<< Background >>The vision for the Artificial Intelligence: Methodology 4 Quality Education project (AIM4) is to create SUSTAINABLE AND SCALABLE METHODOLOGIES to extend the learning, capabilities and achievements of students, and develop INNOVATIVE TEACHING PRACTICES that will embed 21st century approaches in the classroom. This will involve equipping teachers with the knowledge, skills and motivation to introduce innovative AI-based digital methodologies into classroom teaching practice, as well as encourage core life skills in students, including critical thinking skills, decision making and communication.This is especially important given that the 2020 EC Digital Education Action Plan consultation found that:- almost 60% of the respondents had not used distance and online learning before the crisis;- 95% consider that the COVID-19 crisis marks a point of no return for how technology is used in education and training;- respondents say that online learning resources and content need to be more relevant, interactive and easy to use.Our target groups are teachers and students in early secondary education, from grades 7 - 9 (11 to 14 years old). This is a crucial point of education, when students move from general and comprehensive curricula of primary education, to the specific requirements of secondary curricula. At the same time, students of this age are expected to broaden their key skills in the areas of decision-making, communication and critical analysis. This necessarily creates challenges to broad and balanced educational impacts. The project will focus on ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, which offers significant potential within schools education: if used wisely and if it serves the needs of educators. To achieve this it is important that educators are in the driver’s seat when it comes to designing and developing AI-based systems: the purpose of the AIM4 project is to provide teachers and school leaders with a critical role in defining a clear purpose for AI in the classroom, and to be trained to understand and utilize it effectively. Students will also be involved in decisions about the use of these technologies and encouraged to reflect and debate about the ethical and moral issues that accompany their use.The AIM4 project will provide training and professional development to teachers in order to support the embedding of digital approaches (adaptive learning) in the classroom. The teachers will then be provided with a new, bespoke and state of-art AI-based adaptive learning module, to roll out across 2 classes (per school) in grades 7-9. Practice will be observed, evidence gathered and evaluated, so that at the end of the project in Year 3, the project will produce the final AIM4Quality education report and framework, highlighting the areas of readiness, resilience and capacity, from the school perspective.The project results are expected to break new ground in the evidencing of the ways in which classroom teaching methodologies can be innovated with well-considered introduction of adaptive learning technologies. These project results could potentially create impacts across the EU and beyond, and it is intended to disseminate the AIM4 Quality Education report and framework through trans-national channels.The AIM4 Quality Education project has a TESTBED of four schools across four countries who will be collaborating on the implementation and adoption of the innovative AI-based module and sharing knowledge and experience. One key objective of the project is to develop awareness in students of the ethical and moral dimensions of using AI technologies, which will involve them investigating ethical issues such as racial bias in automated systems such as facial recognition. The students will be encouraged to record their observances and thoughts in 'digital scrap books', which will be collected, edited and presented at the close of the project as an output, with dissemination through key EU channels<< Objectives >>The overarching objective of the AIM 4 project is to: DEVELOP INNOVATIVE PRACTICE FOR TEACHERS IN USING AI-BASED ADAPTIVE LEARNING APPROACHES IN THE CLASSROOM.The specific project objectives are to: 1.Develop a methodology and teaching framework for implementing Adaptive Learning approaches in teaching and learning; 2.Identify core competencies necessary to adopt innovative digital approaches in teaching; 3.Foster core 21st century digital and life skills in students; 4.Develop awareness in students of the ethical and moral dimensions of using AI technologies; 5. Foster collaborative practice, peer-review and exchange of good practice using the collaborative platform. Using Artificial Intelligence within a Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (STEAM) approach, AIM4 will provide students and their teachers with an AI-BASED LEARNING MODULE, which will serve two objectives:- to adjust the learning routes for each student so they can progress at their own pace.- to provide teachers with learning dashboards and other tools which can help them differentiate all of their students. These individualized paths are made possible through the interconnection of two research fields: cognitive science, which studies how children's brains learn basic knowledge, and artificial intelligence.<< Implementation >>The TEACHER-TRAINING PROGRAMME will involve engaging the teacher cohort and establish focus groups, and channels of engagement (through the collaborative 'Meet and Learn' platform. We will assess current levels of knowledge, skills and competencies, together with gap analysis of knowledge requirements. Identify target skills and competency requirements / upskilling trajectory in the context of AI and adaptive learning, target key roles, define learning objectives and desired outcomes. The training programme will be designed and constructed according to instructional design methodologies based on learner-driven, constructivist approaches, focussing on learning as an active, iterative and problem-based process, with components focussed specifically on developing mastery of the AI adaptive learning module at the core of the project. The programme will be delivered through e-learning and other support materials on the Meet and Learn platform, together with regular mentoring and online support sessions. AI-BASED ADAPTIVE LEARNING ACTIVITIES will be developed specifically for this project and will make it possible to allocate to each student, activity after activity, the most pertinent set of exercises the child needs to unlock or deepen his learning. The ‘cognitive’ approach to learning means