[Translation : EPALE France]

Presentation

AI4T (Artificial Intelligence for and by teachers), is a three-year experimental initiative that ran from 2021 to 2024. The project’s aim was to support the use of artificial intelligence in secondary education in France, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg and Slovenia. Coordinated by France Education International, it brought together the ministries of education of the five participating countries, as well as public bodies, research centres and universities.

Throughout the project, the AI4T partnership successfully implemented innovative training methods for teachers. Designed and tested in the five participating countries, the project involved a professional training programme that reached a total of 1,005 teachers from 302 European schools. It was aimed specifically at teachers of 14- to 17-year-olds with expertise in foreign languages, mathematics or science. The educational resources created, including a MOOC, an Open TextBook and hybrid training sessions, are now available to anyone who wants to address the challenges of AI in education. 

In order to ensure quality training, the impact of the training pathway was analysed at national and transnational level using a quantitative and qualitative evaluation strategy based on a test group and a control group. A total of 738 teachers, 204 headteachers and 7,551 students completed the evaluation questionnaires, and 88 teachers and 18 headteachers took part in semi-structured interviews. Thanks to this participative approach, following an initial trial phase in 2022 and its preliminary results, the resources were improved and made available to classes for experiments lasting several months in 2023 and 2024.

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

Tools created as training resources

The course is structured around a MOOC with an Open Textbook as a complementary resource. Focused on the use of AI, the MOOC was based on the Class'code MOOC created by the French National Institute for Research in Digital Science and Technology (INRIA). 

Both digital educational resources were designed and created by the AI4T partnership to allow 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 countries involved, they are now available to any interested person or organisation. 

Teacher training: The AI4T MOOC

The MOOC is structured into four modules and includes a range of formats and content: text, videos, activities and practical exercises for a concrete understanding of the basics of AI and the challenges of AI tools in education.

All the resources from the AI4T MOOC are available in each of 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 easily be transferred to other environments - national platforms (for example, the French Fun MOOC platform or the Slovenian ARNES MOOC platform).

MOOC: https://www.fun-mooc.fr/fr/cours/intelligence-artificielle-pour-et-par-les-enseignants-ai4t/

AI4T, an open Textbook

The Open Textbook complements the MOOC while also targeting more advanced teachers or educators/mentors. 

The first edition of the manual 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 take account of in education. Following the arrival of generative AI, a second edition was produced with new chapters, graphics and videos in January 2024. The manual has already been distributed in the consortium’s five languages and can easily be translated or updated in other languages.

The impact of the project

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

In terms of results, the majority of teachers were satisfied with the online resources (MOOC, textbook) and the guided sessions (webinars and/or face-to-face). The impact analysis (only carried out 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 reinforced 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, as 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 an initial course, it was very good. Now, we need a practical application, i.e. a course that guides us through a concrete experiment involving activities in the classroom.” 

The context

Our society is changing, new technologies are emerging 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 first ever 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 wider package of policy measures to support the development of trustworthy AI, which also includes the AI Innovation Package and the Coordinated Plan on AI. Together, these measures will guarantee the safety and fundamental rights of individuals and businesses in relation 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 new regulations aim to foster trustworthy AI in Europe and beyond, by ensuring that AI systems respect fundamental rights, safety and ethical principles and by tackling the risks associated with very powerful and impactful AI models.

On 17 May 2024, the Council of Europe adopted an international treaty aimed at guaranteeing AI that respects fundamental rights.

Source: https://www.france-education-international.fr/expertises/cooperation-education/projets/ai4t-artificial-intelligence-and-teachers?langue=fr 

Project website: https://www.ai4t.eu/