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Assignment 1 – Quantitative Study

Artificial Intelligence Technologies: Use and Perceived Effectiveness in New Jersey’s K-12

Public Schools

Susan Deehan Murray

New Jersey City University

EDTC806: Research Methods in Educational Technology Leadership

Dr. Christopher D. Carnahan

March 15, 2021

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Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Introduction

Introduction …………………………………………………………………………3

Statement of the Problem …………………………………………………………...3

Purpose ……………………………………………………………………………...3

Research Questions …………………………………………………………………4

Chapter 2: Literature Review

Introduction ………………………………………………………………………...5

Review of Studies and Theory ……………………………………………………..5

Summary …………………………………………………………………………...6

Chapter 3: Methodology

Introduction ………………………………………………………………………..7

Research Design …………………………………………………………………...7

Population and Sample …………………………………………………………….7

Instrument ………………………………………………………………………… 8

Procedures ………………………………………………………………………… 8

References …………………………………………………………………………………10

Appendix A ………………………………………………………………………………..13

Appendix B ………………………………………………………………………………...16
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Chapter 1: Introduction

Introduction

Artificial intelligence plays a role in how we live our lives and has a presence in

education systems. The advent of Covid-19 necessitated educators engage with educational

technology of all types, including those tools that are based on artificial intelligence. AI in

education (AIED) technologies are considered “computing systems that are able to engage in

human-line processes such as learning, adapting, synthesizing, self-correction and the use of data

for complex processing tasks” (Popenici and Kerr, 2017). AIED applications can be categorized

as student-facing that teach or support students or teacher-facing that help teachers complete

tasks more efficiently (Holmes, et al. 2019).

Statement of Problem

With AI based tools such as intelligent tutoring systems (ITS), automatic writing

evaluation systems, and voice-activated personal assistants in greater use, school systems are

considering these costs into their budgets. Tapping into the recent experience of teachers and

administrators who have used these AI based applications can generate feedback about those

AIED tools that are perceived as effective. Feedback from current users can help direct

budgetary considerations and assist school systems in making sound pedagogical decisions

regarding investment in the ever growing AIED market.

Purpose

The purpose of the study is to describe what types of artificial intelligence based

educational technology applications are currently in use and which are perceived as effective by
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teachers and administrators in K-12 public schools in New Jersey. If an application is effective,

it is considered to be helping achieve educational objectives (Scheerens, 2004).

Research Questions

The two main questions that will be explored in this study are below.

RQ1. To what extent are artificial intelligence applications used in K-12 public schools in

New Jersey?

RQ 2. Which artificial intelligence application categories in K-12 public schools in New

Jersey are the perceived the most beneficial/effective?

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Chapter 2: Literature Review

Introduction

There is no doubt that artificial intelligence is playing a more critical role in education in

recent years. It is estimated that by 2024 the application of AI in educational venues will

become a market worth almost $6 billion (Holmes, et al, 2019). The current worldwide Covid

19 pandemic has forced the technology hand for many K-12 schools, necessitating them to use

technology in education at levels heretofore unseen including those based on artificial

intelligence.

Relevant studies

There is a common theme surrounding much of the AIED research and that is how the

human factor is figured into the equation. How will the effect of having AI driven systems effect

the teacher’s role and relationship with students (Murphy, 2019; Hrastinski et al., 2019)? The

constructionist framework does dictate that the AI enhanced tools, such as adaptive learning

platforms, can support students’ ability to view their learning patterns and provide a personalized

path of skill development. However, it is also important to identify the learning theories that can

be applied to prevent students from becoming “passive recipients or merely tracked objects”

(Luan et al., 2020) during their education. The teacher’s role is changing with the inclusion of

AIED. Educators do not only need to adapt their teaching styles when AIED is incorporated,

but they should also have a say in how the AI driven technology is included in the curriculum.

The EdTech market, as stated previously, is a large scale economic powerhouse. Netflix,
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Samsung,Google, Microsoft, and Facebook are now working to create data-based learning

programs (Renz & Hilbig, 2020). However, just because these applications are being

developed, does it mean the school community of educators, administrators and students are

prepared to include these into their curriculum in a pedagogically sound manner?

