Beyond Awareness: Ethical AI Preparedness among Pre-Service Teachers and a Microlearning-Based AI-Ethics Micro-Course Design

Generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools are rapidly entering higher education, yet teacher education programmes still lack concise, contextualised approaches to ethical AI preparedness. This study reports a cross-sectional survey with 163 pre-service English teachers at a public university in Ecuador, designed as a needs analysis for a brief AI-ethics micro-course in microlearning format. The questionnaire combined items on AI use with 18 Likert-type statements and two open-ended questions on perceived benefits, risks and ethical dilemmas. Descriptive analyses and internal consistency checks supported the use of four theory-informed dimensions of ethical AI preparedness—Adoption & Value, Ethical Governance & Exposure, Literacy & Agency, and Integrity/Risk Concerns. Overall, participants reported frequent use of AI tools and positive perceptions of their usefulness for planning, productivity and creative support, while simultaneously expressing only moderate levels of literacy and agency and strong concerns about academic dishonesty, over-reliance, erosion of critical thinking and data privacy. Open responses reinforced this picture of enthusiastic but cautious adoption. Building on these findings, the article proposes a prototype AI-ethics micro-course organised into four short microlearning capsules, each aligned with one dimension of preparedness and culminating in a reusable artefact (checklists, AI-use statements and integrity/privacy supports). Rather than an evaluated intervention, the micro-course is presented as a feasible, empirically grounded design that programmes can integrate into existing courses. The article concludes by outlining implications for teacher education and future research on ethical AI preparedness and microlearning-based ethics training.