AI in elementary school: KU receives funding to set up a European Teacher Academy
![[Translate to Englisch:] Das erfolgreiche Antragstrio: Juniorprofessorin Dr. Barbara Lenzgeiger, Prof. Dr. Klaudia Schultheis und Prof. Dr. Heiner Böttger (von links)](/fileadmin/_processed_/7/b/csm_TeacherAcademy_Christian_Klenk-4_6a42b754e5.jpg)
The aim of SmartStart is to enable teachers and teaching degree students to integrate AI-based methods and tools into elementary school lessons in an educationally meaningful way. "For example, there are tutoring systems or apps that react interactively to the learning progress of individual pupils", explains Prof. Dr. Klaudia Schultheis, who holds the Chair of Elementary Education at the KU. AI has the potential to relieve teachers so that they have more time for the individual child. Schultheis emphasizes that this was particularly important in elementary school. The student body here was particularly heterogeneous, with all performance levels and social backgrounds represented: "At the same time, we are already selecting students in fourth grade, mapping out possible career paths. Accordingly, the support must be strongest in elementary school to ensure that no child is left behind. In this respect, we have great expectations of the possibilities that AI offers us."
The Eichstätt team that submitted the funding application hopes that the training program will have a "transformative effect on elementary school education" and is relying on several innovative ideas to achieve this. The SmartStart project is breaking new ground with the topic of AI – despite of its current popularity: "The topic is still in its early days in elementary schools, but at the same time we already see a huge demand for further training in this area", says Prof. Dr. Klaudia Schultheis. Her colleague Dr. Barbara Lenzgeiger adds: "With SmartStart, we will also succeed in making AI strong in elementary school." Lenzgeiger, who took over the Junior Professorship of Elementary Education at the KU in 2023, will contribute her expertise in AI and digital media to the project. The integration of various aspects of digitalization in the classroom is one of her main areas of research.
Long-term implementation firmly planned
It is not only the topic of the SmartStart project that is innovative, but also the tailoring of the target group: Students and experienced teachers are equally addressed – in seven European nations: Germany, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Sweden, Slovakia and Spain. Klaudia Schultheis knows from many years of experience how valuable international cooperation is in the field of teacher training. Twenty years ago, she already initiated the "International Project" (IPC) at the KU, a cooperation between student teachers from Europe, the USA and Japan. With the European Teacher Academy, Schultheis wants to build on this network, create long-term structures and "learn from and with each other". Although the project will only run for three years, the EU's call for tenders provides for the program to be permanently implemented at the participating universities. "It has always been my goal to institutionalize international work, and the Teacher Academy brings us a big step closer to this", says the professor happily.
Prof. Dr. Heiner Böttger, Professor of Didactics of English Language and Literature at the KU, was also involved in the idea of an international training program from the very beginning. He brought a special twist to the concept: A dedicated AI-based translation tool is being developed to overcome language barriers. "Ideally, the tool can support the integration of children who start elementary school without sufficient language skills", says Klaudia Schultheis. The tool will also be used in the project itself to facilitate the exchange of expertise between experts with different native languages. "We will be using AI to talk about the use of AI in elementary school", says Böttger. The English didactics expert has been working intensively on issues surrounding multilingualism for many years. Among other things, he addressed the phenomenon of language anxiety, i.e. the uneasy feeling of not being able to express what you actually want to say. This is often combined with the use of English as the language of communication. "Everyone should be able to articulate ideas in their native language, otherwise these ideas are potentially lost", explains Prof. Dr. Heiner Böttger. For a joint European project in particular, it is crucial to be able to "exchange ideas democratically at the same level". Artificial intelligence now offers quick and easy-to-use options for meeting this demand.
"Takes teacher training in Eichstätt to a whole new level"
In addition to the development of the translation tool, the first project phase will provide room for creating the content basis for the program. Based on scientific literature research, an international panel of experts will discuss the challenges, opportunities and questions in the context of the use of AI in elementary school. On this basis, contents for the program are created and put into an appealing form, such as learning videos. The training program itself will consist of two phases. In the first phase, international participants are taught basic knowledge about the technological, educational and didactic aspects of AI in elementary school in an online course. In the second phase, participants can put what they have learned into practice in the classroom. Each university will have a partner school and will offer the training program to the teachers of that school twice a year. The scientific work continues during this phase, explains Barbara Lenzgeiger: "We evaluate our training and further education program using various methods and continuously develop it further through accompanying research." Ultimately, "SmartStart" should not only be available at the participating institutions, but also online via the "eTwinning" platform as further training for all interested teachers in Europe.
The establishment of European Teacher Academies as part of the Erasmus+ program is an initiative of the European Union to improve teacher training in Europe. A total of 15 "Erasmus+ Teacher Academies" are to be established across the continent. In Eichstätt, the official go-ahead will probably be given at the beginning of April 2025. "This will require a lot of teamwork, we have a great deal of work to do – but we are very happy", says Prof. Dr. Heiner Böttger. "This takes teacher training in Eichstätt to a whole new level, from which we all benefit."