How is it defined?
AI literacy goes beyond technological know-how to also entail critical reflection and active involvement regarding the application of artificial intelligence (Casal-Otero et al., 2023). With the advent of generative AI tools come questions of how to facilitate AI literacy in schools (Han et al., 2024). Parental knowledge and understanding of AI technologies has the potential to help reinforce school learning at home (Muvombo et al., 2024). However, current research has revealed that parents and their children consistently demonstrate different levels of AI-literacy (Eira et al., 2025).
Why is it important?
- Education surrounding new technologies is critical to ensure that students are prepared for life after graduation (Alfarwan, 2025).
- Parent and caregiver understanding of new technologies supports a child’s ability to make the most of these emerging tools (Altindağ Kumaş & Sardohan Yildirim, 2024).
- Research has shown that parents and caregivers remain generally unaware of how their children apply generative AI tools (Eira et al., 2025).
- Parental education mediates knowledge and attitudes towards AI, as those with greater educational attainment possess more agreeable attitudes regarding the use of AI technologies (Tondeur et al., 2017).
How do we measure it?
In OurSCHOOL, parents and caregivers respond to three questions concerning their knowledge of and support for AI usage in their child’s school. Reponses to each question are reported.
References
Alfarwan, A. (2025, September). Generative AI use in K-12 education: A systematic review. Frontiers in Education, 10, 1647573.
Altindağ Kumaş, Ö., & Sardohan Yildirim, A. E. (2024). Exploring digital parenting awareness, self‐efficacy and attitudes in families with special needs children. British Journal of Educational Technology, 55(5), 2403-2418.
Casal-Otero, L., Catala, A., Fernández-Morante, C., Taboada, M., Cebreiro, B., & Barro, S. (2023). AI literacy in K-12: A systematic literature review. International Journal of STEM Education, 10(1), 29.
Guo, J., Law, T. S. T., Qiao, S., & Yeung, S. S. S. (2025). AI literacy, educational level, and parenting self-efficacy of children’s education among parents of primary school students. Computers and Education Open, 9, 100318.
Han, A., Zhou, X., Cai, Z., Han, S., Ko, R., Corrigan, S., & Peppler, K. A. (2024, May). Teachers, parents, and students' perspectives on integrating generative AI into elementary literacy education. In Proceedings of the 2024 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 1-17).
Muvombo, M., Musonda, A., Mpolomoka, D. L., Banda, S., Sampa, R. L., & Chalwe, A. N. (2024). Nurturing parental involvement in artificial intelligence (AI) literacy among children in multicultural classrooms. Journal of Culture, Society and Development, 73, 72-83.
Tondeur, J., Aesaert, K., Pynoo, B., Van Braak, J., Fraeyman, N., & Erstad, O. (2017). Developing a validated instrument to measure preservice teachers’ ICT competencies: Meeting the demands of the 21st century. British Journal of Educational Technology, 48(2), 462-472.