Balancing Foundational and AI Competences for Inclusive, Wellbeing-Oriented Education

Generative artificial intelligence has already become part of everyday life for many teenagers, yet schools are still exploring ways to meaningfully integrate these technologies into education. Important questions remain: do AI tools hinder students’ critical thinking, or do they reduce their motivation to develop independent writing, calculation, and problem-solving skills? How does the use of technology affect teenagers’ emotional and social well-being?

To address these questions, an eleven-partner consortium from seven European countries has been established, coordinated by RPTU Kaiserslautern-Landau University in Germany. Over a three-year period, researchers will develop an integrated competence framework combining essential subject-related skills (literacy, mathematical and scientific abilities), transversal competences (critical thinking, collaboration, learning-to-learn skills), AI competences, and indicators of students’ well-being.

This framework will be tested in real classroom environments: pilot studies will involve around one thousand students from schools in Germany, Lithuania, Finland, Greece, Croatia, and Italy.

The project will also conduct neuroscientific research using electroencephalography (EEG) and functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) methods. These studies will help determine when AI tools genuinely enhance learning processes and when they merely create an illusion of superficial engagement.