The University of Maine has received a planning award from the U.S. National Science Foundation to study how teachers can use AI-assisted coding tools to build their own interactive classroom materials. The project, called The Forge, will bring together educators, researchers, parents, and students to design a teacher-centered approach that puts educators in control of the creative process.
"Teachers have lots of great ideas for the technology they and their students could use in the classroom," said Justin Dimmel, associate dean for academics and student engagement in the UMaine College of Education and Human Development. "But teachers are very busy. They don't usually have the time, capacity or expertise to build their own tools."
Putting teachers at the center
The Forge is not a finished platform being introduced into schools. The team will first study what teachers need, how AI could support learning, and how schools can address concerns including student privacy, data security, inaccurate information, bias, and appropriate classroom use. Five teachers from different Maine schools, two parents, and eventually students will participate as teachers develop and test early ideas.
The project grew from a challenge submitted by a Maine teacher who wanted educators and students to have a greater role in creating educational content. Dimmel described the vast number of unrealized classroom ideas as an "innovation reserve" within schools. The Forge will explore whether AI-assisted design - a practice often called "vibe coding" - can help educators tap into it.
From classroom idea to working tool
A chemistry teacher might want to create an interactive demonstration. Another educator could build a digital learning game for a flipped classroom. AI-assisted coding tools could make it easier for teachers without programming experience to turn those concepts into working prototypes. The proposed environment would differ from a generic chatbot or automated lesson-plan generator. Instead of an empty prompt box, educators could receive guidance, workflows, and specialized tools for different classroom projects.
"We want to try to put teachers' creativity at the center of what we're going to design," Dimmel said. "We see this as an accelerator or an incubator, not a replacement."
Testing what teachers need
During a concentrated design process in September and October, participating teachers will use existing AI-assisted coding tools to build early versions of their instructional ideas. Researchers will study the obstacles they encounter and what support could make the process more accessible. The team is not assuming that a separate platform is the best answer. Dimmel said the work could show that existing general-purpose AI platforms are sufficient if educators receive appropriate training.
For Dimmel, success would not depend solely on whether the work leads to a new platform. Participating teachers could become a core group of educators prepared to help their schools and students approach AI with greater knowledge, creativity, and confidence.
Expanding who gets to create
Dimmel compared AI-assisted coding to the printing press, which lowered barriers to producing and sharing information. Until recently, creating an application or interactive digital resource often required significant programming knowledge, time, and other resources. AI tools could make that type of creation more accessible to people who have ideas but do not consider themselves software developers.
"We want to make sure that teachers are participating in that, that they have the skills, experience and knowledge that they feel like their agency is valued, and they can see a way to get their ideas out into the world," Dimmel said.
Why this matters for education professionals
Projects like The Forge signal a shift in how schools think about AI - not as a tool for automating instruction, but as a way to amplify teacher creativity. For educators, building direct experience with AI-assisted design can develop practical AI literacy and help them guide students toward responsible use. Structured learning resources, such as the AI for Teachers Learning Path, can help teachers gain the skills to move from being technology consumers to confident creators in their own classrooms.
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