69ý

Artificial Intelligence

Google Spends $25M on AI Training for Teachers

By Alyson Klein — September 18, 2024 4 min read
Double exposure of a glowing brain with gears drawing over U.S. dollar bills background.
  • Save to favorites
  • Print
Email Copy URL

Google.org, the tech company’s philanthropy arm, plans to invest over $25 million to support five education nonprofits in helping educators and students learn more about how to use artificial intelligence.

The initiative plans to reach over half a million K-12 and college students, as well as educators, giving them the skills they need to use AI responsibly in the classroom and the workplace.

Teens are more likely to use AI tools responsibly if their teachers discuss the technology’s potential benefits and pitfalls, according to a survey released Sept. 18 by Common Sense Media, a nonprofit that examines the interaction between youth and technology.

But most educators aren’t getting the training they need in AI.

More than 7 in 10 teachers said they haven’t received any professional development on using AI in the classroom, according to a nationally representative EdWeek Research Center survey of 953 educators, including 553 teachers, conducted Jan. 31 to March 4.

The survey data show that teachers who are in urban districts, those in districts where at least 75 percent of students receive free or reduced-price meals, and those who teach elementary grades are more likely than other educators to say they haven’t received any AI training.

“As AI skills are increasingly seen as foundational digital skills, it’s crucial that teachers are prepared to guide students in understanding and responsibly using the technology,” Maggie Johnson, the vice president of Google.org, said in an emailed response to questions from Education Week.

A big focus of Google’s grants will be developing and delivering culturally relevant curriculum for AI, and ensuring AI literacy lessons reach students from a range of demographic groups.

AI tools tend to reflect long-standing societal biases. One way to mitigate that problem, experts say, is to include people from many backgrounds in developing the technology.

In fact, districts already doing deep work on AI literacy, such as Georgia’s Gwinnett County schools, say part of their mission is to ensure students from groups historically underrepresented in tech fields—such as girls and students of color—can access AI coursework.

“Bringing a broader group of people with varied life experiences into using these tools actually does help identify and help improve bias,” said Richard Culatta, the CEO of ISTE+ASCD, in an interview. Culatta’s organization—which provides professional development to educators for a variety of skills—will be one of the beneficiaries of the Google investment.

Culatta emphasized that teachers need to understand how to talk to students about AI’s bias problems.

“I think that’s one of the biggest challenges, is that there’s bias in all these tools and in lots of technology,” Culatta said. “But when it just sort of sits there and we don’t call it to our attention, that’s really where the danger is.”

ISTE+ASCD will receive $10 million of the $25 million over three years to reach about 200,000 educators. The organization will collaborate on its AI-related initiatives with six other organizations that focus at least in part on teacher and/or leader training: the , , , , , and .

The work will include “deep dive professional learnings” aimed at helping educators understand AI better, including online courses and webinars. Culatta said the sessions will explore questions such as: what is AI and how does it work?

“AI is not magic. We have to be really clear about that,” Culatta said.

The goal of the Google investment is to build ‘enduring AI skills’

ISTE+ASCD plans to also create communities that allow educators to share best practices on using AI, and conduct research to make sure that their efforts are having the desired impact.

The work won’t focus on specific AI tools but on the technology more broadly, Culatta said.

“In order to help kids be successful, what we really need is to help them have enduring AI skills, because the tools will change,” Culatta said. “The tools that we’re using today are the least capable AI tools that we’re ever going to see, because they’re just going to keep getting better.”

Other grantees include:

  • 4-H, a nonprofit that offers students the chance to complete projects in agriculture, health, science, and other fields. It will provide training on AI to rural students and educators.
  • aiEDU, a nonprofit focused on equitable AI literacy. It will help deliver AI curriculum to rural and Indigenous communities.
  • STEM From Dance, a nonprofit that uses dance to engage girls in science, technology, engineering, and math curriculum. It will help girls use AI to enhance dance choreography through sound, animation, and technology.
  • The 5th grantee, , will create industry-reviewed AI coursework for Black, Latino, and Indigenous college students who are studying computing.
Related Tags:

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Artificial Intelligence Webinar
AI and Educational Leadership: Driving Innovation and Equity
Discover how to leverage AI to transform teaching, leadership, and administration. Network with experts and learn practical strategies.
Content provided by 
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
School Climate & Safety Webinar
Investing in Success: Leading a Culture of Safety and Support
Content provided by 
Assessment K-12 Essentials Forum Making Competency-Based Learning a Reality
Join this free virtual event to hear from educators and experts working to implement competency-based education.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.

Read Next

Artificial Intelligence From Our Research Center 'We're at a Disadvantage,' and Other Teacher Sentiments on AI
Teachers say they have other, more pressing priorities.
3 min read
3D illustration of AI button of keyboard of a modern computer. Light blue button. 3D rendering on blue background. Training.
Bo Feng/iStock + Education Week
Artificial Intelligence Opinion What Makes 69ý (and the Rest of Us) Fall for AI Misinformation?
Researchers Sam Wineburg and Nadav Ziv explain how to turn your students into savvy online fact-checkers.
Sam Wineburg & Nadav Ziv
4 min read
Trendy pop art collage search concept. Halftone laptop computer with search bar and cut out hands pointing on it.
Cristina Gaidau/iStock
Artificial Intelligence Parents Sue After School Disciplined Student for AI Use: Takeaways for Educators
The Massachusetts lawsuit is one of the first to highlight the benefits and challenges of generative AI use in the classroom.
5 min read
Person using technology smart robot AI, enter command prompt. A.I. Chat concept AI, Artificial Intelligence.
iStock/Getty
Artificial Intelligence Q&A This Counselor Used AI to Help 69ý Apply to College. Here's How
Jeffrey Neill shares his tips on when it makes sense to use AI in the college application process.
6 min read
Jeffrey Neill, director of college counseling at Graded - The American School of São Paulo in Brazil, presents on how to use AI tools in his work at the College Board’s annual forum in Austin, Texas on Oct. 21, 2024.
Jeffrey Neill, director of college counseling at Graded: The American School of São Paulo in Brazil, presents on how to use AI tools in his work at the College Board’s annual forum in Austin, Texas, on Oct. 21, 2024.
Ileana Najarro/Education Week