The audience moves to children in school: a renewal built on narrative learning

1A five-year renewal of the K-12 AI institute at North Carolina State University

An NSF (National Science Foundation) award to North Carolina State University renewing the AI Institute for Engaged Learning, aimed at K-12 education from kindergarten through high school. It runs five years, from 1 September 2026 to 31 August 2031, with about $3,969,000 (19.8%) obligated against an estimated total of $20 million.

Building on narrative-centred learning technologies, collaborative narrative-centred learning and multimodal learning analytics, it sets science education and AI literacy as its focus and develops technologies for AI-enabled learning and teaching in both in-school and out-of-school settings.

2Inside school and outside it

The renewal of the adult-learning institute starting the same day was aimed at working adults. This one is aimed at children from kindergarten through high school. The description sets out technologies for AI-enabled learning and teaching in both in-school and out-of-school settings.

3What it is built on

1. 1Narrative-centred learning technologiesTechnologies that carry learning forward in narrative form
2. 2Collaborative narrative-centred learningExtended so several learners share a narrative as they learn
3. 3Multimodal learning analyticsReading the state of learning from text, speech, action and other signals
4. 4The new focusScience education and AI literacy as the disciplinary emphasis

For a renewal, what it builds on tells you more than what is new. This record names three accumulated strands and then places the next focus on top of them.

4A shape shared by two institutes

The adult-learning institute in the previous article and this one closely resemble each other in scale, duration and the share obligated: 20.7% and 19.8% of their estimated totals, five years each, both starting 1 September 2026. The same framework appears twice, with only the learners it addresses changed.

The series closes with an award that supports the compute researchers themselves use.