About the project – AI Pioneers

AI Pioneers, is an Erasmus+ Forward Looking, cross-sectoral project aims at promoting the use and teaching of artificial intelligence (AI) in adult education and vocational training (VET). UNESCO recognizes the potential of AI to accelerate the achievement of global education goals by reducing barriers to learning access, automating management processes, and optimizing methods to improve learning outcomes. The European Digital Action Plan highlights that digital technology, when used effectively, can support high-quality and inclusive education for all learners.

As AI continues to transform education, our project aims to build a network of AI Pioneers, including trainers, stakeholders, policy-makers, and educational planners, to act as reference points for the design and implementation of future educational projects related to AI. Our objectives include developing policy recommendations, toolkits, and implementation guidelines for AI Pioneers, identifying and piloting use cases of AI in education, and developing guidelines for ethical and trustworthy use of AI in education.

To achieve these objectives, we will involve stakeholders throughout the AI system’s life cycle, fostering training and education so that all stakeholders understand the issues in developing ethical and trustworthy approaches to the use of AI in education. We will also develop a supplement to the DigCompEDU Framework that describes the skills and competences of teachers and trainers related to AI in education.

We recognize that local knowledge and capacity are critical for the effective adoption and shaping of AIEd, and we will work to develop new scaling models. According to the Joint Research Centre (JRC), the EU needs a “clearing house” that helps teachers and policy-makers make sense of the fast developments in this area. Our project aims to address this need and contribute to the development of a high-performing digital education ecosystem that increasingly includes the use of AI at all levels, including for teaching and learning.

Aim of the project

The project aims to explore, promote and evaluate the use of AI for Adult Education and Vocational education and training, both the use for teaching and training and the curriculum needs of working with AI. The project also aims to support the development of new initiatives and projects using AI as a necessary step towards the mainstreaming of AI in education in Europe.

Added European value

The project will create a European network to supplement existing networks like Epale and the JRC community for DigCompEdu. It will develop a supplement to the DigCompEdu Framework and will support the development of policies for ethical use of AI in education that align with wider European policies. The project will contribute to the European Digital Education Action Plan.

Work package 1 of the project addresses the project management of the entire consortium as well as the evaluation of the project and its associated processes and impacts. The coordinator, ITB, will lead the project management process, while the project partner, Pontydysgu, will be responsible for the evaluation.
Quality assurance of the project will be provided by two committees consisting of designated individuals from the project consortium: Steering Committee and Quality Assurance and Evaluation Committee.
Furthermore, the participation of external stakeholders in the role of experts is foreseen, who will contribute feedback and advice to improve the results of the project. The participation of experts from outside the partnership will be ensured through the implementation of various events. such as workshops, focus groups and interviews, among others. The evaluation methods will thus be applied internally as well as externally, resulting in the following evaluation activities:
Evaluation of project meetings and processes
Annual evaluation reports of the whole project
Peer review and internal evaluation of project results
Evaluation of national and transnational workshops and webinars
Evaluation of the impact of the project

Work package 6 addresses the project dissemination, impact and exploitation strategies and activities.
The leading partner of WP6 is EDEN, while Active Citizens Partnership is responsible for developing and supporting the project website.
The designed project dissemination and exploitation strategy will help set the ground for mainstreaming and implementing the project results in other educational sectors, including policymakers, educational planners, and private and public organisations. Equally, it will contribute to engaging more participants in project activities and the sustainability of project results.
Participation in EU hubs, research events, conferences, expert discussions and similar will ensure that research results and analysis achieved throughout the project are spread among adult and VET education stakeholders in adapting trustworthy and ethical AI applications in their policies and practice and steer their progress towards AI-based innovation in education. In such a way, the project aims to strengthen the capacities of teachers, trainers, educational providers, planners and policymakers benefiting from the project’s results to make informed decisions about the use of AI.