Keywords

Introduction

A major challenge in the societal integration of artificial intelligence (AI) is the move towards greater inclusion of vulnerable populations and the equitable distribution of its potential benefits (Chauhan & Kshetri, 2022; Stypinska, 2023). This chapter presents the avenues explored in this direction by the Scientotheque, an association rooted in Brussels that has been working for 20 years to ensure the accessibility of new technologies to marginalised populations. This chapter describes the educational systems put in place since 2020 aimed at training teachers on the uses of AI in educational settings as well as feedback from AI workshops carried out with young people from disadvantaged backgrounds. Beyond the training and outreach activities described here, this chapter aims to illustrate the importance of the associative network in the creation of innovative educational resources and in the reduction of the digital divide (Kitsara, 2022).

Equal Opportunity Through Science

The Scientotheque is a non-profit association based in the Experimentarium, Physics Museum of the Free University of Brussels. Two realities led to the establishment of the association: the increased risk of attrition and the limited accessibility to higher education for young people from precarious backgrounds (Coslin, 2012) and the underrepresentation of females in STEM-related subjects and careers. Considering that attracting girls to scientific or technological projects can prove challenging (Blanchard, 2021), the inclusion of AI-related activities in a school environment serves as a method of counteracting gender bias (Ahn et al., 2022; Sartori et al., 2023). Since its foundation in 2001, its primary mission has focused on reducing social inequalities.

The main objective of the association is to support young people aged 4–20 during school and extracurricular experimentation workshops where science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics (STEAM) come together in a multidisciplinary approach. With this objective in mind, the Scientotheque also provides pedagogical training to teachers and support staff on the integration of digital tools within academic environments. More recently, the COVID health crisis has had a “magnifying effect” on social inequalities, and therefore on the phenomenon of the “digital divide” (Fenoglio, 2021; Lucas, 2020). In response to the growing importance of digital literacy, the Scientotheque has prioritised digital activities, which have become a central component in the workshops and initiatives conducted by the library.

The motto of the Scientotheque is “equal opportunity through science”. This specificity is intentional and aligns with the association’s mission of promoting STEAM activities and fighting against social, cultural and gender discrimination in schools. The approach of the Scientotheque consists of fighting against school attrition and social inequalities, the two being linked, by offering STEAM activities to young people utilising a multidisciplinary approach.

With the growth of its expertise and the increasing visibility of its projects, the Scientotheque has frequently been called upon by education professionals, including teachers and association actors in Brussels, seeking the organisation’s leadership in conducting STEAMFootnote 1 workshops, developing educational resources, and providing professional training. Through these actions, the organisation seeks to support and empower students and educators through the development of collaborative learning ecosystems.

Collaborations and Projects

The Scientotheque’s main partners in Belgium are the Marguerite Yourcenar school in Laeken, the Ursulines Institute and the Victoria Sports Centre in Koekelberg, the Saint-Charles Institute in Molenbeek and the Escale School in Woluwe-Saint-Lambert. The Scientotheque was also a partner in the Fablab Mobile BrusselsFootnote 2 project, which brought together a number of fablabs and other technology and creation initiatives in Brussels. One of the outcomes of this project was FabULaB'Kid which provided workshops aimed at introducing students to fablab environments as well as the specialised tools typically found therein. The Scientotheque is also involved in developing innovative teacher support systems through partnerships with a number of European projects including: the Computer Learning Community (CAI) projectFootnote 3 which seeks to empower teachers by creating collaborative spaces for the co-construction and exchange of resources, the European Space Education Resource Office (ESERO) Belgium projectFootnote 4 which seeks to highlight and promote STEM skills through the use of space themes and finally the European project Dexterlab,Footnote 5 a collaboration consisting of universities in France, Greece, Spain, and Belgium, which produces a catalogue of experimental science activities based on the do-it-yourself nature of the Maker community (Nikou, 2023; Norouzi et al., 2023).

The Scientotheque Library's Educational Approach to AI

With 20 years of experience in STEAM pedagogy and, more specifically, 8 years in the development of activities related to programming and Fablabs, the Scientotheque has recently chosen to develop educational projects around the theme of AI for young people aged 8–18. The two main axes guiding the association's actions in the field of AI education are as follows: providing young people with the tools to develop their critical thinking and ethical reflection on its use, and supporting teachers in the discovery and  transmission of digital culture and its appropriation.

The Scientotheque methodology approaches the theme of AI through the lens of the project's pedagogy. The activities are designed with a focus on experimentation, while encouraging the participation of young people in the process of creation and understanding, and collaboration. The skills and knowledge developed through this approach are considered by Papert and Harel (1991) to have better integration and transferability. Moreover, project-based learning supports a higher engagement in the activities developed in the Scientotheque.

A Catalogue of Educational Resources on AI

In 2020, an initial review of educational resources on AI was carried out relating to both ethical and technical learning. This catalogue has made it possible to gather and structure, within a database, the resources already developed by different organisations in order to draw up a state-of-the-art in this field. The resulting catalogue, listing more than 200 educational sources and sites of interest, has been made available under a Creative Commons BY-SA licence and in a collaborative publishing format.Footnote 6

From this catalogue, a complete set of pedagogical scenarios has been developed for teachers working with pupils aged 8–14. For example, one “unplugged” activity aims to discover the inventions that have marked the history of AI through a card game, while another identifies AI’s links to biological intelligence through experimentation. Some involve the programming of Thymio robotsFootnote 7 or using the Scratch software, while others target ethical aspects encouraging debate on the consequences of AI’s impact on society. These educational materials have been designed by La Scientotheque or were taken and adapted from previously identified free resources and made available online.Footnote 8 One of the advantages of these activities is their modular nature making it possible to follow the order suggested by the program or to compose a course adapted to one’s specific needs by selecting all or part of the available educational activities.

