Building AI Literacy at Home: How Families Navigate Children's Self-Directed Learning with AI

2025-10-28

AI Summary

This study addresses practical challenges in fostering AI literacy among children aged 7–13 within family contexts: parents must simultaneously support children’s autonomous learning and compensate for their own gaps in AI knowledge, while navigating cognitive blind spots related to privacy protection and technology integration. Using focus group interviews and the Self-Directed Learning (SDL) framework, we analyzed qualitative data from 32 parent–child dyads to develop a “family co-learning”–oriented AI literacy model. Findings reveal a structural tension between parental oversight and children’s autonomy. We propose, for the first time, a family-centered AI literacy support framework that integrates cognitive scaffolding with critical reflection, underscoring the necessity of cultivating risk awareness beyond formal educational settings and designing tool-based support mechanisms. This work provides empirical grounding and novel theoretical insights for AI education interventions targeting children and the development of family-oriented educational technologies.

Technology Category

• Humans and AI: Learning Human Values and Preferences
• Philosophy and Ethics of AI: Privacy & Security
• Machine Learning: Causal Learning

Application Category

• Semantics and Knowledge: Data modeling to support human-machine intelligence, including LLMs agents, intelligent system behavior, explanations, and user-friendly interactions
• Responsible Web: Machine-in-the-loop, human agency and autonomy
• User Modeling, Personalization and Recommendation: Accountability, Transparency, and Ethics for personalization

Abstract

As generative AI becomes embedded in children's learning spaces, families face new challenges in guiding its use. Middle childhood (ages 7-13) is a critical stage where children seek autonomy even as parental influence remains strong. Using self-directed learning (SDL) as a lens, we examine how parents perceive and support children's developing AI literacy through focus groups with 13 parent-child pairs. Parents described evolving phases of engagement driven by screen time, self-motivation, and growing knowledge. While many framed AI primarily as a study tool, few considered its non-educational roles or risks, such as privacy and infrastructural embedding. Parents also noted gaps in their own AI understanding, often turning to joint exploration and engagement as a form of co-learning. Our findings reveal how families co-construct children's AI literacy, exposing tensions between practical expectations and critical literacies, and provide design implications that foster SDL while balancing autonomy and oversight.

Problem

• Examining how parents support children's AI literacy development at home
• Addressing tensions between children's autonomy and parental guidance with AI
• Investigating gaps in parental understanding of AI's risks and applications

Innovation

• Focus groups with parent-child pairs
• Joint exploration and co-learning methods
• Balancing autonomy with oversight design