David Petty, Education Program Manager at the App Inventor Foundation, is leading “Ethical Generative AI & Data Science with MIT App Inventor at WeTeach_CS Texas 2026,” a four-day workshop taking place from Monday, June 29 through Thursday, July 2, 2026, at the University of Texas at Dallas. 

During the workshop, grades 6-12 educators from Texas educators explore hands-on AI and data science activities with MIT App Inventor through a human-centered, ethics-first approach aligned with the UNESCO AI Competency Frameworks.

Learn more: aif.to/2026-tx-ppw

David Petty, Education Program Manager at the App Inventor Foundation, is leading “Ethical Generative AI & Data Science with MIT App Inventor at WeTeach_CS Texas 2026,” a four-day workshop taking place from Monday, June 22 through Thursday, June 25, 2026, in Waco, Texas.

During the workshop, grades 6-12 educators from Texas educators explore hands-on AI and data science activities with MIT App Inventor through a human-centered, ethics-first approach aligned with the UNESCO AI Competency Frameworks.

Learn more: aif.to/2026-tx-ppw

David Petty, Education Program Manager at the App Inventor Foundation, is leading “Deep Dive into MIT App Inventor for Computational Action through Physical Computing using micro:bits” at the 2026 WeTeach_CS Deep Dives on June 17–18, 2026.

On Day 1, participants will explore the fundamentals of building mobile apps with MIT App Inventor. On Day 2, they will dive into physical computing by connecting App Inventor with micro:bits to work with sensors, actuators, and data.

Learn more: aif.to/2026-tx-dd

Natalie Lao, Executive Director of the App Inventor Foundation, is joining the Congressional App Challenge #HouseOfCode event at the U.S. Capitol on April 21–22, 2026. She is joining a Lightning Panel on the future of technology and delivering a keynote at the Laureate Ceremony.

#HouseOfCode is the annual celebration where winners of the Congressional App Challenge showcase apps they have built to solve real-world problems in their communities, including projects created with MIT App Inventor. Students share their project, connect with members of Congress, and meet fellow young innovators from across the country.

Learn more: https://www.congressionalappchallenge.us/students/houseofcode/

Kelly Shiohira, Director of Impact and Community Engagement at the App Inventor Foundation, is joining social impact leaders, funders, and thought leaders at the Google.org APAC Summit in Delhi, India, from February 17–19, 2026.

The summit explores how the social impact sector can work together to responsibly harness AI to address pressing challenges facing communities worldwide. 

José Dominguez, Principal Engineer at the App Inventor Foundation, and Evan Patton, Lead Software Engineer at MIT App Inventor, are running two hands-on workshops at FOSDEM Junior 2026 in Brussels, designed to help young people build real apps fast with block-based coding.

Day 1: Build your own mobile apps with MIT App Inventor.

In this hands-on, beginner-friendly workshop, participants use MIT App Inventor to build two mobile apps from scratch for their Android or iOS devices, with a simple first app up and running in under 30 minutes.

Learn more: https://fosdem.org/2026/schedule/event/BH7QBJ-learn_to_build_your_own_mobile_app_with_mit_app_inventor/

Day 2: Train and deploy a machine learning model with MIT App Inventor.

In this workshop, participants train their own Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) to play a simple game, then test the model on phones and tablets using an app built with MIT App Inventor.

Learn more: https://fosdem.org/2026/schedule/event/FBWS38-train_and_deploy_machine_learning_models_with_mit_app_inventor/

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/