Lin et al.

Smart Learning Environments (2023) 10:41 Smart Learning Environments

https://doi.org/10.1186/s40561-023-00260-y

REVIEW Open Access

Artificial intelligence in intelligent tutoring

systems toward sustainable education:
a systematic review
Chien‑Chang Lin1* , Anna Y. Q. Huang1 and Owen H. T. Lu2

*Correspondence:
[email protected] Abstract
1
National Central University, Sustainable education is a crucial aspect of creating a sustainable future, yet it
Taoyüan, Taiwan faces several key challenges, including inadequate infrastructure, limited resources,
2
National Chengchi University, and a lack of awareness and engagement. Artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential
Taipei, Taiwan
to address these challenges and enhance sustainable education by improving access
to quality education, creating personalized learning experiences, and supporting
data-driven decision-making. One outcome of using AI and Information Technology
(IT) systems in sustainable education is the ability to provide students with personal‑
ized learning experiences that cater to their unique learning styles and preferences.
Additionally, AI systems can provide teachers with data-driven insights into student
performance, emotions, and engagement levels, enabling them to tailor their teaching
methods and approaches or provide assistance or intervention accordingly. However,
the use of AI and IT systems in sustainable education also presents challenges, includ‑
ing issues related to privacy and data security, as well as potential biases in algorithms
and machine learning models. Moreover, the deployment of these systems requires
significant investments in technology and infrastructure, which can be a challenge
for educators. In this review paper, we will provide different perspectives from educa‑
tors and information technology solution architects to connect education and AI tech‑
nology. The discussion areas include sustainable education concepts and challenges,
technology coverage and outcomes, as well as future research directions. By address‑
ing these challenges and pursuing further research, we can unlock the full potential
of these technologies and support a more equitable and sustainable education system.
Keywords: Artificial intelligence, Sustainable education, Education sustainability,
Intelligent tutoring system, Massive open online course

Introduction
The term "sustainable" is intended to describe something that can be maintained or
continued over the long term without significant negative environmental, social, or
economic impacts. It implies a concept that meets the needs of the present without
compromising future generations. To elaborate on the concept of sustainability in
education, Sterling and Orr (2001) proposed that sustainable education aims to fos-
ter a learning culture that values diversity, creativity, and participation and empowers

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Lin et al. Smart Learning Environments (2023) 10:41 Page 2 of 22

learners to develop sustainably. To extend the concept of sustainable development to

the scope of human life, in 2015, the United Nations adopted a set of 17 global goals
called the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) (United Nations, 2015) to end pov-
erty, protect the planet, and ensure peace and prosperity for all by 2030. It is worth
noting that education is one of the key areas of the SDGs, as it is essential for achiev-
ing all the other goals and for building a more sustainable future.
Sustainable education aims to develop the competencies needed to meet the social
and environmental needs of present and future generations. Sustainable education is
a matter not only of content but also of process and context. It involves rethinking the
purpose, methods, and outcomes of education; transforming the culture, structure,
and practices of educational institutions; and collaborating and dialoguing among
different stakeholders, such as educators, learners, policymakers, communities, and
nongovernmental organizations. Sustainable education is an ongoing and dynamic
process of learning and change that inspires hope and action for a better world.
The fourth goal of the SDGs, quality education, revolves around the achievement of
sustainable education for all humankind. This goal aims to ensure inclusive and equi-
table quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all. To achieve
the goal of quality education, 10 targets covering different aspects of education were
proposed in the SDGs, providing detailed guidance for the realization of quality edu-
cation; these include designing modern information technologies to better implement
quality education to achieve sustainable education (United Nations, 2015).
Sustainable education focuses on cultivating learners with sustainable development
capabilities, so it is necessary to emphasize personalization and student-centeredness
in the learning process to develop the capabilities they need. For this reason, integrat-
ing modern information technology such as intelligent tutoring systems (ITSs) into
quality education has become the main approach for achieving sustainable education
today.
Intelligent tutoring systems (ITSs) are computer-based learning systems that use arti-
ficial intelligence (AI) to provide personalized and adaptive instruction for students. The
overall concept can be traced back to 1970 (Carbonell, 1970). These systems can model
students’ psychological states, such as motivation, emotion, and cognition, as well as
their prior knowledge, skills, and preferences. They can also monitor students’ progress,
provide feedback, hints, and scaffolding, and select appropriate problems or tasks for
students to practice.
Technology-Enhanced Learning (TEL) (Deng & Benckendorff, 2020) is another
approach to education that combines the use of technology with smart approaches
designed to support learning. It has the potential to improve teaching and learning and
turn them into levers of sustainable learning growth and development. By integrating
emerging technologies such as social media, web-based tools, augmented and virtual
reality, as well as games in teaching and learning, TEL can enhance the educational
experience for both teachers and students. It’s becoming a trend in educational system
which the remote and hybrid learning become necessary. By leveraging TEL, the stu-
dents can learn by their own pace and more engaged during the learning. However, it is
important to ensure that technology is used responsibly and that its effects are positive
and its risks manageable.
Lin et al. Smart Learning Environments (2023) 10:41 Page 3 of 22

