Angela N. Castro; Brayan Díaz; Cristhian Aguilera; Montserrat Prat; David Chávez-Herting
Resumen
This research investigates the challenges and opportunities rural elementary
teachers perceive in using AI as a pedagogical tool to support student learning in rural
schools. Using a convergent parallel mixed methods approach, we analyzed the responses
from 45 rural teachers who participated in professional development on AI integration in
rural education. Through both closed-ended and open-ended survey responses, we employed an adaptation of the TPACK framework (I-TPACK) and the AI literacy framework
proposed by UNESCO to identify the primary challenges and opportunities in utilizing AI
for pedagogical purposes in rural education. The results highlight resource accessibility
and teacher professional development as critical challenges and opportunities to reduce
the digital divide in rural communities. Teachers see the inclusion of AI as an opportunity
to personalize learning, reduce workload, and facilitate teaching in multigrade classrooms
without perceiving it as a job threat. At the same time, they emphasize the need for technological and didactic resources aligned with the specific characteristics of their contexts, such
as offline resources and adaptable AI curricula to address the prevalent issue of limited or
absent internet connectivity in many rural schools.
Keywords: artificial intelligence; rural education; multigrade; access and opportunities