High School AI-Ed · PocketLab Notebook
From AI Literacy
to Fluency.
A complete semester-long AI-Ed program for high school classrooms — built to bring your students from AI literacy to fluency. Delivered to your students online through PocketLab Notebook.
For your own preparation: read the books, or take our online, college-level Professional Development program — teaching insights, assessment techniques, and lesson planning, with a downloadable 40-hour PD certificate on completion.
The Analogy Everyone Gets
Most every student takes Driver's Ed.
It's time for AI-Ed.
We don't hand a teenager the keys to a car and wish them luck. We teach the rules, the risks, and the responsibility first — then we let them drive. AI is a far more powerful machine, and we've handed it to students with no instruction at all.
AI-Ed is the course that's missing. It teaches students to drive the AI — before the AI starts driving them.
Does your school offer AI-Ed yet?
With every new technology, the pattern is the same: kids embrace it first, adults scramble to catch up. With artificial intelligence, that pattern must reverse.
Effective AI use requires wisdom, judgment, and the kind of critical thinking that takes years to develop. Knowing when a confident-sounding answer is wrong. Knowing when the AI is just telling you what you want to hear. Knowing what questions to even ask. These are adult skills. And right now, our students need adults to lead the way.
It's understandable that AI in education arrived first as a set of tools and tips for teachers. That conversation matters. But there's a larger question we haven't gotten to yet: when do we start teaching students about AI itself? Not just how to use a particular tool — but what AI is and isn't, what it gets right and gets wrong, and how to think responsibly in a world that AI is reshaping around them.
That program now exists.
Understanding and Working with AI is a complete, semester-long course built specifically for high school students — covering what AI is and how it learns, how bias enters and why it matters, how algorithms make high-stakes decisions about real people, how to detect misinformation, and what an AI-powered future might mean for your students' lives and democracy. It fits naturally within social studies, CTE, computer science, and language arts.
From AI Literacy to Fluency.
Getting it is the start. Working with it is the goal.
Most anyone can pick up AI literacy — a few sessions with a chatbot and you start to get how it works. That's the floor, not the ceiling. What students actually need is fluency: the ability to work with AI safely, effectively, and creatively. Literacy is where you begin. Fluency is the foundation we all need to stand on before anyone talks about mastery — and this program is where students make that crossing.
Who This Is For
Administrators and Teachers
Whether you're exploring adoption for your school or looking to deepen your own understanding of AI, there's a place for you here.
For Administrators
Your students are already using AI — in their schoolwork, their creative projects, their daily lives. You might question the degree to which your district is already addressing AI literacy, not just for the teachers, but for the students.
This is a complete, ready-to-deploy program. First as professional development where teachers learn to teach the full semester course. Second as a student-facing curriculum complete with teacher guides, standards alignment, and a platform designed specifically for the high school experience.
We'd love to walk you through it.
Reach out to start the conversation →For Teachers
If you want to understand AI deeply — not just use it, but genuinely understand how it works, where it fails, and how to think critically about it — this summer PD program is built for you.
AI literacy is the most important new subject in your school. This program puts you in position to lead that conversation.
You'll finish with a genuine understanding of AI and a certificate documenting up to 40 PD hours. Start with Chapter 1 free — no commitment, no credit card.
Start free — see the program details →For schools and districts interested in bringing this program to students, teacher PD is a natural starting point. Schools typically start with a few teachers — then expand to full student access. Reach out to learn more about what a full adoption looks like →
This isn't just PD. It's the beginning of AI fluency in your school.
Program Overview
See the Program in Action
A quick look at what teachers experience and what students gain from this curriculum.
The Program
Start Free. Continue Your PD.
Chapter 1 is free — 5 PD hours, no obligation. When you're ready to continue, the complete program unlocks all eight chapters. Every chapter earns a certificate for 5 PD hours.
UAI01FreeUAIFullWhat the sign-up looks like
Enter UAI01Free in the Course ID field, then Sign Up. You can leave the “vendor code” box unchecked.
