AI & Social Learning? An Examination of Preservice Teachers’ Perspectives

Abstract

Aiming to inform the development of effective teacher preparation programs that harness artificial intelligence's (AI) power and ultimately contribute to the broader goal of equitable education, this study investigates preservice teachers’ experiences and perceptions related to AI focusing on social learning. Specifically, it examines preservice teachers’ familiarity with AI, their views on its potential to enhance social learning and their perspectives on designing AI-supported environments to foster social learning. The analyses of data collected from 197 preservice teachers show that about one-third of preservice teachers have no or limited familiarity with AI, and a majority of them expressed hesitations about using AI to foster social learning. Overall, they found AI to be more beneficial for designing virtual learning practices compared to its potential in supporting student social learning, among other findings.

Keywords

AI social learning preservice teachers experience beliefs AI-enhanced virtual environment learning design

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Akpen

C. N.

Asaolu

Atobatele

Okagbue

Sampson

(2024). Impact of online learning on student's performance and engagement: A systematic review. Discover Education, 3(1), 205. https://doi.org/10.1007/s44217-024-00253-0

Alam

(2021, December). Should robots replace teachers? Mobilisation of AI and learning analytics in education. 2021 International Conference on Advances in Computing, Communication, and Control (ICAC3), IEEE.

Allmendinger

(2010). Social presence in synchronous virtual learning situations: The role of nonverbal signals displayed by avatars. Educational Psychology Review, 22(1), 41–56. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-010-9117-8

Asad

Naz

Churi

Tahanzadeh

(2021). Virtual reality as pedagogical tool to enhance experiential learning: A systematic literature review. Education Research International, 2021, 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1155/2021/7061623

Ayanwale

M. A.

Adelana

O. P.

Molefi

R. R.

Adeeko

Ishola

A. M.

(2024). Examining artificial intelligence literacy among pre-service teachers for future classrooms. Computers and Education Open, 6, 100179. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.caeo.2024.100179

Bandura

(1997). Self-efficacy in changing societies. Cambridge university press.

Bandura

(1999). Social cognitive theory: An agentic perspective. Asian Journal of Social Psychology, 2(1), 21–41. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-839X.00024

Bandura

Walters

R. H.

(1977). Social learning theory (Vol. 1). Englewood cliffs Prentice Hall.

Black

N. B.

George

Eguchi

Dempsey

J. C.

Langran

Fraga

Brunvand

Howard

(2024). A framework for approaching AI education in educator preparation programs. Proceedings of the AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence, 38(21), 23069–23077. https://doi.org/10.1609/aaai.v38i21.30351

10.

Cho

Y. H.

Yim

S. Y.

Paik

(2015). Physical and social presence in 3D virtual role-play for pre-service teachers. The Internet and Higher Education, 25, 70–77. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iheduc.2015.01.002

11.

Sun

Jiang

Islam

(2024). Exploring the effects of AI literacy in teacher learning: An empirical study. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 11(1), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-023-02237-1

12.

Eguchi

Okada

Muto

(2021). Contextualizing AI education for K-12 students to enhance their learning of AI literacy through culturally responsive approaches. KI-Künstliche Intelligenz, 35(2), 153–161. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13218-021-00737-3

13.

Guan

Zhang

M. M.

(2025). Pre-service teachers preparedness for AI-integrated education: An investigation from perceptions, capabilities, and teachers’ identity changes. Computers and Education: Artificial Intelligence, 8, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.caeai.2024.100341

14.

Hanscheid

Grobusch

(2025). Is strong artificial intelligence skepticism justified or counterproductive? Clinical Infectious Diseases, 80(5), 1166–1167. https://doi.org/10.1093/cid/diae443

15.

Henriksen

Creely

Leahy

(2025). Social-Emotional learning and generative AI: A critical literature review and framework for teacher education. Journal of Teacher Education, 76(3), 312–328. https://doi.org/10.1177/00224871251325058

16.

Horowitz

M. C.

Kahn

Macdonald

Schneider

(2024). Adopting AI: How familiarity breeds both trust and contempt. AI & Society, 39(4), 1721–1735. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00146-023-01666-5

17.

Howell

Mikeska

J. N.

(2021). Approximations of practice as a framework for understanding authenticity in simulations of teaching. Journal of Research on Technology in Education, 53(1), 8–20. https://doi.org/10.1080/15391523.2020.1809033

18.

Hsu

T.-C.

Abelson

Patton

Chen

S.-C.

Chang

H.-N.

