Lecture on Fundamentals of AI, any Recomendations?

Hello everyone. So, I am an assistant at a university and this year we plan to open a new lecture about the fundamentals of Artificial Intelligence. We plan to make an interactive lecture, like students will prepare their projects and such. The scope of this lecture will be from the early ages of AI starting from perceptron, to image recognition and classification algorithms, to the latest LLMs and such. Students that will take this class are from 2nd grade of Bachelor’s degree. What projects can we give to them? Consider that their computers might not be the best, so it should not be heavily dependent on real time computational power. 

Also, I’m thinking about a lecture on “how to use AI properly”. Like, it blows my mind how terrible some students use AI to write code. Antigravity is free for them, and surely they will be using some kind of AI tool to write code either way. I’m using Claude Code for like a year now, and spending at least one hour to write the first prompt to start working everyday. Yet, students usually give the exact text of the homework as prompt. What would you people recommend me to check out and refer to students as tutorials on how to use AI tools for beginners? 

I learned programming before AI and thought myself how to use AI. The tutorials I watched on Claude Code and stuff were basically tips and tricks for me. So I’m not sure how I can teach what I do to students without making it look like witchcraft, which it isn’t really. 

For AI homeworks, My first idea was to use the VRX simulation environment and the Perception task of it. Which basically sets a clear roadline to collect dataset, label them, train the model and such. Any other homework ideas related to AI is much appreciated. 

Submitted August 7, 2026 at 04:53AM by SPACE_GROOVE_LULU https://ift.tt/sTOy1mV

Distractions in Classrooms in These Times

I recently sat down with a Florida teacher with over 25 years of teaching elementary aged children. They shared with me their difficulties in teaching in the present times. They have children dressing as the opposite sex (example 8 year old boys in dresses and hair bows); children that are to be addressed by name other than what is on their official records. And fellow teachers that are transitioning to the opposite sex, complete with hormones etc, while teaching. The atmosphere in the classroom is not supportive of the students learning and concentration. There’s a lot going on. And the school boards, county officials and principals are walking a very fine line from a legal standpoint. So basically, our teachers are on the frontline alone. I was not aware of this (I am childless), and I was just wondering if parents are aware of what’s going on in elementary school these days. For the record I totally respect parent’s and teachers decisions within their own home but why bring that in the classroom? Surely an individual can transition to the opposite sex and dress neutrally. Where is the line?

Submitted August 7, 2026 at 04:28AM by StrHerb https://ift.tt/XlCYcOL

Disappointed in the state of IT education 😭

IT education sucks 😭

I don't know how to start this rant but I believe I would start with my experience in high school computer science which really just is IT at this point. Computer science in Cambridge o level's is one of those things that's given more credit than it deserves in under developed countries that have spent a fair share of time under colonial rule. The reason I say this is because in the name of computer science, I was taught:

How bar codes work

How printers physically work

How touch screens physically work

Different types of storage devices

Keywords used for the application of IT in different domains

An inaccurate view of AI

A terrible introduction to networking and cryptography.

Inventing keywords for psuedo code, keywords that literally no one uses aside from our curriculum

And the only useful things: some sorting algorithms, flow charts, and logic gates (truth tables and stuff), the very basics of some programming languages.

Making us memorize SQL (without even telling us which flavor or for which SQL engine, this syntax is for)

A break down on how bad it was:

1.Now teaching bar codes is fine, but making us memorize exactly how it works in theory, at this level is useless and is the wrong way to introduce one to computer science.

2.knowing the types of printers and touch screens is useful, but teaching us the exact physical steps is useless unless you also teach us the physics behind it and even then the utility would be null. All we were thought were abstract steps, rather than the process in terms of physics.

1. We were taught storage devices in terms of utility and speed, and that was in abstract terms rather than concrete speed based on different generations, and whether a device is SATA, makes use of PCIe, and the moving parts and other possible points of failures of each one.

2. The keywords that were invented out of nowhere and the definition of AI was "an imitation of the human brain through artificial neurons".

3. Introduction to networking and cryptography was also terrible, like in networking we were shown a IPv4 packet format as an "internet packet", and we skipped over everything except for looking at diagrams and classifying them as half duplex or full duplex, or filling in a missing device like a router or a switch, while in cryptography, it was just public key and private key in assymetric encryption, and private key in symmetric one, again a terrible incomplete introduction. We were thankfully atleast taught about data integrity techniques like checksums, but even that was purely theoretical, and quite outdated for practical usage.

4. Psuedocode keywords that we had to memorize so we could pass an exam was their way of introducing us to problem solving.

5. The SQL part is self explanatory.

A levels:

A levels (which comes after o levels) isn't any better either, except for a project that you must complete at the end, but even the project is a joke, since any trash computer game made with Pygame or something would pass, but a computer driver won't since there aren't enough people to check those stuff.