All 8 Chapters
Volumes 1 & 2 · 40 PD Hours
One program. Every chapter. One price.
- Ch. 1 — Intelligence: Three kinds of intelligence, types of AI, first lab experiments
- Ch. 2 — Teaching Machines: How AI learns by example, the knock-knock joke journey, creativity
- Ch. 3 — Prompt Engineering: Prompt structures, context & clarity, building simulations
- Ch. 4 — AI Bias: What bias is, hidden patterns, cultural assumptions, the flattery problem
- Ch. 5 — Magic from Math: Probability, AI's crystal ball, predictions, and sentience
- Ch. 6 — AI Algorithms & People: High-stakes decisions, hiring, criminal justice, fairness
- Ch. 7 — AI in Media: Real or fake, deepfakes, misinformation, democracy
- Ch. 8 — An AI-Powered Future: The next 10 and 50 years, power, wealth, and control
upon completion
Course ID: UAIFull
Note this ID — you'll enter it on the next page
Enroll in the Full Program →No expiration date — work at your own pace. Each chapter earns a certificate for 5 PD hours upon reaching the mastery threshold.
Start With the Books
The Lowest-Cost Way In
One of the best ways to get familiar with the program is also the simplest: pick up the books. Understanding and Working with AI comes in two volumes — the complete curriculum in print, now in its second printing.
But these aren't ordinary textbooks. QR codes throughout each volume open the full video lesson library — the same lessons your students watch, taught by the authors. Read a section, scan the code, watch the lesson.
📖 Read → 📲 Scan → ▶ Watch
Volume 1 — Foundations & Practice
Paperback · 262 pages · Chapters 1–4
Volume 2 — Society & the Future
Paperback · 292 pages · Chapters 5–8
6 × 9 in · Ships to the US · Printed by IngramSpark
Proven Track Record
Conceptual Academy Powered by PocketLab
Best known for award-winning high school science programs in physics, chemistry, biology, and Earth science — trusted by thousands of students across the country — now bringing that same rigorous, accessible approach to AI literacy.
Texas SBOE Approved
Our programs are among a select few approved by the Texas State Board of Education — a rigorous review process that signals curricular quality.
Fully Standards Aligned
Complete alignment documentation for C3, NGSS, and state-specific CTE pathways — ready for curriculum coordinators and administrators.
No AI Background Required
Clear, accessible, and experiential — designed so any teacher can pick this up and teach it confidently from day one.
The Student Platform
Built for the High School Classroom
PocketLab Notebook delivers the program as structured lesson collections — Core, Lab, Discussion, and Project Days — ready to use from day one.
Teachers can customize lessons, adjust reading levels with a single click, and deliver content in any language. Auto-grading is built in.
Students work directly with AI tools — learning to prompt effectively, evaluate outputs critically, and collaborate with AI as a creative partner. No prior AI background required for teachers or students.
View a Sample Lesson →
Understanding and Working with AI on PocketLab Notebook
Teacher Support
Everything a Teacher Needs
The program includes a full suite of instructor tools grounded in cognitive science — no prior AI background required.
Teacher Guides
Lesson-by-lesson guides with suggested scripts, facilitation tips, discussion prompts, and assessment rubrics. Built on cognitive science best practices for both new and experienced teachers.
View a Sample Teacher Guide →Standards Alignment
Complete documentation for C3, NGSS, and state CTE standards — ready for administrators and curriculum coordinators to place this program within existing frameworks.
View Standards Alignment →Cognitive Science Based
Built on proven learning principles — spaced practice, retrieval, peer discussion, and project-based application. Students don't just learn about AI. They think with it, argue about it, and create alongside it.
Let's Talk
Curious? We'd Love to Hear From You.
Whether you're an administrator exploring adoption, a teacher wanting to understand AI more deeply, or just someone who saw this in the PocketLab newsletter and wants to know more — reach out. No pressure, no pitch. Just a conversation.