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🔵 Introduction
Emerson Collective and XQ Institute collaborated with Mesh Ed and Betaworks to host a two-day advisory event. The event culminated in a workshop, which we share here. The gathering aimed to highlight the transformative impact of AI in education, focusing specifically on "High School Redesign" during the second day. The XQ team presented strategic insights that guide their work, ranging from an introduction to Project-Based Learning to the benefits of a new Student Performance Framework and learner competencies. The objective of the event was to foster meaningful connections between pioneering AI innovators and seasoned educators and to disseminate these insights across the educational field.
Strategic Framing
While AI is already revolutionizing various sectors, our high school education system remains stagnant, intensifying social inequalities and hindering the full realization of students' potential. This summit aims to pivot from mere theoretical discourse to actionable solutions, emphasizing AI's capacity to redefine high school education, particularly through initiatives like Project-Based Learning and competency-based frameworks. In a landscape cluttered with well-intentioned but often overwhelming discussions on both the transformative promise and ethical dilemmas of AI, our one-day generative session stands out. Its goal is not to unearth a single, flawless solution but to identify areas of mutual agreement and shared enthusiasm among a diverse group of participants, thereby refining our collective direction.
We employed a core framework anchored in an Impact-Effort Matrix—a straightforward yet effective tool for prioritizing tasks based on their potential impact and required effort. This matrix is instrumental in facilitating consensus on which initiatives offer the highest impact for the least effort, guiding our collective decision-making process.
Moreover, we strategically assembled a cross-functional team of experts, deliberately curating a mix of individuals both from within the educational sector and beyond. This included thought leaders in broader AI and design thinking spheres, as well as actual practicing educators and administrators from high schools across America. The intent was to foster a multidisciplinary dialogue that enriches our collective understanding and propels us toward meaningful, actionable solutions."
Problem Statement
How can AI, help make High School more relevant to both the educator and the learner?
High schools are at a crucial juncture, responsible for preparing students for an uncertain future. As XQ Institute's work reveals, high schools face an array of challenges—educational, ethical, and developmental. Artificial Intelligence (AI) introduces an additional layer of complexity to this landscape. While AI has the potential to revolutionize teaching methods and enable personalized learning experiences, it also raises ethical concerns, including data privacy and algorithmic bias.
Beyond the ethical considerations, the introduction of AI into the educational space could have far-reaching implications for the cognitive and emotional development of adolescents. The technology could alter the traditional student-teacher relationship, perhaps reducing human interaction in favor of machine-led tutoring. We need to ask hard questions: What is the role of a teacher in this AI-influenced educational landscape? How will AI affect the critical interpersonal skills and emotional intelligence that students typically develop through human interaction in the classroom?
The summit aims to create a focused discussion among career educators, design thinkers, ed tech specialists, and AI technologists. The objective is not to provide a one-size-fits-all solution, but rather to identify overlapping areas of interest and concern. By doing this, we hope to narrow down the scope of our collective focus in the application of AI in education. Additionally, we will perform sentiment analysis to capture the room's collective opinions and emotional responses concerning the state of AI in education as of October 2023.
This gathering is not just about problem-solving but also about understanding where we stand at this particular historical moment. Our aim is to harness this multi-disciplinary knowledge to navigate the challenges and opportunities that AI presents in the context of high school education.
Objectives
- Our primary objective is to foster a focused approach towards integrating AI in education, with an emphasis on Project-Based Learning and the New Competencies Framework for high school stakeholders. Unlike previous discussions that have often been broad and theoretical, this initiative aims to differentiate by honing in on actionable, impactful strategies. Through our engagements with tech leaders and academic peers, we've identified a pressing need for tangible pathways in AI's educational application.
- The event's uniqueness lies in its commitment to deriving practical insights, especially in areas like PBL. On Day 2, our goal is to discern where collective enthusiasm and consensus lie, particularly in solutions that participants rank from "Low Effort / High Impact," to "High Effort/ Low Impact". Instead of chasing a singular solution, we aim to pinpoint where opportunities align with genuine, collective ENERGY and a freshly cultivated group of collaborators who may NOT otherwise have come into orbit on this topic.
Advisors Attendees
Why this workshop structure?
Our generative workshop was a carefully designed blend of many of our facilitator’s experiences, as well as methodologies drawn from AJ & Smart(source for AJ & Smart) and Jake Knapp's Crazy 8s exercise (source for Crazy 8s), adapted to fit the time constraints and specific strategic objectives we faced. We further refined these ideas with input from colleagues and attendees, with an emphasis on quality, engagement, and fun. The goal was to generate a meaningful array of actionable artifacts that could serve as a foundation for ourselves and others in the educational field.
