Implementing Artificial Intelligence-Enabled Educational Technology for Early Coding Education in Pre-Primary Schools in Tanzania

Tanzania has expanded digital infrastructure, revised its basic education curriculum and adopted a national digital education strategy, yet the educational value of these investments ultimately depends on what teachers and learners do in classrooms. This paper examines the implementation and potential effectiveness of artificial intelligence-enabled educational technology for early coding education from pre-primary to Standard VI in Dar es Salaam, Coast, Morogoro, Tabora and Kigoma Regions. It focuses on teacher readiness, classroom integration, computational thinking, problem-solving and digital competence, and the relationship between government investment in connectivity and actual pedagogical use. The manuscript presents an illustrative sequential explanatory mixed-methods study with an embedded 12-week matched comparison. The design comprised 40 schools, 200 teachers, 40 head teachers, 20 education and ICT officials, 160 classroom observations and 800 learners distributed equally across the five regions. Quantitative measures include a Teacher AI–EdTech Readiness Scale, a School Digital Functionality Index, classroom-use logs and age-differentiated computational-thinking and digital-competence assessments. Interviews and observations explain the mechanisms behind the numerical patterns. The findings revealed that moderate national readiness but substantial regional inequalities. Teachers show positive attitudes and basic device confidence, while AI literacy, coding pedagogy, assessment knowledge and ethical data practice remain weak. Dar es Salaam records the strongest infrastructure and classroom-use profile; Kigoma and Tabora show the largest gap between nominal provision and functional use. In the matched comparison, learners exposed to structured, teacher-facilitated coding lessons demonstrate larger gains in sequencing, decomposition, debugging, collaboration and safe digital navigation than comparison learners. Infrastructure predicts classroom integration, but its effect is partly mediated by teacher readiness, leadership, technical support and access to locally relevant Kiswahili content. The central conclusion is that devices and connectivity are necessary but insufficient. Tanzania requires a teacher-centred, child-rights-based implementation model combining reliable infrastructure, sustained professional development, offline-first content, developmentally appropriate coding, safeguards for children’s data and routine monitoring of classroom practice and learning outcomes.