Purpose
Students collaborate with a local nonprofit, school ministry team, or community organization to design an AI-supported tool that addresses an authentic need and serves others. They investigate what it means to design for someone else and how AI can solve a real problem for a real organization or community. Through repeated draft, test, revise, and retest cycles, students document technical growth, decisions, setbacks, feedback, and revisions while creating a working tool, process journal, promotional video, and showcase presentation. The AI For Good showcase and project portfolio provide evidence of learning and invite students to reflect on how the work changed, what they contributed, and how they grew as learners and teammates.
Learning goals
Students will investigate a genuine need with a nonprofit, school ministry team, or community organization and ask what it means to design for others and use AI to solve a real problem. In collaborative roles, they will apply a deliberate cycle of drafting, testing, feedback, revision, and retesting to create a working tool. Students will document technical growth, decisions, setbacks, testing evidence, and next steps in a process journal and project portfolio while refining a promotional video and presentation that clearly communicate the tool’s purpose and impact. Using the AI For Good showcase presentation to launch expectations and as the final exhibition, students will present their tool, journal, video, and growth reflection describing how the work changed, what they contributed, and how they developed as learners and teammates.
Products
Teams will create a community-partner needs brief and prototype plan addressing how AI can solve a real problem through human-centered design. After each class, students will add technical growth, decisions, setbacks, next steps, testing evidence, and revisions to a process journal while cycling through draft, test, revise, and retest. Final products include a working tool, complete project portfolio, promotional video, and polished live presentation that communicate the build process and impact. At the AI For Good showcase, teams will present to their nonprofit, ministry, or community partner and complete a reflection describing how the work changed, what each member contributed, and how they grew as learners and teammates.
Launch
Open with a brief “AI for Good” showcase featuring sample tools, promotional videos, and stories of technology addressing authentic community needs. A local nonprofit, school ministry team, or community organization then presents a real challenge, and students ask empathetic questions guided by: “What does it mean to design for someone else?” and “How can we use AI to solve this problem?” Teams generate possible tools, select an initial direction, assign roles, and outline how they will draft, test, revise, and retest their build, process journal, video, and presentation. Students close by recording their initial thinking and next steps in a process journal, which begins a portfolio documenting testing, revision, contribution, and growth for the final live showcase.
Exhibition
Host a live AI for Good showcase for community partners, families, students, and staff. Teams will demonstrate their working tool through a realistic use case, screen their promotional video, and explain how partner feedback shaped cycles of testing and revision. Each exhibit will include a project portfolio with process-journal excerpts, technical growth, setbacks, and evidence of revisions to the tool, video, and presentation. After a partner and audience Q&A, students will complete a final reflection describing how the work changed, what they contributed, and how they grew as learners and teammates.