Procedures
- Review materials
- Announce roles:
- 1 Facilitator: guides the exercise
- 1 Note-taker: captures real-time notes and takes photos of the output
- 6-7 Advisors: Provide domain expertise
- Encourage Advisors to log into the Team’s Notion to contribute, especially to add links/resources in the “Notepad” sections
- Conduct icebreaker
- Establish norms for the rest of this day
- Focus, to the fullest extent possible.
- We each have a voice at this table.
- This is our opportunity to take risks. Embrace wild ideas.
Timer [seated]
Materials
- AV for Note-taker to share Notion on screen
- Post-its (plain white rectangular)
- Sharpies (writing material)
- Rolling easel
- Personal mat to place Post-its
- Sticker dots for voting
- Virtual and physical timer
Outcomes
- Teams are familiar with each other
- Teams understand the exercise and materials they will be using
FACILITATOR AND NOTE-TAKER GUIDELINES Total time available: 10 min - Overview: 5 min - Ice breaker: 5 min Icebreaker format: - State your name - What do you do for work / where do you work?
Procedures
- Within 10 minutes, each Advisor writes down as many problems or challenges they perceive:
- INSIDE OF THE HIGH SCHOOL CLASSROOM or IN HIGH SCHOOL EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM
- Example: “High schools are failing our students in math, they can’t relate and it is boring for them.”
Notes:
- Use one Post-it for each problem/challenge
- You will select up to 5 problems/challenges to share with the Team
Timer [seated]
Materials
- AV for Note-taker to share Notion on screen
- Post-its (plain rectangular)
- Sharpies (writing material)
- Rolling easel
- Personal mat to place Post-its
- Virtual and physical timer
Outcomes
- Each Advisor has at least five problems/challenges written down on Post-its
FACILITATOR AND NOTE-TAKER GUIDELINES Total time available: 5 min Note-taker will take a photo of each advisor’s board of post-its 📷 and upload all of them to this section of the Notion section.
Procedures
- Each Advisor selects up to 2-3 problems/challenges to share with the Team, spending ~30 seconds on each problem/challenge (3 mins max per Advisor)
- After each Advisor shares, Facilitator takes the Post-its and attaches them to the rolling easel, grouping common problems/challenges together
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Timer [seated]
Materials
- AV for Note-taker to share Notion on screen
- Post-its (plain rectangular)
- Sharpies (writing material)
- Rolling easel
- Personal mat to place Post-its
- Virtual and physical timer
Outcomes
- The team has an idea of all problems/challenges inside high school classrooms or the high school educational system
- Problems/challenges are grouped by commonality
FACILITATOR AND NOTE-TAKER GUIDELINES Total time available: 30 min - Each Advisor: 3 min max Reminders Facilitator should: - Remind others to respect the time constraint and to listen to the shared problems/challenges - Track the time for each Advisor - Collect the Post-its from each Advisor - Group common post-its together Note-taker should: Summarize each Advisor’s conversation on the shared problems/challenges
- Scheduling for adults’ convenience at the expense of student success
- Access to quality curriculum
- equity issue
- broken counseling/advisory system
- Outdated diploma requirements
- Current k-12 tech systems force innovators to hack the system
- Teacher prep programs at universities
- Idea of college for all
- only one track
- School relevance
- Education disconnected from real-world opportunities and joy
- Lack of access to life-sustaining jobs
- Curriculums are outdated - technology & AI
- Curriculums not catered to student interests
- No time to explore
- Mental health and isolating technologies
- lack of relationships, lack of connection
- lack of coordination in school system around solving these - welfare/well-being of students requires community partnering, additional resources
- Poverty and wraparound services
- homelessness and foster kids
- Schools need to be community hub focused on other issues
- Administration and teachers incentivized to teach within schedule/broken system
- How schools make purchasing decisions
- Badging - difficult to compare
- Educators poorly equipped to use data and feedback
- Lack of comprehensive feedback
- Parents don’t know how their kids are doing
- Lack of focus on social & emotional development
- Certificates/grades get in the way of learning
- Lack of personalization to student pacing
Buckets
- Time Management
- Constraints of Carnegie unit
- Lack of nuance in assessment
- Mental Health
Procedures
- Each Advisor receives two red dots to vote on the most pressing problems, doing so silently
- Facilitator moves the top 3 problems/challenges based on the number of votes to the middle of the easel
Notes:
- If there is a tie-breaker, Advisors will vote for the top problem/challenge by using their hand
Timer [standing]
Materials
- AV for Note-taker to share Notion on screen
- Post-its (plain rectangular)
- Rolling easel
- Virtual and physical timer
- ¼ inch dot stickers (round and red color)
Outcomes
- Advisors vote
- Top 3 problems/challenges are identified
FACILITATOR AND NOTE-TAKER GUIDELINES Total time available: 5 min Facilitator reminds Advisors to vote silently
Top 3:
- System of time management not catered to students
- Constraints of the Carnegie unit
- Lack of curriculum with relevance
Procedure
- The top 3 problems/challenges are rephrased by the original author outloud to the Team. The team works to reframe the problem into a "How might we...?" statement.
