All Resources

Brief Description

A working group within the internal mini-grant on “Developing UR capacity in Future of Work” has been engaging in “customer discovery” interviews with various HE student services staff across the UR to better understand their current “pain points” and how AI applications may possibly be leveraged to address some of those pain points.

Key accomplishments to date

• Completed and analyzed 26 interviews with representatives of academic advising, career services, and other student services professionals with advising responsibilities at UR, resulting in a research article and 3 other practitioner publications
• Conducted a first set of 15 interviews with UR admissions staff, which resulted in 2 publications to date.
• Engaging in interviews with decision-makers and influencers about AI adoptions in students services and other related departments at UR.

Brief Description

This project developed an Augmented Reality (AR) application designed to assist wheelchair users in navigating the University of Rochester campus. The app addresses a critical gap, as no commercial or university-supported tools currently exist for accessible wheelchair navigation on campus. Using the Road Scanner app provided by LBS Tech (Korea), the team collected detailed information and photographs of accessibility features such as doors, stairs, elevators, and restrooms across key buildings in the Eastman Quadrangle. This data was synchronized with LBS Tech’s API and integrated into Unity, resulting in a prototype that offers wheelchair-accessible route suggestions, estimated travel times, AR-enhanced visualizations of entrances and navigation paths, and voice feedback for hands-free operation.

Key accomplishments to date

• This project was completed as part of the NSF Research Traineeship on Virtual and Augmented Reality (NSF-NRT#1922591) and served as one of the final projects for the practicum course within the NRT program.
• The project was also presented at the 2025 XR Access Symposium at Cornell Tech on June 26, 2025.

Links for More Information

• Augmented Reality (AR) Navigation System for Wheelchair Users

Brief Description

This study explored an emerging practice, online video coaching, which built on the affordances of digital technology to allow coaches to work with geographically distant teachers. Coaching, as a form of one-to-one professional development, is expensive for school districts to maintain and is limited to the expertise of local mathematics coaches. This study followed nine mathematics coaches for three years in an online content-focused coaching project aimed at middle school mathematics teachers in rural contexts.

Key accomplishments to date

• Key findings: Coaches engaged in specific practices to prepare themselves for the coaching cycle with the teacher; coaches leveraged videos of instruction to support teachers to reflect on their goals; productive coaching practices and discussions with the teacher centered on goals for student learning; coaches struggle to balance the tension in their dual role as a content expert and thinking partner; coaching is highly variable because it is responsive to individual teacher needs.
• Multiple publications.

Links for More Information

• Dissertation

Brief Description

This 3-year interdisciplinary project (titled “ SaTC-EDU: Dual-track Role-based Learning for Cybersecurity Analysts and Engineers for Effective Defense Operation with Data Analytics”) was funded by NSF to design, implement and study novel learning experiences for cybersecurity analysts and cybersecurity engineers, with the goal to develop not only greater knowledge and skills, but also mindsets that are more conducive to innovative problem solving and teamwork via generative AI.

Key accomplishments to date

• Piloting two preliminary versions of the program - one using hyflex and one fully online.
• Based on the challenges experienced in these pilots with sustaining the participation of working professionals in a multi-week program, we have designed a new version of the program that involves an intensive 3 consecutive days experience - to be piloted in-person in Fall 2025 and online in Spring 2026.

Brief Description

This NSF “CS4all” grant is designed to support 9-12 teachers’ use of innovative computer science curriculum materials. In collaboration with RIT and Syracuse University, the project will leverage the Accessible Learning Labs (ALL) previously created by Daniel Krutz and his research team to provide high-quality and easily adoptable CS materials to 9-12 teachers, mentors, and students.

Key accomplishments to date

• This grant was awarded in September 2025, with a start date of January 2026.

