Schools use AI for reading, literary learning and writing (SKILLS)
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Fachdidaktik Deutsch / Forschung  / Schools use AI for reading, literary learning and writing (SKILLS)

Schools use AI for reading, literary learning and writing (SKILLS)

Project background:
Basic skills, especially (basic) reading and writing skills, are fundamental abilities and are an indispensable requirement for successful participation in education and society (Baumert et al., 2001; Becker-Mrotzek et al., 2019). Weaknesses in these areas are not only a threat to the learning success of individual learners, but ultimately also to economic growth and cultural capital, as well as to our democracy, if, for example, fake news cannot be recognized (cf. Philipp et al., 2021). Recent studies show that in Germany, at least 20% of fourth graders consistently fail to meet minimum standards in reading and writing (cf. Wittig & Schneider, 2022; Philipp, 2015; Schilcher et al., 2023).
The use of artificial intelligence (AI) such as ChatGPT promises to offer a solution to this problem (e.g., Aravantinos et al., 2024; Bano & Mehdi, 2024; Omae et al., 2023): It potentially enables personalized, individualized learning (Iyer et al., 2023; Zekaj, 2023; Zhang & Tur, 2023), is available at any time (Gero et al., 2023), and offers at least average results when it comes to pattern recognition or typical expressions (Müller & Fürstenberg, 2023). Despite some requirements and challenges (e.g., Karan & Angadi, 2023; Albadarin et al., 2023; Jeon et al., 2023), the assessment that a reflective, guided, and accompanied use of AI at the level of teachers and learners in elementary schools has far-reaching potential is widespread and accepted in the research discourse—however, studies that provide empirical evidence in this regard are still pending (Bano & Mehdi, 2024).

Target group:
The project “Schools Use AI for Reading, Literary Learning and Writing” (SKILLS) is aimed at elementary school teachers who teach German as a first language (L1). In the discourse on the potential of AI for the education system, the possibility of supporting teachers in numerous areas relevant to teaching is always emphasized (Jensen et al., 2024; Trust et al., 2023; Zhang & Tur, 2023). It is assumed that AI applications can support teachers in the overall planning of lessons and lesson content (da Silva & Glaab, 2023; Trust et al., 2023). At the same time, the project also targets the primary school students, who are expected to benefit from their teachers‘ use of AI support in the form of growing skills in basic competences.

Project objectives:
The central idea of the project is to develop, test, and evaluate teaching methods that combine the promotion of basic skills with the use of AI in primary school education. The aim is to establish a school and teaching development program in elementary schools that enables learners to make individualized learning progress in acquiring basic reading and writing skills by using generative AI. The aim is not to replace traditional teaching and learning concepts or to undermine the role of the teacher in the classroom. Rather, by reducing their workload and providing them with resources, teachers should once again be able to focus their daily work on social interaction with students and supporting their learning progress.
Specifically, the project pursues the following goals, which are to be achieved through cooperation between committed project schools in several federal states in Germany and administrative districts, experienced school assistants, and the chair of teaching German at the University of Jena:

    • development of teacher training courses that integrate skills related to German teaching and AI-related skills to relieve teachers through AI-supported methods; furthermore, this is supposed to preserve their resources for initiating learning-promoting interactions with learners;
    • accompanied testing of the acquired knowledge to enable primary school students to expand their basic reading and writing skills through AI-supported methods;
    • measurement of the effects of testing;
    • sustainable anchoring of training gains through media-related school development so that schools can evolve into places of learning that enable contemporary teaching and learning; moreover, it is supposed to prepare learners for a self-determined life in a culture of digitality;
    • networking of teachers and schools with the aim of exchanging experiences.


Project participants:

  • Dr. des. Gerrit Helm, project manager and contact person
  • Dr. Florian Hesse, project manager
  • Aneta Wichers, staff member
  • for the Pacemaker Initiative: Carolin Arnold and Julia Soeffner


Project sponsors:

  • Auridis Stiftung
  • Victor Rolff-Stiftung


Sources:

