AI can help educators avoid errors in the past or repeat them
The generative AI already shapes the future of education, but its true potential only takes place.
Despite the many unknowns of ether, the promise of the transformer power of the AI generation becomes obvious when there are intentional spaces to experiment and learn. Last fall, I attended the first of several IA hackathon experiences similar for educators co-organized by leading educators and Playlab. More than 100 participants from everywhere in the United States – teachers, system leaders, philanthropists, and non -profit frames – met to build and experiment with new solutions fueled by AI to improve education.
In just two days, participants have developed tools ranging from political navigators that simplify the search for school guidelines, family communication chatbots and educational coaching solutions that directly improve teachers' practice. The Playlab platform, designed to make AI accessible without coding skills, has enabled a quick experiment and ideas. He underlined the ease with which AI tools can allow educators to create solutions that they had not imagined before. The event was a powerful reminder of the possibilities when educators are allowed to conduct change with AI.
However, he also served as an edifying story: although the availability of AI is new, we have seen how new education technologies have fallen fucked before. Previous attempts to integrate educational technologies have often failed due to a lack of alignment on educational objectives, insufficient training and a lack of thoughtful planning. If we have to carry out the full potential of the AI, we must make sure that it is strategically deployed to avoid repeating these errors.
In my work with leading educators, where we focus on creating support structures and significant opportunities for educators to practice new educational approaches, I see an important opportunity for support providers to help systems to navigate in these complexities while keeping AI efforts and policy focused on new teaching possibilities.
The added value of the AI compatible instruction: do more, do better, do new
The AI holds a huge promise to strengthen teaching and learning. It offers educators the opportunity to do more, to do better and to achieve things that they have never imagined. But as we embrace this new era, we must reflect on the past and ask critical questions about the ideal role of AI:
- How could we use AI responsible and aligned with science learning?
- How to guarantee that use cases and governance policies do not exacerbate the obstacles to the access and success of students?
- How can leaders use AI to reinvent, redistribute and reconfigure the daily work of educators to respond more effectively and in a lasting way to meet a range of students' needs and strengths?
- What measures can the school heads take to ensure that the adoption of AI is aligned with a difficult and real educational vision?
Educators at the point – like those of Collaborative AI school teams – already experience generative AI to improve productivity, improve access to information and make a creative commitment with students. However, the widespread application of AI in classrooms still faces important obstacles.
A Survey by educators for excellence (E4E) noted that more than a third of teachers already use AI in class. However, only 17% were confident using AI, and 58% said they needed more training. This gap indicates a familiar pitfall: rapid adoption without adequate support.
In the past waves of educational technologies, transformative promises have often failed due to poor integration, the lack of support from teachers and the disconnection of educational objectives. The current AI boom is likely to repeat these false steps, with tools adopted without coherent strategies or sufficient professional development, leading to a fragmented implementation and underuse. Easy accessibility of AI tools could lead to inconsistencies in all classrooms, deepening existing inequalities.
Finn founded Learnopoly to provide unbiased, in-depth online course reviews, helping learners make informed choices. With a decade in financial services, he developed strategic partnerships and business development expertise. After a frustrating experience with a biased course review, Finn was inspired to create a trusted learning resource.