  With growing expectations to use AI-based educational technology (AI-EdTech)
to improve students' learning outcomes and enrich teaching practice, teachers
play a central role in the adoption of AI-EdTech in classrooms. Teachers'
willingness to accept vulnerability by integrating technology into their
everyday teaching practice, that is, their trust in AI-EdTech, will depend on
how much they expect it to benefit them versus how many concerns it raises for
them. In this study, we surveyed 508 K-12 teachers across six countries on four
continents to understand which teacher characteristics shape teachers' trust in
AI-EdTech, and its proposed antecedents, perceived benefits and concerns about
AI-EdTech. We examined a comprehensive set of characteristics including
demographic and professional characteristics (age, gender, subject, years of
experience, etc.), cultural values (Hofstede's cultural dimensions), geographic
locations (Brazil, Israel, Japan, Norway, Sweden, USA), and psychological
factors (self-efficacy and understanding). Using multiple regression analysis,
we found that teachers with higher AI-EdTech self-efficacy and AI understanding
perceive more benefits, fewer concerns, and report more trust in AI-EdTech. We
also found geographic and cultural differences in teachers' trust in AI-EdTech,
but no demographic differences emerged based on their age, gender, or level of
education. The findings provide a comprehensive, international account of
factors associated with teachers' trust in AI-EdTech. Efforts to raise
teachers' understanding of, and trust in AI-EdTech, while considering their
cultural values are encouraged to support its adoption in K-12 education.
