From Dec. 1 until Winter Break, K-12 schools all over Broward County will participate in The Hour of AI, a newly formed Computer Science Education global initiative that focuses on ways to collaborate with artificial intelligence. For students at Pembroke Pines Charter High School (PPCHS), this means no more sleeping or catching up on homework in the homeroom, so come prepared.
The Hour of AI was introduced as a replacement for The Hour of Code, a decades-long initiative focused on coding. Both were implemented in the December curriculum to celebrate Computer Science Education Month.
Through hands-on activities, Pines Charter hopes to define what AI is and isn’t, how it works, and how students can use it creatively and responsibly. Administrators and staff hope to “empower students to be creators, not just consumers”, and prepare them for a digital future where students work together with AI to create and innovate.
According to Broward County Public Schools (BCPS), The Hour of AI will involve “interactive, easy-to-follow activities” targeted at students’ understanding of AI and ways to use it responsibly to “make a positive impact”.
Students can access various activities through the CSforALL app on Clever, or through this link. Activities are given through entertaining and familiar games like Minecraft, Scratch, and LEGO. Each assignment targets different ways to maximize AI use in varied and engaging formats.
“Every teenager uses AI, and they should be aware of the consequences of using AI too often, but that doesn’t take away from the fact that using AI is negative regardless of the amount of usage,” explains Reagan Koch, a PPCHS junior. “I think there may be [some positive outcomes], but taking away homeroom for students to learn about AI… has more negative outcomes than positive [ones].”
Under BCPS’s The Hour of AI post on Instagram, commenters are not very excited for the upcoming lessons. “‘Broward, powered by AI!’ is so dystopian hello?” says one user. “Yikesss,” said another. AI is quite a sore subject with teens today, as they recognize the environmental and ethical concerns associated with it.
However, many hope that The Hour of AI will teach students how to collaborate with AI and fully flesh out their original ideas, as opposed to using it as a tool to complete tasks for them. One PPCHS student notes that AI can help expedite work that occupies too much time.
“AI can both help us and harm us,” says freshman Danielle Brancati. “It can take away from mental creativity and it can make us more reliant on resources instead of figuring things out for ourselves. [However,] it can help us save time.” She mentioned the medical field specifically, an area of study many students plan on majoring in at university.
At the end of the day, BCPS’s The Hour of AI is intended for students to work with AI, instead of having it work for the student. In a world where AI is here to stay, it is important to learn how to live in tandem with it without abusing its capabilities with plagiarism.
The Broward County School Board hopes that during The Hour of AI, students will interact with AI in a responsible and positive manner, helping schools evolve with AI, a double-edged sword that may help educate the leaders of the future, right here in Broward County classrooms.
