AI, machine learning (ML), and data science infuse our daily lives, from the recommendation functionality on music apps to technologies that influence our healthcare, transport, education, defence, and more.
What jobs will be affected by AL, ML, and data science remains to be seen, but it is increasingly clear that students will need to learn something about these topics. There will be new concepts to be taught, new instructional approaches and assessment techniques to be used, new learning activities to be delivered, and we must not neglect the professional development required to help educators master all of this.
As AI and data science are incorporated into school curricula and teaching and learning materials worldwide, we ask: What’s the research basis for these curricula, pedagogy, and resource choices?
In 2024, we showcased researchers who are investigating how AI can be leveraged to support the teaching and learning of programming. But in 2025, we look at what should be taught about AI, ML, and data science in schools and how we should teach this.
Our 2025 seminar speakers — so far!
We are very excited that we have already secured several key researchers in the field.
On 21 January, Shuchi Grover will kick off the seminar series by giving an important overview of AI in the K–12 landscape, including developing both AI literacy and AI ethics. Shuchi will provide concrete examples and recently developed frameworks to give educators practical insights on the topic.
Our second session will focus on a teacher professional development (PD) programme to support the introduction of AI in Upper Bavarian schools. Franz Jetzinger from the Technical University of Munich will summarise the PD programme and share how teachers implemented the topic in their classroom, including the difficulties they encountered.
Again from Germany, Lukas Höper from Paderborn University, with Carsten Schulte will describe important research on data awareness and introduce a framework that is likely to be key for learning about data-driven technology. The pair will talk about the Data Awareness Framework and how it has been used to help learners explore, evaluate, and be empowered in looking at the role of data in everyday applications.
Our April seminar will see David Weintrop from the University of Maryland introduce, with his colleagues, a data science curriculum called API Can Code, aimed at high-school students. The group will highlight the strategies needed for integrating data science learning within students’ lived experiences and fostering authentic engagement.
Later in the year, Jesús Moreno-Leon from the University of Seville will help us consider the thorny but essential question of how we measure AI literacy. Jesús will present an assessment instrument that has been successfully implemented in several research studies involving thousands of primary and secondary education students across Spain, discussing both its strengths and limitations.
What to expect from the seminars
Our seminars are designed to be accessible to anyone interested in the latest research about AI education — whether you’re a teacher, educator, researcher, or simply curious. Each session begins with a presentation from our guest speaker about their latest research findings. We then move into small groups for a short discussion and exchange of ideas before coming back together for a Q&A session with the presenter.
Attendees of our 2024 series told us that they valued that the talks “explore a relevant topic in an informative way“, the “enthusiasm and inspiration”, and particularly the small-group discussions because they “are always filled with interesting and varied ideas and help to spark my own thoughts”.
The seminars usually take place on Zoom on the first Tuesday of each month at 17:00–18:30 GMT / 12:00–13:30 ET / 9:00–10:30 PT / 18:00–19:30 CET.
You can find out more about each seminar and the speakers on our upcoming seminar page. And if you are unable to attend one of our talks, you can watch them from our previous seminar page, where you will also find an archive of all of our previous seminars dating back to 2020.
How to sign up
To attend the seminars, please register here. You will receive an email with the link to join our next Zoom call. Once signed up, you will automatically be notified of upcoming seminars. You can unsubscribe from our seminar notifications at any time.
We hope to see you at a seminar soon!
Website: LINK