that activities will be provided to students with the aim of gathering information on the precise understanding that a student has of the subject (Artificial Intelligence). This data is then used to target a student's shortcomings and strengths and provide them with content that is truly suitable for their current level of understanding.COLLABORATIVE LEARNING: Throughout the project, knowledge and good practice will be shared and peer-reviewed through online collaboration channels, virtual and real meet-ups and events. The central collaborative tool will be the 'MEET & LEARN' platform, a central platform dedicated to communication, collaboration, knowledge sharing and peer-review among the project participants.EVALUATION: Results and outcomes will be MEASURED AND EVALUATED, with data and evidence gathered from project participants: the teachers and students. Our Academic experts from The Techné Research Unit of University of Poitiers will coordinate the evidential analysis and creation of a teaching framework and tools that will be tested and released to all the European schools after the pilot phase, co-financed by the European Commission, making this project an example of transferrable and scalable strategic partnership.RECORDING EVIDENCE: Tangible outcomes will be prepared by the project participant schools, overseen by the expert academic team at the University of Poitiers, and will include reflective practice by teachers, in the TEACHER REFLECTIVE JOURNALS, recording of experiences and activities by the students in the STUDENTS DIGITAL SCRAPBOOKS. TRANSNATIONAL PROJECT MEETINGS will typically cover one-and-a-half to two days, to allow sufficient time to cover all elements of the project plan, and allow partners to feedback into the process. The meetings will be structured according to an agenda including the following items: - discuss project progress, - review success metrics- review operational activites- assess quality benchmarks- review risks and issues logs, with nitigation if necessary- assess technical elements of the project (web platform, AI module etc)The meetings will be hosted by the project partners on a rotational basis in order to optimize the culture of cooperation and to allow the partners to discover the work environment of their colleagues.A clear project plan will be created at the project inception stage, incorporating clear roles and responsibilities, a project schedule, critical path planning and significant milestones, together with a breakdown of project results and dependent tasks. It will include quality management, risk assessment, progress tracking and performance monitoring.<< Results >>YEAR 1Year 1 will involve the kick-off meeting and the first organizational and management meetings.PROJECT RESULT 1 – AI-FOCUSSED E-LEARNING MATERIALSThis will involve the pilot team of 16 teachers, providing them with in-depth training on the topics of Artificial Intelligence and providing professional development on the incorporation of adaptive learning approaches into classroom pedagogy. Through the “learn” section of the Meet and Learn web platform the teachers will have access to eLearning materials, advice and support and (PR1), which will be clearly structured and fully tracked by the platform monitoring utility. PROJECT RESULT 2 – MEET & LEARN PLATFORMThis will enable the different participants to meet, communicate, peer-review and exchange knowledge and good practice, (thanks to the “Meet” features) as well as undertake learning activities (thanks to the “Learn” functionalities). The platform will be available to external stakeholders to access RESULTS beyond the end of the project. PROJECT RESULT 3 – ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE-BASED ADAPTIVE LEARNING MODULEA bespoke and unique AI application that will be used by the AIM4 teachers in their classrooms. The module will develop activities on the identification of skills underlying computing, algorithmic thinking and artificial intelligence. Students will be encouraged to use critical thinking skills to identify ethical issues such as bias in AI. Through dashboards (data collection, clustering and analytics), teachers will have complete insight into students understanding and progress, and a comprehensive tool to support differentiation and intervention.YEAR 2During the second year of the project the student cohorts will be inducted and the teachers will deliver the learning pathways according to the Training Programme from Year 1.Impact evaluation: learning outcomes and evidence of impact on classroom pedagogy will be now tested on the classes, using input and guidance from the Academic and Research partners. Reporting will be delivered in the following formats:PROJECT RESULT 4 – TEACHERS’ REFLECTIVE JOURNALSThese will be digital logs/portfolios, which will enable the teachers to record their observations, evidence and experiences while using the AI module in the classroom. The Digital Journals will be a core element of the teachers reflective practice, that will enable critical evaluation of the adaptive learning module, and provide the evidence necessary to compile the summary report and guidelines.PROJECT RESULT 5 - STUDENTS’ DIGITAL SCRAP BOOKSThe Digital Scrapbooks are portfolios of evidence that the students from the four participating countries will collect over the lifetime of the project to record and reflect on the experience of using the AI-based digital module in the classroom. Students will be able to express themselves through video, poken word, design, coding, or creative writing, media that are easy to embed into a digital log.YEAR 3PROJECT RESULT 6 - AIM GUIDELINES 4 QUALITY EDUCATIONThe final year will see the production of the summary report: the teachers will be involved in a mobility experience that will be aimed at editing and producing the official “AIM Guidelines 4 Quality Education”. This will be the project summary report and recommendations, a publication that will collect together relevant parts of the Essays and White Books, together with analysis and insight from the academic and research partners. It will contain formal recommendations for a potential competency framework focussing on teaching with Intelligent technologies.DISSEMINATION AND AWARENESS RAISING: The report will be forwarded through EC channels (eg ERASMUS , EUN, Europa) to form the basis of future development phases and possible ratification as a European standard. EVENTS: A representative body of the students will participate in a webinar based keynote, where they will present the outcomes of their participation to other EU schools