Along with the versatile AI machine learning solutions in the recent decade, many
ITSs are empowered by AI solutions. For example, the natural language process (NLP)
(Liddy, 2001) can be used as a chatbot to interact with students to provide feedback
and necessary learning interventions (Lin & Mubarok, 2021). The other example is
that of leveraging the powerful data mining capability of machine learning to perform
learning analytics activities or performance prediction (Choi & McClenen, 2020;
Ouyang et al., 2023). Other areas include leveraging image recognition to identify
students’ facial expressions, gestures, or emotions to inform teachers’ future actions
(Leony et al., 2013; Singh et al., 2022).
AI systems can play a significant role in sustainable education. AI-powered algo-
rithms can be used to analyze student data and create personalized learning experi-
ences for each student. This can help students learn more effectively and efficiently
while reducing the amount of time and resources required for traditional teaching
methods. There are several AI systems that can be used in sustainable education. One
example is personalized learning systems that use AI-powered algorithms to analyze
student data and create personalized learning experiences for each student. Another
example is chatbots powered by AI that can answer inquiries from students and offer
them individualized learning experiences. The other typical example is AI-enabled
technology can also be used for performance prediction and real-time monitor stu-
dents’ performance so that necessary intervention can be provided to the instructors.
From educators’ perspectives, an ITS can act as a potential tool to enhance their
teaching and learning practices rather than as a threat or a replacement. ITSs can
offer several benefits for educators, such as providing individualized and differenti-
ated instruction for diverse learners, which is one of the key concepts for shifting
from teacher-centered to student-centered processes (Ogunkunle & Qu, 2020; Silva
et al., 2022). ITSs can also offload teachers’ workload on routine tasks, such as grad-
ing feedback and remediation, so that teachers can focus more on teaching itself (Ata-
pattu & Falkner, 2016; Tobarra et al., 2021). Ultimately, teachers will promote lifelong
learning and professional development not only to students but also themselves.
There will be some gaps when bringing educators with IT solutions, especially when
educators are asked to implement an intelligent tutoring system with modern arti-
ficial intelligence features enabled. Some examples of the gaps include lacking the
understanding of how IT technology works, the difficulties of integrating ITS into
educational curricula, building effective assessments for ITSs, and funding concerns.
Even if the ITS is properly built, training instructors to use the system effectively
might be another challenge. Thus, we are trying to address the gaps and challenges in
this review paper and provide guidance for educators and IT solutions architects by
reviewing different approaches to tutoring systems implementation.
In this review paper, we will bridge the perspectives of educators and information
technology specialists on sustainable education. Furthermore, we extended the origi-
nal definition of ITS to be AI and machine learning embedded. Below is the research
agenda and questions we will address.
Lin et al. Smart Learning Environments (2023) 10:41 Page 4 of 22

• Background

• Define the title and focused key areas of the surveyed papers.
• Define the source of selecting papers.
• Define the keywords, screening criteria, and year range of the surveyed papers.
• Review, study, categorize and determine the relevance.
• Define the target audience of this surveyed paper.

• What are the key challenges to sustainable education?

• What are the key challenges from sustainable education implementation?

• What are the key challenges from teachers?
• What are the key challenges from learners?
• Are there any other key challenges?

• How are AI and IT incorporated as the ITS to support sustainable education?

• What are the key factors to consider when building AI/IT systems to support sus-
tainable education?
• What are the typical AI/IT solutions used to support sustainable education?
• What and how are pedagogical methods integrated into AI/IT solutions?
• How are learning statistics data accumulated and analyzed?

• What are the outcomes and challenges of AI/IT embedded as the ITS in sustainable
education?

• What is the outcome measurement mechanism, and what is the outcome?

• What is the trust and explainable level when using AI/IT in sustainable education?

• What is the future trend of AI/IT-embedded ITS sustainable education?

• What is a potential area in which we can invest more AI/IT effort?

• What are the enhancement opportunities of currently existing AI/IT systems?

Thus, based on the research agenda, the following 4 research questions will be
addressed and answered.

• RQ1: What are the key challenges of sustainable education implementation?

• RQ2: How are AI and IT incorporated as the ITS to support sustainable education?
• RQ3: What are the outcomes of AI/IT being embedded as the ITS in sustainable
education?
• RQ4: What is the future trend of AI/IT embedded ITS in sustainable education?

In the remaining sections of this paper, we will illustrate the overall methodology
of how we developed this review study. In section "Methodology", we will perform
a literature review and share some typical cases and scenarios about how AI supports
Lin et al. Smart Learning Environments (2023) 10:41 Page 5 of 22

sustainable education. In section "Results and discussion", we will detail the breakdown
of the information gathered from the reviewed papers, discuss the findings and answer
the research questions. In the last section, we will conclude the overall study and discuss
future trends.

Literature review
The trend of changing teaching scenarios from traditional classroom style to remote,
virtual, and blended is inevitable. There are lots of research focus on how to leverage
TEL to make overall learning more efficient and engaged. Xie et al. (2019) reviewed the
trend and how and what kind of technologies are applied into the learning environment.
There are also review focus on specific subjects like flipping mathematics (Yang et al.,
2019) and chemistry (Wu et al., 2021) by leveraging TEL which shows the benefits when
embedding technologies into the learning.
With more instructional courses being moved online and becoming remotely acces-
sible, the data generated from the system also become more complicated to manage. Big
data mining along with AI has become mainstream when examining information tech-
nology in educational systems. Yousuf and Wahid (2021) elaborated different kinds of
areas and applications in which AI can support as well as provide good insights for the
following research.
There are different perspectives when looking at how AI can support ITSs toward sus-
tainable education. It is reasonable to review different implementations with a stand-
ardized framework that can help researchers gain a decent understanding and support
sustainable education implementation. To help researchers, Gillani et al. (2023) precisely
defined different dimensions of reviewing mechanisms, which were also adopted in this
study.
There are two main categories of AI integration with tutoring systems. The first is to
not interfere with the tutoring system and to extract log data for further analysis. This
kind of approach typically leverages much data mining and clustering to derive learning
behaviors (Corrigan et al., 2015b; Ouyang et al., 2023; Weng et al., 2020). When catego-
rizing learning behaviors, unsupervised learning methodology and clustering algorithms
are usually used since there is no ground truth data to train the model. The other major
approach is for performance prediction (Afzaal et al., 2021; Choi & McClenen, 2020;
Serrano-Laguna et al., 2018) and involves extracting features and machine learning algo-
rithms through supervised learning.
The other category of integrating AI with tutoring systems is more difficult to imple-
ment. Typically, in this kind of implementation, personalization can be better consid-
ered in terms of learning process (Singh et al., 2022; Tobarra et al., 2021) or intervention
(Weng et al., 2020). For this kind of integration, the system architecture needs to be con-
sidered along with the inflexibility since the AI algorithm is tightly integrated within the
system; it is also a kind of adaptive learning (Paramythis & Loidl-Reisinger, 2003) (Par-
amythis & Loidl-Reisinger, 2003) implementation. AI-embedded ITSs may have better
adaptation capability to respond to students’ real-time learning status and have a better
chance to intervene with students to provide early necessary assistance.
Many studies have focused on engagement and dropout prevention. Leony et al.
(2013) leverage students’ facial expressions captured by cameras and leverages machine
Lin et al. Smart Learning Environments (2023) 10:41 Page 6 of 22

