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GAIYA Generative AI in Education for Young Adults: A Gender-Inclusive Nordic-Baltic Perspective

Duration
–
Project type
Research project
Affiliation
Department of Education, ICT and Learning

The GAIYA project investigates how generative AI (G-AI), particularly through chatbot platforms, is transforming upper secondary education across the Nordic-Baltic region.

Contact persons

News

News – The Faculty of Teacher Education and Languages – Høgskolen i Østfold
  • We have kicked off our GAIYA project Apr. 23, 2026 11:28 AM

    On the 20th and 21st of April 2026 we kicked off our NordForsk project Generative AI in Education for Young Adults (GAIYA), as the entire consortium of researchers met in Aalborg for the first project meeting. Together we shared two inspiring days getting to know each other and develop a common understanding of the tasks lying ahead.

  • Introducing GAIYA at the OUAS AI Hub Mar. 30, 2026 10:43 AM

    The official launch of GAIYA is right around the corner and we were happy to present a "sneak peek" of the project to our colleagues at the Østfold University of Applied Sciences' (OUAS) AI Hub seminar.


Project description

With a special focus on digital literacy and gender equality, GAIYA investigates how students and teachers in Denmark, Sweden, and Norway use and experience G-AI tools, particularly in majority language subjects like Danish, Swedish, and Norwegian. The project examines media and AI literacy policies across five countries: Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Estonia.

GAIYA responds to two key challenges: the rapid integration of AI technologies by students in upper secondary education and the persistent gender adoption gap, where female students are less likely to engage with G-AI than their male peers. This imbalance risks reinforcing existing digital inequalities in different educational and professional settings. By focusing on playful learning, digital pedagogy, and inclusive design, the project works to ensure that all students – regardless of gender – can develop the critical skills needed to use G-AI responsibly and effectively.

Grounded in an original theoretical framework, GAIYA understands G-AI as part of the wider platform society. Rather than viewing these tools as neutral technologies, the project explores their media affordances, user interactions, and sociocultural implications, providing an innovative lens for addressing both pedagogical and policy-related challenges in education.

Through focus groups, interviews, surveys, and policy analysis, GAIYA gathers rich, comparative data on student and teacher experiences. It develops and tests new teaching strategies for integrating G-AI into everyday classroom practice.

The project partners with schools and policymakers across the region to test and evaluate its approaches in real-life settings. GAIYA is also supported by research hubs including Nordic Hub for AI, AI for the People (AAU), the Østfold AI Hub (HiØ), and GRIDH: Gothenburg Research Infrastructure for Digital Humanities (UGOT).

In the long term, GAIYA aims to influence educational policy, provide open-access resources, and establish a Nordic-Baltic think tank on G-AI in education. It contributes not only to academic knowledge, but also to equitable, inclusive, and future-oriented AI education for all young adults.

Participants

Funding

Nordforsk

Collaborators

Aalborg University AAU, Denmark

Østfold University College HiØ, Norway

University of Gothenburg, Sweden

University of Tartu, Estonia

Published Jan. 11, 2026 12:22 PM - Last modified Apr. 7, 2026 1:05 PM