Artificial intelligence in Nordic K-12 education : implications of materials and resources for digital citizenship formation

• Digital technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI), increasingly permeate societal contexts, impacting how citizens interact, for example, through datafication and algorithms supported by AI (Hintz et al., 2019). Citizens, therefore, need to develop digital citizenship which includes knowledge and skills to engage critically with AI (Vuorikari et al., 2022). Aspects of digital citizenship are present in Nordic K-12 curricula (Christensen et al., 2021), and while teaching AI in education has broadly drawn attention (Holmes & Tuomi, 2022), it is still unclear what knowledge and skills teachers need to focus on to help young citizens develop their digital citizenship in relation to AI (cf. Markauskaite et al., 2022). In response, numerous frameworks and materials for teaching AI have been developed, which could provide teachers with guidance. In a Nordic context, this paper aims to analyze materials and resources that could influence K-12 teachers’ work of teaching AI as an aspect of the digital competence young people need to develop as part of their digital citizenship. This is done by a close reading of the European Union framework DigComp 2.2 and the Swedish National Agency for Education’s supportive materials available teachers to operationalize the teaching of AI. Using Touretzky et al. (2019) as an analytical node, the paper examines the discursive construction of AI-related knowledge and skills that young citizens need and how teachers can operationalize these through available policy and support materials. The early results highlight tendencies to present AI as a threat to democracy which is why citizens need relevant knowledge and skills. This often reflects instrumentalism rather than a holistic understanding of digital technologies in society or what AI can do. The paper thus highlights the need for teachers to engage with these materials critically. Given the potential implications for citizenship formation, such critical engagement becomes important in a Nordic context, where educators tend to conceptualize digital citizenship in different ways (Örtegren, 2022).ReferencesChristensen, I. R., Biseth, H., & Huang, L. (2021). Developing Digital Citizenship and Civic Engagement Through Social Media Use in Nordic Schools. In H. Biseth, B. Hoskins, & L. Huang (Eds.), Northern Lights on Civic and Citizenship Education: A Cross-national Comparison of Nordic Data from ICCS (pp. 65-92). Springer Nature Switzerland AG.Hintz, A., Dencik, L., & Wahl-Jorgensen, K. (2019). Digital citizenship in a datafied society. Polity Press.Holmes, W., & Tuomi, I. (2022). State of the art and practice in AI in education. European Journal of Education.Markauskaite et al. (2022). Rethinking the entwinement between artificial intelligence and human learning: What capabilities do learners need for a world with AI? Computers and Education: Artificial Intelligence, 3, 1000056.Touretzky, D., Gardner-McCune, C., Martin, F., & Seehorn, D. (2019). Envisioning AI for K-12: What Should Every Child Know about AI?. Proceedings of the AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence, 33(01), 9795-9799.Vuorikari, R., Kluzer, S., & Punie, Y. (2022). DigComp 2.2: The Digital Competence Framework for Citizens with New Examples of Knowledge, Skills, and Attitudes. Publications Office of the European Union.Örtegren, A. (2022). Digital Citizenship and Professional Digital Competence – Swedish Subject Teacher Education in a Postdigital Era. Postdigital Science and Education, 4(2), 467-493.

Ämnesord

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Utbildningsvetenskap -- Pedagogiskt arbete (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Educational Sciences -- Pedagogical Work (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Artificial intelligence

Digital Citizenship

Digital Competence

K-12

pedagogiskt arbete

educational work

Pedagogics and Educational Sciences

Publikations- och innehållstyp

ref (ämneskategori)

kon (ämneskategori)