NSF pose: phase II: an open-source ecosystem for earsketch

The National Science Foundation awarded Georgia TECH Research Corp $1,499,123 on July 15, 2026, under the NSF Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships program (CFDA 47.084) to establish an open-source ecosystem for EarSketch, a music and computing learning platform that teaches computational thinking through algorithmic music composition and remixing.

Georgia TECH Research Corp will execute three core activities through June 30, 2028. First, the recipient will establish an open-source managing organization, either as a new nonprofit or through a nonprofit fiscal sponsor. Second, it will conduct compliance, security, and data privacy analysis and remediation to align EarSketch's security posture with school district, teacher, and parent expectations and relevant regulations. Third, it will expand training and outreach efforts with teachers and administrators to support broader adoption of the platform.

EarSketch currently engages approximately 280,000 K-12 students annually. The open-source ecosystem will enable expansion into additional academic classes, after-school programs, summer camps, and adult learner programs, building computational thinking skills and AI literacy across the U.S. workforce. Performance occurs at Georgia Tech's Atlanta, Georgia campus (30332).

Abstract

As emerging technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) continue to grow in economic importance, underlying computational thinking skills become even more critical. Computational thinking is a set of skills and practices that helps people understand how computers and AI work and how they can be leveraged to increase the productivity and creativity of the modern workforce. The integration of computing education with creative arts, such as music production, has shown success in increasing interest and engagement in computational thinking among students. This project will create an open-source ecosystem (OSE) for the music and computing learning platform, earsketch, which takes a novel approach to teaching computational thinking via algorithmic music composition and remixing, engaging approximately 280,000 K-12 students per year. The creation of a robust and sustainable OSE for earsketch will ensure a path of continued growth and impact for the software platform and curriculum, including expansion into more academic classes, after school programs, summer camps, and adult learner programs. This expansion will increase computational thinking skills and AI literacy within the current and future U.S. Workforce and help to maintain a competitive edge. The creation of a robust and sustainable OSE for earsketch will help ensure the continued expansion and impact of the software platform and curriculum. The pathways to enable open-source ecosystems (POSE) project will build this ecosystem through three core activities: 1) establishing an open-source managing organization in the form of a new non-profit or a non-profit fiscal sponsor, 2) performing a compliance, security, and data privacy analysis and remediation to align the security posture of earsketch with the expectations of school districts, teachers, parents, and relevant regulations, and 3) bolstering training and outreach efforts with teachers, administrators, and partners. As a result of these activities, the earsketch platform and ecosystem will continue to expand computer science and computational thinking education and help further both computational and AI literacy by facilitating experimentation with computational thinking education, AI, and AI education. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.- subawards are planned for this award.