New Publication: Artificial Intelligence and Inclusive Education - Speculative Futures and Emerging Practices
Springer has recently published Artificial Intelligence and Inclusive Education - Speculative Futures and Emerging Practices, a book edited by researchers based in the University of Edinburgh’s Centre for Research in Digital Education and the Moray House School of Education and Sport.
Editors Jeremy Knox, Yuchen Wang and Michael Gallagher share interests in digital education and AI technologies, and present global perspectives on the intersection of these topics in the book; contributors are based in institutions in Brazil, Croatia, Sweden, China and South Africa, among other countries.
The book offers critical perspectives on the growing calls for artificial intelligence technology to disrupt and enhance educational practice, suggesting productive engagement with ideas from inclusive education. Existing approaches to a future of ‘education for all’ seem to differ in their aims; while research promoting artificial intelligence in education (AIEd) tends to work towards the idea of an automated, personalised, one-to-one tutor for every learner, supporters of inclusive education often focus on how best to involve marginalised/excluded individuals and organise the communal dimensions of education. The editors maintain that inclusive education can develop a ‘common ground’ for educational activity, rather than one-on-one relationships between the AI-equipped teacher and student.
AI can, however, be utilised to support inclusive education, as is explored by the book’s contributors in their respective chapters. Knox, Wang, and Gallagher suggest that “the concept of educational equality may need considerable reinvention” and intend that this book will start conversations about how inclusive education can be redefined when equipped with AI technologies.