Conclusion:

1.If they want to teach us computer science theory, then start with the theory of computation, and from there take us to data structure and algorithms.

2.If they want to teach us theory about IT then start with teaching us what a shell is, the directory layout of Linux systems, different file systems, different boot systems, configuring the different types of init process, managing users, managing network interfaces, managing ip tables, and then slowly taking us to networking, from managing a small networks with a single router, to managing a network with many routers using IGPs, the moving to managing autonomous systems using BGP, and so on. All this while also teaching some details about ways to specify hardware specification for different components(clock speed, ppt, tdp, instructions per seconds, etc for CPU, and similar specs for other important components) , cryptography(a proper introduction this time, and improving data redundancy using some data integrity techniques and teaching how to design them.

Final words:

I guess the main goal of this kind of "education" is easy marking and for certain types kids to feel smart. In my case, four years ago (when I was 14), I simply couldn't learn those stuff. My parents thought, I was failing because I didn't try hard enough, but every subject in school was either highly abstract or there to brain wash me. Like the only subjects that functioned the way they are supposed to were the once meant to brainwash me, while the rest were easy to mark placeholders with abstract concepts that maybe helped a teaching business boom, but at the cost of my grades and education. Atleast, the other kids who are good at abstract/unconnected ideas passed, so good for them.

Submitted August 7, 2026 at 12:41AM by itfllow123-gmail-com https://ift.tt/y0nsudm

would you actually use an AI video engine if it created dynamic simulations instead of standard videos?

Looking for some honest takes on where video learning is heading.

I’m working on an engine where the core idea is simulative video learning. Basically, you input what you're trying to learn, and it generates a video simulation tailored to that concept- allowing you to visually see how variables change, how systems interact, or how complex ideas play out in real time.

Do you guys think simulative video is actually the logical next step for learning, or do people just prefer standard video/text explanations? Would love to know if this is a real pain point or if current tools are good enough.

Submitted August 6, 2026 at 11:47PM by Sunshine_foryou https://ift.tt/27bXNpA

I believe that this irrational social structure is one of the major factors behind South Korea’s persistently high suicide rate, which has long remained among the highest in the OECD

In South Korea, one’s undergraduate institution is often treated as a kind of social pedigree.
The name of a university is not regarded merely as information about where someone studied. Rather, it tends to function as a broad indicator from which people infer a person’s academic performance at the time of university entrance, family background, social network, and individual ability. An OECD report has also noted that, in South Korea, people are ranked for long periods according to the prestige of the university they attended, and that educational achievement is closely connected not only to employment opportunities but also to social status and marriage prospects.
What is particularly revealing is that many Koreans mock those who attend a more prestigious university for graduate school than they did for their undergraduate studies, describing it as “academic credential laundering.” In other words, they tend to fix a person’s social status according to the first university that person entered, as though one’s undergraduate institution permanently determined one’s worth.
I believe that this irrational social structure is one of the major factors behind South Korea’s persistently high suicide rate, which has long remained among the highest in the OECD.

Submitted August 6, 2026 at 10:40AM by FactStrong3204 https://ift.tt/2fEVoBc

Why should students have to pay extra just to access education

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Education is often described as the foundation of a nation's future, yet students continue to face additional financial burdns beyond their tuition fees.

In many colleges and universities, students are required to pay separate exam fees, and these charges are not always clearly disclosed at the time of admission. If the examination centre is far from the college, students often have to arrange and pay for their own travel. Even when a college provides transport, an additional bus fee may be charged.

On top of this, many students also have to pay convenience fees or payment gateway charges simply to make mandatory payments such as admission fees, tuition fees, or exam fees.

Education should not become a source of hidden or avoidable costs. Colleges and universities should be transparent about every fee they charge, and students should not be required to pay convenience or transaction charges for making compulsory education-related payments.

No convenience fee or transaction charge should be levied on students for paying admission fee, tuition fees, exam fees, or any other mandatory educational charges.

Submitted August 6, 2026 at 09:36AM by hsgmoon https://ift.tt/SuBQFmH

Virginia school board repeatedly changed rules to block an LGBTQ+ student club. Now families and the ACLU have filed a federal lawsuit against King George County

Crazy story here - Students and their families are suing a rural Virginia school district after officials allegedly changed club policies several times after conservative outrage on a local Facebook group, to prevent a gay-straight alliance from forming at King George Middle School. (The comments on a post about this story do NOT pass the vibe check at all in that group.)

The lawsuit says the district continued allowing groups including yearbook, robotics, an outdoor club where kids learned to skin squirrels, and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes while telling students they could create a similar club only if they removed explicit references to LGBTQ+ people.

The families argue that the district violated the First Amendment and the federal Equal Access Act by discriminating against the students’ viewpoint.

Submitted August 6, 2026 at 09:20AM by Fickle-Ad5449 https://ift.tt/IR3mv6p