(2021). Self-efficacy and behavior patterns of learners using a real-time collaboration system developed for group programming. International Journal of Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning, 16, 559–582. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11412-021-09357-3

19.

Hur

J. W.

(2024). Fostering AI literacy: Overcoming concerns and nurturing confidence among preservice teachers. Information and Learning Sciences, 126(1–2), 56–74. https://doi.org/10.1108/ILS-11-2023-0170

20.

Jang

B. S.

(2024). Development of the artificial intelligence literacy education program for preservice secondary teachers. Journal of Practical Engineering Education, 16(1_spc), 65–70. https://doi.org/10.14702/JPEE.2024.065

21.

Karataş

Yüce

(2024). AI And the future of teaching: Preservice teachers’ reflections on the use of artificial intelligence in open and distributed learning. International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 25(3), 304–325. https://doi.org/10.19173/irrodl.v25i3.7785

22.

Kaufmann

Vallade

J. I.

(2020). Xploring connections in the online learning environment: Student perceptions of rapport, climate, and loneliness. Interactive Learning Environments, 30(10), 1794–1808. https://doi.org/10.1080/10494820.2020.1749670

23.

Kim

Lee

Cho

Y. H.

(2022). Learning design to support student-AI collaboration: Perspectives of leading teachers for AI in education. Education and Information Technologies, 27(5), 6069–6104. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-021-10831-6

24.

Kong, S. C., Cheung, W. M. Y., & Zhang, G. (2022). Evaluating artificial intelligence literacy courses for fostering conceptual learning, literacy and empowerment in university students: Refocusing to conceptual building. Computers in Human Behavior Reports, 7, 100223.

25.

Lai

Wang

Huang

(2022). The differential interplay of TPACK, teacher beliefs, school culture and professional development with the nature of in-service EFL teachers’ technology adoption. British Journal of Educational Technology, 53(5), 1389–1411. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjet.13200

26.

Lee, I., & Perret, B. (2022). Preparing high school teachers to integrate AI methods into STEM classrooms. Proceedings of the AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence, 36 (11), 12783–12791.

27.

Lim

E. M.

(2023). The effects of pre-service early childhood teachers’ digital literacy and self-efficacy on their perception of AI education for young children. Education and Information Technologies, 28(10), 12969–12995. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-023-11724-6

28.

Liu

Subbareddy

Raghavendra

(2022). AI Intelligence chatbot to improve students learning in the higher education platform. Journal of Interconnection Networks, 22(Supp02), 2143032. https://doi.org/10.1142/S0219265921430325

29.

Luckin

Holmes

(2016). Intelligence unleashed: An argument for AI in education. https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1475756/.

30.

Mills

G. E.

Gay

L. R.

(2016). Educational research: Competencies for analysis and applications. pearson.

31.

Pratt

T. C.

Cullen

F. T.

Sellers

C. S.

Thomas Winfree

Jr Madensen

T. D.

Daigle

L. E.

Fearn

N. E.

Gau

J. M.

(2010). The empirical status of social learning theory: A meta-analysis. Justice Quarterly, 27(6), 765–802. https://doi.org/10.1080/07418820903379610

32.

Wenger-Trayner

Wenger

Wenger-Trayner

(2020). Learning to make a difference: Value creation in social learning spaces. Cambridge university press.

33.

Willmore

(2023). AI Education and AI in Education. U.S. National Science Foundation. Retrieved Sept. 20, 2024 from https://new.nsf.gov/science-matters/ai-education-ai-education.

34.

(2023). Integrating generative AI in education: How ChatGPT brings challenges for future learning and teaching. Journal of Advanced Research in Education, 2(4), 6–10. https://doi.org/10.56397/JARE.2023.07.02

35.

Yaddanapudi

(2019). How to design a questionnaire. (Vol. 63, pp. 335-337). Medknow.

36.

Zakaria

N. Y. K.

Hashim

(2024). Shaping the future of education: Conceptualising Pre-service Teachers’ perspectives on artificial intelligence (AI) integration. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 14(5), 645–655. https://doi.org/10.6007/IJARBSS/v14-i5/21584

37.

Zhang

Scardamalia

Reeve

Messina

(2009). Designs for collective cognitive responsibility in knowledge-building communities. The Journal of the Learning Sciences, 18(1), 7–44. https://doi.org/10.1080/10508400802581676

38.

Zhou

Van Brummelen

Lin

(2020). Designing AI learning experiences for K-12: emerging works, future opportunities and a design framework. arXiv preprint arXiv:2009.10228. https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2009.10228