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The initiative seeks to strengthen initial teacher training in the face of the challenges of artificial intelligence, promoting its ethical and responsible use and building capacity in CRUCH universities.
With the aim of preparing new generations of teachers for the challenges of technological transformation, the Ministry of Science, Technology, Knowledge and Innovation (MinCiencia), together with the Council of Rectors of Chilean Universities (CRUCH), the Metropolitan University of Educational Sciences (UMCE), the National Center for Artificial Intelligence (CENIA) and Kodea, launched the program “Future Teachers in AI”, an initiative that integrates artificial intelligence into the content of the initial training of pedagogy students in Chile.
The program aims to install artificial intelligence capabilities in CRUCH universities that offer pedagogy degrees, so that future teachers can understand, evaluate and use these tools in a critical, ethical and pedagogically relevant way in the classroom.
«This is a very significant agreement that we have been working on since last year and have now formalized through this accord. It is important to take steps in a direction that represents one of the most important challenges facing Chile today: the development of future teachers who are fully prepared to meet the challenges of the 21st century. This is a very significant step forward in which CRUCH has participated because we see an opportunity to contribute to the country's development,» commented Emilio Rodríguez, Executive Vice President of CRUCH.
For his part, Science Minister Aldo Valle emphasized that artificial intelligence is already part of everyday life and is profoundly transforming how we learn, work, and produce knowledge. «Faced with these changes, education is the most crucial space for people to develop the necessary skills to understand this technology, use it critically, and put it at the service of the common good. As the government of President Gabriel Boric, we have committed to preparing Chile for this new scenario, bringing together the State, academia, and the technological ecosystem to strengthen the training of those who will have the responsibility of educating future generations,» he stated.
Details of the initiative
The initiative includes a training process initially aimed at academics in pedagogy programs, who will participate in a 40-hour online course taught by teams from CENIA, Kodea and UMCE.
These teachers will then replicate the course with student teachers using a common pedagogical kit, along with support during the first implementation cycle to build institutional capacity for the progressive integration of the content. This approach will generate an exponential effect on the education system: by training one teacher, it is possible to train hundreds of students.
«This collaborative effort with organizations of different natures, which normally compete and are now collaborating, is key, because it will allow us to have a much more multidisciplinary perspective. This effort is truly unprecedented in the world. We haven't seen other pilot programs where several universities come together to consider what a future teacher needs to know and from what perspective to view it,» highlighted Mónica Retamal, executive director of Kodea.
The program continues the pilot experience "Let's Promote the Education of the Future Together", developed during the first semester of 2025, in which nearly 200 pedagogy students from different universities in the country participated.
The evaluation of this experience showed significant improvements in technological, pedagogical and ethical skills associated with the use of artificial intelligence, which supported its scaling up to a nationwide program.
Rodrigo Durán, manager of CENIA, commented: "At CENIA we operate as a technical guarantor of the content, the curation, ensuring that the material received by the teachers who will train the future teachers of our country, in the universities that are joining now, has the technical robustness, the support and the certainty that these tools, processes and methodologies lead to the responsible and ethical use of Artificial Intelligence in different spaces.".
The deployment of "Future Teachers in AI" is part of a collaboration agreement between the Ministry of Science, the Undersecretariat of Higher Education, CRUCH, CENIA and Kodea, along with the collaboration of UMCE, which establishes a roadmap to progressively expand the implementation of the program in universities that teach pedagogy degrees, projecting its development for the period 2026 – 2029.
«"UMCE's participation in this project reaffirms our commitment to leading the integration of cutting-edge knowledge into pedagogical practice. Artificial intelligence can enrich teaching and learning processes when integrated with a pedagogical and ethical approach," said Rector Solange Tenorio.
The launch, which also featured a keynote presentation by data science expert Cuky Pérez, marks the beginning of the first training cycle of 2026, which begins on March 10 at the University of Bío-Bío, the University of Magallanes, the University of Playa Ancha, the Catholic University of the Holy Conception, the Catholic University of Temuco, the Metropolitan University of Educational Sciences, the University of the Americas, the University of Talca and the Arturo Prat University.
The full event registration is available at the following link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vX3kaKpAOk.
Text and photos: Courtesy of MinCiencia Communications.
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