image recognition algorithms to detect students’ emotions. Pereira et al. (2019) lever-
age historic system log data and train a machine learning program to detect if the stu-
dent will drop out of an online course, which also provides teacher assistance in terms of
engagement.
The major contribution of exploiting AI in education probably has not yet been fully
discovered. Although Explainable AI (XAI) is becoming popular in the computer sci-
ence world, it is still being introduced in the education area. Afzaal et al. (2021) used a
counterfactual method to explain how an AI algorithm gave instructors predictions to
provide students with necessary assistance. In the other research of Pereira et al. (2021),
a more recently developed XAI algorithm called SHAP was used to explain the predic-
tion result.

Methodology
This review paper conceptualization process is based on the book “Qualitative Research
from Start to Finish” by Yin (2015) with the analytical methodology mentioned in (Chatti
et al., 2012). The overall paper review methodology and content framework follows the
PRISMA (Page et al., 2021) methodology.

Conceptualization
Based on the analytical model proposed by Chatti et al. (2012), we can put our main
topic in the center and consider four different dimensions around the topic, as shown in
Fig. 1. We started from the “Why” and focused on the research objectives coming from
the research agenda and research questions. We also conducted a brainstorming session
with a few researchers to define “Who” are the key stakeholders and what they will be
interested to know and what we can contribute from this review paper.

Fig. 1 Analytics model of AI in intelligent tutoring systems

Lin et al. Smart Learning Environments (2023) 10:41 Page 7 of 22

This review paper focuses on educators in the SDG sector and educational technology
R&D to provide a systematic review of how AI systems support sustainable education. It
may contribute to the understanding and alignment between educators and IT technol-
ogy in building suitable solutions as well as future potential enhancement toward sus-
tainable education. We discuss the “What” and the “How” in the following section.

Paper selection process

The overall paper selection and screening process is illustrated in the following figure,
which follows the PRISMA paper selection process from identification, screening, and
eligibility. This process provides researchers with a robust and systematic way of scoping
target papers to review. It starts with high-level filtering, abstract screening, and finally
content eligibility review. The process and surveyed paper count are illustrated in Fig. 2.
First, the paper search for RQ1 was mainly conducted in Scopus with the keywords
“Sustainable Education” and “Challenge”. We found 113 articles in total, and then we
limited the search results to conference or journal papers written in English only. The
query statement can be listed as follows.
( TITLE-ABS-KEY ( "sustainable education" ) AND TITLE-ABS-KEY ( challenge ) )
AND ( LIMIT-TO ( LANGUAGE, "English" ) AND ( LIMIT-TO ( SRCTYPE, "j" ) OR
LIMIT-TO ( SRCTYPE, "p" ) ) )
For RQ 2 to 4, we leveraged Scopus and Web of Science (SSCI) to search the surveyed
papers. The keywords we used were “Artificial Intelligence” AND (“Education Sustain-
ability” OR “Sustainable Education” OR “Learning Analytics”). Initially we specifically
used “intelligent tutoring system” as the keyword but we did not filter out good number
of papers and then we later on enlarged the scope to “artificial intelligence” to generally
cover “intelligent tutoring system” and “massive open online course”. The initial search
results were 465 articles from Scopus and 88 from SSCI. Below are the query statements
from both.
( TITLE-ABS-KEY ( "artificial intelligence" ) AND (TITLE-ABS-KEY ( "education
sustainability" ) OR TITLE-ABS-KEY ( "sustainable education" ) OR TITLE-ABS-KEY
( "learning analytics" ) ) ) AND ( LIMIT-TO ( DOCTYPE, "cp" ) OR LIMIT-TO ( DOC-
TYPE, "ar" ) ) AND ( LIMIT-TO ( LANGUAGE, "English" ) )

Fig. 2 Paper selection process

Lin et al. Smart Learning Environments (2023) 10:41 Page 8 of 22

Table 1 Article screening inclusion and exclusion criteria

Inclusion Exclusion

Published between year 2014 to 2023 Published prior to 2014

English language Not in English
Doc. type: journal or conference paper Other document types (e.g., books)
Focus on real school educational cases Focus on methodology or nonschool
Address outcomes and challenges No outcome or challenges addressed
Must have an IT embedded system No IT embedded systems

Table 2 Coding scheme to analyze included publications

Category Code Label Description

Type of data (what) Type of data A1 Refers to any kind of data such as academic data, performance
data, interaction data, etc. that are collected by tutoring to sup‑
port feedback practices in education
Methods (how) Machine learning B1 Refers to the machine learning methods such as neural
network to learn from data and perform tasks within tutoring
systems
Data mining B2 Refers to the data mining methods such as clustering, clas‑
sification, decision tree, regression, etc. that are used to analyze
data within tutoring systems
Gaming B3 Refers to the leveraging gaming methods within tutoring
systems
Others B4 Refers to the other methods such home grown systems
Objectives (why) Monitoring C1 Refers to tracking students’ learning performance
Prediction C2 Refers to predicting students’ learning behavior and perfor‑
mance
Assessment C3 Refers to providing an evidence-based assessment
Adaptation C4 Refers to providing an adaptive and flexible learning scenario
Personalization C5 Refers to providing individualized training scenarios
Recommendation C6 Refers to providing recommendation of what to do next
Others C7 Refers to any other goal that can help to support learners
Target Learners and Elementary D1 Refers to the elementary school students as the learners
stakeholders (who) High school D2 Refers to the high school students as the learners
University D3 Refers to the university students as the learners
Others D4 Refers to not specifically mentioned who is the learners