Links for More Information

• Accessible Learning Labs:

Brief Description

In May 2023, NSF issued a special call for 1-year $200K RAPID grant proposals to support time-sensitive studies around the applications of AI for K-12 Education. Our team submitted a proposal (awarded in September 2023) focusing on understanding and supporting K-12 leaders’ decision-making about how AI could be used in their schools – recognizing that K-12 leaders can act as powerful gatekeepers or promoters of any technology innovation in their schools. The project included both interviews and a survey of K-12 leaders to better understand their uses and perceptions about AI, and the creation of an online resource that could be used by K-12 leaders to inform their decision-making about AI.

Key accomplishments to date

• Interviews were conducted with a total of 42 K-12 leaders holding a variety of positions in over 20 districts across Western New York.
• A survey was sent to all the principals, superintendents, directors of technology and other district administrators in charge of curriculum/instruction across most counties within Western New York. A total of 160 responses were received in the period April-July 2024.
• Findings were shared in several presentations at both local and national conferences, as well as in the following publications:
  • Borasi, R., Miller, D.E., Vaughan-Brogan, P., DeAngelis, K., Han, Y.J., & Mason, S. (2024). An AI wishlist from school leaders. Phi Delta Kappan
  • Vaughan-Brogan, P., & Miller, D.E. (2024). Do we need AI policies in K-12 Schools?”, Vanguard, Spring 2024, 35-37.
  • Mason, S., Borasi, R., Miller, D.E., Vaughan-Brogan, P., Han, J.Y., & DeAngelis, K. (2024). Avoiding ‘sinking the boat’ while not ‘missing the boat’: K-12 School leaders’ perceptions of AI risks and benefits. 2024 FIE Conference Proceedings.
  • Miller, D.E., DeAngelis, K., Mason, S., Vaughan-Brogan, P., Borasi, R., Han, Y.J. (2025, January). Understanding and supporting K-12 school leaders’ AI-related decision-making. Stelar: Stem Learning and Research Center. https://stelar.edc.org/submission/1075
  • Borasi, R., DeAngelis, K., Miller, D.E., Vaughan-Brogan, P., Han, J.Y., Mason, S. (2025). Will AI exacerbate or help remedy inequities in K-12 education? Proceedings of the 2025 Annual Meeting of the American Education Research Association.
  • Borasi, R., DeAngelis, K., Mason, S., Miller, D.E., Va Vaughan-Brogan, P., and Han, J.Y. (forthcoming). K-12 Leaders’ Perspective on AI’s Risks and Benefits: Findings from a Follow Up Survey Study. 2025 FIE Conference Proceedings.
• An online resource to inform K-12 leaders’ decision-making about AI (“AI Primer”) was created and has been posted on the LiDa website.

Links for More Information

• 1-page summary
• Key project findings
• AI primer for K-12 leaders
• 2024 Kappan’s article
• 2024 AI policies article

Brief Description

In Spring 2024, the UR Provost Office issued a call for proposals for 1-year planning grants to prepare a full proposal for a 5-year $5M Transdisciplinary Research Institute. One of the ten funded planning grants was the one that centered on “AI Horizons” – that is, working at the frontiers of AI developments and applications, with a focus on healthcare and education. The leadership team for this interdisciplinary project, led by Christopher Kanan, included 8 co-PIs spanning disciplines from computer science, psychology, philosophy, healthcare, and education. LiDA played a major role in this planning grant, as *Borasi was the co-PI in charge of organizing all the project-wide event as well as co-chair the Working Group on AI for Education, *Han was the post-doc assigned to support the project, and most of the LiDA staff and affiliated faculty participated in this initiative..

