Grounding AI-in-Education Development in Teachers' Voices: Findings from a National Survey in Indonesia

TL;DR

This study presents a large-scale survey of Indonesian teachers, revealing how AI is used in classrooms, the challenges faced, and the varying adoption patterns across regions and experience levels.

Contribution

It provides the first comprehensive, teacher-centered data on AI use in Indonesian education, informing context-specific AI development and policy.

Findings

AI use is increasing for pedagogy, content, and media.

Adoption varies by school level, region, and teacher experience.

Mainly used to reduce instructional workload despite infrastructural challenges.

Abstract

Despite emerging use in Indonesian classrooms, there is limited large-scale, teacher-centred evidence on how AI is used in practice and what support teachers need, hindering the development of context-appropriate AI systems and policies. To address this gap, we conduct a nationwide survey of 349 K-12 teachers across elementary, junior high, and senior high schools. We find increasing use of AI for pedagogy, content development, and teaching media, although adoption remains uneven. Elementary teachers report more consistent use, while senior high teachers engage less; mid-career teachers assign higher importance to AI, and teachers in Eastern Indonesia perceive greater value. Across levels, teachers primarily use AI to reduce instructional preparation workload (e.g., assessment, lesson planning, and material development). However, generic outputs, infrastructure constraints, and limited contextual alignment continue to hinder effective classroom integration.