ALL = ( "artificial intelligence" ) AND ( ALL = ( "sustainable education" ) OR

ALL = ( "education sustainability" ) OR ALL = ( "learning analytics" ) ) and Open Access
and Article ( Document Types )
We applied the same limitation as in RQ 1 for RQ 2 to 4, that is, we limited the search
result to only journal or conference papers and the language to English only. Further-
more, for RQ 2 to RQ 4 papers, we further defined the inclusion and exclusion criteria in
Table 1 so that we could first perform filtering to target the papers we needed.
Then, we conducted a screening and eligibility process for the surveyed papers with
the research team. Finally, we selected 8 to support RQ 1 along with other ad hoc
selected papers to discuss sustainable education challenges. For RQ 2 to 4, we selected
29 papers that specifically address how AI is leveraged in the ITS with real educational
scenarios for further discussion, which will be described in detail and discussed later.
Lin et al. Smart Learning Environments (2023) 10:41 Page 9 of 22

Results and discussion

Out of all the papers selected in this systematic review, there were 8 for the sustainable
education challenges review and 29 for the AI with ITS review. The code scheme of all
selected papers are shown in Table 2.
For the 29 AI with ITS papers, the distribution of countries and regions with the edu-
cation levels involved is presented in Table 3.
There are a total of 13 papers (Choi & McClenen, 2020; Hasnine et al., 2018; Jiang
et al., 2019; Lee et al., 2021; Lin & Mubarok, 2021; Lu et al., 2018; Niyogisubizo et al.,
2022; Ouyang et al., 2023; Silva et al., 2022; Singh et al., 2022; Tzeng et al., 2022; Weng
et al., 2020; Yang et al., 2021a, b) from Asia, 9 papers (Afzaal et al., 2021; Corrigan et al.,
2015a, b; Guerrero-Higueras et al., 2018; Llurba et al., 2022; Perikos et al., 2017; Ruipé-
rez-Valiente et al., 2021; Serrano-Laguna et al., 2018; Tobarra et al., 2021) from Europe, 5
papers (Montpetit & Sabourin, 2016; Ogunkunle & Qu, 2020; Pereira et al., 2021; Pereira
et al., 2019; Xing & Goggins, 2015) from America and 2 papers (Atapattu & Falkner,
2016; Leony et al., 2013) from Oceania. Most of the study experiment targets are univer-
sity or above (total of 19 papers), which means that the researchers are more interested
in higher education, probably because the teaching and learning environment is more
diversified for data gathering.

RQ1: what are the key challenges of sustainable education implementation?

When Sterling and Orr (2001) began advocating that sustainable education must be built
upon the sustainability of the whole ecological system, he discussed some challenges in
his book. Typical challenges such as the paradigm of education are incompatible with
the principle of sustainability because it is mechanistic and driven by business. The other
aspect of what he mentioned is the foundational challenge in which the whole education
system is largely fragmented, isolated, and not collaboratively working well.
In the last decade, most governments and educationists have promoted sustainable
education in all ways along with the United Nations (2015) SDGs, and the challenges

Table 3 Research selected by country and education levels

Regions Country Count Education level

Asia Taiwan 5 High school: 1, University: 4

China 3 University: 1, Graduate: 1, General: 1
Japan 2 University: 2
Korea 1 University: 1
India 1 N/A: 1
Sri Lanka 1 High school: 1
Europe Spain 5 High school: 2, University: 2, N/A: 1
Ireland 2 University: 2
Sweden 1 University: 1
Greece 1 University: 1
America US 2 K-12: 1, N/A: 1
Canada 1 N/A: 1
Brazil 2 University: 1, N/A: 1
Oceania Australia 2 University: 2
Lin et al. Smart Learning Environments (2023) 10:41 Page 10 of 22

have shifted to a different angle, especially after information technology was integrated
into the implementation of the whole sustainable education system. Sustainability con-
cepts have gradually emerged as part of education curricula, and the challenges with
AI and information technology have become more obvious. There might still be resist-
ance (Smaniotto et al., 2023; Wade, 2012), mindset (Tsegay et al., 2022), and awareness
(Khahro & Javed, 2022; Shah et al., 2022; Smaniotto et al., 2023) issues, but eventually,
these issues will be improved by deploying sustainability culture through information
technology in schools. As we stated earlier in this review paper, the challenges may come
from IT perspectives as well as the education system. Below are the key challenges sum-
mary from the surveyed paper we selected:

• [C1] More challenges taking care of more students during virtual or blended learning
environment (Tsegay et al., 2022; Wade, 2012), it may be because students are from
remote especially like under COVID situation, and the instructors are forced to use
tutoring systems to deliver courses on line.
• [C2] Unequal global access, lack of devices for connectivity or bandwidth (Simuț
et al., 2021; Wade, 2012). The network connectivity becomes a bottleneck when stu-
dents need to join the training from remote, and it becomes another challenge to
ensure the quality of connectivity and healthy bandwidth.
• [C3] Teachers’ ICT (Information and Communication Technology, which means the
integration of telecommunications and computers, as well as necessary enterprise
software, middleware, storage and audiovisual, that enable users to access, store,
transmit, understand and manipulate information.) teaching skill, use and accept-
ance of new technologies (Saudelli & Niemczyk, 2022; Simuț et al., 2021; Tsegay
et al., 2022). There will be more training needed to enhance the teachers’ internet
tools usage skill set to ensure teachers accept the new technologies.
• [C4] Lack of physical and emotional interaction (Simuț et al., 2021). Due to the vir-
tual training environment, the teachers will worry about the lack of students’ interac-
tion.
• [C5] Limited students collaborative learning (Acevedo-Duque et al., 2023). The stu-
dents’ collaboration will be limited by the systems since the students cannot see each
other with virtual and remote training environment.
• [C6] Engagement and dropout concern in virtual learning environments (Khahro &
Javed, 2022; Simuț et al., 2021). It’s another challenge that students will dropout due
to losing attention without teachers’ intervention.
• [C7] Privacy and security concern (Tewari, 2020). This is another challenging area
when students need to provide personal identify through internet as well as facial
biological features.
• [C8] Fairness and bias correction (Tewari, 2020). When leveraging AI systems, the
system will be very challenging to provide fair interactions without the bias.
• [C9] Interpretability and transparency (Smaniotto et al., 2023; Tewari, 2020). Provid-
ing comprehensive explanation from the AI system to the teachers is another major
challenge, the educators will always need a good explanation to trust the AI system
when providing any prediction and intervention.
Lin et al. Smart Learning Environments (2023) 10:41 Page 11 of 22

