Abstract:

The growing presence of generative artificial intelligence in higher education makes it increasingly important to move beyond purely instrumental uses and to promote critical, ethical, and pedagogically informed approaches in initial teacher education. This paper reports on an educational innovation project implemented in teacher education programmes (Early Childhood Education and Primary Education) at the University of Salamanca, designed to help pre-service teachers develop a more reflective, responsible, and educationally meaningful use of AI. The project addressed prompt design, critical evaluation of AI-generated outputs, bias detection, ethical use, and the adaptation of generated content to real classroom contexts.

The study analyzes data from 290 student teachers through an ad hoc questionnaire. It explores their previous experience with AI, their self-perceived competence, and, finally, the specific learning outcomes they identified after participating in the project.

Preliminary self-reported findings suggest a positive perceived impact. The strongest learning outcomes were related to understanding that AI-generated responses require supervision and critical analysis, recognising that AI can support academic work but should not replace human judgement, appreciating the importance of prompt quality, and developing a more critical and responsible use of these tools.

These findings highlight the value of structured learning experiences that combine practical work with AI, ethical reflection, and pedagogical transfer. They also underline the importance of preparing future teachers not only to use AI tools, but also to understand their limitations and integrate them responsibly into future teaching practice.

Keywords:

Initial teacher education, artificial intelligence, ethical use of AI, educational innovation.