The Association Between Teachers’ Artificial Intelligence Literacy and Open Education Teaching Practices in China: A Moderated Mediation Analysis of Teachers’ Innovative Behavior and School Support

This study aims to explore the association between teachers’ artificial intelligence (AI) literacy and open education teaching (OET) in China, specifically examining the mediating role of teachers’ innovative behavior and the boundary conditions of school support. Based on cross-sectional survey data from 512 teachers at Chinese open universities, a moderated mediation model (PROCESS Model 15) was employed for data analysis. The results indicate that: (1) Teachers’ AI literacy is positively associated with open education teaching and is partially mediated by teachers’ innovative behavior; (2) Interestingly, school support negatively moderates this mediation pathway. Specifically, under conditions of highly structured school support, the translation of AI literacy into individual innovative behavior is significantly weakened. Drawing on the “Resource Substitution Effect,” we argue that while robust school support provides essential infrastructure, an over-abundance of standardized resources may inadvertently substitute teachers’ need for bottom-up pedagogical innovation, placing them in a technological “comfort zone.” These findings challenge the traditional “more support is better” assumption and provide novel insights for educational managers to design differentiated, autonomy-enhancing support systems in the era of AI-empowered education.