Based on the challenges listed above, there must be some recommendations and guid-
ance that can be given to educators and IT solution architects when implementing sus-
tainable education solutions. Below are key recommendations summarized from the
surveyed papers.

• Awareness [C1, C3]: The trend of emerging AI technology in education is becoming

unavoidable. Fundamentally, delivering awareness of sustainable education and SDG
goals is becoming critical to the whole educational eco-system.
• Policy and regulation [C7]: Undoubtedly, government and institutional support is
another key for sustainable education implementation to support educators since
governments are responsible for effective, accountable, and inclusive SDG imple-
mentation. Policy and regulations, which also need to be enacted at the government
level, may also cover privacy and security protection.
• Technology enablement [C3, C4, C5, C6]: Instructors should be trained in more AI-
empowered concepts that can potentially be leveraged in educational systems as well
as the new internet Connectivity Tools (ICT) digital skills. Eventually, instructors
need to know how to incorporate pedagogical strategies and theories into the AI sys-
tem to make everything meaningful.
• Infrastructure readiness [C2]: Obviously, AI and IT technology can be an accelera-
tor and innovation toward SDGs; thus, considering internet connectivity with decent
devices becomes crucial. This may also include consideration of the inclusion or
diversity of students who need to engage in distanced learning.
• Explainable systems [C8, C9]: One of the key responsibilities of AI and IT solution
architecture is to develop quality and inclusive systems that can support explaina-
ble data-driven decision-making for teachers and students to improve learning out-
comes. Only this way can AI and IT provide an environment with fairness, account-
ability, trustworthiness, and ethics (Khosravi et al., 2022) for sustainable education.

These challenges require collaborative and collective action from all stakehold-
ers involved in education and IT solution architects, such as policymakers, educa-
tors, researchers, parents, and students. We need to work together to find innovative
and inclusive solutions that can ensure sustainable education for all in the twenty-first
century.

RQ2: how are AI and IT incorporated as the ITS to support sustainable education?
There are different purposes and objectives when considering ITSs in sustainable educa-
tion implementation. However, one of the major consideration points is the need to be
more student centric. Below in Table 4, we list the major objectives from the 29 selected
surveyed papers.
There is much research focusing on students’ performance prediction based on the
systems’ logs generated during the interaction between the students and the systems.
The typical approach involves using machine learning algorithms with a feature extrac-
tion process to predict students’ performance (Guerrero-Higueras et al., 2018; Yang
et al., 2021a, b). The next major objectives are to identify learners’ learning behaviors
(Lee et al., 2021; Weng et al., 2020), which will most likely be input into the machine
Lin et al. Smart Learning Environments (2023) 10:41 Page 12 of 22

Table 4 Purposes of using AI in intelligent tutoring systems

Purpose Description Count

Performance Prediction Leverage machine learning algorithms to predict learners’ 13

outcome performance
Learning Behavior Analysis Leverage system’s log to perform clustering and come out 9
different learning behaviors
Engagement and Dropout Prevention Detection of dropout risks by leveraging machine learning 5
programs
Provide Intervention Provide necessary intervention by learning behaviors identifi‑ 3
cation
Adaptation/Personalization Provide personalized training episodes to improve learners’ 5
performance
Instructors’ Support Provide information (like emotions) to help instructors adopt 4
actions for helping learners
Tutoring Systems Assessment Evaluation the performance of the tutoring system for future 2
enhancement
Self-Regulation Learning Improvement Evaluate the improvement of Self-Regulation Learning capabil‑ 2
ity by survey
One study may have multiple purposes

learning algorithm for further performance prediction. Behavior identification can be

part of feature engineering, and educators are highly interested in what learning strat-
egies are adopted during the learning process. The other objectives also focus on stu-
dents’ engagement to prevent boredom and dropout (Niyogisubizo et al., 2022; Pereira
et al., 2019) and on personalization (Ogunkunle & Qu, 2020) and provide instructors
with the suitable timing to deliver interventions (Lin & Mubarok, 2021) and assistance
to students.
When considering adaptation and personalization in tutoring systems, one of the ways
AI is being used in these systems for personalization is through adaptive learning. Adap-
tive learning is a personalized approach to learning that makes the best out of every stu-
dent’s learning, and the categories and guidelines were recommended in (Paramythis &
Loidl-Reisinger, 2003). This means that using AI in adaptive learning involves analyz-
ing students’ learning patterns and developing a customized learning process that will
assist students in achieving their best academic performance. Through this smart use of
AI, tutors can identify students’ strengths and weaknesses and then tailor their teaching
strategies to meet their individual needs.
If we further examine how AI and information technology are incorporated into ITSs,
below in Table 5, we list what technology supports the different objectives in different
ways.
Most of the AI technology embedded in ITSs consists of machine learning algorithms,
especially when the system architect does not want to interfere with the original ITSs.
Typically, an offline process is involved in performing machine learning and providing
necessary information and interaction with instructors or students. Gillani et al. (2023)
provides a systematic way to map machine learning algorithms with different ITS pur-
poses. In our study, most of the machine learning technology used for performance
prediction is supervised learning (Corrigan et al., ) since we need much historic labeled
training data to train the model. However, another concern from this kind of approach is
Lin et al. Smart Learning Environments (2023) 10:41 Page 13 of 22

