Montour School District: An Artificial Intelligence Program in Action

On January 22nd, Montour School District opened its doors for a special open house event to showcase their middle school artificial intelligence (AI) program at a brand new 3,000 sq. ft. AI hub at David E. Williams Middle School.

Montour is using our project-based computer science software to prepare students for future jobs that may not even exist yet. The district is at the forefront of innovation by making sure that its students learn about computer programming and artificial intelligence so they can be successful in the society they will build in the future.

Pedro Rivera, the Pennsylvania Secretary of Education, and Conor Lamb, who represents Pennsylvania's 17th congressional district, were both in attendance. Dr. Steven Ritter, one of the founders of Carnegie Learning, shared his extensive insight on and experience with artificial intelligence in education. (Read more of Dr. Ritter’s thoughts on AI in education at PBS.org.)

Jamie Sterling, VP of Product at Carnegie Learning, said:

“Our AI course teaches students how they can code a computer program to use strategies that can play tic-tac-toe better than they themselves can. During this event, students were set up to demonstrate what they know about AI and to show the process they went through to create their game.

I am not sure I have EVER seen students so enthusiastic to not only learn, but to demonstrate and present to me what they learned about computer programming and artificial intelligence. The students were filling me in on semantic and syntax errors, machine learning, how to change their games to ensure they’re more accessible (i.e. switching colors to create more contrast for those who are color blind) and more! I wish I had the opportunity to learn things like this when I was in middle school!”