What Global K12 Leaders Think About Artificial Intelligence Education
As artificial intelligence continues to transform industries and redefine the future, it is essential for schools to equip students with the tools and knowledge necessary to thrive in this evolving landscape. Inspirit AI has partnered with schools across the globe to offer a robust, project-based AI education program. By introducing middle and high school students to Python programming and AI concepts, schools are helping their students gain invaluable experience in this cutting-edge field. In this blog post, we explore insights from leaders at prominent international schools that have embraced Inspirit AI, sharing their experiences, student feedback, and the innovative projects that have emerged from their classrooms.
Inspirit AI partners with 100+ Leading K12 Schools Around the World
Dulwich College Beijing
Dulwich College Beijing, part of the renowned Dulwich network, offers a holistic education combining academic excellence with a global perspective. Partnering with Inspirit AI has enabled students to take on exciting projects that blend AI with interdisciplinary learning.
During summer 2023 and summer 2024, Inspirit AI delivered 2-week artificial intelligence summer programs, guiding students to build AI projects at the intersection of AI + mobility and AI + finance.
Inspirit AI partnered with Yosef Karasik, Director of EdTech and Innovation, at Dulwich College Beijing who shared:
“Pioneering spirit is one of the cornerstones of our school. We always strive to ensure that our students are future-ready and adjust our practices to reflect this. This is our second year with Inspirit AI. Last year the feedback was positive and so we decided to continue the partnership this year as well.”
— Yosef Karasik, Director of EdTech and Innovation, Dulwich College Beijing
In the AI + finance project, students worked with and explore data from years of baseball games in order to identify which statistics best predict success. Once students learned the ins and outs of the game, students worked on looking at individual players in order to predict the most undervalued players according to their salaries. Students also did a clustering analysis to look at similarities among players. By the end, they were able to build the best team on a budget!
“I learnt a lot more about AI and coding in the past 2 weeks. The teachers are all very open to questions and enquiry. Overall, other than just using AI as a tool, I now know how it works behind the scenes, and that AI can be used in many different industries.”
— Celine L., 9th Grade, Dulwich College Beijing
Emily Guo, Stanford University
Emily Guo was the Inspirit AI instructor for the program. Emily is a Stanford graduate with a Master's in Computer Science. She is passionate about human-centered AI and is focused on building technology responsibly and ethically. She believes in interdisciplinary collaboration and has researched NLP tools for local newsrooms, built AI models for the EPA, and hosted former President Obama as a keynote speaker on AI's implications for democracy.
Havergal College
Havergal College in Canada is a leading independent school for girls, dedicated to empowering young women through cutting-edge education. By incorporating Inspirit AI, the school has enabled students to delve into AI-driven technologies that shape the future.
During fall 2022 and summer 2024, Inspirit AI delivered artificial intelligence programs for high schoolers, guiding students to build AI projects at the intersection of AI + astronomy. In the AI + astronomy project, students used data collected from NASA’s Kepler space telescope to train AI models to detect exoplanets. Throughout the project, student developed an understanding of exoplanet detection methods and exoplanet characterization methods. They also gained experience in training models with imbalanced classes of data—one category having a lot more data than the other.
Inspirit AI partnered with Adam Caplan, Director of HC-X Innovation Hub, at Havergal College who shared:
“I had a good time in the AI Scholars program! I learned a lot as I was a beginner and did not know how to code before this. I now know how to code in Python on some level and I understand AI basics such as neural networks, computer vision, and more.”
— Olivia N., 10th Grade, Havergal College
Imtisaal Mian, Harvard University
Imtisaal Mian was the Inspirit AI instructor for the program. Imtisaal studied Bioengineering and English at Harvard University. She is an award winning author, a clinical researcher, and a national nonprofit founder, currently serving as the Director of NOVA Foundation: Opportunities for Youth. She has also held clinical research positions at top ranked institutions like The Hospital for Sick Children and Massachusetts General Hospital.
International School of Kuala Lumpur
Located in the heart of Malaysia, the International School of Kuala Lumpur (ISKL) is known for its diverse student body and innovative curriculum. As part of their effort to stay at the forefront of technology education, ISKL integrated the Inspirit AI program to offer students the chance to explore AI concepts and applications.
