Course Overview

An intensive 3-week introduction to AI and website development for rising 8th graders

Course Goals

Upon successful completion of this intensive 3-week course, students will have achieved the following goals:

Prompting

Develop a strong understanding of how to communicate effectively with AI systems to generate desired outcomes.

Resource Management

Learn how to gather digital resources, set up development environments, and manage a personal website project.

AI-Powered Creation

Gain hands-on experience using AI tools to design, build, and customize a personal website.

Website Management

Acquire the skills to edit, update, and add new content to their website using AI-assisted tools.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this 3-week intensive course, students will be able to:

1.

Define Artificial Intelligence and identify its applications in their daily lives

2.

Understand the principles of digital citizenship, including managing their digital footprint, online safety, and the ethical use of AI

3.

Master the fundamentals of AI prompting for effective content and design generation

4.

Plan and structure a personal portfolio website that effectively showcases their skills, projects, and experiences

5.

Utilize an AI-powered platform (Lovable AI) to create a multi-page personal website without needing to write code

6.

Populate their website with personal content, including an 'About Me' page, project descriptions, and achievements

7.

Integrate multimedia content, such as images and videos, and link to social media profiles

8.

Independently manage, edit, and update their personal website as their portfolio grows

9.

Present their completed portfolio website to their peers and instructor

Required Tools & Platforms

Lovable AI
An AI-powered website builder that allows students to create websites through natural language prompts
Cloudflare
Used to explain concepts of domain names and website hosting (instructor-managed)
Google Workspace
For document creation, content gathering, and collaboration

Target Audience

Wake County Students
The curriculum for this group is explicitly aligned with the North Carolina Computer Science Standards for grades 6-8
General Audience
A version of the course for students outside of the WCPSS district, with the same core objectives

Portfolio Website Pages

Students will create a complete portfolio website with the following pages:

About Me

Personal introduction and biography

School Projects

Academic achievements and project showcases

Volunteer Work

Community service and volunteer experiences

Sports & Activities

Athletic achievements and extracurricular activities