Zach Kennelly: My civics students used AI to create a voting app

When civics teacher Zach Kennelly first encountered ChatGPT and DALL-E, he immediately recognized their transformative potential for education. As one of the first AI Trailblazers in aiEDU's fellowship program, Zach has reimagined what's possible in the classroom by positioning AI not as a replacement for human thinking, but as a collaborative tool that empowers students to tackle challenges they care about. Throughout our conversation, Zach shared how his diverse background in political science, sociology, math, and science provided the perfect foundation for integrating AI into his teaching at the Denver School of Science and Technology Public Schools (DSST) network. Despite initial roadblocks after the school blocked AI tools due to privacy concerns, Zach persisted in his belief that providing students with AI literacy was fundamental – students without AI literacy would soon be competing against peers who were becoming fluent in these technologies. The results speak for themselves: Zach's civics students created VoteWise Colorado, a voter engagement app that caught the attention of the Colorado Secretary of State. Rather than traditional assignments where teachers dictate knowledge for students to absorb, this project centered students as experts in their own community's needs. And the lessons learned went beyond academics; one student confidently declared "I could run a tech company," while another reflected how "I care a lot more about things than I knew." Are you ready to explore how AI might transform your classroom? Zach recommends starting in areas where you have expertise, focusing on low-stakes experimentation and remembering that the goal isn't to replace traditional skills but to elevate them. As we navigate this pivotal moment in education, teachers who thoughtfully adopt these tools aren't just preparing students for an AI-driven future – they're addressing fundamental questions about what it means to learn in the 21st century. Learn more about Zach Kennelly and DSST Public Schools:DSSTPublicSchools.orglinkedin.com/in/zkennelly/aiEDU: The AI Education Project aiEDU.org linkedin.com/company/aiedu/

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