In addition, the teachers’ attitudes towards including AIED should be considered as their

mindset can affect the success of implementation (Goneheim et al., 2021). The landscape of

interactions between learner, teacher, and curriculum will continue to change with technologies

that assist teachers in supporting students in becoming better learners on the horizon (Roll &

Wylie, 2016). Providing teachers with AIED that will help them be more effective in the

classroom can also give them the ability to focus on fostering students’ creativity, innovation and

other skills unable to be performed by a computer (Fahimirad & Kotamjani, 2018).

Summary

There are many constituencies involved in driving the AIED market however the

educators and students are the segments most affected by technological implementations in the

classroom. This research survey is one way to start assessing which AIED applications are seen

as adding value to the educational process from the perspective of the educators who use them.
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Chapter 3: Methodology

Introduction

The methodology to capture information regarding the use of AI applications in public

schools includes distributing an online survey to two groups of NJ public school employees:

administrators and teachers.

Research Design

The research design will use a survey design procedure to collect data from a sample.

This will be a non-intervention research design identifying trends (Creswell and Gutterman,

2019) for the population of K-12 teachers and administrators in New Jersey. This descriptive

research project will use a cross-sectional survey, collecting data to estimate the prevalence of AI

powered educational technology tools and their perceived effectiveness. The rationale for

employing survey research is that the empirical data can be captured from a breadth of people

with minimal research costs and executed in a relatively quick amount of time (Kelley et al.,

2003). Given the survey will be completed by teachers and school administrators who, by the

nature of their work, are accustomed to communicating digitally, using an online survey

administered via email is appropriate.

Population & Sample

The population of NJ public school administrators which includes superintendents,

business administrators, principals, special education coordinators and HIB coordinators totals

2,542 (New Jersey Department of Education, 2021). The database of these administrators,

including their email addresses, is accessible online via the New Jersey School Directory. A
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systematic sampling of the administrators would be used by selecting every 5th person listed

creating a precision-equivalent random sampling which will generate a sample size that is 20%

of the population and meets rough estimate guideline sample size for an educational researcher

(Creswell & Creswell, 2018). This falls under the probability sampling approach.

The population size of certified staff in New Jersey is 146,143 (New Jersey Department

of Education, 2021) however there is no online database of these certified staff members or

teachers with contact information. Thus, snowball sampling, a nonprobability sampling

approach, would be taken to establish the sample of teacher participants for the survey.

Superintendents and principals from the NJ School Directory would be requested to send a link

to the survey to the teachers in their school system. The goal would be to have 350 responses.

Instrument

The instrument used would be an online survey created in a Google forms with questions

directed to administrators and teachers. Appendix A contains a link the survey and screenshots

of the questions. Questions were based on a survey conducted by the EdWeek Research Center

and Appendix B contains an email requesting permission to see the instrument.

Procedures

The challenging aspect of this study will most likely be receiving responses from teachers

because the contact information for them is not readily available. The timetable below reflects

an opportunity to email a new sample in weeks 4-6 in the event there are not enough responses.

The weekly timetable to execute the study is as follows:

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Weeks 1-2: Complete the necessary paperwork to gain New Jersey City University’s

Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval. The detailed procedure can be found online

at http://bit.ly/NJCUIRB.

Week 3: Retrieve the most current NJ School Directory

https://homeroom5.doe.state.nj.us/directory and email the survey to the sample by

selecting every 5th email on the list. Include a request for the administrators to forward

the survey onto teachers in their school system. The return of this survey implies consent

and no informed consent form is necessary.

Weeks 4-6: Review the responses to ensure the minimum number have been received.

Weeks 7-8: Create charts from the data collected to summarize the AIED applications

that are used by administrators and teachers. Create charts from the data collected to

summarize the AIED applications that are viewed as most effective by administrators and

teachers.

