In this article, we present a study on teachers' perceptions about Artificial Intelligence (AI) as a tool to support teaching in Estonian K-12 education. Estonia is promoting technological innovation in education. According to the Index of Readiness for Digital Lifelong Learning (IRDLL), Estonia was ranked first among 27 European countries. In this context, our goal was to explore teachers' perceptions about cutting-edge technologies (in this case, AI) and to contextualize our results in the scope of Fairness, Accountability, Transparency and Ethics (FATE). We carried out a survey with 140 Estonian K-12 teachers and we asked them about their understanding and concerns regarding the use of AI in education and the challenges they face. The analysis of the survey responses suggests that teachers have limited knowledge about AI and how it could support them in practice. Nonetheless, they perceive it as an opportunity for education. The results indicate that teachers need support in order to be efficient and effective in their work practice; we envision that AI can be used to provide this support. Furthermore, we identified challenges that relate to the socio-cultural context of the study: for example, teachers perceived AI as a tool to support them in accessing, adapting and using multilingual content. To conclude, we discuss the findings of this work in relation to ethical AI, and elaborate on the implications and future aspects of this work in the context of FATE and participatory design of learning environments.
Dev Camps are events that enable participants to tackle challenges using software tools and different kinds of hardware devices in collaborative project-style activities. The participants conceptualize and develop their solutions in a self-directed way, involving technical, organizational and social skills. In this sense, they are autonomous producers or "makers". The Dev Camp activity format resonates with skills such as communication, critical thinking, creativity, decision-making and planning and can be considered as a bridge between education and industry. In this paper we present and analyse our experience from a series of such events that were co-organized between an industrial partner acting as a host and several university partners. We take this as an indication to envision new opportunities for projectbased learning in more formal educational scenarios.
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