Emergent bilinguals have the opportunity to gain two cultures when moving to a new country. Unfortunately, not all schools nor districts are prepared to support newcomers with their native culture and language. AI can bridge those connections for teachers and students. When providing a prompt for students, teachers can ask Co:Pilot, Perplexity, or their tool of choice to alter the question to fit various backgrounds. All in all, artificial intelligence is an easy step to improve teacher work-life and student education; when used appropriately. 

Reimagining Classrooms with AI in Mind

      The ideology of constructivism believes that individuals bring their own background knowledge (Brau, 2021). Whether it be through experience, beliefs, or values, learners have a fountain of information at their disposal to use when learning. Therefore when creating a learning environment that encompasses all learners with the use of technology, it is important to acknowledge their individuality. For emergent bilinguals, there are multiple background factors to consider: culture and academics.

      Emergent bilingual students' culture will be bridge in a functional learning environment. Students will bring their native language and cultural beliefs to the acquisition of their second language and create a new adaptation to their culture.  AI technology as a tool can bridge the two cultures, and languages, by providing emergent bilinguals the opportunity to practice using either language as preferred and by transferring concepts. Students can produce work as they see fit with the feedback attribute of AI; meanwhile, gain practice their second language using AI chatbots. 

     Emergent bilinguals have a constant battle with education; either they are labeled with a learning disability or their language prevents the diagnosis of a disability. Bilingual students in Texas are tested for English proficiency and tested academically in English. In fact, only 3-5th grade state assessments are available in Spanish; to add to the inequality, most districts do not attempt to offer Spanish in math assessments. Therefore emergent bilinguals are at a disadvantage academically. AI can be a solution! Programs like Co:Writer,  Snap&Read, chatbots, Quill, and more provide feedback and accommodations for learners to use. They can provide text-to-speech (Snap&Read), paraphrase information (Quill), and speech-to-text (Co:Writer). These tools allow students to work in their own language but produce work in the desired second tongue. In a constructivist focused learning environment, AI would permit students to form their own learning in any language. AI will permit the passion and interest of students to develop in their own personalized way while considering their cultural background. 

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Current Obstructions in the Creation of Learning

     Due to Artificial Intelligence recently taking a place on the global stage there are some concerns  when using its abilities. The major concerns: teachers are not prepared, substitution and limiting of human interactions, overreliances of technology, and the guidelines needed to use technology ethically (Julien, 2024; McGuire et al., 2024). Teachers' professional developments are in need of redesign; too many are a one-and-done lesson, not a plan of mastery. Therefore teachers become overwhelmed when time and guidance are not offered continuously. How can teachers prepare students for digital citizenship, when they themselves do not understand the tools nor its implications. A professional development curricula can be developed to help teachers learn the use of AI in the classroom The first step is to create a calendar that paces the learning process for teachers. This may be a year long process or more. When considering the pacing, we need to have coaching meetings, research time, and modeling opportunities. The more relevant resources  provided for teachers, more confidence will be gained. 

     The fear of overreliance and loss of human interactions are important to address when the social emotional well being of children in the classroom is still being developed.  Children learn based on their experiences and through facilitation. To combat overreliance, educators need to use consistency, patience, and tailored activities-lessons to model students perspective of AI. After teachers provide the activity or lesson, they need to allow students to brainstorm and connect with the topic of assignment. Once the students have an opinion and an idea, teachers can present the use of AI. It will be presented as a support tool not the creator of work. By including moments for students to communicate their ideas and claim ownership, the reliance on AI as the maker is gone.  This is why it is important as teachers to learn when tech-tools need to be used and incorporate them accordingly.

      It is a tedious ground we are walking on when contemplating the use of AI. We do not want to completely eradicate innovation and creativity, we want learners to benefit from it and not use it as a crutch. Teachers need to focus on using it in the classroom as a complimentary item. This is where the philosophy of learning environments is crucial. The environment sets the pace of the tool in the classroom. The learning environment creates the ethical guidelines needed when using AI. Combining the learning environment with constructivism, educators can create an ethical expectations.. Learners will know to use AI as a tool of support in their creations. To create a universal ethical guideline, educators should share their success and learning moments when implementing AI; the first hand knowledge creates a relatable understanding of AI in the classroom. 

Conclusion

 Artificial intelligence is new and has only been briefly explored compared to its potential. Even in the news today disputes over the regulation of AI platforms are being discussed. It is important to be deliberate and precise when using any tool. Technology, AI is no exception, can promote learning and powerful environments; it can facilitate learning to allow for innovation. It can bring inclusivity and diversity. It can even build trust through feedback and support. It is important to note that there will always be concerns. AI is a tool. There are times when it is appropriate to use and there are regulations. It is important to stay conscious of any drawbacks and adapt accordingly. We are scratching the surface on how AI can be used in the classroom; on how it can help emergent bilinguals, create learning environments, and facilitate teachers. 

To promote the correct use of Artificial Intelligence, we need volunteers in education to innovate ways it can be used. We need pioneers to combat the cons and dive into the pros of AI technology. This is the time to push boundaries and explore its potential.