Towards AI literacy and a collaborative exploration of AI in education

119 contributors across 22 countries share their perspectives on AI

In this guest post, Sandra Abegglen (University of Calgary), Chrissi Nerantzi (University of Leeds), Antonio Martínez-Arboleda (University of Leeds), Marianna Karatsiori (University of Macedonia), Javiera Antenas (University of Suffolk), and Chris Rowell (University of the Arts, London) share their thoughts on AI literacy in education. It goes on to consider two questions including how we define it and developing meaningful approaches to AI use in learning.

This piece builds on the release of their open, crowd sourced publication, Towards AI Literacy: 101+ Creative and Critical Practices, Perspectives and Purposes which I wrote about in June 2024 on GenAI Literacy: Insights and Perspectives.

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Photo by Solen Feyissa on Unsplash

We are thrilled to present “Towards AI Literacy”, the second open, crowdsourced collection from #creativeHE. This collection brings together 119 contributions from educators, researchers, and students across 22 countries, offering critical and creative perspectives on AI in education.

A Collective Exploration of AI in Education

Between September 2023 and January 2024, contributors shared their experiences, reflections, and experiments with AI – examining how it shapes learning, teaching, and digital literacy. From AI-enhanced pedagogy to ethical considerations, this collection exemplifies citizen science at its best, capturing the authentic voices of those actively engaging with AI in educational settings.

A Global Effort

Educators and students from Argentina, Australia, Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, China, Egypt, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Mexico, Netherlands, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, UAE, UK, and Uruguay have come together to share their insights and experiences.

Their contributions showcase the power of community-driven learning and innovation, offering practical AI education examples alongside deeper reflections on AI literacy.

Beyond Experimentation

This collection goes beyond merely experimenting with AI in learning and teaching; it fosters critical reflection, ethical inquiry, and forward-thinking exploration. While we celebrate the creativity and innovation that AI brings to education, at its core, this collection is about deep engagement with AI literacy – questioning what it means to teach and learn with AI today and in the future.

This raises essential questions:

1. How do we define and cultivate AI literacy in education?

2. How can we develop meaningful and ethical approaches to AI use in learning environments?

As Brian McGowan, Lecturer in Higher Education Practice at Ulster University, defines (pp.14–15):

“GenAI literacy is the capacity to engage effectively, reasonably, and ethically with generative artificial intelligence tools for use in learning and teaching activity.”

This literacy extends beyond technical proficiency - it involves the mind, body, and heart when incorporating AI into education. Alicja Syska, Learning Developer and Lecturer in Education History at the University of Plymouth, highlights the need for a “values-based literacy” (pp.16–17), one that acknowledges the broader social, cultural, and ethical dimensions of AI use in learning.

Anne-Marie Scott, Independent Education Consultant, further argues (pp. 20–21) that AI literacy must remain flexible, allowing room for continued experimentation, inquiry, and the consideration of alternative futures. While navigating these complexities may be challenging, we must engage with them head-on rather than shy away from the evolving role of AI in education.

This also means rethinking pedagogical approaches. Many contributors call for the development of a new ‘AI pedagogy’, or at the very least, a reconceptualisation of existing pedagogies to account for AI’s rapid advancements. AI is no longer just a tool – it is an evolving presence that reshapes traditional models of learning, teaching, and assessment. Moving forward, ongoing dialogue and collaboration among educators, students, researchers, and policymakers will be essential to exploring both the possibilities and limitations of AI in education.

Editors’ Reflection – and Outlook

Our collection aims at responding to the rapid spread of AI and the growing reliance on data in everyday life make it more important than ever to develop critical data and AI literacy, to help the HE sector understanding how these technologies work – and their social, ethical, and political impacts - helping individuals question, challenge, and even change the way they shape society. We saw crowdsourcing and collaborative learning as a powerful opportunity to co-create knowledge to develop these literacies through Open education practices, participatory research, and interdisciplinary teamwork provide opportunities for people to collectively explore the risks and possibilities of AI. For example, integrating real-world case studies into classrooms helps students critically engage with ethical dilemmas in AI, while collaborative workshops allow educators, researchers, and the public to discuss the impacts of data on different communities.

Our collections provide a series of creative and innovative practices to the HE sector in fostering critical data and AI literacy involving making learning creative, reflective, and action-driven.

Universities and educators play a crucial role by designing learning experiences that go beyond just technical skills. Encouraging educators to question AI-generated content, analyse the ethics of big data, and experiment with open-source AI tools builds a deeper understanding of these technologies. Likewise, designing assessments that focus on ethical and social implications - rather than just coding or data analysis – ensures that students think critically about the systems they interact with. Moreover, involving communities in discussions about data justice ensures that often-overlooked voices, particularly from marginalised groups, are heard. The goal is not just to train individuals in AI and data but to equip them with the tools to challenge inequalities and advocate for a more just digital future.

An Open Invitation to Explore and Build On

The collection is available under a Creative Commons License (CC-BY-NC-SA), making it freely accessible for anyone to use, adapt, and build upon for non-commercial purposes and share back with the community. We encourage readers to share any outcomes, projects, or research that emerge from engaging with this collection – helping to expand the conversation and deepen our understanding of AI’s evolving role in education.

Join the Conversation

We invite educators, researchers, and students to explore the collection, share their insights, and contribute their own experiences. Let’s continue to push the boundaries of AI literacy – creatively testing, reflecting, and innovating to support and inspire one another.

Download and Explore the AI Literacy collection here.

Acknowledgments

There are currently two open book publications available in this series. Please get in touch with Chrissi Nerantzi, the #creativeHE and project lead, at c.nerantzi@leeds.ac.uk if you would like to discuss any ideas linked in relation to this series. Thank you.

This initiative has been generously supported by the Imagination Lab Foundation through the Playful Hybrid Higher Education project, led by Sandra Abegglen at the University of Calgary’s School of Architecture, Planning, and Landscape.

References

Collection 01: Nerantzi, C., Abegglen, S., Karatsiori, M., &; Martínez-Arboleda, A. (Eds.). (2023). 101 Creative Ideas to use AI in Education, A Crowdsourced Collection. #creativeHE.

Collection 02: Abegglen, S., Nerantzi, C., Martínez-Arboleda, A., Karatsiori, M., Atenas, J., &; Rowell, C. (Eds.) (2024). Towards AI Literacy: 101+ Creative and Critical Practices, Perspectives and Purposes. #creativeHE.