During summer 2023 and summer 2024, Inspirit AI delivered 1-week artificial intelligence intensive programs, guiding students to build AI projects at the intersection of AI + astronomy and AI + music.
Inspirit AI partnered with Kendra Jones, Summer Program Director, at ISKL who shared:
“AI education is crucial in high school curricula to equip students with the skills needed for the future job market, where AI technologies will be prevalent. Additionally, understanding AI principles fosters critical thinking, problem-solving abilities, and ethical considerations, preparing students to navigate and contribute responsibly to an increasingly automated world.”
— Kendra Jones, Summer Program Director, ISKL
In the AI + astronomy project, students used data collected from NASA’s Kepler space telescope to train AI models to detect exoplanets. Throughout the project, student developed an understanding of exoplanet detection methods and exoplanet characterization methods. They also gained experience in training models with imbalanced classes of data—one category having a lot more data than the other.
“Throughout the course, I learned a lot about AI and python coding. We delved deep into machine learning models of which many AIs are currently based upon, as well as discussing ethical issues that surround the development of AIs. I was able to work on a Music Recommendations System as a group project, which further cemented the idea of real-life applications of AI.”
— Soraya S., 11th Grade, ISKL
David Ahn, University of Pennsylvania
David Ahn was the Inspirit AI instructor for the program, a graduate from University of Pennsylvania, studying Systems Engineering and Data Science. David is interested in entrepreneurship and how data/AI can be used in technology to improve processes and make the world a better, more enjoyable place.
Chinese International School of Hong Kong
The Chinese International School (CIS) in Hong Kong is committed to fostering bilingual education while nurturing a global perspective in their students. Their partnership with Inspirit AI has provided students with a hands-on approach to learning AI, making abstract concepts more accessible and relevant to real-world challenges.
During summer 2024, Inspirit AI delivered a 2-week artificial intelligence intensive program, guiding students to build AI projects at the intersection of AI + mobility and AI + finance.
Inspirit AI partnered with Joe Hastings, Education Technology Coach, at CIS Hong Kong who shared:
“CIS has chosen to wholeheartedly embrace the change that generative AI will bring to education. We are already working towards putting AI to work for us to improve teaching, learning and organisation in line with our school's vision. We see it as a technology that will empower huge changes in what our teachers can achieve and how learning happens.”
— Joe Hastings, Education Technology Coach, CIS Hong Kong
In the AI + mobility project, students used computer vision to improve road safety by detecting distracted drivers. Students used a variety of machine learning techniques, including convolutional neural networks and transfer learning, to create and improve effective models. Finally, students extended their model through challenge exercises: analyzing when it succeeds and fails, creating saliency maps to make their model interpretable, or editing their dataset to preserve privacy.
“The first week was a lot of coding and learning concepts such as Machine Learning, Logistic Regression, Linear Regression etc, then the second week was more about applying that knowledge into a project.”
— Nathan, Student at Chinese International School of Hong Kong
Henry Cerbone, Oxford University
Henry Cerbone was the Inspirit AI instructor for the program. Henry is currently a PhD student at Oxford University studying Biology. He also has a Master's in Computer Science and a Bachelor's in Ontology of Autonomous Systems from Harvard University. He is also a '23 Rhodes Scholar.
International School of Tanganyika
As one of the premier international schools in East Africa, the International School of Tanganyika (IST) is focused on creating globally minded learners. By integrating Inspirit AI’s program, IST is empowering its students to use AI as a tool to solve pressing social challenges in their community.
During summer 2024, Inspirit AI delivered a 2-week artificial intelligence bootcamp for 8th-12th graders, guiding students to build AI projects at the intersection of AI + music and AI + astronomy.
Inspirit AI partnered with Barbara Wrightston, Director of Teaching and Learning, at IST who shared:
“AI is a reality for our students and their futures. And, it's something that educators need to be prepared to incorporate into teaching and learning.”
— Barbara Wrightston, Director of Teaching and Learning, International School of Tanganyika
In the AI + music project, students work with and explore Spotify music data. Students get to review logistic regression to predict which songs will become top hits based on different song metrics. Then, students work on a system to recommend new songs to listeners (using popular songs and similar songs to ones they’ve listened to). Finally, students return to predicting top hits, but this time by using the raw music audio!
