Angie Zhou, Instructional Designer at the App Inventor Foundation, is leading the App Inventor Ethical AI Camp at the Soong Ching Ling Children’s Science and Technology Museum in Beijing, taking place January 23–25, 2026 (9:00 AM–5:00 PM Beijing Time).

Students build apps with MIT App Inventor, explore its AI tools, and join guided discussions about how AI shows up in their everyday lives. Through hands-on learning, debate, and reflection, students are developing curiosity, creativity, and critical thinking while learning to create responsibly with AI.

Kelly Shiohira, Director of Impact and Community Engagement at the App Inventor Foundation, is co-leading an international conversation on the future of evidence-based education in a rapidly evolving, technology-focused world at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris, France.

The workshop examines how global human and technical infrastructure can support the integration of effective, research-based education strategies at scale. Kelly is facilitating sessions on futures thinking and effective knowledge-brokering across sectors and regions, helping to shape shared pathways toward more equitable, technology-enabled learning systems.

Natalie Lao, Executive Director, and Keertan Kini, Board Advisor at the App Inventor Foundation, are joining Quest 2 Learn 2025 by QuestAlliance, a summit bringing together educators, researchers, youth advocates, and innovators who are reimagining how young people are learning and navigating their pathways into the future of work.

On Day 1, Keertan is speaking on the panel “Imagining Alternate Futures: Designing Pathways from School to Work,” which explores long-term thinking in education and the kinds of transitions, systems, and supports that are needed to help young people move confidently from school into meaningful work and futures they choose.

On Day 2, Natalie is joining the panel “Teaching for the Future,” where she is discussing emerging innovations at the edges of education and how these early signals of change are being brought into mainstream practice so that more young people can access the skills, creativity, and opportunities needed to reach their envisioned futures.

Learn more: https://www.questalliance.net/quest2learn-summit-2025

David Petty, Program Director at the App Inventor Foundation, is participating in a five-day, 15-person convening on Teaching About AI from December 2–6, 2025, in Rochester, NY.

He is collaborating with fellow education leaders to strengthen how schools prepare teachers to teach about AI as well as with AI, and will present the team’s week of work to New York administrators.

Together, the convening team produces a policymakers report, a report for the K–12 field, and a public-facing professional learning course launching in 2026. This work is made possible with funding from Google.org and is a project of the School Library System of Genesee Valley Board of Cooperative Educational Services.

Learn more: https://teachingabout.ai/

Natalie Lao, Executive Director of the App Inventor Foundation, is participating in the Milken Institute Innovation Forum on “Building America’s Talent Engine for Competitiveness and Opportunity,” in partnership with CodePath.

The event is focusing on identifying near- and long-term solutions to improve education and the workforce. Forum participants are co-designing the Milken Institute’s next steps for actualizing the report’s recommendations and advancing education and workforce transformation in the age of AI. 

Natalie Lao, Executive Director of the App Inventor Foundation, and Marisol Diaz, Program Manager at MIT App Inventor and MIT RAISE, are joining the panel “Artificial Intelligence and Educationˮ at the 5th Brazilian Conference on Creative Learning (CBAC 2025), taking place October 29–31, 2025, at the SESI Education Training Center and SESI Lab in Brasília, Brazil.

They are discussing how AI is serving as a driver of more meaningful, human, and creative learning experiences, reflecting on how to integrate technologies critically and intentionally in line with the principles of Creative Learning.

They are inviting participants to explore how generative AI is fostering agency, personal expression, and collaboration, while also addressing risks that can reinforce instructionalist models and limit students’ autonomy and creativity.

Learn more: https://aprendizagemcriativa.org/conferencia-brasileira-de-aprendizagem-criativa-cbac 

Giovanna Romero, Education Associate at the App Inventor Foundation, is leading a two-day workshop as part of the Ibero Ingenio 2025 activities.

She is guiding participants through foundational data science principles, exploring the ethical implications of AI across media—from fine art to Spotify recommendations—and introducing key concepts in data governance and visualization, using MIT App Inventor for hands-on practice. 

Learn more: https://congresossuj.mx/congresos/ibero-ingenio-2025/

Calling all Texas Grade 6–12 Educators! No tech experience required!

Join David Petty and Anqi Zhou from the App Inventor Foundation for a 4-day, all-expenses-paid professional development workshop—plus a $700 stipend and 28 Texas CPE credit hours upon completion—from July 21-24, 2025, at the University of Texas at San Antonio’s new College of AI, Cyber and Computing. 

Limited spots available! Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis. Apply by May 29, 2025.

