Microsoft Dubs Itself and Code.org "AI Thought Partners" for U.S. K-12 Schools

Submission + - Microsoft Dubs Itself and Code.org "AI Thought Partners" for U.S. K-12 Schools

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by theodp

theodp writes: In a 2022 Medium post, tech giant-bankrolled nonprofit Code.org announced that Microsoft CTO & EVP of AI Kevin Scott and Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) Superintendent Alberto M. Carvalho had joined its Board of Directors and would "help advance Code.org’s mission, which it says is "to make computer science (CS) and artificial intelligence (AI) a core part of K–12 education for every student."

Mission accomplished. In a LinkedIn post on how it's Bringing AI Literacy and Skilling to Students and Educators across the U.S., Microsoft reports that in pursuit of LAUSD's commitment to providing AI literacy and skilling for all its 409,000 students, "the district has partnered with Code.org, which advances AI education policy, provides ready-to-use resources through its TeachAI initiative, and provides educator and staff training as well as train-the-trainer opportunities. As a Code.org partner since the organization’s founding 12 years ago, Microsoft supports the crucial work of AI education through funding, technical expertise, and thought partnership. [...] Importantly, school districts like LAUSD do not approach this new [AI] frontier on their own. Code.org and Microsoft act as thought partners, such as through multidisciplinary task forces, and provide ready-to-implement resources so school districts do not have to start from scratch."

Vouching for the partnership in Microsoft's post is LAUSD Director of Educational Technology and Innovation Dominic Caguioa, who adds: "Code.org and Microsoft bring the technical infrastructure and knowledge base around what AI education can look like in K-12 school districts. These two organizations help us have a global perspective and improve our initiatives around edtech and AI." Caguioa's LinkedIn profile notes he "also serves as a computer science facilitator for the global non-profit Code.org [since 2014], preparing US and international facilitators to teach and adapt the Code.org computer science fundamentals curriculum to their local contexts."

Last month, Microsoft boasted of another big K-12 AI win with the Broward County Public Schools (BCPS), which it touted as "the largest K–12 adoption of Microsoft Copilot in the world [BCPS has 247,000 students]." Underscoring the importance of AI and Copilot adoption, Microsoft Developer Division President Julia Liuson — who is also a Code.org Board member — garnered attention last week for her declaration that 'using AI is no longer optional' in Microsoft's eyes. Interestingly, yet another current Code.org Board member — Robert Runcie — was the Superintendent of BCPS back in 2014 when it announced a K-12 CS partnership with Code.org, not long after Runcie joined Microsoft and Google execs on Code.org's early Board. Commenting on that partnership in a news release, Microsoft VP of U.S. Education Margo Day said, "Broward County Public School’s leadership in helping students gain the computer science education needed to succeed and thrive in the 21st century is essential. Across sectors, our nation is facing a critical shortage of workers with the skills and computer science training needed to sustain American innovation. By 2020, there will be one million more computing jobs than students with the education needed to fill these openings. That’s why more districts across the country should consider following Broward’s lead."

So, is the K-12 AI skills crisis the new K-12 CS skills crisis?

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