“This Inspirit AI course was really fun and enjoyable. We did so many activities and progressed well everyday, increasing our knowledge about AI. Will definitely do again!”
— Dylan P., 8th Grade, International School of Tanganyika
Eric Bradford, MIT
Eric Bradford was the Inspirit AI instructor for the program. Eric is a Senior Technical Product Manager at Apple. Previously, he received both his Master's and his Bachelor's in Computer Science and Electrical Engineering from MIT. Eric is an experienced machine learning researcher with a background in AI, Natural Language Processing, and more.
St. Paul American School of Hanoi
Located in Vietnam, St. Paul American School Hanoi offers a rigorous American-style education with an emphasis on global citizenship. Their collaboration with Inspirit AI has inspired students to push the boundaries of their technological abilities while working on meaningful AI projects.
During summer 2024, Inspirit AI delivered a 2-week artificial intelligence summer program, guiding students to build AI projects at the intersection of AI + music and AI + medicine.
Inspirit AI partnered with Gus Marantos, College Counselor & AP Coordinator, at St. Paul American School of Hanoi who shared:
“We wanted to make high quality AI education available to our students and the greater Hanoi region in general. This type if program and education is still in its infancy and will just continue to grow so our school wanted to be a leader in making this type material accessible.”
— Gus Marantos, College Counselor & AP Coordinator, St. Paul American School of Hanoi
In the AI + medicine project, students created a computer vision system to help diagnose pneumonia from chest X-rays. Students reviewed neural networks and create convolutional neural networks in Keras to process medical images. Then students improved their models using transfer learning: adapting from expert models. Students also evaluated their model on field data, and learned to create artificial data using image transformations so that their model performs well on real-life data. Students even deployed their model to an app!
“It was intriguing to learn all the different applications of AI. I also enjoyed learning more about the coding. At first, it was really difficult, and I didn't really understand all the codes that we were using, but as time passed on and we entered the second week, I could come up with my own codes!”
— Seoyeon L., 11th Grade, St. Paul American School Hanoi
Nabib Ahmed, Harvard University
Nabib Ahmed was the Inspirit AI instructor for the program. Nabib graduated from Harvard University with graduate and undergraduate degrees in Statistics, Computer Science, and Government. Nabib is passionate about natural language processing, computer vision, and multimodal learning.
Benjamin Franklin International School
The Benjamin Franklin International School in Barcelona prides itself on fostering critical thinking and creativity. Through its partnership with Inspirit AI, students have gained exposure to the intricacies of AI technology, building innovative solutions to real-world problems.
During summer 2023 and summer 2024, Inspirit AI delivered 2-week artificial intelligence bootcamps, guiding students to build AI projects at the intersection of AI + music and AI + astronomy.
In the AI + astronomy project, students used data collected from NASA’s Kepler space telescope to train AI models to detect exoplanets. Throughout the project, student developed an understanding of exoplanet detection methods and exoplanet characterization methods. They also gained experience in training models with imbalanced classes of data—one category having a lot more data than the other.
“It was very engaging, informative, and interesting. I learned so much in the span of two weeks, it was so fun!”
— Elisha V., 9th Grade, BFIS Summer Student
Eric Bradford, MIT
Eric Bradford was the Inspirit AI instructor for the program. Eric is a Senior Technical Product Manager at Apple. Previously, he received both his Master's and his Bachelor's in Computer Science and Electrical Engineering from MIT. Eric is an experienced machine learning researcher with a background in AI, Natural Language Processing, and more.
Perspectives from Global K12 Leaders on AI Education
Inspirit AI’s project-based curriculum is designed to engage students in a meaningful and dynamic way, offering real-world applications of AI concepts. Schools benefit from the expert mentorship of graduate students from top universities, providing personalized guidance and support. Students not only gain technical skills but also develop problem-solving and critical thinking abilities. With Inspirit AI, schools can offer their students a competitive edge in the fast-evolving world of technology, preparing them for both higher education and future careers in AI-driven industries.
By integrating Inspirit AI into their curriculums, these schools are ensuring their students are not just consumers of technology, but creators of it—shaping the future, one project at a time.