Students in Jasper High School teacher Abby Kennedy's English class use AI during a recent lesson
Supporting students’ critical thinking and designing computer science curriculum: two challenges from local teachers that are getting help through AI—and an IU School of Education team.
Associate professor Kyungbin Kwon’s research has always centered around enhancing education through the use of technology. He originally worked with middle school teachers on a project to develop curricula about AI and bring the technology to rural communities. After the project concluded, Kwon and his team expanded the project’s scope to work with two local high school teachers, Abby Kennedy and Efila Jzar. Both teachers first connected with the project through professional development sessions, where their interest in AI integration grew. Their enthusiasm and willingness to collaborate opened the door to extending the project into new subject areas and designing innovative curricula together.
According to Kwon, the main goal of this extension is to build sustainable relationships with local teachers.
“The AI Goes Rural project has already shown successful results—high teacher participation, high-quality curricula co-developed with teachers, and positive student feedback from the lessons. I want to carry that momentum forward, even after the original project has ended,” he added.
Abby Kennedy is an English teacher at Jasper High School and met Kwon at an AI-focused event at IU. She emailed him later that evening, expressing interest in using AI in her classroom. Now Kennedy and the team collaborate on lessons for her high school English classroom. Some of the lessons have prepared students for their future careers by having AI assist students with writing resumes and create individualized interview questions that students have to answer based on their career aspirations.
They will learn how to use AI for productive means, the correct way to prompt, scrutinize results and think critically. It also provides them with skills they will need in the workplace once they get there.
Efila Jzar, science teacher at Ben Davis University High School in Indianapolis
“With approximately 150-160 students, individualizing questions based on career wants can be a challenge for teachers, but AI can tackle this task in seconds and continue to tweak responses and additional questions in real time,” Kennedy said, adding, “This project and lessons have been incredibly meaningful and impactful for my students and me. It has expanded my own knowledge of AI, made me more comfortable with using the latest technology with students, and increased my students’ understanding of it. These teens will be comfortable with AI usage, know how to use it well, and have a step-up in the future job markets with their AI skills.
Additionally, the students thoroughly enjoyed interacting with IU students and seeing that AI is important to them. They got to learn more about the university and what options could be available to them if they attended college themselves. What a fabulous opportunity for high school students!”
Efila Jzar is a science teacher at Ben Davis University High School in Indianapolis. After connecting with Kwon at a summit on AI, Jzar began working with him on a project for her classroom that involves the use of AI for data analytics, presentation, and critical analysis of information.
The project team includes, from left, Associate Professor Kyungbin Kwon, LDAE graduate student Juhyun Park, teacher Abby Kennedy, and Associate Professor Ugur Kale
“We are using unit four of the curriculum for the class where the students have to solicit bus route data from the district and analyze it and suggest improvements based on the data analysis they have done,” Jzar said. “Every step of this unit from inquiry to final presentation is facilitated with AI. They will use AI to create an interactive map of the route as well as visuals for their presentation.”
The project will give Jzar’s students real-world case work using AI: “They will learn how to use AI for productive means, the correct way to prompt, scrutinize results and think critically. It also provides them with skills they will need in the workplace once they get there.”
Jzar added, “(This project) helps me be a better teacher by allowing me to quickly adjust a workflow in the class to their rate of learning and skill levels. It also makes me a better teacher because I am better preparing my students for the world they will face once they graduate and enter the workforce.”
As AI grows in use and more educators become familiar with it, Kwon’s project is a textbook example of how the technology is helping teachers in both practical and meaningful ways.
“From the start, my research team and the teachers aligned around a common goal: introducing AI as a powerful learning tool for students. Together, we co-designed lesson plans, which not only gave the teachers concrete resources they could use but also created space for their voices and classroom expertise to shape the activities. Through this process, my team gained a deeper understanding of the teachers’ needs, while the teachers shared valuable insights about how students actually learn best,” Kwon explained.
The collaboration has already had a noticeable impact: the teachers reported feeling more confident and willing to try new teaching approaches because they weren’t just handed a curriculum—they built it with the SOE team. That sense of ownership has been empowering. On top of that, school leadership actively supported the effort, with principals and administrators even attending AI lesson implementations. Kwon said that visible support has encouraged teachers to take risks and embrace innovation in their classrooms.
“In the broader context of AI education, teacher preparation is one of the most urgent and critical challenges we face,” he added. “My hope is that this project can continue to support teachers in that role and contribute, in whatever way it can, to preparing educators for the future of AI in classrooms.”
