Lessons Learned
Artificial Intelligence in Education: A Techno-scientific Promise View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Debisschop Magalie
The interest for the potential of artificial intelligence in education (AIED) is increasing in many fields. AIED tools are said to offer more personalized, flexible, inclusive and engaging learning. This leads to massive investments in the sector of education and the need to involve the main actors whose role is particularly questioned by this technology. We argue so that AIED can be seen as a techno-scientific promise, an apparatus for creating a horizon of expectation where this new technology appears as a necessity—or desirable, according to science and technology literature. This techno-scientific promise plays a key role in legitimizing AIED and mobilizing resources to achieve what is seen as a major challenge, on three interlocking levels: the macro-level of politics, economy, values and culture, the meso-level of the education field and the micro-level of teachers’ training and practices. This study focuses on the French case and the two last levels, through a field survey which examine the interrelations between the Ministry of Education Digital Working Group dedicated to AIED and teacher training course and experimentation, using a grid of analysis taking in account the type of promise, the actors’ constellation, the sources of legitimacy and credibility, the contestations and control of the agenda, the dynamics of expectations. As techno-scientific promises shape the relation to the future and are designed by it, we ultimately try to identify how this concept fits with “regimes of historicity” and set AIED within the long story of attempts to introduce technology into education.
Challenges in the Secondary Bilingual Education Programs of Spain: Can Chat GPT Assist Under-Resourced Faculty? View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Michele Regalla
The purpose of this study is to examine challenges in bilingual education at the secondary level in Andalucía, Spain. Bilingual education, where students receive academic instruction in two languages (Garcia, 2009), is practiced throughout the world in linguistically diverse societies. The European Commission has supported a model of bilingual education in order to address the needs of citizens living in a global economy, known as content and language integrated learning (CLIL). However, challenges and inconsistences in the delivery of bilingual instruction have led to debates about CLIL (Granados & Lorenzo, 2022). The focus this study examines bilingual teachers’ instructional practices at the secondary level in various schools surrounding Malaga including public, private, and concertados. Observations of 26 classes, interviews with 14 teachers and two language assistants, three administrators, and one university professor of teacher education were analyzed and coded for themes according to typology (Hatch, 2002). Findings show an overwhelming support for bilingual education among school personnel, but a mixed use of the second language (English) on a class-by-class basis. Findings also show a lower minimum level of English proficiency among public school teachers than that of private schools. Teachers and administrators report challenges with student motivation and a need for further resources to implement quality bilingual instruction. Discussion includes the exploration of Chat GPT and how it can be leveraged to assist students struggling with English proficiency and to assist teachers in need of enhanced academic resources in English.
