AI training in colleges of education is not keeping pace with the technology, leaving student teachers unequipped to get the most out of artificial intelligence when they arrive in their classrooms.
That’s because most colleges of education are only now adding AI training, curriculum and coursework, says a new analysis from the Center on Reimagining Public Education, a think tank at Arizona State University.
“Many education schools are more focused on supporting faculty than training future teachers and more focused on dealing with student plagiarism than on a broader vision of how AI could transform teaching and learning,” the report notes.
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For AI to take hold in schools of education, higher ed leaders need to generate more enthusiasm among faculty and build instructors’ capacity to “prepare future K12 teachers for the realities of AI,” the report notes. Less than a quarter of those leaders agreed that faculty at their college are confident about using AI to train student teachers.
The good news is that higher ed leaders are optimistic that AI can improve K12 education. The biggest advantages they expect are saving teachers time on administrative tasks, providing better data on K12 students who need academic interventions and support students with diverse learning needs.
The report recommends that leaders of colleges of education make AI a “core component of teacher training” by:
- Connecting teaching faculty with AI experts at their institutions to learn how the technology can be used innovatively in K12 instruction.
- Incentivizing faculty—with grants, for example—to experiment with AI and participate in training.
The report also urges state policymakers to develop AI proficiency standards for teacher certification programs. At the same time, state education departments could provide targeted grants to help colleges and universities introduce AI curricula in their schools of education.
