‘Can AI Play?’ workshop explores technology in global agricultural literacy

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — From generations of science fiction stories to modern-day concerns of robots taking over the world, technology has long captured our imagination. With tech trends constantly making news, how can educators use these breakthroughs to take global agricultural education to the next level?

Twelve educators from across the country had the opportunity to explore one technology — artificial intelligence (AI) — during a recent immersive workshop at Penn State University Park.

The experience was part of the Global Teach Ag Network’s Educators Empowering Educators Program, funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Professional Development for Agricultural Literacy grant program, which increases the knowledge of food and agriculture among educators.

The Global Teach Ag Network, referred to as GTAN, is an online community and resource hub for educators to connect, collaborate and share knowledge about global agriculture and food security. It highlights instructional strategies for introducing cutting-edge agriscience research to diverse populations.

GTAN is a collaborative effort between the College of Agricultural Sciences’ Ag Sciences Global unit and the Department of Agricultural Economics, Sociology, and Education.

During the workshop, teachers and international agriculture and development program (INTAD) graduate students collaborated to learn about the potential of these developing tools under the direction of Penn State Teaching and Learning with Technology. They worked in groups with AI as a fifth teammate. The teams were tasked with blending two well-known board games and adding an educational component while relying on AI as an equal contributor to the effort.

One of the participating INTAD students, Mia Sullivan, worked with her team to create a new game combining Monopoly and Mancala. The team designed the game to enhance general knowledge of anaerobic digesters through experience-based learning.

Throughout the task, the teachers and graduate students said they grew to appreciate their artificial fifth teammates. As they worked to create their games, their curiosity heightened, and many asked, “If AI can help with this, what else can it do?”

“The ‘Can AI Play?’ session was a great reminder of AI’s potential in education — not just as a tool, but as a catalyst for creativity and collaboration,” said Zach Lonsinger, learning experience designer for Teaching and Learning with Technology. “The session highlighted how AI can spark curiosity, bridge expertise and help reimagine possibilities in the classroom.”

Participants said AI filled in knowledge gaps and helped maintain consistency while developing the themes and other components. It also surpassed the expectations of its teammates and overturned the initial reservations about using AI in education.

“We started the session with four of us in the group, but by the end, we had five of us once we accepted the AI as an equal part of our task,” Sullivan said. “Once we see AI as an additional player or assistant, there’s no telling what creativity we can achieve. For me, it’s always about learning to bridge the gaps between science, research and education. In this session, we learned that AI could help us accomplish that.”

Daniel Foster, GTAN co-founder and associate professor of agricultural and extension education, noted that artificial intelligence has asserted itself as a classroom connector in education.

“The immersive session demonstrated the vital role AI can serve as educators seek to bring relevant research and science content to their classrooms,” he said. “From grading to lesson development, AI is helping educators expand the impact of agricultural education and extension far beyond the classroom.”

As teachers bridge these gaps daily for students, the session introduced a new realm of educational tools.

“Coming into this, I wasn’t aware of everything AI could do or how it could benefit an educator,” said Myken Poorman, a high school agriscience teacher at Bellefonte Area High School and a member of the GTAN teacher cohort. “I never thought about using AI to help create a game that could teach a specific concept in agriculture.”

The final projects created at the workshop can be found online. Visit GTAN's website to learn more.