Table 5 AI and technology used in intelligent tutoring systems

Objective Category Technology description Count

Performance Prediction Supervised Learning Logistic or Linear Regression: 5, 33

SVM (Support Vector Machine):
5, BayesNet/NB (Nayes Network
or Naive Bayes): 4, RF (Random
Forest) 3, NN (Neural Network)
4, AB/XGBoost (Adaptive or
Extreme Gradient Boosting): 3,
CART (Classification and Regres‑
sion Tree): 2
Unsupervised Learning KNN (K Nearest Neighborhood): 4 4
Others Novel approach or other models 7
Learning Behavior Analysis Unsupervised Learning KNN: 4, SVM: 2 6
Supervised Learning Regression: 1, RF: 1, NN: 1, 5
XGBoost: 2
Others Novel approach or refer to other 3
studies
Instructors Support Natural Language Processing LDA (Latent Dirichlet Allocation): 4
Support 1, DistilBERT (Distilled Bidirec‑
tional Encorder Representing
Transformer): 1, NLTK (Python
Natural Language Tool Kit): 1,
PyCharm (Python Development
Kit): 1
Decision-Making and Facial HMM (Hidden Mokov Models): 1, 3
Recognition Azure for ER (Emotional Recogni‑
tion), OpenCV (Facial Detection
Kit)
Others Novel approach/refer to other 1
studies
Engagement & Dropout Predic‑ SVM Support Vector Machine 1
tion Supervised Learning SVM: 1, RF: 1, XGBoost: 1, GB 4
(Gradient Boosting): 1, NN: 1
Others Novel approach/Refer to other 1
studies
Adaptation/Personalization CNN (Facial) Convolutional Neural Network 1
TensorFlow TensorFlow Object Detection API 1
Replika API Chatbot API 1
Learning Intervention eMail Sending reminding through 1
email
System Reminding System reminds instructors 2
Assessment Guidelines Guidelines for system architects 2
Explanation XAI Counterfactual and SHAP 2
method
One study may have multiple AI technologies involved

about bias, fairness and equality due to overfitting issues, which means that researchers
may need more and better training data.
On the other hand, when performing learning behavior analysis (Pereira et al., 2021;
Weng et al., 2020), most of the technology used turns to unsupervised learning, which
also makes sense since there are no ground truth data for model training and the
overall concept is for clustering or categorization without any reference. In addition
to the objectives and embedded technology, we also need to examine the scenario
used by the educator to answer RQ 2 in a more complete way. In Table 6, we list the
typical pedagogical scenarios in the 29 surveyed papers.
Lin et al. Smart Learning Environments (2023) 10:41 Page 14 of 22

Table 6 Scenarios of AI used in intelligent tutoring systems

Category Major scenarios Targets Count

AI Not Embedded in Performance prediction and behaviors analysis Instructors 18

the Tutoring Systems Automatic system intervention Learners 1
Intervention recommendation Instructors 1
Provide outcome/behavior explanation Instructors 2
Discussion topics generation Instructors 1
Emotional analysis Instructors 2
Dropout prevention early notification Instructors 1
AI Embedded in the Serious games and interaction with learners Learners 2
Tutoring Systems Intelligently learning path decision (Interactive) Learners 2
Natural language or chatbot interaction Learners 3
One study may have multiple scenarios involved

Table 7 Outcome observed from intelligent tutoring systems with AI and IT support
Category Description Count

AI not Embedded in Performance prediction algorithm verified with high accuracy 10

the Tutoring Systems Learners’ behaviors identified 6
Learners’ participation rate improved by early dropout notification 5
Learning performance improved after intervention provided 2
Provide explainable result to instructors 2
Remind instructors to aid learners through emotion detection 2
Topics generated by AI are verified 1
Performance improved after personalized diagnostic feedback provided 1
Performance improved after emotional detection and recommendation 1
Learners’ satisfaction increased 1
AI Embedded in the Performance improved by interaction with the AI system 3
Tutoring Systems Knowledge gained and verified 1
Higher interest with higher engagement 1
Performance improved by providing personalized learning path 1
Remind instructors to aid learners through emotion detection 1
One study may have multiple outcomes identified

The key scenario involves instructors predicting learners’ performance based on the
learning behaviors captured during the learning process. Here, we combine perfor-
mance prediction and behavior analysis because normally learning behaviors are cap-
tured as one of the features for performance prediction (Ouyang et al., 2023; Weng
et al., 2020). Some of the scenarios are for instructors to adopt necessary actions for
intervention, while some of the scenarios are for learners to have personalized learn-
ing experiences (Serrano-Laguna et al., 2018; Singh et al., 2022).

RQ3: what are the outcomes of AI/IT embedded as the ITS in sustainable education?
In response to RQ 3, the outcomes of tutoring systems integrated with AI and infor-
mation technology are listed in Table 7. There are still two main approaches in which
Lin et al. Smart Learning Environments (2023) 10:41 Page 15 of 22

