Category: Students as Makers

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2024 Summer Pre-College Creative AI & Design Course

Prompt Battle 1
Our first generative AI prompt battle.

This summer we invited 13 Cambridge, MA youth from diverse backgrounds to explore and learn the fundamentals of generative artificial intelligence or GenAI. This experience created space for youth to bring their identities and interests into creative computing in ways that allows them to see themselves in GenAI. They worked together and addressed questions such as: What is generative AI and where do we see it in the art world? How does working with AI tools affect creativity? Can AI teach us how to be more creative? What are the benefits and harms of GenAI?

This in-person, pre-college course came about from Lesley STEAM’s collaboration with Cambridge Youth Programs. CYP staff recruited the students and youth counselors who assisted our team. Every day for one week, from 9:30am – 5:30pm, CYP youth (students) met at Lesley University’s College of Art and Design or LA+D. The youth earned 2 Lesley college credits and received stipends for their participation. The skills they learned can be applied to other classes they can take such as art and computer science. Students can also explore GenAI applications for entrepreneurship opportunities. 

face sensing AI in scratch
Learning how to use face sensing AI in Scratch.

LSTEAM/CYP facilitated activities such as face-sensing AI using the Scratch programming language, GenAI design thinking, and participating in events using text, image and music GenAI tools. Class activities culminated in capstone “project pitches” and presentations. Main objectives of the class included:

  • Learning the fundamentals of generative artificial intelligence or GenAI.
  • Exploring design thinking for GenAI (empathize, define, ideate, prototype, test)
  • Referencing, applying and combining artistic styles to generate new images, text, and music.
  • Explore bias/anti-bias, copyright and intellectual property issues in GenAI.
Joy Buolamwini talks about racial bias in AI.
Joy Buolamwini talks about racial bias in AI.

We began the course by learning about GenAI that uses machine learning models to create new content that includes images, text, music and video/animation. A machine learning model is a program that finds patterns, or makes decisions from a previously unseen dataset. Facial recognition—identifying and measuring facial features in an image—is one of the more obvious applications of machine learning. Students watched and discussed the film Coded Bias that shows how many facial recognition technologies do not accurately detect certain faces such as darker-skinned women. 

GenAI Art Tools & Daily Challenges

Throughout the course, students had access to and used several GenAI art tools including Adobe Firefly, Deep Dream Generator, ChatGPT, Udio, and PoseNet. Each day focused on a specific GenAI art tool, which uses a large language model or LLM that is used to train a neural network on massive amounts of data. We looked at several videos that explained what AI art is and how it came to be such as this one: AI Art, Explained. Daily challenges provided students with tasks to accomplish. Each morning we opened with a cypher (circle) to give students a chance to share their expectations, interests, and concerns. We also closed with a cypher to share our accomplishments and challenges for the day.

A cypher doesn’t need a stage or designated area in which to take place, they can, and do, form anywhere; at parties, in clubs, outside on the concrete, in train stations, on a beach, in someone’s living room. Spontaneous in its forming, all that [performers] need is space and they will cypher. —Emmanuel Adelekun, Red Bull
Each day students were tasked to read articles such as a blog post written by Nettrice about “BBL Drizzy”, a song that recently made hip-hop history by accidentally sampling an AI-generated song written by @kingwillonius who was featured in WIRED magazine. Next, students learned how to use Udio to create their own AI-generated songs.

Visual Storytelling 3.0

Understanding language is very important when using generative AI tools. Students explored GenAI for visual storytelling, or the art of communicating messages, emotions, narratives and information in a way which reaches viewers at a deep and lasting level. Students learned how to write prompts in ChatGPT to create text for visual metaphors that helped them translate their ideas into more understandable forms. They also used Adobe Firefly and other image generation AI tools that are based on large language models or LLMs to help refine and steer their ideas towards desired results.

visual storytelling 3.0
Nettrice’s Visual Storytelling 3.0 slide.

