Design and Development of Educational Technology for K-12 AI Education in the Classroom: A Child Rights Based Approach
N. Pope, M. Sormunen, Elsa Silvennoinen, Matti Tedre · 2025
The expanding collection of learner data has raised concerns about the ongoing datafication of education. While many critics of datafication of schools focus on privacy and data protection, a broader child rights based approach has also been proposed for a broader alignment with the rights of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child as well as other child rights instruments. This paper presents a rights based approach for using child rights as design guidelines in educational technology design and development. It presents two examples of AI education technology design to illustrate how general principles such as best interests of the child, non-discrimination, right to development, and participation can guide the design process. In the design process, child rights proved particularly relevant in four areas: taking children as co-designers, minimising collection of personal data, using children's own data, and fostering child-centred and participatory learning. The paper argues that child rights are not just a legal requirement but rather tools that form a part of a practical design strategy. The findings provide insights for educational technology designers, policymakers, and educators on how to operationalize child rights perspectives in educational technology design for K-12 classroom education.