Organised by the Kragujevac Education Centre, the professional event “Educational Challenges in Practice” was held on 12 January 2026. The professional exchange addressed topics of school self-evaluation and external evaluation, the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in teaching, as well as teacher burnout and resilience building. The Institute for Education Quality and Evaluation contributed to the event with a presentation entitled “A Contemporary Educational Challenge – The Use of Artificial Intelligence in Teaching.”
Participants were introduced to a conceptual framework for understanding the application of AI in education, grounded in the current Digital Competence Framework – Teacher for the Digital Age (2023) and relevant national strategic documents, including the Artificial Intelligence Development Strategy of the Republic of Serbia 2025–2030. This was followed by a discussion on the educational experience of students in an era of free and easily accessible AI tools.
Through a series of concrete examples of familiar homework tasks—such as writing texts, preparing reports and presentations, translating texts, solving mathematics problems, and working on natural science content—the challenges arising from unsupervised student use of AI were highlighted.
It was emphasised that uncritical use of AI may lead to reduced cognitive engagement, while thoughtful and pedagogically guided use can significantly contribute to the development of students’ thinking, understanding, and autonomy. The context of a typical classroom equipped with a laptop and projector was considered, and opportunities were mapped for teachers to lead the teaching process with AI support.
The central message of the presentation focused on the need to fundamentally reconsider a long-standing pedagogical paradigm present in classrooms for more than a century. Artificial intelligence must be understood and used as a tool to enhance and adapt teaching to the needs of individual students, and never as a substitute for students’ cognitive effort. Consequently, a re-examination of the distinction between classroom work and homework represents a new topic for reflection and a new challenge for teachers as key professionals and practitioners.
The presentation stimulated discussion on the responsible, meaningful, and development-oriented integration of AI into the educational process, as well as on the importance of continuous professional development of teachers in the areas of digital and pedagogical competences.
