Skip to main content

Agency in AI and Education Policy: European Resolution Three on Harnessing the Potential for AI in and Through Education

  • Conference paper
  • First Online:
Artificial Intelligence in Education (AIED 2024)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNAI,volume 14830))

Included in the following conference series:

  • 948 Accesses

Abstract

Student agency is a key educational goal increasingly being impacted by Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems integrated into the human learning process. In September 2023, the Ministers responsible for education decided to develop two policy instruments to regulate AI in education, setting teacher and learner agency as a policy goal. To examine how agency for AI regulation in the Europe is understood in policy discourse, I conducted an inductive content analysis of the documents that serve as a basis for these policy instruments. Using documents referred to in Resolution Three on Harnessing the Potential for AI in and through Education as the basis for analysis, five main areas of agency implementation were identified: ethics, AI literacy, regulations, pedagogy, and the capacity to exercise rights and attributes within each field. Key findings, three strains for agency, can guide policymakers and educational practitioners to define actors’ roles and responsibility when using AI in the classroom. Different areas of implementation and attributes of agency exist, which will likely guide decision-making and design of policy instruments to assess and ensure agency when AI is employed in an educational context.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 89.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 79.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  1. Bradford, A.: Digital empires: the global battle to regulate technology. Oxford University Press, New York (2023)

    Book  Google Scholar 

  2. OECD: The state of implementation of the OECD AI Principles four years on (2023)

    Google Scholar 

  3. Council of Europe Standing Conference of Ministers of Education: Council of Europe Standing Conference of Ministers of Education “The Transformative Power of Education: Universal Values and Civic Renewal” 26th Session Resolutions. https://rm.coe.int/resolutions-26th-session-council-of-europe-standing-conference-of-mini/1680abee7f

  4. Brod, G., Kucirkova, N., Shepherd, J., Jolles, D., Molenaar, I.: Agency in educational technology: interdisciplinary perspectives and implications for learning design. Educ. Psychol. Rev. 35, 25 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-023-09749-x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Tuomi, I., Cachia, R., Villar-Onrubia, D.: On the futures of technology in education: emerging trends and policy implications. Publications Office of the European Union, LU (2023)

    Google Scholar 

  6. Klemenčič, M.: From student engagement to student agency: conceptual considerations of european policies on student-centered learning in higher education. High. Educ. Policy. 30, 69–85 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41307-016-0034-4

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Drezner, D.W.: The New Empires of the Internet Age. https://foreignpolicy.com/2024/04/20/internet-power-us-china-eu-farrell-newman-bradford-book-review/

  8. Holmes, W., Persson, J., Chounta, I.-A., Wasson, B., Dimitrova, V.: Artificial intelligence and education: a critical view through the lens of human rights, democracy and the rule of law. Council of Europe, Strasbourg (2022)

    Google Scholar 

  9. Puppis, M.: Analyzing Talk and Text I: Qualitative Content Analysis. In: Van Den Bulck, H., Puppis, M., Donders, K., Van Audenhove, L. (eds.) The Palgrave Handbook of Methods for Media Policy Research, pp. 367–384. Springer, Cham (2019)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  10. Hall, D.M., Steiner, R.: Policy content analysis: qualitative method for analyzing sub-national insect pollinator legislation. MethodsX. 7, 100787 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mex.2020.100787

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Committee on Artificial Intelligence: Draft Framework Convention on Artificial Intelligence, Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law. https://rm.coe.int/cai-2023-28-draft-framework-convention/1680ade043

  12. UNESCO: Recommendation on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence. UNESCO, Paris, France (2022)

    Google Scholar 

  13. European Commission: Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council Laying down Harmonised rules on Artificial Intelligence (Artificial Intelligence Act) and Amending Certain Union Legislative Acts COM/2021/206 final. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:52021PC0206

  14. European Parliament: Amendments adopted by the European Parliament on 14 June 2023 on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on laying down harmonised rules on artificial intelligence (Artificial Intelligence Act) and amending certain Union legislative acts (COM(2021)0206 — C9-0146/2021 — 2021/0106(COD)). https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/C/2024/506/oj

  15. Council of Europe: Children’s Data Protection in an Educational Setting Guidelines. https://rm.coe.int/prems-001721-gbr-2051-convention-108-txt-a5-web-web-9/1680a9c562

  16. Rotenberg, M.: Last week, the revised definition of “Artificial Intelligence system” was released by the OECD. https://www.linkedin.com/posts/marc-rotenberg_the-uncontroversial-thingness-of-ai-lucy-activity-7130205892553162752-NYFt/

  17. High-Level Expert Group on Artificial Intelligence (AI HLEG): Ethics Guidelines for Trustworthy AI. European Commission, Brussels (2019)

    Google Scholar 

  18. Holmes, W., Bialik, M., Fadel, C.: Artificial intelligence in education promises and implications for teaching and learning. Center for Curriculum Redesign, MA, USA (2019)

    Google Scholar 

  19. Day, E., Pothong, K., Atabey, A., Livingstone, S.: Who controls children’s education data? a socio-legal analysis of the UK governance regimes for schools and EdTech. Learn. Media Technol. (2022). https://doi.org/10.1080/17439884.2022.2152838

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Henriques, I., Hartung, P.: Children’s rights by design in AI development for education. Int. Rev. Inf. Ethics. 29, (2020). https://doi.org/10.29173/irie424

  21. Molenaar, I.: Towards hybrid human-AI learning technologies. Eur. J. Educ. 57, 632–645 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1111/ejed.12527

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

The author thanks the TUM IEAI for supporting this work and Prof. Urs Gasser for providing constructive feedback and guidance on this research project.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Camila Hidalgo .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2024 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this paper

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this paper

Hidalgo, C. (2024). Agency in AI and Education Policy: European Resolution Three on Harnessing the Potential for AI in and Through Education. In: Olney, A.M., Chounta, IA., Liu, Z., Santos, O.C., Bittencourt, I.I. (eds) Artificial Intelligence in Education. AIED 2024. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 14830. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-64299-9_27

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-64299-9_27

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-031-64298-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-031-64299-9

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics