Taipei, UPenn launch AI-driven coding course for high schools

Taipei, Jan. 12 (CNA) Taipei's Department of Education on Sunday announced the launch of a cloud-based programming course created with the assistance of the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) in the United States.

The course incorporates an artificial intelligence (AI)-assisted learning system developed by UPenn with a Python course taught by Kung Ling-chieh (孔令傑), an associate professor at National Taiwan University's College of Management, according to the department.

The AI-assisted coding course will reach more than 1,100 students from 14 high schools in Taipei that have joined the city's cloud-based learning and teaching platform, the department said.

It added that high school students who complete the course and its supplementary assignments and tests will receive a certificate jointly issued by the city's education department and the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), which represents U.S. interests in Taiwan in the absence of diplomatic ties.

Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) and Arend Zwartjes, the AIT's public affairs officer, attended Sunday's public launch.

Speaking at the event, Chiang said he hoped the course would bolster students' competitiveness in the age of AI and pledged that the city would continue strengthening information technology education.

Zwartjes also said that the AIT was honored to support the collaboration which aims to create more opportunities for Taiwanese students.

The launch of the program is only one of many educational collaborations between Taiwan and the U.S., he added.