AI is or is not embedded into the tutoring system itself. For AI-embedded tutoring sys-
tems, most of the outcomes indicate that the performance prediction accuracy is high
(Guerrero-Higueras et al., 2018; Hasnine et al., 2018), which implies an opportunity to
aid those predicted low performers. However, most of the research does not focus on
explaining why and how machine learning algorithms perform predictions, which means
that instructors can only take necessary actions based on their experience. Of the 29 sur-
veyed papers, only 2 focus on the result and try to leverage explainable AI (Afzaal et al.,
2021; Pereira et al., 2021) on machine learning prediction. Eventually, this will be more
valuable to the whole education system since it can eliminate the concerns of educators
in terms of fairness, trustworthiness, and inclusion.
There are also some researchers who have explored different learning behaviors (Rui-
pérez-Valiente et al., 2021; Yang et al., 2021a, b) through clustering algorithms, which
can also provide instructors with information for further intervention as necessary. The
relationship between performance and learning behaviors is also one of the major areas
where researchers may invest great effort since this may help instructors to understand
and improve the overall pedagogical process. Some researchers have also shown that AI
machine learning algorithms can provide early notification to prevent student dropout
(Weng et al., 2020) and enhance engagement (Ouyang et al., 2023).
For AI-embedded tutoring systems, researchers focus on dynamic learning processes
and personalization (Tobarra et al., 2021) experience when a system is designed to pro-
vide any necessary intervention or adjust the learning path for instructors. Overall, there
are still many potential areas we should address to reflect instructors’ resource shortages
when they have no bandwidth to take care of every student during the learning process
and provide necessary intervention or assistance.
The overall outcome seems reasonable, but it needs to be more explainable for learners
and instructors to adopt AI technology. Since machine learning algorithms are normally
treated as a black box, an increasing number of studies have focused on explaining the
AI machine learning model to gain trust from users so that the true value can be demon-
strated and accepted.

Table 8 Limitations and challenges

Description Count

Need more learner’s participation for sampling good quality data 5

Features extraction for machine learning not fully representing the learning process 4
Need longer period of learning data statistics 4
AI solution is not portable to other tutoring systems 4
No strong educational theory 2
Need further actions and recommendation in addition to performance prediction 2
Privacy concern 1
Need more advanced big data analysis technology to support better quality 1
Trustworthy concern (the AI solution not being explainable) 1
Need more courses validation of the AI solution 1
No ground truth for AI solutions improvement 1
Machine learning accuracy challenge (e.g. Face recognition when wearing masks) 1
Not all the studies listed the limitations and challenges, and one study may have multiple challenges
Lin et al. Smart Learning Environments (2023) 10:41 Page 16 of 22

RQ4: what is the future trend of AI/IT embedded ITS in sustainable education?
Before we answer RQ 4 and identify potential future research trends, we list the limita-
tions of the challenges of AI-embedded tutoring systems in Table 8. Since most of the
AI technology that is used is machine learning, the first limitation and challenge is the
amount of data. Theoretically, the more training data from more participation there is,
the better, and some research (Corrigan et al., 2015a; Guerrero-Higueras et al., 2018)
demonstrates an ambition to expand the participation scope and expectations of higher
performance through obtaining more sampling data. The following key limitations are
also related to machine learning and include feature extraction improvement (Hasnine
et al., 2018), needing longer period learning data (Guerrero-Higueras et al., 2018), or the
solution not being portable to other tutoring systems (Yang et al., 2021a, b).
Based on the limitations and challenges, many future potential research directions
were mentioned and discussed in the 29 surveyed papers. Potential future directions are
listed in Table 9. Again, the top items tend to be related to machine learning aspects,
which gives IT solution architect good opportunities with which to start. Typically,
researchers want to have a robust solution architecture that can support more pre-
cise performance prediction (Lin & Mubarok, 2021) and hope that the solution can be
more portable (Silva et al., 2022) by providing a better sample space and training dataset
(Guerrero-Higueras et al., 2018).
There is not much research from the 29 papers addressing more recent ways to train
machine learning algorithms, such as leveraging transformer to conduct learning behav-
ior clustering or leveraging reinforcement learning to predict or evaluate students’ status
by teachers’ input. While AI and machine learning are becoming increasingly advanced,
there might always be a better way to improve and make prediction and analysis more
accurate.
There are also some important potential future research directions brought up in some
research. While researchers want to focus more on engagement rate improvement (Silva

Table 9 Future direction

Description Count

Increase the sample space/training dataset (Invite more learners to participate) 7

Expand or integrate the solution to other areas and courses 6
Identify, extract or create more features/observable events for better prediction 4
Educational context/theory validation through experts 4
Leverage alternative solutions to enhance the prediction/clustering accuracy 4
Enhance learners’ engagement rate 2
More personalization 2
Better data quality for AI/ML algorithm training 2
Create a dashboard to support real time monitoring and decision-making 1
Add on additional functions to bring up more learners’ interest (IDC) 1
Solution generalization to suit for other tutoring systems 1
Close loop system enhancement based on AI explanation 1
Explore more aspects of emotions (like satisfaction, not just for dropout prediction) 1
Better survey response analysis methodology 1
Better intervention mechanism 1
One study may have multiple future directions identified
Lin et al. Smart Learning Environments (2023) 10:41 Page 17 of 22

et al., 2022) or personalization (Lin & Mubarok, 2021), some researchers have started
to focus on emerging educational theories (Leony et al., 2013) and boosting students’
learning interest. Researchers are eager to prove the phenomena derived from machine
learning algorithms by linking to educational theories or seeking educational experts’
comments. Some researchers have started to combine all observations and created
theories to reflect the foundational change from an examination-focused to an interest-
focused instruction style (Chan et al., 2018) or even to build a vision of what the future
educational environment will be like.
The “explainable” requirements need to be considered and incorporated into the
machine learning algorithm during the design phase in the future. Khosravi et al. (2022)
deeply explore XAI in terms of education, which also provides good guidance for edu-
cators and IT solution architects. Similar to the 4-year project conducted by DARPA
(Gunning & Aha, 2019), the technical teams were requested to provide an explainable
model and explanation interface to support users making decisions. In addition, there
is another team addressing humans’ psychological aspects to define how an explana-
tion can be acceptable. Finally, there is also an evaluation assessment check list to verify
whether a system can truly be trusted and adopted by users.
In the XAI review paper, Arrieta et al. (2020) categorized many common machine
learning algorithms in detail and described how a model can be explained. Such
approaches can be adopted in these AI-integrated educational systems to gain more
trust from users. Eventually, designing AI and machine learning algorithms with expla-
nations for users will become culture because this might be the only way to eliminate
concerns from learners and instructors and adopt AI as a supportive tool when working
toward sustainable education.
However, bringing in more social value and human factors will be one of the key future
focuses. Along with explainable AI systems and explainable interfaces to support learn-
ers and instructors in decision-making, Human-Centered AI (HCAI) (Auernhammer,
2020) consideration is another future trend in the AI and education integration area.
Shneiderman (2020) defined a two-dimensional approach for categorizing and provid-
ing guidance on how to produce system designs that are Reliable, Safe, and Trustworthy
(RST). In the papers of (Yang et al., 2021a, b, 2023), the authors share the aspects of
how AI and HCAI can contribute in different ways to sustainable education with proper
social values.
Another potential future trend is to maximize the social value that AI systems can
bring. For example, virtualized online courses with AI support can eliminate the dis-
tance gap of some students so that their educational equality issue can be addressed. In
addition, with AI support, the system can be intelligent enough to consider the minority
group or individual by providing an adaptive or personalized learning experience. Even-
tually, the instructors can focus on pedagogical strategy and improve the overall teach-
ing efficacy, students’ learning performance with proper intervention, and sustainable
education goals.
Lin et al. Smart Learning Environments (2023) 10:41 Page 18 of 22

