Adapting for AI: How elementary teachers adjust their practices for an AI-integrated curriculum

2026-09-25

AI Summary

This study addresses how elementary school teachers adapt their instructional practices to balance technological, learner, and pedagogical demands when integrating conversational AI into classrooms. By implementing an AI literacy curriculum through the ToyTalk platform, the research employs qualitative methods, including reflective journals and interviews, to examine the adaptive practices of three teachers and the evolution of their AI-related cognition. The findings identify four distinct adaptive practices—such as repair and differentiation—and analyze the tensions arising among them. Furthermore, this work delineates the trajectory of teachers’ evolving understanding of AI. Ultimately, these insights offer critical design implications for the effective deployment of conversational AI in elementary educational settings.

Abstract

Conversational AI tools are entering children's everyday experiences, and schools are interested in adopting them. However, successful classroom integration depends not only on the technology but also on the work teachers do to make it usable and appropriate for their students and classroom context. There is little known about how elementary teachers work as they implement conversational AI tools in real classrooms. In this study, we examine three teachers' experiences implementing an AI literacy and English Language Arts (ELA) curriculum built around ToyTalk, a conversational AI toy development platform, over 13 instructional days, a three-week summer camp. Drawing on daily individual reflections, group reflections, and post-camp interviews, we find that teachers' adaptive practices of repair, differentiation, translation, and balancing sit at the intersection of three tensions (technology, learner, and instruction). Teachers' understanding of AI and their role evolved over the camp experiences. From these findings, we contribute design implications and considerations for deploying conversational AI within elementary classrooms.

Problem

• Conversational AI
• Elementary education
• AI-integrated curriculum
• Teacher adaptation
• AI literacy

Innovation

• Conversational AI
• AI literacy
• Elementary education
• Teacher adaptive practices
• Curriculum integration