In order to generate compelling text and images students learned how to engineer prompts. Prompt engineering is a growing field that involves writing text that can be interpreted and understood by a generative AI model. Students learned how to add “boosters” or modifier words to their prompts to create more unique content. They also practiced this skill during prompt battles and when exploring different GenAI tools.

Prompt Battles

Many of the students were very interested in honing their prompt engineering skills, so we engaged them in prompt battles, or events in which people compete against each other using text-to-image GenAI tools to create images based on text prompts. Our events, which were very popular with the CYP youth, allowed the participants to show off their prompt skills, and the audience (peers) chose the winners from each head-to-head match. The person who won the most matches by the end of each battle won a prize (but everyone got something).

second prompt battle
The second prompt battle.
prompt battle slide
Example of a head-to-head prompt battle

We held two prompt battles, one on Tuesday afternoon and another on Thursday afternoon. We used these events to measure how much progress the participants were making with their prompt engineering. We were looking for legibility, breadth, scope, and clarity in their written prompts. Students learned that, above and beyond the written prompts, the participants with the best modifiers or “boosters” often won their matches. People can’t simply rely on the GenAI tool alone.

Coding with ML5.js

Some of the CYP youth were very interested in coding beyond Scratch/face sensing, so we explored ml5.js, an open source library with a goal of making machine learning approachable for artists, creative coders, and students. The “ml” in ml5.js stands for machine learning, a subset of artificial intelligence, and “js” stands for Javascript, which is a programming language and core technology of the Web, alongside HTML and CSS. A key feature of ml5.js is its ability to run pre-trained machine learning models for web-based interaction. These models can classify images, identify body poses, recognize facial landmarks, hand positions, and more. Students were given an option to use these models as they were, or as a starting point for further learning along with ml5.js’s neural network module which enables training their own models.

carnival ai movement app
Movement Painting with the Carnival AI app.

In addition to learning how to code with mL5.js, students learned how p5.js, a JavaScript library for creative coding, is used to make interactive visuals in web browsers. They used the PoseNet Sketchbook and Carnival AI app to explore pose estimation or PoseNet, which estimates the 2D position or spatial location of human body key points from visuals such as images and videos. The Carnival AI app celebrates and engages movement and dance in and from Black and Caribbean communities and creates visual art. The youth could also use p5.js to code using PoseNet.

AI Design Thinking & Final Pitch Projects

To help students brainstorm their own GenAI projects we used AI Ideation Cards created with input from the AIxDesign community. These cards help designers and others leverage AI capabilities, including 7 categories with questions (prompts), definitions, and example use cases. After coming up with a topic, each student was instructed to select a category that best matched their idea. Students imagined AI capabilities as superpowers and thought about how GenAI could help solve their challenges in new, unique, or better ways. Students were given Post-It notes, worksheets, and index cards to work out their ideas. They also used Gen AI tools to visualize and plan their final projects.

context awareness scenario
Context Awareness AI scenario card and example project.
Student's final pitch
Student presents final project pitch.

Near the end of the week, students worked individually or in groups on their final pitches. Examples include healthcare: providing a comprehensive pain assessment that enhances diagnostic accuracy and personalized treatment plans; food: using personality quizzes and surveys to provide appropriate recipes; and music: giving everyone a chance to share their voices with the world using a high-quality recording tool. Students presented their project pitches on the last day.

Please Note: This work has been made possible through collaboration with Cambridge Youth Programs and Lesley University’s College of Art & Design’s PreCollege Program and the generous support of the STAR Initiative.

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2023 Summer Art, AI & Robotics explores 3D art, coding & invention at Lesley

Setting up the Paintbrush Bot
PHOTO: Setting up a paintbrush bot (with LSTEAM director Sue Cusack)

This summer we invited 12 Somerville High School (SHS) students from diverse backgrounds to explore the combination of three-dimensional art, machine learning artificial intelligence (AI), and robotics. The in-person course built upon an existing collaboration with SHS teachers Karen Leary (math) and Laura Peters (robotics) and Lesley STEAM. Every day for two weeks SHS students met the SHS/LSTEAM at Lesley University’s College of Art and Design or LA+D.  Like the 2021 course, students earned 4 Lesley college credits that were matched by 2.5 math or 2.5 art credits. The skills they learned can be applied to other classes they can take during the school year such as math, art, robotics, and computer science.