Week 9: Data collected from the study should be analyzed to determine implications for

NJ school technology planning and purchases. Additional questions may arise based on

the results. The analysis and questions should be presented to relevant stakeholders in

the NJ education system as well as the educational technology sector.

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References

Creswell, J. & Creswell, J. (2018). Research design: qualitative, quantitative, and mixed

methods approaches. Sage Publications

Creswell, J. & Guetterman, T. (2019). Educational research: planning, conducting, and

evaluating quantitative and qualitative research (6th Edition) Pearson Education.

Fahimirad, M. & Kotamjani, S. (2018). A review on application of artificial intelligence in

teaching and learning in educational contexts. International Journal of Learning and

Development, 8(4), DOI: 10.5296/ijld.v8i4.14057

Ghoneim, M, Mohammed, N., Elghotmy, A., & Elsayed, H. (2021). Using an artificial

intelligence based program to enhance primary stage pupils’ EFL listening skills. Journal

of Education - Sohag University, 83(1), 1–32.

Holmes, W., Bialik, M., & Fadel, C. (2019). Artificial intelligence in education: promises and

implications for teaching and learning. Center for Curriculum Redesign.

Hrastinski, S., Olofsson, A. D., Arkenback, C., Ekström, S., Ericsson, E., Fransson, G.,

Jaldemark, J., Ryberg, T., Öberg, L., Fuentes, A., Gustafsson, U., Humble, N.,

Mozelius, P., Sundgren, M., & Utterberg, M. (2019). Critical Imaginaries and reflections

on artificial intelligence and robots in Postdigital K-12 education. Postdigital Science and

Education, 1(2), 427-445. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42438-019-00046-x

Kelley, K., Clark, B., Brown, V., & Sitzia, J. (2003). Good practice in the conduct and reporting

of survey research. International Journal for Quality in Health Care, 15(3), 261–266.

https://doi.org/10.1093/intqhc/mzg031
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Luan, H., Geczy, P., Lai, H., Gobert, J., Yang, S., Ogata, H., Baltes, J., Guerra, R., Li, P., &

Tsai1, C. (2020). Challenges and Future Directions of Big Data and Artificial Intelligence

in Education. Frontiers in Psychology, 11. DOI:10.3389/fpsyg.2020.580820

Murphy, R. (2019). Artificial intelligence applications to support K–12 teachers and teaching: A

review of promising applications, challenges, and risks. Rand Corporation.

https://doi.org/10.7249/pe315

New Jersey Department of Education. (2021). School Directory. Retrieved March 14, 2021, from

https://homeroom5.doe.state.nj.us/directory/

New Jersey Department of Education. (2021). DOE Data: 2019-2020 Certificated Staff.

https://www.state.nj.us/education/data/cs/cs20/

Popenici, S. A. D., & Kerr, S. (2017). Exploring the impact of artificial intelligence on teaching

and learning in higher education. Research and Practice in Technology Enhanced

Learning, 12(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s41039-017-0062-8

Renz, A. & Hilbig, R. (2020). Prerequisites for artificial intelligence in further

education:identification of drivers, barriers, and business models of educational

technology companies. International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher

Education,17(1) DOI:10.1186/s41239-020-00193-3

Rol, I. & Wylie, R.(2016). Evolution and Revolution in Artificial Intelligence in Education.

International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education,26, 582–599.

Rodney, B. (2020). Understanding the paradigm shift in education in the twenty-first century: the

role of technology and the Internet of Things. Worldwide Hospitality and Tourism

Themes, 12(1),35-47. DOI:10.1108/WHATT-10-2019-0068

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Scheerens, J. (2004). The quality of education at the beginning of the 21st century. UNESCO.

https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000146697?posInSet=1&queryId=N-

EXPLORE-c39c2dd9-c286-43a4-bcfe-4f01c05a7d65

Schiff, D. (2021) Out of the laboratory and into the classroom: the future of artificial intelligence

in education. AI & Society, (36), 331–348. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00146-020-01033-8

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Appendix A

Survey instrument also online at http://bit.ly/aiinNJSchools

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Appendix A
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Appendix A
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