Program Snapshot
Provider: Vanderbilt University
Instructor: Dr. Jules White
Level: Beginner
Courses: 3-course specialization
Total Learning Time: Approximately 34 hours
Format: Online, self-paced, and flexible
Credential: Shareable Vanderbilt University certificate through Coursera
Best Fit: High school CTE, computer science, STEM, honors, AI literacy, and college and career readiness programs
The specialization can be completed as a full sequence or schools can use the individual courses separately, giving districts flexibility in how they incorporate AI into existing programs.
Essential Skills Students Will Develop
This specialization introduces students to both the technical and human sides of artificial intelligence.
Students develop skills in:
- Prompt Engineering — communicating effectively with large language models and using structured prompt patterns to solve problems
- Generative AI — understanding how modern AI systems generate text, ideas, information, and solutions
- AI Agents — exploring systems that combine AI, tools, context, planning, and actions to accomplish goals
- Agentic Workflows — understanding how multiple steps and tools can be connected into AI-powered processes
- Responsible AI — evaluating AI outputs, identifying risks and limitations, and making informed decisions about appropriate AI use
- Multimodal Prompting — working with AI across different forms of information and media
- AI-Powered Creativity — using AI as a tool for ideation, problem solving, design, and innovation
- AI Personalization and Integration — exploring how AI systems can be adapted and incorporated into different workflows
Students also gain exposure to tools and concepts associated with ChatGPT, Anthropic Claude, Claude Code, AI orchestration, prompt engineering, generative AI, and agentic workflows.
The Three-Course Learning Path
Honors AI Foundations for High School Students
Course 1 | Approximately 19 hours
Students begin by building a strong foundation in artificial intelligence, large language models, and prompt engineering.
Rather than simply learning how to enter prompts, students explore patterns and strategies that help them use AI to approach problems in entirely new ways.
This course establishes the AI literacy students need before moving into more sophisticated applications of the technology.
Course 2 | Approximately 6 hours
Students then explore one of the fastest-growing areas of artificial intelligence: AI agents.
They learn how agents can combine AI models with tools, information, planning, actions, and human oversight to accomplish increasingly complex goals.
Students begin thinking beyond the traditional chatbot model and explore how agentic systems can automate workflows and solve real-world problems.
Course 3 | Approximately 9 hours
Students learn that being skilled with AI also means knowing when—and when not—to trust it.
They explore how to evaluate AI-generated information, recognize limitations and risks, and make thoughtful decisions about appropriate AI use.
This emphasis on human judgment, critical thinking, and responsible AI is especially important for students who will soon be using AI in college, internships, and the workplace.
Hands-On Projects and Applied Learning
This specialization is not limited to watching videos or learning AI terminology.
Students complete authentic, hands-on projects that ask them to apply AI to meaningful problems.
Throughout the specialization, learners may:
- Design AI agents
- Develop AI-powered workflows
- Apply prompt engineering strategies
- Evaluate the quality and reliability of AI outputs
- Build trustworthy AI processes
- Experiment with AI tools and integrations
- Develop AI-powered solutions to real-world challenges
These projects can also provide a natural starting point for additional classroom projects, portfolios, presentations, competitions, capstones, or work-based learning experiences.
For CTE programs, that matters. Students are not just learning about AI—they are being asked to build, test, evaluate, revise, and demonstrate what they can do with it.
Credentials & Certificates
Students who successfully complete the specialization can earn a shareable certificate from Vanderbilt University through Coursera.
That credential can be added to a student’s:
- Resume
- Digital portfolio
- LinkedIn profile
- College or scholarship application materials
- Internship or work-based learning applications
For high school students, the credential demonstrates that they have completed structured study in artificial intelligence rather than simply gaining informal experience with consumer AI tools.
More importantly, students leave the program with projects and practical skills they can continue building upon.
Related CTE and Career Pathways
AI is not limited to computer science.
The skills developed in this specialization can support students pursuing a wide range of CTE and career pathways, including:
- Information Technology
- Computer Science and Software Development
- Cybersecurity
- Engineering
- Business and Entrepreneurship
- Marketing and Digital Media
- Healthcare and Health Sciences
- Data Science and Analytics
- Project Management
- Robotics and Automation
- Design and Creative Technology
A student does not need to plan on becoming an AI engineer for this specialization to be valuable.
Increasingly, the competitive advantage will be knowing how to apply AI effectively within another profession.
How to Get Started
For Students
Students interested in AI can begin with the Honors AI Foundations for High School Students course and progress through the full three-course specialization.
As they complete the program, students should also look for opportunities to apply what they learn beyond the coursework.
Consider:
- Building an AI project portfolio
- Using AI to solve a problem related to another CTE pathway
- Joining robotics, coding, entrepreneurship, or technology clubs
- Participating in hackathons or innovation challenges
- Exploring internships with organizations using AI
- Creating an AI-powered capstone project
- Talking with professionals about how AI is changing their careers
The goal is not simply to collect an AI credential. It is to begin developing evidence of what you can do with the skills you have learned.
For CTE Directors and Districts
The specialization gives schools several options for incorporating AI into CTE without having to develop an entire curriculum from scratch.
Districts can:
- Offer the complete three-course specialization as an AI or emerging technologies learning sequence
- Use individual courses within an existing IT or computer science pathway
- Add AI learning to business, engineering, healthcare, marketing, or other CTE programs
- Pair the asynchronous coursework with teacher-led classroom instruction
- Build local projects or capstones around the Vanderbilt content
- Connect students with local employers using AI
- Incorporate the courses into honors or advanced learning opportunities
- Use the specialization to support districtwide AI literacy and college and career readiness initiatives
Because the courses can be used individually or together, districts can determine where AI instruction makes the most sense within their existing CTE structure.
Why SchoolDay Academy Recommends This Specialization
At SchoolDay Academy, we believe strong CTE programs should prepare students not only for today’s jobs, but for the way those jobs are changing.
AI is already changing how work gets done across industries. That is why we particularly like the balance Vanderbilt has created in this specialization. Students learn how to use AI, but they also learn how to question it. They learn prompt engineering, but they also learn responsible AI. They explore AI agents and automation, but they also examine the importance of human judgment and oversight. And perhaps most importantly, students actually build and apply what they are learning.
For districts trying to determine what meaningful AI education should look like at the high school level, this specialization provides a strong starting point.
Build AI Skills Before College—and Before the Workforce
Today’s high school students will enter college and careers in which AI is simply part of the environment.
The students who are best prepared will not necessarily be those who have used the most AI tools. They will be the students who understand how to work with AI effectively, evaluate it critically, apply it creatively, and use it responsibly.
The Honors AI & AI Agents for High School Students Specialization from Vanderbilt University gives students an opportunity to begin developing those skills now.
Through SchoolDay Academy, powered by Coursera, schools can incorporate this university-developed AI content into CTE pathways, honors programs, college and career readiness initiatives, or emerging technology programs while maintaining the flexibility to use the courses individually or as a complete specialization.
👉 Explore the Honors AI & AI Agents for High School Students Specialization through SchoolDay Academy and start building the AI skills that will shape your future.