On July 30, 2026, professors Moon-Heum Cho and Alexander Corbitt from the University's School of Education received a $50,000 planning grant from the National Science Foundation's FINDERS Foundry program. The funding will support development of a game-based digital learning platform that teaches elementary students AI literacy through personal finance decision-making. The project arrives just as New York State prepares to require personal finance instruction in grades K-4, and it targets a rural, high-needs district where a free, school-based tool could fill critical gaps.
The project, Fostering AI Literacy in Elementary Education Through Game-Based Personal Finance Learning, uses narrative-driven simulations for students in grades 3 and 4. Students interact with in-game AI agents that offer recommendations, giving them practice in questioning and evaluating AI-generated input rather than accepting it automatically. Most existing AI literacy instruction leans on abstract explanations or standalone coding exercises, disconnected from the situations where children actually meet AI-even though elementary-age students already encounter algorithmically-targeted content and personalized recommendations daily. Resources like an AI Learning Path for Primary School Teachers can help educators bridge this gap, but the new project goes further by embedding AI literacy directly into personal finance scenarios.
A game-based approach to AI literacy
By grounding AI literacy in the real-world context of personal finance, the project teaches students not just what AI is but when to trust its recommendations, when to question them, and how to make independent decisions. The work responds directly to New York State's new K-4 personal finance learning standards, which must be implemented by the 2027-2028 school year. It centers on the Fabius-Pompey school district, a rural, high-needs area where broadband access gaps and limited supplemental resources make a free, school-based platform especially valuable.
Co-designing with the community
The leadership team follows the FINDERS Foundry stakeholder model, bringing together researchers, a K-12 educator, a technologist, and a parent/guardian representative. Over the two-month planning period, the team will pursue three outcomes: building students' understanding of how AI systems work, strengthening their grasp of core personal finance concepts, and developing their ability to critically evaluate AI-driven recommendations. The work will culminate in a full development-phase proposal for November 2026, with an eye toward eventual regional and multi-state expansion through a future NSF Discovery Research PreK-12 proposal.
Why this matters for educators
The project underscores a shift toward teaching AI literacy not as an isolated skill but as part of everyday decision-making. Teachers in grades 3 and 4 can start exploring resources such as AI for Education to build their own understanding of AI systems, even as curriculum developers work to embed these concepts into subjects like personal finance. For districts facing tight timelines on new standards, the platform's focus on practical, game-based learning offers a model that could reduce the burden on individual teachers while giving students direct experience evaluating AI-generated advice.
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