Navigating Ethical Tensions: A Scenario Collection for AI and Data in Education

This record contains a curated collection of  ethical scenarios developed within the European project ETH-TECH – Anchoring Ethical Technology (AI and Data) Usage in Educational Practice. The scenarios were produced during Awareness Raising Sessions (ARS) and seminar-workshops held across partner institutions, involving higher-education teachers, teacher educators, and students. Each scenario presents a situated ethical dilemma related to the adoption of artificial intelligence and data-driven technologies in educational contexts, grounded in participants’ real practices and institutional experiences.

The collection documents the full set of scenario outputs, including:
(1) concise descriptions of the educational context;
(2) identification of the relevant EU Ethical Guidelines principles (human agency, transparency, fairness, social and environmental wellbeing, privacy, technical robustness, accountability);
(3) the ethical tensions identified by participants;
(4) possible responses, strategies, or design alternatives discussed during the sessions.

These scenarios serve as applied pedagogical resources for educators, researchers, and policymakers interested in fostering reflective, context-sensitive approaches to the ethics of AI and data in education. The collection supported further analysis within ETH-TECH Work Package 2 (Framework) and provided foundational materials for the development of self-reflection instruments.

The scenarios are presented in English ("CASE") Italian ("CASO") and in Spanish/English ("CASO C-ESUP-ES"). When the cases are appliable to Higher Education, they are indicated with "HE" (Higher Education). When they belong to the area of educators' professional activity, they are indicated with "ProfPract" (Professional Practice). In addition, a curated selection of cases has been originally produced in Spanish by participants from the University of San Andrés (Argentina).

The scenarios can be used by educators to activate or guide discussions that promote a vision of ethics that is situated and problematic, to impulse an "inquiry-based" approach to the ethical understanding. We purport that this approach is key to teach ethics, whenever such a complex human endeavour is teachable.