Introduction
Recently the European Commission and the OECD with support from Code.Org released a draft new AI Literacy Framework for Primary and Secondary Education. This is response to the rapid growth of AI in society and is seen as a starting point to “equip learners and educators to understand both the risks and the opportunities that AI presents, and to make meaningful and ethical decisions about its use”. It further illustrates that “the definition of literacy has changed over the centuries based on human, cultural, and technological evolution.” Society needs to respond and this framework is a first step and the creators want your feedback. The framework was launched on May 22nd and you can watch a recording of the launch event here to get a good insight into what it contains.
What is in the Framework
The audience for the framework is:
- Teachers
- Education Leaders
- Education Policymakers
- Learning Designers
It has been informed by existing frameworks, such as:
- The European Commission’s Digital Competence Framework for Citizens
- (DigComp)
- UNESCO’s AI Competencies for Students and AI Competencies for Teachers
- The Digital Promise AI Literacy Framework’s
- The AI4K12 5 Big Ideas in AI
It is divided into three themes:
- Theme 1: How AI and Machine Learning Work
- Theme 2: Human Skills to Emphasize for Successful Collaboration with AI Tools
- Theme 3: AI’s Effects on Individuals, Society, and the Environment
There are four domains of AI Literacy
The framework addresses the 3 components of a competency
- Knowledge
- Skills
- Attitudes
A holistic approach to AI Literacy
AI literacy draws from areas such as ethics, computer science, media and digital literacy, data science, and design thinking—connecting technical understanding with critical evaluation, responsible use, and creative problem-solving.
Easy to access
The Framework is well laid out and is easy to read. It combines the 3 elements of the competences together very nicely, as captured below.
Take a moment and review
The creators invite you to read it, download it, and share your feedback through a survey, which take 5-7 minutes to complete and closes on 31 August 2025.
The creation of this survey is very important from a few perspectives. Firstly, it brings together the EU Commission and the OECD and it will be the basis for assessing AI Literacy in our schools in future PISA tests. This will no doubt act as a driver for schools to develop AI Literacy competences.
This in turn will place an onus on departments of education across Europe to support school communities to develop these competences. Much thought will need to be given to how schools develop these competences, in terms of what to teach, at what level and ultimately how these competences will be assessed. While teachers will, as always, play a key role in the development of these new competences, it should not be left to them alone. However, for now we all have an opportunity to shape these competences and the first step is to read them and to respond to the survey.
