The Journey of NEOM and ReadyAI Towards a Revolutionary AI Education
By: Rooz Aliabadi, PhD.
Imagine a world where the leaders of tomorrow are trained today, a world where our students aren’t just learners but innovators and visionaries. A place where Artificial Intelligence (AI) isn’t just a buzzword but a core aspect of a child’s education. This is the promise of ReadyAI and NEOM Community School (NCS), a promise that comes to life in their renewed partnership for the 2022–2023 academic year.
The synergistic collaboration between ReadyAI and NCS has given birth to an unprecedented standalone Computer Science (CS) curriculum, bursting at the seams with the most innovative AI lessons. It’s a curriculum that expands on direct instruction while immersing learners deeply into the world of AI and computer science. Embracing the spirit of co-design, this curriculum represents a bold step forward in aligning AI and CS with core curricular strategies, embodying the vision of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to harness AI to advance our societies and economies.
Today, AI has become a significant influence, a force that shapes various aspects of our lives. With its rapid evolution, offering our young minds a robust understanding of this transformative technology is crucial. ReadyAI and NCS are creating this future by integrating AI education into the K-12 curriculum through inquiry and project-based learning (PBL). This alignment with International Baccalaureate standards nurtures the critical thinking, problem-solving, and ethical awareness required to prepare the younger generation for an AI-driven future.
Moving together on this exciting journey, ReadyAI’s bespoke curriculum opens up a whole new universe of learning for the students at NCS. This curriculum doesn’t just introduce AI as a standalone concept but interweaves it across subjects and grade levels, creating a tapestry of knowledge that connects various subjects and instilling a holistic understanding of the world.
This innovative curriculum is more than just theory; it’s hands-on, immersing students in real-world projects that inspire creativity and innovation. From designing chatbots to developing machine learning models, our students are solving problems, shaping solutions, and growing into responsible creators of AI-driven technologies. The approach has revolutionized teaching AI, equipping our K-12 learners with the essential technological literacy and skills that will help them navigate the modern workforce.
We can see this change happening every day as our students interact with AI concepts and tools. Their exposure to various AI applications helps them visualize potential career paths in AI-related fields and nurtures their interest in pursuing advanced studies in computer science, data science, or AI research.
However, we’re not stopping here. As we prepare for the future, our students won’t just be the consumers of technology. They’ll be the creators, the contributors, the architects of an AI-driven world. Through our integrated AI curriculum, we’re equipping them with the knowledge, skills, and mindset necessary to thrive in this new era.
ReadyAI and NCS have come together to redefine AI education, bringing to life an inspirational and transformative vision. With our shared commitment to continuous innovation, we look forward to delivering an education that nurtures future-ready learners, paving the way for a brighter, AI-enabled future. As we continue to harness AI’s full potential, we’re excited about the new horizons and possibilities it will open up for our learners and the broader society. This is our promise, and this is our journey to the future.
In the world of education, innovation often holds the key to unlocking new possibilities. A testament to this sentiment is the unique partnership between NEOM and ReadyAI, a collaboration that aims to transform the landscape of AI education.
Let’s delve into our inspiring story of revolutionizing AI learning, fueled by our unwavering commitment to the co-design process.
The Magic of Co-Design in AI Education
The co-design process sits at the heart of our initiative. Rooted in research-based methodologies, we view design as a fluid, iterative process. This belief stems from understanding the variable and unique paths learners undertake in their growth and development. Therefore, we build upon the foundations of the ADDIE model and Kemp’s Instructional Design model, transforming conventional curriculum planning into a dynamic, interactive, and inclusive journey.
In this innovative journey, we encourage learners, educators, and collaborators to express their insights regarding planning, teaching, and assessment. We prize this open exchange of ideas as it encourages experimentation and fosters critical reflection, allowing us to break free from the limitations of conventional learning paradigms.
Crafting Units of Inquiry
In our collaboration, we strategically chose the Units of Inquiry aligned with the International Baccalaureate curriculum. We aimed to lay a solid foundation for the emerging AI curriculum across all grade levels. For instance, the unit ‘Who We Are’ was coupled with facial recognition lessons, while ‘How the World Works’ was associated with speech recognition lessons.
Reimagining Existing Plans
Our efforts to enhance AI education didn’t stop at designing new learning materials. We also reimagined existing curricular documents, transforming the scattered activities into cohesive learning experiences that cater to diverse grade levels. Even though there were gaps, our team worked tirelessly to fill these spaces with enriching lessons, turning each hurdle into an opportunity for innovation.
Empowering through Collaborative Creation
One of the cornerstones of our project was the commitment to nurture an ecosystem that fosters internal expertise and capacity. We believe that the sustainability of this transformative project lies in empowering the NEOM’s faculty and staff, thereby ensuring a consistent pedagogical model. Yes, this approach demands significant initial investment and adjustments, but the promise of deepening collaboration, cohesion, and creation makes it worth the effort.
Building Robust Assessment Criteria
Our curriculum was not just designed to be innovative but also adaptable and responsive to the learning outcomes. We’ve built in formative and summative assessment mechanisms aligned with IB practices. The projects developed replicate real-world complexities of AI and CS, thus fostering practical skills and dispositions and enabling students to contribute positively to the world.
ReadyAI is incredibly proud of the work accomplished in partnership with NEOM throughout the 2022–2023 academic year. From introducing cutting-edge lesson plans on emerging AI technologies to successfully conducting the first-ever Hackathon, our joint efforts have created an innovative roadmap for young students to traverse the world of AI.
Looking ahead, we’re excited to continue our journey of innovation, making strides in AI education, and contributing to the success of NEOM’s visionary project. Together, we’re inspiring change and shaping the future of education, one AI lesson at a time.
This article was written by Rooz Aliabadi, Ph.D. (rooz@readyai.org). Rooz is the CEO (Chief Troublemaker) at ReadyAI.org
To learn more about ReadyAI, visit www.readyai.org or email us at info@readyai.org
To learn more about ReadyAI/NEOM partnership, visit www.readyai.org/neom
