Creation of an Interactive Mapping of Artificial Intelligence (IA) in Education

At this juncture, the new opportunities digital technology brings forth in the area of education are difficult to ignore. It is also impossible to remain indifferent to the ever-increasing presence of artificial intelligence (AI) in all areas of society, such as in education. It is in this context that Quebec’s Chief Scientist, Rémi Quirion, announced in December 2018 the launch of the new International Observatory on the Societal Impacts of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Technologies. The Observatory brings together close to 20 university and college establishments as well as a large number of research centres, including the Centre de recherche interuniversitaire sur la formation et la profession enseignante (CRIFPE). The mission of the Observatory and its more than 160 researchers is to maximize the positive effects of AI and minimize its negative impacts. In a nutshell, focusing on the greater good of AI. The Observatory focuses on eight research themes, including Education and Empowerment. In 2019, the researchers behind Education and Empowerment Working Group, under the leadership of Thierry Karsenti, explored projects that could be carried out collaboratively. The idea of creating an interactive mapping of artificial intelligence in education quickly emerged as a unifying project. We decided on the thematic mapping of AI in education (figure 1). This portal is decidedly interactive, as it is updated on a regular basis. What is thematic mapping? It is the indexing of resources on a specific theme—AI in education in this case. We created an interactive mapping of the main tools, projects and resources on the use of artificial intelligence in education. This mapping will one day be smart. But at this time, this first iteration does not include a search engine with algorithms that can recommend resources to users based on their use. That said, the public’s use of our platform will allow us to collect valuable data to achieve that goal. When carrying out this large-scale project on AI in education, we thought it necessary to better understand all projects currently in existence around the world. And this is where our mapping is particularly useful. As it is the first project of its kind in this field, it has the potential of becoming the cornerstone of all projects that are directly or indirectly related to the use of AI in an educational or academic context. Beyond this first iteration, our goal is to encourage the indexing of all AI- and education-related initiatives to allow this mapping project to remain relevant and interactive for years to come. Our project could also help guide decisions, research and innovation related to AI in education. By using this mapping, researchers and organizations will be in a position to innovate, backed by a detailed global portrait of what is being done in this leading-edge field. There were many steps involved in the design: 1) census of existing mappings; 2) census of the literature to determine mapping indicators; 3) creation of an ontology of AI in education; 4) design of the interactive platform (which allows for the consultation and indexing of different resources in a collaborative manner); 5) platform testing; 6) enhancements to the platform; 7) dissemination of the website. The scientific literature on mapping development reveals the importance of developing an entry indexing methodology. All members of our working group worked on this indexing strategy. At this stage, we had to configure the mechanics of how the resources would end up on the mapping platform. Determining the indicators to use is a step intimately linked to the indexing methodology. We had to properly identify the indicators to categorize the various resources, tools, projects, applications, etc., …