Field Tripping with AI
During my recent keynotes, Computational Making workshops, and articles, such as AI, Education, and the Labubu Problem, I’ve been sharing the remarkable power of AI to help individuals create working software with just one customer. In other words, for the first time in history, ordinary people can create software to work or solve problems that otherwise would be neither commercially viable or affordable.
During my recent trip to Australia, I ran into an old friend and colleague Brett Moller. He was in Melbourne with several colleagues and three dozen 9th graders as part of a 4-day “camp” during which students mixed tourism, multicultural experiences, and museum visits 1,000 miles from home. Brett blew my mind when he showed me the “app” he created and deployed on iPhones specifically for this occasion. The software allowed teachers to share the itinerary, contact information, student allergies, medications, and dietary restrictions, send reminders, and message all members of the community. Students could check-in to ensure their safety too. That was just the “boring stuff.”
Had Brett’s app only provided such instant access to student information, I would have been impressed, but I was gobsmacked by what else Brett’s software could do. It automated and kept score of a citywide scavenger hunt in real-time. It allowed teachers to pull up a map of Melbourne and draw boundaries on the map so that students could be told where they were allowed to eat lunch or dinner. If a student strayed outside those boundaries, they were alerted to return. After the students competed in the scavenger hunt and uploaded photos or answers to questions demonstrating their discoveries, Brett’s software generated a narrative play-by-play to share with parents. I watched Brett add functionality and features to his app on-the-fly while exploring the city.
It is impossible to dispute how this life-altering real-world learning experience was enriched by technology, computation, and AI. In this case, student engagement, safety, focus, and learning were supercharged by cellphones. It is nothing short of empowering.
At my gentle urging, Brett Moller wrote a spectacular white paper (download here) explaining his app and sharing the learner-centered philosophies underlying the entire educational experience – for teachers and students alike. The comprehensive white paper also includes the workflow and technical details behind this magical act of computation.
Brett moller
“The tools I needed didn’t exist. So I built them. The entire digital
infrastructure supporting a week-long school trip — a native iOS staff app,
a GPS boundary system, a real-time scavenger hunt platform — was
designed and built not by a software development team, but by me, their
teacher, working in partnership with an artificial intelligence.”
I am grateful for Brett’s generosity, creativity, and leadership. I can’t wait to see how it inspires you to create your own remarkable software.
Looking for related inspiration? Check out the following links.
- Time to Make Something WITH AI • a guide to game making with AI by Gary Stager
- The Learner’s Apprentice – AI and the Amplification of Human Creativity by Ken Kahn
- Join us at The Language of Computation – Constructing Modern Knowledge in Reggio Emilia