Key accomplishments to date

• A Cross-Disciplinary Learning Series, consisting of 8 1-hour Zoom presentations by each of the project’s PIs to share relevant perspectives and scholarship from their respective fields, was offered. Each presentation was recorded and is publicly available on the AI Horizons website.
• Four working groups (each comprising over 20 faculty from diverse disciplines) were formed to investigate research opportunities within Neuro- & Developmental-Inspired GenAI; Ethical & Societal Implications of AI; AI for Healthcare; and AI for Education, respectively, and each produced a “white paper” that is publicly available on the AI Horizons website.
• A full proposal for a Transdisciplinary Institute on AI Horizons was submitted in March 2025.
• Although this proposal was not awarded, it generated invaluable interdisciplinary connections across the University of Rochester, which have already led to four grant proposals - a $25M AI Institution proposal to NSF led by Chris Kanan and involving multiple universities (declined), a $1.8M proposal to NSF “Advancing Informal Science Education” (AISL) program involving a collaboration between Warner, the Memorial Art Gallery and the Computer Science department to promote AI Literacy museums visits (declined), a $700K proposal to NSF “Innovations in Undergraduate STEM Education” (IUSE) program involving Warner, Simon and Computer Science within UR in collaboration with RIT (pending), and a proposal to explore the use of “coursebots” across the University as part of a $1.3M Google grant to Empire AI (awarded).

Links for More Information

• AI Horizons website

Brief Description

This project, funded by the Moskowitz Family Foundation, focuses on providing teachers with online supporting materials and information to fight bullying in school using literacy. Started in 2018 with *Carol St.George as the PI, after a year the project pivoted to pursuing the original goal by creating a rich website that would make the materials created easily accessible to everyone. Laura Griffone has been responsible for most of the contents of the website, building on her experiences as an elementary teacher and benefiting from **St.George’s expertise in literacy education and *Borasi and *Han experience with creating innovative multi-media instructional materials.

Key accomplishments to date

• A rich website has been developed, and continues to be updated with new materials. The website is publicly accessible through a link on the LiDA website Resources section.

Links for More Information

• Anti-bullying Education through Literacy Website

Brief Description

This project, funded by the Moskowitz Family Foundation with additional support from the Rosenwald Foundation, aims at increasing literacy development in young children, starting at birth. Started in early 2020, and involving a collaboration with the UR OBGYN department, this project involves the creation and dissemination of materials and information to support reading and other literacy activities with babies. Laura Griffone has led this project, supported by **St.George’s expertise in literacy education and *Borasi and *Han experience with creating innovative multi-media instructional materials.

Key accomplishments to date

• A rich website has been developed and continues to be updated with new materials. The website is publicly accessible through a link on the LiDA website Resources section.
• The team is currently exploring complementary products that could be associated to the website, to increase its reach and impact with the target population.

Links for More Information

• Reading2Babies website

Brief Description

This 5-year NYSED Smart Start grant was awarded in 2021 to the Wayne-Finger-Lakes (WFL) BOCES to better prepare K-8 teachers in their region to implement the new NYS Computer Science and Digital Fluency Standards for K-12 schools. Several rural and small city districts from this region are participating in this project. Each year up to 60 K-8 teachers from these districts are eligible to participate in the year-long fully online professional learning offered by this grant, and includes a 3-day-equivalent Summer Institute followed by a few 2.5 Zoom sessions over the school year for all participants (for a total of about 24 PD hours), and additional work within a mentored Professional Learning Community (PLC) for Tier 2 teachers; all participants are also expected to create online materials based on their classroom implementations, to be publicly shared with other teachers on the project website. WFL BOCES awarded a subcontract to the LiDA Center and the Center for Professional Development and Education Reform to design and deliver this professional learning. The Computer Science strand of this project is led by *Borys, and has involved *Borasi, *Miller, *Carson and other Warner doctoral students, graduates and Noyce Fellows.

Key accomplishments to date

• Despite the major challenges encountered after the COVID-19 pandemic in recruiting K-12 teachers to participate in professional learning programs, a group of teachers has participated each year in the program, and benefited from the learning opportunities offered.
• In the attempt to increase participation we also developed an alternative option consisting of two self-paced asynchronous modules for teachers - one on “Data Visualization” and the other on “Introduction to Coding” - and a few teachers took advantage of these modules, using them to think about their own instruction using technology and explore new technology with feedback from a facilitator.
• Evidence of the impact of this program on teachers’ practices can be found in the recorded presentations provided by each participating teacher at the end of the program, which have been recorded and posted in the project website (created by Gordon Baxter, the program coordinator, with support from *Borys).

Links for More Information

• WFL BOCES Smart Start project website