海角大神

Andy Omer Gokce鈥檚 unconventional idea for a new school wasn鈥檛 met with immediate enthusiasm.

The former Silicon Valley resident saw technology surging forward in profound ways, even before generative artificial-intelligence models burst into the marketplace. Could the longtime educator build a learning environment, he wondered, where students honed AI and data-science skills? A friend who worked as a software engineer turned data scientist for a large retailer scoffed at the notion.

鈥淗is response to me was, 鈥榃e can鈥檛 even do it with undergrads. How are you going to do it in middle school?鈥欌�� Mr. Gokce says.

Fast forward to this year: A Honolulu classroom in a school Mr. Gokce helped start is filled with iMac desktops and the occasional Rubik鈥檚 Cube. What鈥檚 not allowed? Cell phones. (Even the tech-forward school doesn鈥檛 want students 鈥渢o get lost in the computers,鈥欌�� as Mr. Gokce puts it.)

K奴lia Academy is changing how students view the evolving technological world in which they are growing up. The fledgling charter school 鈥� now in its second year 鈥� represents a paradigm shift in education. Instead of shying away from AI, the school is building the academic muscles its leaders believe students will need in the cognitive computing world. It鈥檚 one of a handful of educational institutes around the country, mostly charter and private schools, that are orienting around AI as a central aspect of learning and teaching.

At the Honolulu school, educators want students to think beyond feeding prompts to AI chatbots. It鈥檚 more about understanding the technology鈥檚 underlying building blocks 鈥� the data collection, the algorithms, and the computer systems backing it all up. In fact, Mr. Gokce, the school鈥檚 executive director, says students are not allowed to use ChatGPT and other platforms to generate code. He wants them to master coding languages such as Python, JavaScript, R, and C++.

鈥淲e want them to understand the logic 鈥� how the computers work,鈥� he says.

Seventh-grader Atlas James toggles between two displays containing data-driven projects. His latest research focuses on educational attainment in the United States. He scrolls through a spreadsheet filled with rows upon rows of data.

鈥淒ata is a really big part of the life we live today,鈥� he says. 鈥淣owadays, everybody鈥檚 on a phone, a computer, a tablet, and it鈥檚 important to understand both how our data is collected and used, and how to use data that we find in our everyday scenarios to better understand the world.鈥�

In addition to the ban on cell phones for students, there is no homework. The school day is longer, with summer school required, along with more time for math and English language arts every day. Those aspects appear to be paying academic dividends. K奴lia Academy students posted the state鈥檚 top scores on Hawaii鈥檚 most recent standardized tests.

The education experiment comes amid a stock market juiced by AI enthusiasm and parallel worries about job extinction. Large-scale layoffs this year at companies such as Amazon and UPS have raised concerns about workforce automation, though experts have cautioned that AI innovations might be playing a more indirect role at this point. Still, the hazy outlook has triggered more discussion about the skills today鈥檚 students need to compete in tomorrow鈥檚 workforce.

鈥淭he people who might have a job in the future should have the AI skills,鈥� Mr. Gokce says. 鈥淭here is no escape. It鈥檚 coming.鈥�

Wading into AI learning

When ChatGPT debuted three years ago, it marked the beginning of a cognitive technology era, in which computers simulated human reasoning to an unprecedented degree. Most people had never interacted with digital platforms designed to mimic human thinking. Questions arose almost immediately, especially in the realm of education.

Would students ever write another essay on their own? Conversely, could machine learning models actually enhance student learning through tutoring or other tools?

Today, 33 states and Puerto Rico have adopted AI guidance or policies for K-12 schools, according to AI for Education, an organization pushing for teacher training and responsible adoption of generative AI in classrooms. Those frameworks vary widely, addressing issues such as data privacy, ethical use, professional learning, and classroom strategies.