SHS/LSTEAM facilitated activities such as 3D art & design, face-sensing AI using the Scratch programming language, and robotics. Class activities culminated in a capstone “moving 3D sculpture” project. The main objectives of the class were for students to:

  • Show an understanding of 3D art & design using craft material & art supplies.
  • Demonstrate knowledge of robotics by building robots that alter the environment through art.
  • Demonstrate their knowledge of machine learning AI, especially through face-sensing in Scratch.
  • Show an understanding of the iterative design process by rebuilding/repurposing their robot for new ends.

We began the course by learning about 3D art & design elements and principles. Students learned about 3D artists such as Lee Bontecou, Heather Hart, Olalekan Jeyifous, and Sanford Biggers. Next, students presented their research, especially which elements/principles they identified in their chosen artist’s works. Later, they learned about Joy Buolamwini, a coder who uses art and research to illuminate the social implications of artificial intelligence. 

Diverse 3D artists
PHOTO: Lee Bontecou, Heather Hart, Sanford Biggers & Olalekan Jeyifous
Study finds gender and skin-type bias in commercial artificial-intelligence systems | MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology
PHOTO: Joy Buolamwini via MIT News

For the first week, students explored 3D art & design (see above) in the morning. During the afternoons, with support from SHS/LSTEAM and Lesley A+D alum Bo Liang, students explored Scratch block coding, robotics, and digital fabrication such as 3D printing and laser cutting. They created kinetic sculptures that addressed a social justice issue or movement that is critical to them or their community. Then, they built robots using an entry-level kit that requires no soldering. They controlled their robots using face sensing AI. Face Sensing in Scratch let’s users create projects that respond to their eyes, nose, and other parts of their face. For the course, students used face-sensing to control their 3D art robots.

#movement kinetic sculpture
PHOTO: #movement Kinetic Sculpture on climate change

Students were given a design brief, which outlines capstone design deliverables and constraints. In design cyphers (also called circles or breakouts) the students brainstormed themes, then used sketches, web search images, notes, and found objects to visualize and present their ideas. The concept of the cypher comes from hip-hop culture:

To cypher is to rap, break, beatbox tightly together in a circle where each person just might get a moment in the spotlight. To cypher is to borrow and to lend, to playfully freewheel through whilst taking an exacting care for each word and carefully considering all the sounds, meanings, and interpretations. It is to fight back, to borrow, to steal, to represent, and to collaborate, whilst suddenly—surprisingly—at times aggressively claiming your own voice, your own right to speak. —Paul Watkins and Rebecca Caines

Working in cyphers, or smaller teams gave students the space to explore self-concept, which refers to the ways young people perceive their behaviors, abilities, and unique characteristics. Students learned how to use Adobe Illustrator for 2D design projects and Fusion 360 for 3D modeling. In the LA+D fab lab they learned how to 3D print and laser cut objects.

Working in the LA+D fab lab with Bo Laing
PHOTO: Working in the LA+D fab lab with Bo Laing

Later during the first week students worked with their peers and SHS/LSTEAM to synthesize what they learned in 3D art & design with their A.I. robot builds. This was done through prototyping to quickly iterate upon their initial designs. They had plenty of open work time that was dedicated to this activity and they participated in a collaborative peer review. The latter combines culturally relevant pedagogy and design thinking. Culturally relevant instruction modifies standard curricula to center students’ identity development, cultures, and participation. Design thinking helps students  understand design constraints, challenge assumptions, redefine problems and create solutions to prototype and test.

Scaling up and building a prototype
PHOTO: Building an art bot Final capstone constructionPHOTO: Peer review preparation

The collaborative peer review process consisted of gallery walks, with each group providing constructive critiques for peer projects. Individually and in teams, they answered worksheet questions about the projects they saw. Students, in their groups, were given enough time to read and discuss their peers’ feedback. They were given time to respond to peer feedback through iteration on their initial prototypes. Students participated in peer reviews at the end of the first week and as a final review/capstone presentation on the next to last day of the course.