Teacher Support

Following the theories of constructivist pedagogy in the Piagetian tradition (Piaget, 1998) and andragogy (Knowles et al., 2014), adult learning is increasingly seen as self-directed, even self-determined. Nowadays, theoretical developments in the field of pedagogy increasingly emphasise the proactive role of the adult learner as exemplified by the rapidly evolving digital technologies that require a constant back-and-forth between learning skills and applying them. Fortunately, these digital technologies also give us individual access to a panoply of learning tools, which facilitates the role of individual choice in professional development.

It was found that the impact of training was less when it was not followed by support in the field. Indeed, once in class, the teacher finds himself or herself alone, faced with an activity that he or she does not feel he or she has mastered. As such, outreach activities carried out by external contributors present a specific interest not only for learners, but for teachers as well. Much like the pillars of support we put in place for our students, we need a system that facilitates the implementation of new pedagogical strategies for our professional educators. Perhaps by connecting teachers and outside non-profit organisations, we can create a network in which members can interact, collaborate, and continue to learn.

Training for teachers only has a significant and lasting impact if it is accompanied by support and opportunities for exchange within collaborative networks. The Scientotheque develops such monitoring and networking mechanisms including hotlines, resource co-creation spaces, conferences, and networking via sharing groups.

In order to enrich the traditional process of in-service training and drawing inspiration from the pedagogical developments mentioned above, the Scientotheque is developing a set of devices for the training of teachers in AI. In particular, it has created programs to support the implementation of STEAM resources in classes and organised scientific conferences on AI themes. Teachers have also been put in contact with doctoral students or scientists in the field of AI. Finally, the Scientotheque pilots inter-teacher collaboration networks on platforms such as the CAI platform and Facebook groups.

Learning Activities for Better Understanding of AI in Education

A selection of activities was offered to two groups of young people aged 10–12 during the 2020–2021 school year during weekly extracurricular workshops at the Ursuline Institute in Koekelberg. This project, funded by the Brussels-Capital Region, aimed to reduce the school dropout rate for students living in disadvantaged neighbourhoods. Throughout the sessions, the young people were able to discover the history of machines, establish links with biological intelligence, understand the use of algorithms, observe and program Thymio robots using the Scratch platform, and discuss the consequences of AI on society. Over time, they have had the opportunity to approach different scientific disciplines through the lens of the scientific approach: formulating questions, creating and evaluating hypotheses in collaboration with others, testing those hypotheses, and providing feedback on the process. Through this process, students were required to utilise scientific and mathematical knowledge, including algorithmic logic, understanding the biology of the brain and nervous system, software programming, and robotics. They also applied the principle of reinforcement learning and ethics.

The experimental dimension of these activities allowed students to understand abstract concepts, which would otherwise be considered too complex for their age. By demystifying what AI is through “unplugged activities” or games, young people have access to tools that allow them to reflect critically on the technology. They become better equipped to understand their agency when leveraging AI tools and to acknowledge the often unseen, yet tangible, presence of the technology in their daily, digital lives. The collaborative nature of these activities also encourages students to consider alternative perspectives, be it collectively solving a problem or by participating in group games or debates (e.g. playing a labyrinth game that was used to reinforce the Q-learning model).

Finally, students were encouraged to make short group videos, in the format of interviews, testimonials, and scientific conferences, to share their learnings from the activities. This exercise allowed the participants to consolidate their knowledge, tap into their creativity, and improve their public speaking skills. Students exhibited both excitement and pride in sharing these videos with peers, teachers, and family members, which was captured in a final project video available on the ScientothequeFootnote 9 YouTube channel. An evaluation with the young people at the end of the year confirmed that they had enjoyed participating in the workshops. They unanimously expressed that they had enjoyed the activities and had learned a great deal. The students showed genuine enthusiasm for the activities on offer, whether “unplugged” or through the use of a computer or other technological device. The testimonials collected serve as a good indicator that the intended educational objective, namely to give meaning and interest to scientific and mathematical subjects in an engaging and fun way, had been achieved: “I really liked when we played the binary language domino game”, “I learned that we could do subjects that we don't necessarily like while playing, it was cool!”, “I now know what an algorithm is” or “AI is actually maths”.

Perspectives

The initiatives in the creation of educational resources, workshops, and training on AI presented in this chapter were born from two main needs. The first is the growing need for AI education, especially for young audiences, as evidenced by recent reports on the subject from UNESCO (2021) or the European Commission (Tuomi, 2018). This education aims to enable young people to acquire and develop a solid understanding of AI: what it is, how it works, and how it is likely to influence their lives, while ensuring that it does not deepen existing inequalities.

The second is the need to create these resources and integrate them into educational programs. Indeed, with AI technology being a relatively new topic for Belgian schools (Collard et al., 2021), there are still few initiatives to define competency frameworks and the associated curricula for young audiences. UNESCO (2022) provides an overview of international AI initiatives, which serves to highlight the lag in adoption by French-speaking and Dutch-speaking countries compared to other regions of the world that already offer these types of educational programs.

In this context, the systems implemented by La Scientothèque turn out to be among the first concrete initiatives on the subject in Belgium. Our approach has thus been recognised at the federal level by the Ministry of Strategy and Support, with the recent support of a new project with a broader ambition: AI4InclusiveEducation.Footnote 10 This project, coordinated by the Scientotheque Library and involving a consortium of associations and universities, aims to develop educational content introducing AI, programming, data management, and robotics, in both French and Dutch, This educational content will be presented, optimised, and finally validated by partner associations and in educational networks, before being made available through open access to French- and Dutch-speaking educators.