LIVE Faculty Golnaz Arastoopour Irgens Selected for AWS Education Equity Initiative Award
Assistant Professor of Human-Centered Learning Technologies and Director of the IDEA lab, Golnaz Arastoopour Irgens, was selected in the competition for the AWS Education Equity Initiative for her work with Adventures in AI, a suite of tools that lets elementary students not only learn how to use AI, but also learn how to create it. In collaboration with teachers from Metro Nashville Public Schools, the project gives kids hands-on experiences building simple AI tools, like image recognizers, chatbots, and robots, while simultaneously learning about how these systems work. The goal is to spark curiosity and prepare the next generation to critically shape the future of artificial intelligence.
Adventures in AI is taking flight thanks in part to the Amazon Web Services’ (AWS) Education Equity Initiative which seeks to boost future skills in education. AWS awarded Arastoopour Irgens $80,000 in
credits to build Adventures in AI using AWS cloud and AI technologies. AWS will also provide tailored architectural guidance, best practices for responsible AI implementation, and ongoing optimization support
Through this initiative, Arastoopour Irgens will advance her innovative research that allows young children to explore and train their own small language models in ways that matter to them and in ways that will help them build strong AI literacies. Click here to learn more about the AWS Education Equity Initiative Award.