A comparative analysis of pre-service teachers’ readiness for AI integration
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is impacting the way we teach and learn. However, there are still substantial barriers to the integration of AI in educational settings, as teachers often lack the necessary competences to understand and use AI for pedagogical purposes. Therefore, in the early stages of...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2025-06-01
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| Series: | Computers and Education: Artificial Intelligence |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666920X25000360 |
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| author | Margarida Lucas Pedro Bem-haja Yidi Zhang Carmen Llorente-Cejudo Antonio Palacios-Rodríguez |
| author_facet | Margarida Lucas Pedro Bem-haja Yidi Zhang Carmen Llorente-Cejudo Antonio Palacios-Rodríguez |
| author_sort | Margarida Lucas |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Artificial Intelligence (AI) is impacting the way we teach and learn. However, there are still substantial barriers to the integration of AI in educational settings, as teachers often lack the necessary competences to understand and use AI for pedagogical purposes. Therefore, in the early stages of teacher preparation, it is essential to assess the readiness of pre-service teachers for this transition in different initial teacher education (ITE) contexts. This study aims to investigate the readiness of pre-service teachers in Portugal and Spain to integrate AI into future teaching practices. To this end, a study was conducted with 203 pre-service teachers from both countries that compared results regarding different dimensions: trust in AI, knowledge of AI, digital competence and ITE training for AI. The study further examined the relations between these dimensions. The results showed no significant differences between the two countries for trust in AI, knowledge of AI and digital competence. Significant differences were observed for ITE training for AI, with the Spanish sample scoring higher. However, these differences were limited to the distinction between disagreement and neutrality, suggesting that pre-service teachers in both countries are not fully ready to integrate AI into their future teaching practices. The results also showed that ITE training for AI had almost no significant influence on both samples’ trust in AI, knowledge of AI and digital competence, suggesting that ITE in both countries are not integrating AI into their programmes. The study identifies aspects within ITE programmes that need to be reviewed to adequately qualify future teachers for AI readiness and provides practitioners, ITE providers and policy makers with insights to consider when updating ITE programmes. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-ec1c0021f9874193bc7e024ca2eb65a2 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2666-920X |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-06-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Computers and Education: Artificial Intelligence |
| spelling | doaj-art-ec1c0021f9874193bc7e024ca2eb65a22025-08-20T02:06:00ZengElsevierComputers and Education: Artificial Intelligence2666-920X2025-06-01810039610.1016/j.caeai.2025.100396A comparative analysis of pre-service teachers’ readiness for AI integrationMargarida Lucas0Pedro Bem-haja1Yidi Zhang2Carmen Llorente-Cejudo3Antonio Palacios-Rodríguez4University of Aveiro, Portugal, Laboratory of Digital Contents, The Research Centre on Didactics and Technology in the Education of Trainers (CIDTFF), Department of Education and Psychology Campus de Santiago, 3810-193, Aveiro, Portugal; Corresponding author.University of Aveiro, Center for Health Technology and Services Research (CINTESIS), Department of Education and Psychology, PortugalUniversity of Aveiro, Portugal, Laboratory of Digital Contents, The Research Centre on Didactics and Technology in the Education of Trainers (CIDTFF), Department of Education and Psychology Campus de Santiago, 3810-193, Aveiro, PortugalUniversity of Sevilla, Department of Didactics and Educational Organization, Faculty of Education Sciences, SpainUniversity of Sevilla, Department of Didactics and Educational Organization, Faculty of Education Sciences, SpainArtificial Intelligence (AI) is impacting the way we teach and learn. However, there are still substantial barriers to the integration of AI in educational settings, as teachers often lack the necessary competences to understand and use AI for pedagogical purposes. Therefore, in the early stages of teacher preparation, it is essential to assess the readiness of pre-service teachers for this transition in different initial teacher education (ITE) contexts. This study aims to investigate the readiness of pre-service teachers in Portugal and Spain to integrate AI into future teaching practices. To this end, a study was conducted with 203 pre-service teachers from both countries that compared results regarding different dimensions: trust in AI, knowledge of AI, digital competence and ITE training for AI. The study further examined the relations between these dimensions. The results showed no significant differences between the two countries for trust in AI, knowledge of AI and digital competence. Significant differences were observed for ITE training for AI, with the Spanish sample scoring higher. However, these differences were limited to the distinction between disagreement and neutrality, suggesting that pre-service teachers in both countries are not fully ready to integrate AI into their future teaching practices. The results also showed that ITE training for AI had almost no significant influence on both samples’ trust in AI, knowledge of AI and digital competence, suggesting that ITE in both countries are not integrating AI into their programmes. The study identifies aspects within ITE programmes that need to be reviewed to adequately qualify future teachers for AI readiness and provides practitioners, ITE providers and policy makers with insights to consider when updating ITE programmes.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666920X25000360Teacher educationArtificial intelligenceDigital competencePreparednessEducational technology |
| spellingShingle | Margarida Lucas Pedro Bem-haja Yidi Zhang Carmen Llorente-Cejudo Antonio Palacios-Rodríguez A comparative analysis of pre-service teachers’ readiness for AI integration Computers and Education: Artificial Intelligence Teacher education Artificial intelligence Digital competence Preparedness Educational technology |
| title | A comparative analysis of pre-service teachers’ readiness for AI integration |
| title_full | A comparative analysis of pre-service teachers’ readiness for AI integration |
| title_fullStr | A comparative analysis of pre-service teachers’ readiness for AI integration |
| title_full_unstemmed | A comparative analysis of pre-service teachers’ readiness for AI integration |
| title_short | A comparative analysis of pre-service teachers’ readiness for AI integration |
| title_sort | comparative analysis of pre service teachers readiness for ai integration |
| topic | Teacher education Artificial intelligence Digital competence Preparedness Educational technology |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666920X25000360 |
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