ASSESSING THE IMPACTS OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE ON TEACHER EDUCATION AND COMPETENCIES IN OWERRI EDUCATION ZONE ONE OF IMO STATE

Abstract

This study is on Assessing the Impacts of Artificial Intelligence on Teacher Education and Competencies in Owerri Education Zone One of Imo State. The study was guided by four research questions. Owerri Education Zone One is comprised of three Local Government Areas which are; Owerri Municipal, Owerri North and Owerri West. The population of this study is comprised of all secondary school teachers in Public Secondary Schools in Owerri Education Zone One, Imo State. The population of teachers in Public Secondary Schools in Owerri Zone 1 is comprised of 1102 teachers. Purposive sampling technique was used to select 4 schools of both Junior Secondary Schools and Senior Secondary Schools from each Local Government Area in Owerri Zone 1. The sample comprised of 300 teachers in Owerri Zone One. Simple proportionate random sampling technique was used in selecting 75 teachers from each of the LGA. The instrument for data collection was a structured questionnaire titled “Artificial Intelligence on Teacher Education and Competencies Questionnaire (AITECQ).” The reliability of the instrument was established using Cronbach alpha coefficient which yielded an index of 0.96. Data collected was and analysed using mean and standard deviation. The findings show that teachers in Owerri Zone One have little or no idea of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the integration of teacher education. Hence, the current teacher education curriculum does not incorporate AI-related topics or skills, leaving teachers unprepared to leverage AI in their teaching practices. The findings also show that teachers are not familiar with AI-powered educational tools. The study recommended that Government should develop and implement comprehensive training programmes for teachers to enhance their AI-infused pedagogical skills and build their confidence in using AI tools.