Identifying Rural Elementary Teachers’ Perception Challenges and Opportunities in Integrating Artificial Intelligence in Teaching Practices

Angela Castro (angela.castro@uss.cl), Brayan Díaz, Cristhian Aguilera, Montserrat Prat and David Chávez-Herting
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Angela Castro: Facultad de Educación, Universidad San Sebastián, Lago Panguipulli 1390, Puerto Montt 5501842, Chile
Brayan Díaz: Friday Institute for Educational Innovation, College of Education, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA
Cristhian Aguilera: Facultad de Ingeniería, Arquitectura y Diseño, Universidad San Sebastián, Puerto Montt 5501842, Chile
Montserrat Prat: Facultat de Psicologia, Ciències de l’Educació i l’Esport, Blanquerna-Universitat Ramon Llull, 08022 Barcelona, Spain
David Chávez-Herting: Escuela de Ciencias Jurídicas y Sociales, Universidad Viña del Mar, Viña del Mar 2580022, Chile

Sustainability, 2025, vol. 17, issue 6, 1-24

Abstract: This research investigates the challenges and opportunities rural elementary teachers perceive in using AI as a pedagogical tool to support student learning in rural schools. Using a convergent parallel mixed methods approach, we analyzed the responses from 45 rural teachers who participated in professional development on AI integration in rural education. Through both closed-ended and open-ended survey responses, we employed an adaptation of the TPACK framework (I-TPACK) and the AI literacy framework proposed by UNESCO to identify the primary challenges and opportunities in utilizing AI for pedagogical purposes in rural education. The results highlight resource accessibility and teacher professional development as critical challenges and opportunities to reduce the digital divide in rural communities. Teachers see the inclusion of AI as an opportunity to personalize learning, reduce workload, and facilitate teaching in multigrade classrooms without perceiving it as a job threat. At the same time, they emphasize the need for technological and didactic resources aligned with the specific characteristics of their contexts, such as offline resources and adaptable AI curricula to address the prevalent issue of limited or absent internet connectivity in many rural schools.

Keywords: artificial intelligence; rural education; multigrade; access and opportunities (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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