鈥淲e need strong thinking skills in our young people, which includes a deep understanding of the digital world,鈥� says Rebecca Winthrop, who leads Brookings Institution鈥檚 Global Task Force on AI in Education. 鈥淎nd it鈥檚 not necessarily a tools-first approach to AI literacy, but a conceptual and ethical grounding.鈥�

But few schools have waded as deeply into AI learning as K奴lia Academy, which bills itself as the 鈥渇irst school in the United States to offer a comprehensive 7-year Artificial Intelligence and Data Science program.鈥� This specialty charter school, now serving roughly 150 sixth and seventh graders from across Oahu, expects to scale up through 12th grade over the next six years.

Mr. Gokce, a former charter school leader in California, received approval from Hawaii鈥檚 State Public Charter School Commission to launch K奴lia Academy. He and other school founders built the AI and data science-focused program using curricula from Stanford University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of California, Los Angeles, and AI4ALL.

In some classrooms, that means students are learning to code or analyze data. But visitors will also find children practicing hula dances, playing string instruments, and conducting hands-on science experiments. Plus, for four hours each day, they are immersed in math and English language arts 鈥� two hours for each subject. All told, the regular school day runs from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The approach lured Patricia Tobin out of retirement to teach English language arts. She says the school practices intentional cross-class collaboration. Students鈥� research projects in their AI data-science class, for instance, turn into English assignments when they are ready to report their conclusions.

The result, Ms. Tobin says, might be a TED Talk-style speech, a comic book, or a more traditional report.

鈥淲ith two back-to-back hours, we can really take deep dives and incorporate that data science into the literacy development,鈥� says Ms. Tobin, who originally moved to Hawaii with a job through a Johns Hopkins University program training teachers in literacy reforms. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e going to get so much more out of what they research if they鈥檙e at or above their reading level and understanding of math.鈥�

And it鈥檚 not just students analyzing data. Teachers are, too. A wall in the staff lounge features photos of every student with colored tape indicating their progress in math and English language arts. The tuition-free charter school, which uses a lottery-based admissions process based on demand, pulls from a range of socioeconomic groups. School leaders say 52% of students qualified for free or reduced-price lunch this academic year.

The vast majority appear to be excelling. K奴lia Academy鈥檚 inaugural class of sixth graders logged the highest proficiency rates 鈥� 75% in math and 80% in English language arts 鈥� among all Hawaii middle and high schools on the state benchmarking tests, according to the school.

鈥淭he culture is that it鈥檚 cool to be smart here,鈥� says Chris Teijeiro, whose son Hendrix is in seventh grade at K奴lia Academy.

Student input

Do the consumers 鈥� the school鈥檚 sixth and seventh graders 鈥� agree?

The middle schoolers who spoke with the Monitor didn鈥檛 hold back. On the cool list: their blue uniforms, advanced classes, and fun electives. Not so cool, at least according to some students: summer school and the no-cell-phone policy.

鈥淚 really like that,鈥� says Sana Cook, referring to the dress code,鈥� because it makes everyone look neat and organized.鈥�

On the academic side, Sana says she and her peers are doing math 鈥渨ay above our grade level鈥� and diving into the complexities of AI data science and coding. 鈥淚t鈥檚 really advanced,鈥� says the seventh grader, 鈥渂ut it鈥檚 fun to do.鈥�

That positive sentiment toward AI isn鈥檛 necessarily shared by other students, parents, and teachers nationwide. A RAND survey conducted earlier this year found that even as AI use is increasing among students and teachers, widespread skepticism remains. Forty-eight percent of middle school students, 55% of high schoolers, and 61% of parents expressed concern about AI use harming critical-thinking skills.

The caveat is that the survey question asked about AI use rather than AI learning 鈥� the latter of which K奴lia Academy is striving to do. Still, it鈥檚 a glimpse into the fraught public attitude toward the rapidly accelerating technology. More than half of the students surveyed also worry about being falsely accused of cheating with AI.

鈥淭he larger point is that we need to figure out what are the right ways of using AI that build skills instead of replace skills,鈥� says Christopher Doss, a senior economist at RAND, a research organization.

That鈥檚 exactly what spurred Edwyna Brooks to move her sixth-grader son from a private school to K奴lia Academy.

