Tag: Inclusion

The Future Learner: (Digital) Education Reimagined for 2040

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Source

European Digital Education Hub (EDEH), European Commission, 2025

Summary

This foresight report explores four plausible futures for digital education in 2040, emphasising how generative and intelligent technologies could redefine learning, teaching, and human connection. Developed by the EDEH “Future Learner” squad, the study uses scenario planning to imagine how trends such as the rise of generative AI (GenAI), virtual assistance, lifelong learning, and responsible technology use might shape the education landscape. The report identifies 16 major drivers of change, highlighting GenAI’s central role in personalising learning, automating administration, and transforming the balance between human and machine intelligence.

In the most optimistic scenario – Empowered Learning – AI-powered personal assistants, immersive technologies, and data-driven systems make education highly adaptive, equitable, and learner-centred. In contrast, the Constrained Education scenario imagines over-regulated, energy-limited systems where AI use is tightly controlled, while The End of Human Knowledge portrays an AI-saturated collapse where truth, trust, and human expertise dissolve. The final Transformative Vision outlines a balanced, ethical future in which AI enhances – not replaces – human intelligence, fostering empathy, sustainability, and lifelong learning. Across all futures, the report calls for human oversight, explainability, and shared responsibility to ensure that AI in education remains ethical, inclusive, and transparent.

Key Points

  • Generative AI and intelligent systems are central to all future learning scenarios.
  • AI personal assistants, XR, and data analytics drive personalised, lifelong education.
  • Responsible use and ethical frameworks are essential to maintain human agency.
  • Overreliance on AI risks misinformation, cognitive overload, and social fragmentation.
  • Sustainability and carbon-neutral AI systems are core to educational innovation.
  • Data privacy and explainability remain critical for trust in AI-driven learning.
  • Equity and inclusion depend on access to AI-enhanced tools and digital literacy.
  • The line between human and artificial authorship will blur without strong governance.
  • Teachers evolve into mentors and facilitators supported by AI co-workers.
  • The most resilient future balances technology with human values and social purpose.

Conclusion

The Future Learner envisions 2040 as a pivotal point for digital education, where the success or failure of AI integration depends on ethical design, equitable access, and sustained human oversight. Generative AI can create unprecedented opportunities for personalisation and engagement, but only if education systems preserve their human essence – empathy, creativity, and community – amid the accelerating digital transformation.

Keywords

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URL

https://ec.europa.eu/newsroom/eacea_oep/items/903368/en

Summary generated by ChatGPT 5

Gen AI Reports

AI in the classroom

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In a modern classroom in Pakistan with arched windows, a female professor wearing a hijab stands at the front, gesturing towards a large interactive screen that displays "AI INTEGRATION LAB: UNIVERSITY OF LAHORE" and various AI-related diagrams and Urdu text. Students, both male and female, many wearing hijabs, are seated at desks, actively working on laptops that also show glowing holographic AI interfaces. Image (and typos) generated by Nano Banana.
This image showcases the growing integration of AI in Pakistani classrooms, specifically at the University of Lahore. It depicts a dynamic learning environment where students and educators are actively engaging with artificial intelligence, highlighting the nation’s efforts to adapt its educational system to the demands of a technology-driven future. Image (and typos) generated by Nano Banana.

Source

The News (Pakistan)

Summary

Dr Kashif Salik highlights how artificial intelligence could transform education in Pakistan, especially amid challenges from climate disasters, poor infrastructure, and entrenched inequalities. While AI offers opportunities for resilient and inclusive learning—through online platforms, personalised tutoring, and adaptive instruction—its benefits remain limited by inadequate connectivity, teacher training, and gendered access to technology. The article calls for integrating AI into broader education reform, emphasising digital literacy, climate awareness, and psychological well-being. Salik argues that responsible use of AI can bridge educational gaps and sustain learning during crises, but only if supported by policy, funding, and equitable access.

Key Points

  • AI can improve access to education during crises and support remote learning.
  • Pakistan’s poor infrastructure, low digital literacy, and gender divide hinder adoption.
  • Initiatives like Ataleek and global grants show potential for scalable e-learning.
  • AI could personalise instruction and strengthen resilience in the education system.
  • Reform must combine technology with inclusive, climate-aware education policies.

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URL

https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/1349148-ai-in-the-classroom

Summary generated by ChatGPT 5

GenAI News

Generative AI in Higher Education Teaching and Learning: Sectoral Perspectives

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Source

Higher Education Authority

Summary

This report, commissioned by the Higher Education Authority (HEA), captures sector-wide perspectives on the impact of generative AI across Irish higher education. Through ten thematic focus groups and a leadership summit, it gathered insights from academic staff, students, support personnel, and leaders. The findings show that AI is already reshaping teaching, learning, assessment, and governance, but institutional responses remain fragmented and uneven. Participants emphasised the urgent need for national coordination, values-led policies, and structured capacity-building for both staff and students.

Key cross-cutting concerns included threats to academic integrity, the fragility of current assessment practices, risks of skill erosion, and unequal access. At the same time, stakeholders recognised opportunities for AI to enhance teaching, personalise learning, support inclusion, and free staff time for higher-value educational work. A consistent theme was that AI should not be treated merely as a technical disruption but as a pedagogical and ethical challenge that requires re-examining educational purpose.