Learn more: https://aif.to/2025-tx-ppw

The App Inventor Foundation team is leading multiple sessions at the MIT AI & Education Summit, including:

Day 1: 

• Natalie Lao is co‑moderating the “Building AI Literacy with UNESCO's AI Competency Frameworks: Global Panel” with Kelly Shiohira, Director of the Global Science of Learning Education Network. The panel features Catalina Rata (Executive Director, UiPath Foundation), Rishi Mazumdar (Educational Technology Architect, Quest Alliance), and John Masla (Assessment Specialist, MIT STEP Lab).

• Tony Huang is leading the “UI/UX Design Crash Course for Hack the Climate Challenge” workshop.

Day 2: 

• Finalists from the Global AI Hackathon and Japan Regional Appathon are presenting at the “Global AI Hackathon Final Showcase and Award ceremony.” 

• David Petty is leading an educator training workshop on UNESCO's AI Competency Frameworks and MIT App Inventor's data science and AI curriculum unit titled “StoryGPT -

  Exploring Large Language Models.”

• Angie Zhou is leading an educator training workshop on UNESCO's AI Competency Frameworks and MIT App Inventor's data science and AI curriculum unit titled “The Sound of Data - Exploring Music Recommendation and Data.”

Day 3: 

• David Petty and Angie Zhou are giving a live demo of UNESCO's AI Competency Framework and MIT App Inventor's data science and AI curriculum.

Natalie Lao and David Petty from the App Inventor Foundation are presenting “Ethical Generative AI Meets App Inventor” at the CSTA 2025 Annual Conference.

This one-hour interactive session introduces a human-centered, ethics-first approach to teaching generative artificial intelligence (GAI)—aligned with UNESCO’s AI Competency Frameworks for students and teachers. Designed to foster critical thinking and inclusive engagement, the project-based curriculum emphasizes responsible access to and development of GAI.

Participants will get hands-on experience with MIT App Inventor—a free, open-source mobile app platform that now includes GAI components like ChatBot and ImageBot. The session features sample curricular units that promote a ‘human-centered mindset,’ helping students explore the ethical and societal impacts of AI as they move from learning to building socially conscious apps. No prior experience with App Inventor is required.

Learn more: https://conference.csteachers.org/event/3d53ee2e-79b8-48ae-bae2-d8a670da4b74/summary

David Petty, Education Program Manager for the App Inventor Foundation, will be hosting the “Ethical Generative AI with App Inventor” workshop at the WeTeach_CS 2025 Summit. This two‑day professional development conference, hosted by WeTeach_CS under UT Austin’s EPIC program, brings together 600 K‑12 computer science and cybersecurity educators, advocates, administrators, PD providers, university instructors, and policymakers.

Learn more: https://weteachcssummit2025.sched.com/event/1yO5K/ethical-generative-ai-with-app-inventor

Natalie Lao from the App Inventor Foundation will deliver a Community Keynote on “UNESCO AI Competency Framework and Blockly in K‑12.”

Evan Patton from the MIT App Inventor Lab will present a Technical Talk on “Unforking MIT App Inventor: Stories from the Trenches” and lead a workshop titled “(AI)²: Deploy AI in Your Own Apps with MIT App Inventor.”

Learn more: https://www.blocklysummit.com/

David Kim from MIT App Inventor is presenting at CHI 2025, taking place in Yokohama, Japan, from April 26 to May 1, 2025.

His presentation features the paper “Aptly: Making Mobile Apps from Natural Language,” co-authored with Evan W. Patton, Ashley Granquist, Robin Liu, Arianna Scott, Jennet Zamanova, and Harold Abelson.

The paper introduces Aptly, a platform designed to democratize mobile app development—especially for young learners. Aptly integrates a Large Language Model (LLM) with App Inventor, allowing users to create apps using natural language. The user’s description is translated into code that corresponds with App Inventor’s visual programming blocks. A preliminary study with high school students highlighted the platform’s usability and potential. Participants' prior programming experience shaped their interaction with Aptly, and many expressed a shift in perspective on programming accessibility and the creative role of AI.

Learn more: https://chi2025.acm.org

Evan Patton and José Dominguez from MIT App Inventor and the App Inventor Foundation are giving a talk on App Inventor extensions and co-facilitating a workshop with John Maloney on Microblocks, App Inventor, and IoT.

Learn more: https://fosdem.org/2025/

App Inventor Foundation Student Ambassador Tony Huang leads the K12 AI Initiative at the GenAI Summit, a program designed specifically for K-12 students. The initiative features panel sessions on MIT App Inventor and student perspectives on AI, as well as a student poster presentation.

Learn more: https://genaisummit.ai/

Organized by the Taiwan Ministry of Education, the Taiwan International Digital Learning Forum aims to bring together policymakers and scholars from across the globe to discuss and share their insights on digital learning, educational big data, and AI literacy, highlighting practices and trends in these fields on an international scale. Dr. Natalie Lao of the App Inventor Foundation and Dr. Evan Patton of MIT App Inventor are attending as guest speakers at the Forum.