In 2023, Luxembourg’s National Education Training Institute started incorporating AI topics into teacher training courses, aiming to equip teachers with knowledge and skills needed to use and teach AI technologies effectively. This initiative has since consistently expanded.
The development of artificial intelligence (AI) is inevitable and spans all social domains. It will gradually reshape how teaching is conducted and how learners acquire knowledge. Education plays a crucial role in ensuring that these tools are used effectively and responsibly. It is therefore essential to demystify its complexities and familiarise teachers with the fundamental concepts of AI and associated technologies.
Extended offer of AI teacher training courses
Since March 2023, the ICT teacher training courses offered by the National Education Training Institute (IFEN), include conferences and seminars about AI and related tools. In the 2023/24 school year, the institute introduced massive open online courses (MOOCs) and blended learning formats to supplement these face-to-face training sessions. The majority of IFEN’s AI-related teacher training courses, which are part of the ICT domain, include:
- chat about ChatGPT and AI;
- demystifying AI and ChatGPT;
- AI, ethics and future-proofing the classroom;
- introduction to generative AI: using ChatGPT to optimise teacher preparation.
Additionally, some secondary schools have requested IFEN tailor-made training courses focusing on AI in ICT and in other domains such as art (e.g. intuitive art and AI: sculpting creativity and innovation), and language teaching (AI in language teaching). IFEN also offers teachers on-the-job support delivered by trainers specialising in digital skills to familiarise themselves with the use of AI tools.
In 2023, the reference framework for teachers on the subject of media education (Medienkompass), was also updated based on the European reference framework for digital skills, DigComp 2.2; competences in AI and data literacy were incorporated.
Promoting the use of AI through large-scale projects
Since 2023, IFEN is involved in the initiative ’Elements of AI’, whose objective is to encourage as many people as possible to learn what AI is, through a series of free online courses created by MinnaLearn and the University of Helsinki. Learners can progress at their own pace and join specific support groups. In its catalogue, IFEN offers access to the 30-hour MOOC ‘Elements of AI’ and is also in charge of the implementation of support groups provided to teachers and led by trainers specialising in digital skills, where the topics of online courses and webinars can be addressed in detail.
In January 2024, IFEN offered teachers the possibility to attend the 2-day conference ‘Empowering Teachers in the Age of AI’, organised within the framework of the 3-year Erasmus+ K3 project AI4Teachers, which was launched in 2021 and in which IFEN participated. The project aims to contribute to training on AI in education for and by teachers and school leaders.
Read more
- IFEN teachers’ training courses offer
- Elements of AI
- Cedefop and ReferNet (2023). Guide on digital education for teachers and school leaders: Luxembourg. Timeline of VET policies in Europe. [online tool]
| Please cite this news item as: ReferNet Luxembourg, & Cedefop (2024, July 3). Luxembourg: AI training for teachers. National news on VET |