  • Albadarin, Y., Saqr, M., Pope, N., & Tukiainen, M. (2023). A Systematic Literature Review of Empirical Research on ChatGPT in Education. https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.21598.82245
  • Aravantinos, S., Lavidas, K., Voulgari, I., Papadakis, S., Karalis, T., & Komis, V. (2024). Educational Approaches with AΙ in Primary School Settings: A Systematic Review of the Literature Available in Scopus. Education Sciences, 14(7), 744. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci14070744
  • Bano, S., & Mehdi, S. A. (2024). Systematic Review: Generative Artificial Intelligence (GAI) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Learning in Elementary and Secondary Schools. Pakistan Social Science Review, 8(4), 209–219.
  • Baumert, J., Klieme, E., Neubrand, M., Prenzel, M., Schiefele, U., Schneider, W., Stanat, P., Tillmann, K.-J., & Weiß, M. (Hrsg.). (2001). PISA 2000: Basiskompetenzen von Schülerinnen und Schülern im internationalen Vergleich. Leske + Budrich.
  • Becker-Mrotzek, M., Lindauer, T., Pfost, M., Weis, M., Strohmaier, A., Reiss, K., Reiss, K., Weis, M., Klieme, E., & Köller, O. (2019). Lesekompetenz heute—Eine Schlüsselqualifikation im Wandel. In PISA 2018. Grundbildung im internationalen Vergleich (S. 21–46). Waxmann.
  • da Silva, A., & Glaab, T. (2023). ChatGPT als Ressource von Unterrichtsvorbereitung? Explorationen zu KI-basierten Outputs mit Blick auf language awareness. https://opus.bibliothek.uni-augsburg.de/opus4/frontdoor/index/index/docId/108138
  • Gero, K. I., Long, T., & Chilton, L. B. (2023). Social Dynamics of AI Support in Creative Writing. Proceedings of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1145/3544548.3580782
  • Iyer, L. S., Chakraborty, T., Reddy, K. N., Jyothish, K., & Krishnaswami, M. (2023). AI-Assisted Models for Dyslexia and Dysgraphia: Revolutionizing Language Learning for Children. In A. Kumar, A. Nayyar, R. K. Sachan, & R. Jain (Hrsg.), Advances in Educational Technologies and Instructional Design (S. 186–207). IGI Global. https://doi.org/10.4018/979-8-3693-0378-8.ch008
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  • Karan, B., & Angadi, G. R. (2023). Potential Risks of Artificial Intelligence Integration into School Education: A Systematic Review. Bulletin of Science, Technology & Society, 43(3–4), 67–85. https://doi.org/10.1177/02704676231224705
  • Köller, O., Thiel, F., van Ackeren-Mindl, I., Anders, Y., Becker-Mrotzek, M., Cress, U., Diehl, C., Kleickmann, T., Lütje-Klose, B., Prediger, S., Seeber, S., Ziegler, B., Lewalter, D., Maaz, K., Reintjes, C., & Stanat, P. (2024). Large Language Models und ihre Potenziale im Bildungssystem. Impulspapier der Ständigen Wissenschaftlichen Kommission der Kultusministerkonferenz. 31 pages. https://doi.org/10.25656/01:28303
  • Kultusministerkonferenz. (2024). Handlungsempfehlung für die Bildungsverwaltung zum Umgang mit Künstlicher Intelligenz in schulischen Bildungsprozessen. Kultusministerkonferenz.
  • Müller, H.-G., & Fürstenberg, M. (2023). Der Sprachgebrauchsautomat. Die Funktionsweise von GPT und ihre Folgen für Germanistik und Deutschdidaktik. Mitteilungen des Deutschen Germanistenverbandes, 70(4), Article 4. https://doi.org/10.14220/mdge.2023.70.4.327
  • Omae, Y., Furuya, T., Matsushita, M., Mizukoshi, K., Yatsushiro, K., & Takahashi, H. (2023). Artificial Intelligence Education in an Elementary School and Its Evaluation by Career Development, Motivation and Rubrics. Information and Technology in Education and Learning, 3(1), Trans-p002-Trans-p002. https://doi.org/10.12937/itel.3.1.Trans.p002
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  • Schilcher, A., Glondys, M., & Wild, J. (2023). Leseunterricht in den Grundschulen in Deutschland. In N. McElvany, R. Lorenz, A. Frey, F. Goldhammer, A. Schilcher, & T. C. Stubbe (Hrsg.), IGLU 2021. Lesekompetenz von Grundschulkindern im internationalen Vergleich und im Trend über 20 Jahre (S. 179–196). Waxmann.
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