Artificial Intelligence clubs
News
Ilia State University has created artificial intelligence clubs in schools from 2021 through the small grants program of the American Embassy's Democracy Commission, and it promotes students' interest and education in this field.
The aim of the Democracy Commission’s small grants program is to finance specific projects, which promotes democracy, Strengthens the process of establishing democratic institutions and supports the education of Georgian citizens.
31 schools across Georgia were selected for the project and each of them was given three Gismo robots created using Arduino, the model which was developed by MIT Media Lab using Arduino. These robots are used by artificial intelligence clubs for practical study of artificial intelligence algorithms. The schools were selected from 9 regions of Georgia: Adjara, Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti, Guria, Samtskhe-Javakheti, Imereti, Shida Kartli, Kvemo Kartli, Tbilisi, Kakheti.
The curriculum used in the project was based on an artificial intelligence course developed for students by the MIT Media Lab. On the basis of the mentioned course, a syllabus was prepared in advance before the start of the project, it was adapted to the Georgian school environment and educational resources were created, which became available to schools.
Learning topics included:
- study of basic mechanisms and algorithms of artificial intelligence systems;
- work on practical projects;
- individual projects;
- block programming;
- presentations;
- Programming Gismo robots;
- Preparation for the final competition;
Before the club activity in schools, the teachers of the selected schools, with the help of the trainers of the Ilia State University, went through a preparatory course, after which they themselves lead the artificial intelligence clubs in the schools for senior students. Club lessons were held with the participation of 10-20 students of VIII-XII classes. Within the selected schools, the number of students is up to 500, of which the gender balance was maintained at 50-50%.
The participants involved in the project periodically had meetings about technologies, where they had the opportunity to meet experts in the field. In addition, within the scope of the project, a 2-week day camp was held for 60 students, where selected participants were introduced to issues related to technology, robotics, innovation and startups, which would help them choose their future career.
At the final stage of the project, a robotic competition was held for the participating schools, in which they used the knowledge gained in the field of artificial intelligence. At the final event, all of the beneficiary schools participated in the project.
The competition was held in three directions, and in addition to the schools involved in the project, other interested schools also participated. 75 teams took part in the competition.
The 3 directions of the competition included:
- straight line race- robots competed with each other for the first place in straight line race. The winner was the one whose robot reached the finish line first.
- Zigzag race- robots competed with each other to pass the zigzag black line without missing a section, and the winner was the one who completed the action the fastest.
- Going through the maze - robots competed with each other to get from the starting point of the maze to the last exit point. The winner was the team whose robot covered the distance in the shortest time.
The resources developed and translated within the project are available for any school.