Key Points

  • Sectoral responses to AI are fragmented; coordinated national guidance is urgently needed.
  • Generative AI challenges core values of authorship, originality, and academic integrity.
  • Assessment redesign is necessary—moving towards authentic, process-focused approaches.
  • Risks include skill erosion in writing, reasoning, and information literacy if AI is overused.
  • AI literacy for staff and students must go beyond tool use to include ethics and critical thinking.
  • Ethical use of AI requires shared principles, not just compliance or detection measures.
  • Inclusion is not automatic: without deliberate design, AI risks deepening inequality.
  • Staff feel underprepared and need professional development and institutional support.
  • Infrastructure challenges extend beyond tools to governance, procurement, and policy.
  • Leadership must shape educational vision, not just manage risk or compliance.

Conclusion

Generative AI is already embedded in higher education, raising urgent questions of purpose, integrity, and equity. The consultation shows both enthusiasm and unease, but above all a readiness to engage. The report concludes that a coordinated, values-led, and inclusive approach—balancing innovation with responsibility—will be essential to ensure AI strengthens, rather than undermines, Ireland’s higher education mission.

Keywords

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URL

https://hea.ie/2025/09/17/generative-ai-in-higher-education-teaching-and-learning-sectoral-perspectives/

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Gen AI Reports

AI and the future of education. Disruptions, dilemmas and directions

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Source

UNESCO

Summary

This UNESCO report provides policy guidance on integrating artificial intelligence (AI) into education systems worldwide. It stresses both the opportunities—such as personalised learning, enhanced efficiency, and expanded access—and the risks, including bias, privacy concerns, and the erosion of teacher and learner agency. The document frames AI as a powerful tool that can help address inequalities and support sustainable development, but only if implemented responsibly and inclusively.

Central to the report is the principle that AI in education must remain human-centred, promoting equity, transparency, and accountability. It highlights the importance of teacher empowerment, digital literacy, and robust governance frameworks. The guidance calls for capacity building at all levels, from policy to classroom practice, and for international cooperation to ensure that AI use aligns with ethical standards and local contexts. Ultimately, the report argues that AI should augment—not replace—human intelligence in education.

Key Points

  • AI offers opportunities for personalised learning and system efficiency.
  • Risks include bias, inequity, and privacy breaches if left unchecked.
  • AI in education must be guided by human-centred, ethical frameworks.
  • Teachers remain central; AI should support rather than replace them.
  • Digital literacy for learners and educators is essential.
  • Governance frameworks must ensure transparency and accountability.
  • Capacity building and training are critical for sustainable adoption.
  • AI should contribute to equity and inclusion, not exacerbate divides.
  • International collaboration is vital for responsible AI use in education.
  • AI’s role is to augment human intelligence, not supplant it.

Conclusion

UNESCO concludes that AI has the potential to transform education systems for the better, but only if adoption is deliberate, ethical, and values-driven. Policymakers must prioritise equity, inclusivity, and transparency while ensuring that human agency and the role of teachers remain central to education in the age of AI.

Keywords

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URL

https://www.unesco.org/en/articles/ai-and-future-education-disruptions-dilemmas-and-directions

Summary generated by ChatGPT 5

Gen AI Reports

Understanding the Impacts of Generative AI Use on Children

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Source

Alan Turing Institute

Summary

This report, prepared by the Alan Turing Institute with support from the LEGO Group, explores the impacts of generative AI on children aged 8–12 in the UK, alongside the views of their parents, carers, and teachers. Two large surveys were conducted: one with 780 children and their parents/carers, and another with 1,001 teachers across primary and secondary schools. The study examined how children encounter and use generative AI, how parents and teachers perceive its risks and benefits, and what this means for children’s wellbeing, learning, and creativity.

Findings show that while household use of generative AI is widespread (55%), access and awareness are uneven, being higher among wealthier families and private schools, and lower in state schools and disadvantaged groups. About 22% of children reported using generative AI, most commonly ChatGPT, for activities ranging from creating pictures to homework help. Children with additional learning needs were more likely to use AI for communication and companionship. Both children and parents who used AI themselves tended to view it positively, though parents voiced concerns about inaccuracy, inappropriate content, and reduced critical thinking. Teachers were frequent adopters—two-thirds used generative AI for lesson planning and research—and generally optimistic about its benefits for their work. However, many were uneasy about student use, particularly around academic integrity and diminished originality in schoolwork.

Key Points

  • 55% of UK households surveyed report generative AI use, with access shaped by income, region, and school type.
  • 22% of children (aged 8–12) have used generative AI; usage rises with age and is far higher in private schools.
  • ChatGPT is the most popular tool (58%), followed by Gemini and Snapchat’s “My AI.”
  • Children mainly use AI for creativity, learning, entertainment, and homework; those with additional needs use it more for communication and support.
  • 68% of child users find AI exciting; their enthusiasm strongly correlates with parents’ positive attitudes.
  • Parents are broadly optimistic (76%) but remain concerned about exposure to inappropriate or inaccurate information.
  • Teachers’ adoption is high (66%), especially for lesson planning and resource design, but often relies on personal licences.
  • Most teachers (85%) report increased productivity and confidence, though trust in AI outputs is more cautious.
  • Teachers are worried about students over-relying on AI: 57% report awareness of pupils submitting AI-generated work as their own.
  • Optimism is higher for AI as a support tool for special educational needs than for general student creativity or engagement.

Conclusion

Generative AI is already part of children’s digital lives, but access, understanding, and experiences vary widely. It sparks excitement and creativity yet raises concerns about equity, critical thinking, and integrity in education. While teachers see strong benefits for their own work, they remain divided on its value for students. The findings underline the need for clear policies, responsible design, and adult guidance to ensure AI enhances rather than undermines children’s learning and wellbeing.

Keywords

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URL

https://www.turing.ac.uk/sites/default/files/2025-06/understanding_the_impacts_of_generative_ai_use_on_children_-_wp1_report.pdf

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GenAI Reports