This study aims to use dialectical thinking to explore the impacts and responses of Artificial Intelligence (AI) empowerment on students’ personalized learning. The effect of AI empowerment on student personalization is dissected through a literature review and empirical cases. The study finds that AI plays a significant role in promoting personalized learning by enhancing students’ learning effectiveness through intelligent recommendation, automated feedback, improving students’ independent learning ability, and optimizing learning paths, however, the wide application of AI also brings problems such as technological dependence, cheating in exams, weakening of critical thinking ability, educational fairness, and data privacy protection to students. The study proposes recommendations to strengthen technology regulation, enhance the synergy between teachers and AI, and optimize the personalized learning model. AI-enabled personalized learning is expected to play a greater role in improving learning efficiency and educational fairness.

This study examined the impact of transition programs on the post-school outcomes of Saudi adolescents with special needs. The study examines the impact of vocational training, career counseling, and community participation on job outcomes, the pursuit of further education, and the acquisition of independent living skills. The research is conducted on a diverse sample of 500 students (260 girls and 240 boys). The data is analyzed using descriptive statistics, regression analysis, and ANOVA, revealing positive perceptions of transition services and identifying significant predictors of post-school performance. Post-hoc testing enhances understanding of nuanced differences between groups. The findings underscore the need for tailored transition programs that prioritize the extent of vocational training and apply culturally responsive approaches. Proposed approaches include enhancing vocational training programs, enhancing career counseling services, encouraging community involvement, and performing continuous research and evaluation. This study makes substantial additions to the current corpus of knowledge and provides crucial information to influence policy and practice in Saudi Arabia.

Recovery and resilience plan (RRP) approved by the European Commission fosters the development of lifelong learning programs to upgrade employees’ skills and knowledge for digital and green transitions. Within higher education, the field of information and communication technology (ICT) is also a priority area, so we compared the demographic variables of students enrolled in formal first-cycle higher education programs in ICT with those enrolled in lifelong ICT programs within the framework of the Advanced Computer Skills project funded by the RRP in Slovenia. The results show that formal first-cycle higher education in the field of ICT remains strongly male-dominated, whereas, among participants in lifelong learning, the percentage of females stands out. Bachelor programs in ICT are primarily enrolled by young people aged up to 24 years, while shorter university-based lifelong learning programs attract mostly older participants with higher completed formal education and from a broader range of prior educational backgrounds. Finally, when all three variables (gender, age and level of prior formal education) are considered, participants in lifelong learning are much more similar to part-time students than full-time bachelor ICT students, although the percentage of men in formal education is still predominant even in part-time studies. The research findings highlight the need for further efforts to offer lifelong learning in ICT to enable individuals to improve their employment prospects, progress in the workplace or even change their field of work.