DCPS Students Engaged and Create with AI Tools
By Williams Jackson
William and Aida Jackson, Certified AI, VR, VRE and STEAM Educators provided a powerful workshop with the students from the SWOOP Program at University of North Florida. The university hosted an engaging AI workshop for 25 Swoop students from across Jacksonville’s high schools. Welcoming high schoolers from Duval County Public Schools to explore the creative power of Artificial Intelligence in education and business.
Using their international teaching experiences, the hands-on session introduced students to leading AI tools, Perplexity, ChatGPT, PI.ai, and NotebookLM. Demonstrating how these tools can be leveraged in academics and business. The Jackson’s, global business owners, speakers at international conferences shared their journey from classroom educators to international influencers across Africa and Latin America.
Students learned AI Safety, the value of critical thinking prompting, and creative questioning when using AI. Rather than simply accepting AI generated answers, participants learned to treat these tools as partners in the learning process and refining their work. Students learned how to apply AI tools to business development, ecommerce and in financial sectors. Students demonstrated in projects how they will be using AI to plan their academic journeys to graduation, helping them select higher educational options, vocational options in education, military service and even how AI can help them move into non-traditional career opportunities based on their skills, talents, abilities, strengths and even weaknesses.
A key focus of the workshop was the importance of proper citation when writing papers for research and development. Students explored citing sources for academic integrity and transparency. They practiced using AI to locate credible references and learned how this habit strengthens their writing and research skills. As one participant noted, “AI doesn’t replace our thinking, it challenges us to ask better questions and dig deeper. Learning how to apply LLM is a game changer for my learning at Ribault High when school starts back.” Another student from Raines stated, “AI is a needed tool for me to help me become not just a great athlete but sets me on a path of school success like never before. Mr. Jackson and his wife (Aida Jackson) need to be teaching this in all the high schools in Jacksonville.”
This workshop marks a step forward in preparing Jacksonville’s youth for a future were technology and human comprehension go hand in hand, empowering them to lead, innovate, and thrive in a rapidly changing world. Mr. Jackson is a member of the DCPS African American History Task Force.
For more information see the web site https://myquesttoteach.com/swoopworkshop
