📰 AI & Education: What’s New? – March 2026

Hello and thanks for reading! Here’s the March update from the Pedagogical AI team.

We bring together the most relevant updates on AI and education from Finland and around the world so you can teach, lead, and learn with confidence in the age of AI.

🎯 Key AI developments in education

🇫🇮 News from Finland

Ministry of Education and Culture outlines AI competence development.
Finland emphasizes AI skills as a national priority. Focus areas include competence across all education levels, teacher support, and responsible and safe use.

👉 https://okm.fi/tekoaly-ja-osaaminen

New AI competence modules in vocational education.
The AI Work project provides practical tools for teachers and develops competence frameworks and open learning materials.

👉 https://www.oep.fi/aiwork/

Municipalities move from pilots to scaling.
More education providers are shifting from isolated experiments toward systematic AI adoption, governance, and shared practices.

👉 https://koulutus.fcg.fi/koulutustapahtumat/tekoaly-kunnissa-2026-103368

🇪🇺 News from Europe

AI Act moves into implementation.
The EU AI Act is becoming concrete for education, especially in terms of risk classification, transparency, and learner rights.

👉 https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/policies/regulatory-framework-ai

AI literacy becomes a requirement.
Organizations are now expected to take concrete steps to develop AI literacy for both learners and educators.

🌍 Global updates

Shift from producing content to proving understanding. With generative AI, the challenge is no longer producing answers but demonstrating real understanding.

👉 https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/oecd-digital-education-outlook-2026_062a7394-en.html

”AI-first learning” is emerging. Learning models where AI is continuously present in the learning process are becoming more common. Learners don’t just use AI, they learn with it.

👉 https://www.oecd.org/en/blogs/2026/01/how-to-effectively-use-generative-ai-in-education.html

AI competence becomes a core skill. Globally, AI is increasingly seen as a new literacy, comparable to digital skills.

👉 https://www.weforum.org/stories/2025/05/why-ai-literacy-is-now-a-core-competency-in-education/

💡 Teaching tip of the month

Try a “explain without AI” exercise.

1. Let students solve a task using AI
2. Ask them to explain the solution in their own words without tools
3. Ask: in what situation would this not work?

This quickly reveals whether the student truly understands or just produced an answer.

🔧 Recommended resources

Ministry of Education and Culture: AI and competence
National perspective on AI in education and skills development

👉 https://okm.fi/tekoaly-ja-osaaminen

AI Work materials for educators
Practical tools and resources for teaching

👉 https://www.oep.fi/aiwork/

EU AI Act website
Up-to-date information on regulation and obligations

👉 https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/policies/regulatory-framework-ai

👩‍🏫 Teacher perspective

"In the age of AI, what matters is not what students produce, but what they understand."

📅 Upcoming events and training

ITK Conference 2026 (Tampere, Finland, April 22–24, 2026)
Finland’s largest event on digital education, featuring AI in teaching, pedagogy, and practical use cases

👉 https://itk-konferenssi.fi/

AI in Municipalities 2026 (April 23–24, 2026)

👉 https://koulutus.fcg.fi/koulutustapahtumat/tekoaly-kunnissa-2026-103368

Chamber of Commerce AI trainings

👉 https://www.kauppakamarikauppa.fi/collections/tekoaly

🙌 Contribute to the next issue

Have you tried an AI-related lesson, project, or tool that worked well?
Share your experience with us – we highlight practical ideas and materials from educators in upcoming newsletters.

Let’s learn together!