Generative AI and Personalized Learning in a Neoliberal Era

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Saturday 3:20 pm Four Seasons Ballroom 2-3
  In Roundtable Session: Perspectives on Policy and Practice With Technology and AI Tools (Table 5)

Abstract

Generative artificial intelligence has become an increasingly popular tool in education. Proponents of the technology advocate its value for scalable personalized learning. The present study analyzes two popular education technology journalism websites to understand how personalized learning with generative artificial intelligence aligns with neoliberal ideology. Our qualitative analysis finds a prominent theme amounts to personalized learning as an atomistic individualism where individual learning needs are emphasized, leaving the larger social missions of education unintelligible. A second theme finds that personalized learning was also valued as a means of promoting social equity through creating accessible learning content. We argue that these website narratives amount to a public pedagogy shaping understandings of “innovative” teaching and learning.

Authors

• Jacob Fortman, Michigan State University

• Ruth Yeboah, Grand Valley State University