A holistic approach to the design of artificial intelligence (AI) education for K-12 schools

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Chiu, T. K. F. (2021). A holistic approach to the design of artificial intelligence (AI) education for K-12 schools. TechTrends, 65(5), 796–807. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11528-021-00637-1

This article provides a holistic framework for integrating K-12 Artificial Intelligence (AI) in education, focusing on curriculum design’s content, product, process, and praxis. Like Celik et al. (2022), this study is published in TechTrends, a reputable and peer-reviewed journal for educational technology. Chiu (2021) states that few studies have addressed how to design effective and valuable AI educational curricula, and this study aimed to develop a model of AI curriculum that incorporates teachers’ thoughts, perspectives, and ideas. Chiu (2021) argued that many studies of AI in K-12 education focus on the tools and skills needed to utilize AI. However, curricular design is a dynamic process involving personalized learning for teachers’ classrooms of diverse learners. Through the author’s study, he used a qualitative research method which incorporated interviews, document analysis, and meetings with 24 teachers from 12 Hong Kong middle schools. He interviewed the educators about their perspectives on effective AI curricular design regarding what content, learning outcomes, and strategies should be implemented in K-12 education. The participants identified knowledge, process, impact, student relevance, communication, and flexibility as aspects of a holistic approach to designing AI curricula. A strength of this study is the diverse teaching perspectives, attitudes, and thoughts throughout the research and data. Limitations of Chiu’s (2021) article for this project include its context in Hong Kong, data collected from a small geographic area, and the fact that its curricula were not tested. Although this study is focused on Hong Kong middle schools, future research would be beneficial in increasing the generalizability of Chiu’s study and framework. This article is relevant and applicable to how AI can be implemented in K-12 education. It offers a structured approach to integrating AI into K-12 education and states the importance of teacher input in curricular design. Chiu (2021) has provided a foundation for the multitude of aspects regarding AI in K-12 education and highlighted the importance of flexible, adaptable, and teacher-informed curricula. (320 words)