that combines creative art installations and technology to inspire visitors to take action toward a more sustainable future. The trip was one part of a broader AI component in the class.
Earlier in the month, the boys had a visit from Dr. Steve Engels, a faculty member in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Toronto. Engels spoke to the students about the culture of video game design and storytelling and will return in February to give a talk about machine learning and AI.
The boys are also developing their debating skills as they prepare to defend whether generative AI is a helpful or harmful tool for education. Cridland recognizes a need to adapt to the ways in which AI is present in her classroom. “We do have to embrace it,” she says. “For instance, rather than getting AI to create a project, it can be the first step in planning.”
With the ability to create documents like checklists and templates, Cridland is showing her students how AI can be a tool for their schoolwork. “In Grade 8, we're writing resumes. We aren’t using AI to generate the final product, but it's making the outline that the boys then fill in.” The templates have been tailored to the type of roles the boys are applying for and help by giving them prompts for content. “They're going to use it whether we talk about it or not,” says Cridland. “So we need to teach them how to use it to extend their education.”
