Firdevs Gündoğan Önderöz of Çukurova University studies a question that is becoming increasingly important as artificial intelligence enters classrooms and universities: can AI help make high-quality education more accessible without leaving some learners behind? During two visits at Justus Liebig University Giessen (JLU), most recently in summer 2026, she exchanged ideas with Professor Edith Braun and her team in higher education research on AI-supported learning, educational quality and sustainability.
Can AI widen access to education?
One focus of the work connecting researchers in Giessen and Adana is the relationship between artificial intelligence and Sustainable Development Goal 4, which calls for inclusive and equitable quality education. A systematic review of existing studies looked at a wide range of AI-supported educational tools: intelligent tutoring systems and adaptive learning platforms, chatbots, generative AI for language and writing exercises, and systems that provide automated feedback on students’ work. The literature suggests that these technologies can help broaden access to educational opportunities and make high-quality learning on sustainability more widely available.
But greater availability does not automatically mean greater equality. The review also asked who benefits from these technologies and whose needs receive less attention. Some studies consider differences between genders, learners with disabilities or special educational needs, and people studying in socio-economically or infrastructurally disadvantaged settings. Yet research on equal participation and access remains much less common than research measuring general learning outcomes. “Overall, questions of equal participation and access have so far been investigated much less frequently than general learning performance,” Braun says. This matters because a technology that works well on average may still reinforce existing inequalities if certain groups cannot access it, use it effectively or see their needs reflected in its design.
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From digital tools to social participation
Questions of inclusion also extend beyond access to technology. What happens to social interaction when digital tools become a more prominent part of learning? Discussions around related work at JLU have highlighted that AI-supported tools can be associated both with increased participation and with social isolation. This tension is particularly relevant for students, whose experience of education depends not only on access to information but also on interaction, belonging and participation in a learning community. The topic also informed the workshop “Scroll to Social: Enhancing Social Participation in the Digital Age”, which members of Braun’s team offered to students at Çukurova University in September 2026.
Exchange between Giessen and Adana
Through EUPeace, the exchange between Giessen and Adana brought together perspectives on AI, sustainable education and inclusion, allowing Gündoğan Önderöz and Braun’s higher education research team to work jointly on the literature review. Bringing together perspectives from Giessen and Adana linked the analysis of international research with discussions about teaching practice and social participation. The collaboration also created connections between work on AI, sustainable education and questions of inclusion that can be explored further across the two universities.
Building on the findings
The review has identified both the potential of AI-supported education and an important gap in current research: questions about access, inclusion and unequal participation need more attention. At JLU, these questions are already feeding into related work on digital citizenship, global citizenship and social participation. Research within Braun’s team is also examining links between AI use, motivation, loneliness and mental health, showing how educational technologies can affect learners in ways that go beyond academic performance alone.
Research on inclusive educational technology speaks directly to wider questions of justice and social transformation. For EUPeace, which brings together universities around peace, justice and inclusive societies, the collaboration provides one setting in which such questions can be investigated across national and disciplinary boundaries. But the central challenge reaches far beyond the Alliance: as AI becomes a more ordinary part of education, the important question is not simply what the technology can do, but whether its benefits are accessible to people with different needs, resources and circumstances.
