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Vienna Elementary School students are learning how artificial intelligence works before they reach middle school, thanks to a new lab designed to make emerging technology understandable, practical and safe.
The Vienna.i.Lab occupies a corner of the school library and serves every grade from kindergarten through sixth. Created by School-Based Technology Specialist Dave Reynolds Jr. after two years of planning, the space introduces students to AI and generative AI while emphasizing ethical and responsible use.
Many AI tools are blocked on Fairfax County Public Schools student laptops for safety reasons, but Reynolds knows children may still encounter them elsewhere. He worries students could treat generative AI like a conventional search engine without understanding how it produces responses.
“My biggest fear is the students will walk out of elementary school, and they’ll start using some of these generative AI tools, and they’ll just be using them like a Google search and not understanding what is happening or how they’re getting what they’re getting,” Reynolds said.
Robots Turn Concepts Into Hands-On Lessons
During a recent lesson, sixth graders worked in pairs to program Ozobots, small robots about the size of golf balls. Students assembled blocks of code directing the devices to travel across their desks, play sounds and flash multicolored LED lights.
Oscar Mineiro used advanced programming controls to adjust his robot’s pitch before turning his attention to speed and movement. He and his partner planned a routine in which the robot would move slowly, accelerate, settle into a medium pace and then rotate.
Although Oscar initially found robotics intimidating, four months of practice helped him become comfortable adding and changing code. He described the lab as an opportunity for students throughout the school to learn programming and understand more about how technology operates.
Reynolds then challenged the class to guide the robots through a short maze built from wooden blocks. Eleanor Charnoff and Caroline Thayer relied on repeated testing, first setting their robot’s travel distance to 20 millimeters and then increasing it to 40 when the device barely moved.
After several minutes of adjusting their program, the pair successfully sent the robot through the entire maze.
Reynolds said exercises like the maze encourage students to persist through enjoyable challenges while developing creative and critical-thinking abilities. Those habits align with the school division’s Portrait of a Graduate framework.
Building a Foundation for AI Literacy
Programming robots does not require students to communicate directly with a generative AI chatbot. Instead, the activity provides a foundation for understanding how computer systems follow instructions and recognize patterns.
Reynolds teaches students that generative AI relies on mathematics, tokens and patterns in data rather than human understanding. A system may connect words such as “cat,” “sleep” and “night,” he explained, because it recognizes a likely sequence—not because it understands a cat’s behavior.
Students are also learning that effective AI prompts must be detailed and that the tool they choose matters. Caroline said users should select trustworthy AI services when seeking reliable information.
The lab began with financial support from the Vienna Elementary PTA and a grant from the Northwest Federal Credit Union Foundation. It also advances Goal 5 of the FCPS 2023-30 Strategic Plan, which focuses on preparing for future innovation.
Some students are already thinking about what comes next. Eleanor, who is preparing to attend Thoreau Middle School, is considering enrolling in a technology elective.
Reynolds now hopes to move the Vienna.i.Lab from its library corner into a dedicated classroom. His broader goal is to give children durable technical concepts that can help them navigate developments no one can fully predict.
“The better prepared we can get students for what we don’t know is ahead by giving them some solid base level concepts, the better off they’re going to be,” he said.