鈥淚t鈥檚 easy to pigeonhole [AI] as something that鈥檚 bad when you haven鈥檛 touched it, right?鈥� she says. 鈥�... Broadening their perspective now will make it easier for them to adapt and use it as a tool instead of something negative.鈥�

Ms. Brooks was among roughly a dozen parents who voluntarily showed up, some during their work hours, to chat about their children鈥檚 experiences. School leaders say this type of parent engagement isn鈥檛 uncommon. Two recent turkey potluck dinners 鈥� one for each grade 鈥� brought so many families to the school, cars filled the parking lot and lined neighboring streets.

Enrolling their children at K奴lia Academy, particularly when it opened last year, represented a leap of faith. It was an untested concept. But the parents shared similar motivations for taking that risk. They say their children were bored or not challenged enough in their previous schools. Others couldn鈥檛 shake the feeling that the education system wasn鈥檛 changing fast enough to keep up with the digital age.

Eileen James had been searching for a new academic home for her son, Atlas, whom she described as the 鈥渙dd man out鈥� at his former school. He was bullied and frustrated, she says, which led to behavior problems in the classroom. Now, Ms. James says her son has 鈥渇ound his people,鈥� and, as a mother, she appreciates the innovative learning model.

鈥淲ho knows what education is going to look like in the future? None of us do,鈥� she says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not going to look the way it does now.鈥�

How far will this model go?

Before long, K奴lia Academy could need more classrooms. It鈥檚 occupying a building in a working-class neighborhood that formerly housed a parochial school, but Mr. Gokce has already started scouting expansion locations. He has reason to be optimistic. Inquiries have increased in the nearly year and a half since the educators welcomed their first group of learners.

鈥淲e had twice as many applications last year,鈥� he says. 鈥淎nd this year we鈥檙e expecting way more.鈥�

Mr. Gokce envisions K奴lia Academy graduates leaving with a firm understanding of how AI and data science work. He hopes that at least half of the school鈥檚 students attend college and major in AI data science or similar fields. But the school鈥檚 founder also predicts that some will land jobs immediately after high school, recruited by tech leaders who value skillsets over degrees.

And if students pursue seemingly unrelated careers? That鈥檚 beneficial, too, he says, because they will be armed with knowledge to solve problems.

AI experts don鈥檛 foresee K奴lia Academy replicas popping up in every community, though.

Charles Fadel, chairman and founder of the Center for Curriculum Redesign, explains why using a car analogy. Most adults will learn to drive a car. But if you鈥檙e simply a driver 鈥� not a car designer or auto technician 鈥� do you really need to know how electrodes in a car battery work?

鈥淣ot every kid needs that,鈥� Mr. Fadel says, referring to a deep understanding of AI and data science. 鈥淗owever, every kid needs to know how to be extremely good at AI literacy.鈥�

It鈥檚 an education debate that likely won鈥檛 conclude anytime soon.

Approaching AI with a youth mindset

Kelvin Frazier splits his time between teaching chemistry to college students at Chaminade University of Honolulu and math to middle schoolers at K奴lia Academy. A generational difference has stood out to him.

His sixth and seventh graders approach AI with curiosity, he says. They want to know the applications and inner workings of the technology.

鈥淭he college students? They鈥檙e more ... 鈥楬ow can I find my easy way out of things?鈥欌�� says Dr. Frazier, who holds a doctorate in physical chemistry from MIT.

Technological innovation and practical use are one aspect of responsible AI use. But as K奴lia Academy students point out, it鈥檚 also a matter of stewardship. That鈥檚 something they talk about frequently in their classes.

鈥淵ou have to think about the bad things that AI can lead to, right?鈥� says Bill Nguyen, a seventh grader. 鈥淭he entire reason that AI can sometimes be bad is because of you. Yeah, that鈥檚 right 鈥� you,鈥� he says, with a point of emphasis. 鈥淚t uses data. AI only knows what it knows because of data.鈥