AI4T - Artificial Intelligence for and by teachers

Presentation

AI4T - 'Artificial Intelligence for and by teachers' - is a three-year experimental initiative, starting in 2021 and ending in 2024, to explore and support the use of artificial intelligence in secondary education in France, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg and Slovenia. Coordinated by France Education International, the project brings together the 5 education ministries of the participating countries, as well as public bodies, research centres and universities.

Throughout the duration of the project, the AI4T partnership has implemented innovative training methods for teachers, reporting a great success. Designed and tested in the 5 participating countries, the project involves a professional training pathway that has reached a total of 1,005 teachers from 302 European schools. It is aimed specifically at teachers of pupils aged 14 to 17 with expertise in foreign languages, mathematics or science. The educational resources created, including a MOOC and an Open TextBook, as well as hybrid training sessions, are now available to anyone wishing to meet the challenges of AI in education. 

In order to ensure high-quality training, the impact of the training pathway was analysed at national and transnational level using a quantitative and qualitative evaluation strategy involving a test group and a control group. A total of 738 teachers, 204 headteachers and 7551 pupils completed the evaluation questionnaires. Moreover, 88 teachers and 18 headteachers took part in semi-directive interviews. Thanks to this participative approach, following an initial trial phase in 2022 and its preliminary results, the resources were improved and offered in the classrooms for an experiment lasting several months in 2023/2024.

The partnership is now proud of the results achieved and of the interest shown in this project at European and global level. The AI4T MOOC and Open Textbook are currently being translated by countries outside the partnership, enabling new teachers to become more confident users of AI-based resources, which will help them to improve their practice.

Tools created as training resources

The training programme is structured around a MOOC and an Open Textbook as a complementary resource. Based on the use of AI, the MOOC was designed using the Class'code MOOC created by the French National Institute for Research in Computer Science and Control (INRIA). 

These two digital teaching resources have been designed and created by the AI4T partnership to enable teachers to discover the main elements of AI in education and make informed decisions about the tools on offer. Translated into each of the languages of the partners countries, they are now available to any interested person or organisation. 

Teacher training: The AI4T MOOC

The MOOC is organised into 4 modules and offers a wide range of formats and contents: texts, videos, activities and practical exercises for a concrete understanding of the basics of AI and the challenges of AI tools in education.

All the AI4T MOOC resources are available in the consortium's five languages (English, French, German, Italian and Slovenian). The project's objective of providing a coherent set of resources on AI in education has been achieved and the content of the MOOC is ready for use. The online MOOC can be easily transferred to other national platform environments (for example, the French Fun MOOC platform or the Slovenian ARNES MOOC platform).

AI4T, an Open Textbook

The Open Textbook complements the MOOC and is also designed for more advanced teachers or educators/mentors. 

The first edition of the textbook was published in October 2022. It covers six areas and addresses the context of AI, which is becoming one of the most important areas to know about and consider in education. Following the arrival of generative AI, a second edition was produced with new chapters, graphics and videos in January 2024. The Textbook has already been distributed in the five languages of the consortium and can easily be translated or updated in other languages.

The impact of the project

The evaluation of the project's impact on participants (teachers and pupils) has provided a comprehensive understanding of teachers' experience of the professional learning pathway, highlighting key factors that illustrate the influence of the training pathway on them. It also provided a comprehensive picture of the school environment in relation to AI, including schools' technical infrastructure, AI policy within schools and pupils' attitudes to AI.

In terms of results, the majority of teachers were satisfied with the online resources (MOOC, textbook) and guided sessions (webinars and/or face-to-face). The impact analysis (conducted only in countries with large samples, i.e. Italy, France and Slovenia) revealed that the professional training pathway was particularly effective in improving teachers' knowledge of AI. In Italy, it also increased teachers' perception of the ease of use of AI. However, the impact of the MOOC and the open textbook was limited to a better theoretical understanding of the tools. Teachers reported that these resources had no impact on their use of AI tools in the classroom, despite a willingness on the part of some teachers to use them more. One of the participating teachers said:

"As a first course, it was very good and now we would need a practical application, i.e. a course that guides us through concrete experimentation by doing something in class."

The context 

Our society is changing, new technologies are appearing and the challenges in the field of education are increasing. The European Union, through various working groups such as the European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC), has created working tools, manuals and guides to facilitate the transition and enable Member States to align their policies. These reflections led to a founding event for the European Union: the birth of the world's first legal framework on AI: the AI ACT.

The AI ACT is the very first legal framework on AI, addressing the risks of AI and enabling Europe to play a leading role on a global scale. It aims to provide AI developers with clear requirements and obligations regarding specific uses of AI. It is part of a broader set of policy measures to support the development of trustworthy AI, which also includes the AI Innovation Package and the Coordinated AI Plan. Together, these measures will ensure the safety and fundamental rights of people and businesses when it comes to AI. They will also boost AI adoption, investment and innovation across the EU.

The AI ACT is the first ever comprehensive legal framework on AI on a global scale. The aim of the new rules is to foster trustworthy AI in Europe and beyond, ensuring that AI systems respect fundamental rights, safety and ethical principles and addressing the risks associated with highly powerful and impactful AI models.

Regarding the Council of Europe, on 17 May 2024, they adopted an international treaty aimed at ensuring that AI respects fundamental rights.