DDS – Die Deutsche Schule: Issue 3/2026, 118. Volume Artificial Intelligence in Schools through the Lens of Educational Equity – a Review of Applications for the 2025 AI School Award

This paper analyses applications submitted to Germany’s national AI School Award 2025 through the lens of educational equity. Four analytical categories are developed: learner-centered AI use, teacher-centered AI use, media literacy and AI as a subject of critical inquiry, and school development and institutional use. The review reveals that schools deploy AI pragmatically in response to concrete challenges, pursuing distinct logics of equity – from compensatory learning support and the fostering of critical AI competence for all students to the improvement of organizational conditions for equitable provision. Robust evidence on outcomes, however, remains largely lacking.

Keywords
artificial intelligence, education, equity, school, school development, digitalization, transformation, innovation