Assistant professor Peter Kalenda (SUNY Geneseo/Matt Burkhartt)
SUNY Geneseo School of Education assistant professor Peter Kalenda recently served as a consultant for the Rush-Henrietta (NY) Central School District as it introduces artificial intelligence tools into its classrooms.
Kalenda collaborated with the district's technology leaders throughout 2024–25, providing resources to support the launch of MagicSchoolAI this year. He created a literature review on how AI can be used in K–12 classrooms and how to teach responsible and ethical approaches to using AI. He also provided AI policies adopted by other districts for reference as Rush-Henrietta develops its own.
Kalenda co-taught three professional development trainings for teachers on how to use MagicSchoolAI for lesson planning to support meeting student learning goals and increasing AI literacy. Students will also use the software to learn efficient prompt writing and experience how AI results serve as a foundation for discussion.
“AI literacy is extremely important these days, as employers are asking for these skills," says Kalenda. "It is our responsibility as educators to make sure our students know how to use these tools well, responsibly, and ethically related to the future jobs that they could have."
Kalenda’s year-long collaboration with Rush-Henrietta is the second of two community engagement projects completed as part of the college’s Ideas That Matter initiative. The initiative positions Geneseo to take the lead in the community in exploring challenging ideas that affect everyone. Aaron Steinhauer, professor of physics and astronomy, gave lessons on the eclipse in local schools prior to the total solar eclipse on April 8, 2024, which passed directly over Livingston County.