Artificial intelligence in schools: innovations in teaching and new opportunities for women in technology

Children should ideally learn about artificial intelligence already in primary school, as it better prepares them for the future. In an interview for Business for Society, Eva Nečasová from the organization AI Dětem, which educates not only children but especially teachers on AI, stated this.

“Teachers are often overwhelmed, lacking time due to a shortage of qualified colleagues, and burdened with lesson preparation and grading. As a result, they often lack a clear overview of what truly interests the children, how they want to develop, what they are good at, and where they struggle. The result is ineffective teaching. Through our app, we aim to collect data that tells us what students take away from the lesson, and we pass this information to the teacher,” says Eva Nečasová in the interview.

Eva Nečasová was a guest at the autumn conference Women in Technology, which we organized as part of our Future is Female platform: link here

INTERVIEW

We also asked how AI can help women get more involved in the tech field.

You lead the organization AI Dětem. What exactly do you do?

We teach teachers and children about artificial intelligence (AI). This means providing them with materials and tools they can use in class. Currently, we are focusing on around five projects. The first involves creating a curriculum for AI for primary and secondary schools. We have about 50 teaching materials that contain guides on how teachers can integrate AI into various subjects—not just IT but others too.

We are also developing an app called Tiny. Tiny is designed to be a teacher’s assistant for formative assessment, providing teachers with what we consider most essential—data. Teachers are often overloaded, lacking time, and don’t always know what really engages students. Through our app, we collect data on what students take away from lessons and pass it on to teachers. Within a year or two, we plan to generate follow-up learning content. The goal is to create a comprehensive assistant for teachers—voice-controlled and able to serve as a classroom partner.

What does it mean that Tiny will assist teachers? Will students input feedback, or will teachers enter data about students?

If teachers had to input data themselves, it would hardly be helpful. Instead, the app includes activities students complete during class to show what they have learned. We use a three-phase learning model: in the first phase (evocation), students answer questions to assess their prior knowledge. Then, during the realization phase, they work with learning materials. In the reflection phase, they do activities in the app—like quizzes or open-ended questions—that help assess learning outcomes. The app is designed to be fun for students.

I’d also like to mention our teacher training program. We have 28 trainers who travel across the Czech Republic to train teachers directly in their staff rooms. This approach proves most effective, as many teachers don’t have time to explore materials on their own and sometimes feel intimidated. We also train future teachers at the Faculty of Education of Charles University, with plans to expand to other faculties and create infrastructure to train teachers more broadly.

We want to contribute to educational reform, streamline processes, and make them more enjoyable with the help of AI. Next year, we’ll pilot our program in 10 schools, testing how our systemic change model works in different school types. After two years, we aim to scale up with custom strategies for implementation.

Is teaching AI in primary school the right move, or should it start in high school?
We start in grade 3. We explain basic theoretical concepts and introduce practical skills in the later years—like how to use different apps. Age 13 is often a threshold due to app limitations and communication abilities, so advanced tools like chatbots come later.

How do you explain what AI is to young children?

In lower primary, especially from grade 3, we use lessons focused on robots as part of IT. These include nine topics covering the basics of AI and robotics.

How can AI affect people's personal lives, especially regarding the balance between technology and human dialogue? Aren’t you worried we’ll lose the ability to communicate?

This is a thought-provoking question with no simple answer. Technologies are tools; how we use them depends on the individual. Today, we’re increasingly dependent on tech—few people function without a phone. In the future, I believe we’ll interact more naturally through voice commands. This could address some of today’s negative effects.

How can AI support women, particularly in tech fields?

I think it largely depends on women's perceptions of IT. There are two major barriers: lack of role models and the belief that IT is extremely difficult and inaccessible—associated with coding, hackers, and complexity.

But AI is changing this. I believe it is democratizing tech fields that were once purely technical. Women need to engage more because their perspectives are missing—which is a problem. The cliché of socially distant “IT guys” is outdated and harmful.

As tech permeates every part of life, inclusivity and accessibility become essential. Women can contribute significantly—bringing empathy, ethics, user interface design insight, and a sense of how tech impacts daily life. That’s why it’s crucial for women to enter AI development—not just for their technical skills, but for the societal impact of their work.