Example:
Problem: “We have no means of measuring the efficacy of these AI tools my students are using."
Reframed: "How might we create means of measurement and efficacy of AI products?"
Timer [standing]
Materials
- AV for Note-taker to share Notion on screen
- Post-its (plain rectangular)
- Rolling easel
- Virtual and physical timer
Outcomes
- There are 3 “How might we…” statements and they are captured in the Team Notes section
FACILITATOR AND NOTE-TAKER GUIDELINES Total time available: 5 min Note-taker captures the “How might we...” statements
System of bureaucracy not catered to students
How might we…
- make the school schedule a better fit for the way students learn while remaining pragmatic?
- have a school schedule based on student interests and needs?
- Explore learning opportunities outside the curriculum
- Make the school day and year fit the needs of students in and out of the building
- Design flexible and personalized schedules for students?
- Learning pathways aligned to profile of graduate
- *Diversify and align system incentives with the holistic needs and aspirations of students?*
- GPT-4 summarize: Implement a student-centric approach by personalizing schedules, diversifying system incentives, exploring extracurricular learning opportunities, and aligning learning pathways with students’ holistic needs and aspirations, all while maintaining practicality.
Constraints of the Carnegie unit
- How might we free our schools from the constraints of the Carnegie Unit in terms of teacher pay, schedule, diploma requirements, and past
- How might we redesign the school credential system so we incentivize students to become lifelong learners?
- How might we redefine student success for learners and students?
- Reimagine the scope of the student transcript to align with a wholesome description of student flourishing
- Move the focus of a diploma to durable skill or portrait of a graduate instead of discrete academic skills?
- How might we create student portfolios instead of report cards?
- Exposure to more (electives) without grades?
- Embrace asynchronous work-life modalities
- *Move the focus of the diploma to life skills and a portrait of the graduate to align with a wholesome definition of human flourishing?
- GPT-4 Summarization: Transition from the Carnegie Unit by redefining student success through a redesigned credential system that incentivizes lifelong learning, focuses on durable skills and life skills, embraces asynchronous modalities, and utilizes comprehensive student portfolios instead of traditional grading, all aimed at fostering a holistic depiction of student flourishing.
Lack of curriculum with relevance
- How might we redesign curriculum to prepare them for a world of AI
- Create systems that enable schools to make locally relevant curriculums that keep standards?
- How might we bring industry into curriculum design?
- Connect students with the community in all aspects of their learning
- Embrace AI technologies for personalization?
- Bring community in and internships
- *Redesign curriculum that reflects student interests, is flexible, incorporates community and business insights and prepares the student for an uncertain world*
- GPT-4 summarization: Redesign curriculum to enhance relevance by incorporating AI technologies for personalization, integrating community and industry insights, fostering local relevance while maintaining standards, and preparing students for an AI-driven world through a flexible curriculum that reflects student interests and includes practical community engagement and internships.
- *Diversify and align system incentives with the holistic needs and aspirations of students.*
- *Move the focus of the diploma to life skills and a portrait of the graduate to align with a wholesome definition of human flourishing.
- *Design curriculum that reflects student interests, is flexible, incorporates community and business insights, and prepares students for an uncertain world*
Procedure
- Brainstorm. Allowing 5 mins for each of the top problems/challenges, each Advisor writes down as many solutions they have for the specific problem/challenge
- The format for Solutions on a Post-it should be no more than 3 sentences, which sounds similar to an “elevator pitch”
- Given the current landscape of companies and AI products, hold space for how technology may play a role in each solution Post-it
- Example solution: “Build the most dynamic curriculum on becoming an Entrepreneur; using AI co-pilot trained on insights from world-famous business leaders.”
- This process will be repeated for the problem/challenge, totaling 15 mins
- Shareout. Each Advisor selects up to 3 solutions to share with the Team, spending 1:30 min max per advisor on sharing solutions (~30 secs on each solution). Limit to three sentences “elevator pitch.”
