Artificial Intelligence in Bilingual Early Childhood Education: Teachers’ Perspectives on Teaching Material Development

Abstract

This study analyzes teachers’ prior knowledge of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology and their perceived role of AI in developing teaching materials for bilingual early childhood education. The study employed a quantitative approach with a descriptive research design. The participants consisted of 10 teachers at Sun Global School and Daycare in Pekanbaru, selected using total sampling. Data were collected using a structured closed-ended questionnaire measured on a five points Likert scale. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, including percentage distributions, mean scores, and standard deviations. The findings indicate that teachers have a fairly good foundational understanding of AI technology and perceive AI as beneficial for developing teaching materials. The overall perceived role of AI in teaching material development reached 79.2%, categorized as very high. Teachers perceived AI as useful for generating creative ideas, accelerating the development of teaching materials, and supporting the creation of more engaging and interactive learning media. However, teachers also reported technical challenges and a need for further training in AI use. These findings imply that bilingual early childhood education institutions should provide targeted AI literacy and professional development programs focusing on generating, evaluating, and adapting AI assisted teaching materials according to children’s developmental characteristics and bilingual learning contexts. Institutional support through adequate technological infrastructure and continuous teacher mentoring is also needed to ensure the pedagogically appropriate use of AI.