Conclusions
In this review paper, we leveraged a combination of learning model analytics and the
PRISMA review paper framework to discuss how AI can empower educational systems
in many aspects. Starting with RQ1, we listed the typical challenges of sustainable edu-
cation implementation and the integration of AI and information technology. Following
RQ2 to RQ4, we discussed different kinds of AI-embedded technology and how they
support sustainable education implementation. We also discussed the typical scenarios
that are involved when ITSs are deployed to give educators some reference and guidance
when thinking about integrating AI into their tutoring systems. Finally, we discussed
future research directions that may also provide IT solution architects and educators
some ideas on which to continue working.
In this study, we aimed to help our target audience understand the current state of
integrating AI technology into tutoring systems, along with the challenges that come
with it. We provided clear guidance for educators and IT solution architects on how
to implement and deploy AI-enabled systems. This guidance includes understanding
the different types of machine learning algorithms, raising awareness among educa-
tors, and the needs of navigating government policies and regulations, among other
things. Our hope is that this will bridge the gap between educators and IT solution
architects, facilitating the smooth deployment of sustainable education systems.
Many benefits have been explored through the implementation of tutoring systems
with big data analysis capabilities. AI-integrated tutoring systems may use natural
language processing and machine learning techniques to evaluate student responses
and determine individual progress by analyzing their learning behaviors. Additionally,
AI-based tutoring systems help bridge the gap between educators and students by
providing an innovative platform that makes education more accessible. This means
that students can learn at their own pace, from wherever they are, which increases
flexibility in the learning process. As a result, AI-powered tutoring systems promote
equal access to education, regardless of geographical location or financial status.
However, researchers have started to notice that along with the various benefits,
the bias generated from AI and machine learning algorithms may also create harm.
This harm may come from “allocational” or “representational” aspects (Mayfield
et al., 2019) and may eventually derail the purposes of education. As a result of these
potential harms and biases, researchers have also started looking at AI not only in an
explainable way but also from fairness and trustworthiness perspectives. This will be
one of the major future research directions, and more human-centered (or teacher-
centered) factors may need to be considered.
Finally, AI has revolutionized education by promoting sustainable education prac-
tices that are more student-centered. Compared to a traditional classroom setting,
electronic educational resources significantly share the effort of teachers when indi-
vidual students’ learning status needs to be considered. With better data analytics and
insights provided via AI, tutoring applications can also reduce resource waste and
improve sustainable education in the long run.
In conclusion, the incorporation of AI in tutoring systems has resulted in positive
outcomes in sustainable education. From personalized education, adaptive learning,
automated assessments, and flexible learning environments to eco-friendly practices,
Lin et al. Smart Learning Environments (2023) 10:41 Page 19 of 22

AI-powered tutoring systems have emerged as a beacon of a brighter future for

education.

Abbreviations
AI Artificial Intelligence
HCAI Human-Centered AI
ICT Information and Communication Technology
IT Information Technology
ITS Intelligent Tutoring System
NLP Natural Language Processing
PRISMA Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic review and Meta-Analyses
RST Reliable, Safe and Trustworthy
SDG Sustainable Development Goal
TEL Technology-Enhanced Learning
XAI EXplainable Artificial Intelligence

Acknowledgements
Not applicable.

Declaration of AI and AI‑assisted technologies in the writing process

During the preparation of this work the authors used ChatGPT to conduct proofreading to improve readability and
language of single sentences as some authors are not native English speakers. After using this tool, the authors reviewed
and edited the content as needed and take full responsibility for the content of the publication.

Author contributions
All authors planned, discussed, verified, and approved the manuscripts.

Funding
This research was funded by National Science and Technology Council Grant Nos. 111-2410-H-008-010-MY3 and
109-2511-H-008-007-MY3.

Availability of data and materials

Not applicable.

Declarations
Competing interests
The authors declare that there is not competing interests.

Received: 6 June 2023 Accepted: 21 August 2023

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Chien‑Chang Lin is currently working for Applied Materials as Asia Information Service Head. He is a
Ph.D. candidate in National Central University. His research interests include Artificial Intelligence, Natural
Language Processing and Sustainable Education.

Anna Y.Q. Huang received her PhD degree in Institute of Engineering Science and Technology from
National Kaohsiung First University of Science and Technology at Taiwan in 2011. Her research interests
include Big Data technology, LA, mobile learning, MOOCs, Computer Supported Collaborative Learning
(CSCL).

Owen H.T. Lu is currently serves as Assistant Professor, College of Computer Science, National Chengchi
University. Dr. Lu received a Ph.D. in Computer Science & Information Engineering at National Central Uni‑
versity, Taiwan.