- Sorting. After each Advisor shares, Facilitator takes all solution Post-its from the Advisor and attaches them to the rolling easel. Team reads all solutions and [if applicable] Team supports in sorting common solutions under each problem/challenge
Timer [seated]
Materials
- AV for Note-taker to share Notion on screen
- Post-its (plain blue rectangular)
- Sharpies (writing material)
- Rolling easel
- Personal mat to place Post-its
- Virtual and physical timer
Outcomes
- All solutions are sorted and presented under each of the top 3 problems/challenges
FACILITATOR AND NOTE-TAKER GUIDELINES Total time available: 40 min - Solutions for each problem/challenge (total 3): 5 mins - Solutions discussion (1:30 min each): ~15 mins Reminders Facilitator should: - Encourage as many solutions to be written. No pressure on “over” designing - Reminder others to respect the time constraint and to listen to the shared problems/challenges - Track the time for each Advisor - Collect the Post-its from each Advisor Note-taker should: Summarize each Advisor’s conversation on the solutions
- *Diversify and align system incentives with the holistic needs and aspirations of students?*
- Use personalization, AI, technology for flexible schedules and increased access to magnet style learning
- Incentive generator machine
- Allow students to fill school schedule with courses they want
- AI algorithm that measures student learning growth/individual aspirations and visualize them for the decision makers
- eliminate master schedule, use AI to help students know what credentials they need to achieve plan for after HS, systems that capture learning outside of school
- New funding models based on student needs and outcomes
- access to learning companion
- tie school funding to student satisfaction surveys
- open source hub, modular tools built to redesign the administrative functions of a school operation
- *Move the focus of the diploma to life skills and a portrait of the graduate to align with a wholesome definition of human flourishing?
- Build your own purpose generator
- Make psychologists available to students
- Program that simulates real world interactions, relationships, problems for students
- Graduation portfolio that includes real-life
- building structures aligned to portrait of a graduate, teachers repositioned as learning coach
- collections of human testimonials - you can compute over that
- 360 review with input from peers, mentors, other community members
- open source framework, student portfolio that measures knowledge acquisition
- *Design curriculum that reflects student interests, is flexible, incorporates community and business insights and prepares students for an uncertain world*
- Start mentoring for internships in middle school
- Curriculum tuner, current event feedback, spits out new recommendation
- collaborate/compete with other schools
- platform that collects real-world problems and converts into case studies
- Utilize non-traditional educators to write and create curriculum
- convert schools into home base
- design schools with students, parents, community partners, and business as equal participants in the process and open the system to school choice
- AI can augment teachers’ ability to reason about student needs
- Internship with local business
- “Critical Thinking Machine” - curriculum design tool for educators and local business fine tuned on insights — constantly iterated on
Procedure
- Each Advisor receives 5 red dots to vote on the most appealing solutions, doing so silently
Notes:
- If there is a tie-breaker, Advisors will vote for the top problem/challenge by using their hand
- Only 1 vote per solution
Timer [standing]
Materials
- AV for Note-taker to share Notion on screen
- Post-its (plain rectangular)
- Rolling easel
- Virtual and physical timer
- ¼ inch dot stickers (round and red color)
Outcomes
- At least 3 solutions are identified via votes
FACILITATOR AND NOTE-TAKER GUIDELINES Total time available: 5 min
Procedures
- Facilitator selects at least 3 and at most 5 of the most voted-on solutions and moves them to the top of the matrix side of the easel
- Advisors discuss each of the solutions to determine the feasibility and place the solution on the “Effort vs. Impact” matrix
- Vertical axis: level of impact of the solution
- Horizontal axis: level of effort required to create the solution
- Each Advisor receives 1 green dot to vote on the most appealing solution from the matrix, doing so silently
- By the end of this session, the team has landed on one idea to build a roadmap for.
Notes:
- The objective of this exercise is to gather consensus, if not a majority, on where to place each solution on the matrix
Timer [standing]
Materials
- AV for Note-taker to share Notion on screen
- Rolling easel
- Virtual and physical timer
- ¼ inch dot stickers (round and green color)
Outcomes
- Top solutions are on the effort vs. impact matrix with their votes
FACILITATOR AND NOTE-TAKER GUIDELINES Total time available: 20 min - Placing solutions on matrix: 15 mins - Vote on matrix: 5 mins
Procedures
- The facilitator rolls the Team’s easel to the general area for viewing.
Side 1: Problems/challenges & solutions
- Grouped problems/challenges
- Voted on top 3 problems/challenges
- All possible solutions under each of the Top 3 problems/challenges
Side 2: Mapped matrix
- Quadrant with at least the top 3 solutions plotted based on effort vs. impact
Timer [walk]
Materials
- Rolling easel
- General area for a break
- Coffee, tea, biscuits break
Outcomes
- Advisors have scanned the problems/challenges, solutions, and mapped matrices from the other Teams
FACILITATOR AND NOTE-TAKER GUIDELINES Total time available: 15 min Facilitator should guide the Team back to workspaces Note-takers should take a photo of all easels
Blue team! Now go Build your Final Team Reports!
