Digital Fusion: Development of Augmented Lesson Planning in EFL Teacher Education
Project members Dr. Benjamin Ade-Thurow & Prof. Dr. Bianca Roters (University of Education Ludwigsburg, Germany)
Augmented EFL Lesson Planning investigates how artificial intelligence can be used to strengthen, rather than replace, pedagogical reasoning in pre-service English language teacher education. The project responds to the growing importance of subject-specific digital competence and asks how prospective teachers can learn to evaluate AI-generated suggestions through the lens of EFL pedagogy.
At the centre of the project is a comparative and iterative planning process. Pre-service teachers develop an initial lesson sketch in response to a classroom-related video prompt. They then engage with an AI-generated alternative, examine both plans in relation to subject-specific principles and learner needs, and revise their decisions. Prompting is therefore not treated as an end in itself. It becomes part of a structured cycle of noticing, comparison, justification and redesign. Drawing on established approaches to lesson planning in English language teaching, including ProPLan, the project explores how this process can foster professional vision, reflection competence and teacher agency. Particular attention is paid to the quality of pedagogical judgement: Which suggestions are appropriate for a specific group of learners? Which assumptions are embedded in an AI response? What needs to be adapted, rejected or developed further? By positioning AI as a debate partner, the project creates opportunities for pre-service teachers to make their professional reasoning visible and discussable. Augmented planning is thus understood as a reflective practice in which digital tools extend the space for comparison while responsibility for pedagogical decisions remains with the teacher.
Guiding question
How can critical comparison with AI-generated lesson plans foster pre-service EFL teachers’ professional vision, pedagogical reasoning and agency?
Project Activities & Outputs
Conference Presentations:
Ade-Thurow, B. & Roters, B. Plurilingual Augmented Lesson Planning: KI-gestützte (Ko-)Konstruktion von Wissen und Entwicklung von Professional Vision in der Englischlehrkräftebildung. Conference New Horizons III, University of Bielefeld (October 2026)
Publications:
Roters, Bianca, & Ade-Thurow, Benjamin. Professional Vision and AI-augmented Lesson Planning in EFL Pre-service Teacher Education. Zenodo, 29 Apr. 2026, https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.19885301 
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Ade-Thurow, Benjamin & Roters, Bianca (2025). Augmented Lesson Planning als Professionalisierungsmoment für die agency angehender Englischlehrkräfte. k:ON -Kölner Online Journal für Lehrer*innenbildung 9, S. 1-21. https://doi.org/10.18716/ojs/kON/2025.1
Research–Teaching Connection:
Selected courses provide spaces for connecting current research with the analysis, design and reflection of story-based learning environments in EFL teacher education.
(Plurilingual) Digital Fusion, Ludwigsburg University of Education