Working on capstone projects
PHOTO: Students work on their capstone projects
Final capstone project presentation
PHOTO: Final capstone project presentation

Examples of the students’ final 3D art bots include a paintbrush art bot, a “happy-faced Bobox”, a drawing giraffe, a spider clock, a fashionable head-turning robot, and and a moving sculpture modeled from Star War’s original R2D2 robot (see image below). The latter was shared with Ahmed Best who played the character Jar Jar Binks who appears throughout the Star Wars prequel trilogy and recently a Jedi in The Mandalorian.

Oliver's R2D2 & Ahmed Best
PHOTOS: R2D2 moving sculpture (left) & Ahmed Best (right)

To learn more, check out some of the students’ final capstone projects (3D art bots):

 
This work has been made possible through collaboration with Somerville High School and Lesley University’s College of Art & Design’s PreCollege Program and the generous support of SomerPromise at the City of Somerville and the Biogen Foundation’s STAR Initiative.

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Summer Art, AI & Robotics class captures imaginations in Somerville

SHS students work on basic robot kits.
SHS students work on their basic robot kits.

Sixteen Somerville High School (SHS) students from diverse backgrounds came together to explore the combination of art, storytelling, artificial intelligence (A.I.), and robotics. Their teachers worked with Lesley STEAM to weave this content together with relevant STEAM and CTE standards and learning objectives. The final product was a hybrid course that took place in the High School’s new FabLab, as well as online with Lesley University’s College of Art and Design faculty, a comic and graphic novel artist. They earned four Lesley college credits that were matched by 2.5 math and 2.5 art credits from SHS. Many of the skills they learned can be applied to other classes they can take during the school year such as math, language arts, art, and computer science.

Inspired by developments in artificial intelligence such as machine learning and A.I. sensing, the SHS/LSTEAM team facilitated several activities such as learning Scratch programming language, building basic robots, then students gained fine arts and storytelling skills from drawing comics. Class activities culminated in a capstone “artbot” project. The main objectives of the class were for students to:

  • Show their understanding of storytelling by animating a character using craft material & servos.
  • Demonstrate knowledge of robotics by building robots that alter the environment through art.
  • Show their understanding of the iterative design process by rebuilding/repurposing their robot for new ends.

Students began the class by learning about artists who explore human-machine collaboration and interaction such as Soughwen Chung and Stephanie Dinkins. They learned about Joy Buolamwini, a coder who uses art and research to illuminate the social implications of artificial intelligence. 

Joy Buolamwini talks about racial bias in AI.
Joy Buolamwini talks about racial bias in AI. © TED

During the first two weeks, students learned how to use design thinking based on a culturally relevant making model from LSTEAM staff. The model included “design cyphers”, concept mapping, and “collaborative peer reviews.” They learned about the fundamentals of computer programming with Scratch, as well as how to build and program robots to imitate human creative expression. Later, they used an A.I. sensing extension in Scratch to enable their robots to respond and react to human movement.

During the third week, students worked with their peers, teachers and LSTEAM staff to synthesize what they learned in art and storytelling with their A.I. robot builds. In the morning, they took “Comics and the Graphic Novel” online with Barrington Edwards, summer faculty from Lesley University’s College of Art and Design; and in the afternoon, they met at the FabLab to engage in tasks that allowed them to combine clearly and coherently different ideas from visual storytelling with their physical robot prototypes. These activities culminated in student presentations synthesizing their work at the end of Friday class.

SHS student capstone artbot project.
This SHS student capstone “artbot” project is a Kraken monster that paints.

For the last and final week, students worked independently on their capstone projects, with support from the SHS/LSTEAM team. Students participated in collaborative peer reviews and gallery walks to get feedback from their peers, school teachers and administrators, and outside experts. On the last day each individual student or small group of students presented their final projects to the general school community.

