Offline Technology for Rural AI Literacy: Steps Towards a Holistic Educational Solution

AI literacy is a fundamental competency for preventing social exclusion, yet its integration into rural education is hindered by a double divide: the reliance of current tools on unavailable connectivity and their mismatch with the heterogeneous realities of rural classrooms, including multigrade settings. This study evaluates a purpose-built offline mobile application through participatory workshops with 96 rural teachers in Los Lagos, Chile, using the System Usability Scale (SUS) and inductive thematic analysis. The application achieved acceptable usability (SUS = 76.1, SD = 16.3), with teachers perceiving it as responsive to classroom heterogeneity (92.0%, n = 81 of 88) and as promoting AI concept understanding (95.6%, n = 65 of 68). Qualitative analysis revealed a substantial digital gap: teachers identified hardware scarcity and deficiencies, unstable infrastructure, and the absence of specialized training as primary barriers. These findings suggest that while the application addresses immediate connectivity and pedagogical constraints, sustainable AI literacy in rural schools requires a holistic strategy combining purpose-built tools with infrastructure investment and teacher training.