ETHICAL IMPLICATIONS OF THE USE OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IN EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION IN ONDO EAST LOCAL GOVERNMENT, ONDO, ONDO STATE

Abstract

The study examined ethical implications of the use of Artificial Intelligence in early childhood education with emphasis on data privacy, security, algorithmic bias, equity, and the impact of AI on teachers' roles and children's social-emotional development. The study adopted descriptive research design of survey type. The population consisted of all teachers and parents of pupils in selected public and private nursery and primary schools in Ondo East Local Government. A sample of 108 participants was drawn through stratified random sampling technique. Two instruments titled "The Ethical Implications of Artificial Intelligence in Childhood Education Teacher Questionnaire (TEIAICETQ)" and "The Ethical Implications of Artificial Intelligence in Childhood Education Parent Questionnaire (TEIAICEPQ)" were used for data collection. Validity of the instruments were ascertained using face and content validity. The reliability of the instrument was established through test-retest method and the reliability coefficient of 0.70 and 0.75 were obtained. Data collected was analyzed using frequency, percentages, mean scores, and standard deviation. The findings showed that teachers agreed that AI learning systems sometimes favour pupils with stronger digital skills ($\bar{x} = 3.08$). Parents also reported that some AI learning apps appears to favour certain children over others ($\bar{x} = 3.16$). The results showed that children with limited access to digital devices may be disadvantaged ($\bar{x} = 3.12$). The findings further indicated that AI cannot replace the emotional support ($\bar{x} = 2.64$). The results also showed that data privacy is a major concern ($\bar{x} = 3.83$) which indicated fear of data misuse and lack of consent and policy in schools. Based on these findings, recommendations were made.