Making the Artbots

For this class, students were tasked with designing, programming, and prototyping, and presenting their artbots, which are robots that respond to people and make art. They created a short comic about how to make an artbot and presented them during class. To build the artbot students were given design constraints such as: 

  • Your artbot can move freely or be attached to an object or a person
  • Your artbot must generate or help users to make art 
  • Your artbot must convey a story or a message (ex. through gesture)
  • You are encouraged to use pose detection / pose estimation 
  • You are encouraged to use sensors or other peripherals in your robot design
  • You must design and fabricate your own chassis that can include single or multiple motors/servos, wheels, or other moving parts

Pose estimation is a computer vision technique that predicts and tracks the location of a person or object. This is done by looking at a combination of the pose and the orientation of a given person or object. Students learned how to add code modules and extensions to Scratch that detect human movement using the computer’s in-board (web) camera. This builds on the Face Sensing block that uses machine learning that is trained to see faces.

Examples of the students’ final ‘artbots’ include “Cube”, a robot that is controlled by two mini-computers called BBC Micro:bits; “The Crab” that moves left, right, forward, and backward using servos motors; a “Boatman Painter” bot that actually paints; a “Kraken” bot that draws; a “Ladybug” bot that realizes how beautiful the sunshine is and draws sun symbols on paper; and a Butterfly bot that collaborates with humans to draw colorful pictures. Two students created a skateboarding “Ninja Turtle” that used music as the art form to define its movement. And finally, one student created their version of the “Scratch cat” as a motion-sensing A.I. robot that uses peoples’ body movements to draw.

To learn more, check out the students’ final artbots:

This course was made possible through the support of BiogenSTAR, Somerville High School, Lesley University College of Art and Design, and the City of Somerville.

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6th grade Somerville students deepen their geology knowledge with campus visit

6th grade students are creating a base layer of playdough to model their fossil record. They are flattening playdough down onto an index card and using screw drivers to mold their rock formation.
Students choose an era and begin their base layers of rock.

Lesley STEAM Learning Lab and the Science in Education team welcomed all 6th grade students from the Argenziano and East Somerville Community Schools (Somerville Public Schools) for an interactive field trip in November. The trip was generated out of the collaborative curriculum design as part of Lesley’s Biogen grant supporting both Cambridge and Somerville school districts with STEM integration. Two Somerville science teachers, the STEAM Lab, and Lesley science faculty, Susan Rauchwerk and Nicole Weber, developed an experience that would engage students in expanding their investigation of geologic time and fossil records.

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Summer Compass students dive into design engineering & upcycle challenges at Lesley STEAM

Lesley STEAM Learning Lab hosted just over 100 Lesley Summer Compass students this past week in our makerspace. True to their 2018 theme “Going Green,” campers engaged in a variety of design engineering challenges with a focus on upcycling materials, insects, plants, and alternative modes of transportation.

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Lesley Wonderlab: Bee-Bot mapping project

Wonderlab students engaged in making: using BeeBots, recyclables, and natural materials to design their own forrest pathways
Students from Lesley’s Wonderlab program visited the Lesley Makerspace on October 10th, 2017 to design their own landscapes. Before jumping into making, the group discussed their knowledge of maps and cardinal direction.

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What does sound feel like? What does sound look like?

Contact mic station
First graders at the Kennedy School were recently challenged with the following questions: What does sound feel like? What does sound look like? The Lesley STEAM team worked closely with both first grade teachers at the school to develop activities that would allow students to first and foremost explore and engage with the sounds, sights, and sensations of sound.
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Summer Compass Students Join the Maker Olympics

compass1

During their second week of summer, over 150 Lesley Summer Compass students immersed themselves in Olympic themed challenges in the Lesley Makerspace. These eager K-6th grade students experienced a variety of STEAM activities developed around each grade level.
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K-Lo team competes at BPS Robotics Olympics

Three third and fourth grade students from the Kennedy-Longfellow School spent a Saturday in early June participating in the Boston Public Schools (BPS) Robotics Olympics. Not only were they amongst the youngest students there, they were also honored to be the only team representing the Cambridge Public Schools.

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