My daughter is in 3rd grade. She loves learning (seriously, she comes home every day excited about writing stories, diving into multiplication, a piece of art she made, or something she learned while in school). 

She has a great class with good friends and a safe place to learn, imagine, create, and explore.

I know that we are lucky and she is lucky to have this learning experience.

Yet, in a conversation with my daughter at the end of last year, I realized something.

She was already playing the game of school.

And, at 8 years old, she knew the rules.

I distinctly remember taking part in the Classrooms for the Future Grant as a new teacher, and having a Smartboard and Laptop cart in the classroom.

Everything I had previously used as a teacher now seemed obsolete. It changed my entire practice, and the learner experience.

We had a training that year on the SAMR Model, and I quickly made the connection to my classroom. The new technology was often augmenting and modifying my old practices. It was rarely redefining, but when it did, great learning happened!

Flash forward two decades.

We are undergoing another massive shift along the SAMR Model. Artificial Intelligence tools and features are starting to completely shake things up in K-12 and Higher Ed institutions.

Yet, this time it feels a bit different. It feels like we are missing a level on SAMR.

Imagine, for a moment, you are a student.

You just got home after a full day at school. You took the bus to an away game, played and watched another game, took the bus back. Your parent is out, so you are helping younger siblings get dinner and ready for bed.

It’s late, you are tired, and remember all the homework you still have to do.

Your phone is dinging with messages and Snapchat notifications.

Your friend reminds you that you don’t really need to do all 30 math questions for homework, you can just pop open Photomath and jot down the work and answers.

What do you do?

Imagine this.

You are taking an online graduate school course. After a few weeks, you see that the majority of this course is asynchronous. You have to do some readings, complete discussion board posts, and replies. Write a few essays in response to prompts, and of course take a few quiz-like assessments.

You open up your local AI Agent on your computer and give it instructions: Every week, log onto my school’s Learning Management System (Canvas, Schoology, Google Classroom, etc) and complete all of the assignments listed in the course’s calendar. For longer assessments and essays, please email me the rough draft before submitting so I can edit if need be.

Sam Altman, CEO of now for-profit OpenAI, recently laid out a case for the dawn of the “Intelligence Age”. In his remarks, he touched on some of the impacts artificial intelligence could and might have on learning, education, and schooling.

As both a Dad of five kids still in school (I’ve got kids from 15 down to 3, so I’m in it for the long haul), and as an educator working with K-12 and Higher Ed teachers/faculty all around the country—something made me a bit uneasy about jumping into this future.

It’s not the artificial intelligence per se. I’ve written about the ways I already see AI helping some educators save time, and create more meaningful learning experiences for our students. I’ve personally used A.I. in some amazing ways that I’ve written about on this blog.

Here’s the issue: Are we talking about what’s next?

The extent to which Gen Z K-12 students feel hopeful about and prepared for their future is linked to how engaged they feel in the classroom. Unfortunately, fewer than two in 10 students strongly agree that what they are learning in class feels important, interesting, challenging or aligned with their natural talents.

This disconnect is especially high among students who do not want to attend college, and previous Gallup research finds that engagement declines as students advance along their K-12 journeys.

Just as Scantron cornered the market for cheaper, easier, and more efficient ways to grade student assessments, we now have A.I. entering the chat (see what I did there).

It’s no secret the SAT, ACT, AP exams, and numerous state tests have already moved towards online computer-based and A.I. grading, while most others will soon follow.

Maybe they aren’t calling it “A.I. grading”, but let’s be real: Computers, and algorithms, are doing the work.

Not everyone is happy about this change from a “scantron + human” method of grading standardized assessments.

Our plates are full.

And, when someone (including us sometimes) adds something more to our plates, we often keep everything else we already have stacked on that plate.

It becomes impossible to juggle all the responsibilities, but maybe even more importantly, it takes away the energy that is needed to handle everything we need to do in a day.

This cycle repeats, and when more and more is added to our plates, our energy continually is spread thin.

In looking for guidance on how to handle this reality, I recently read, The Power of Full Engagement: Managing Energy, Not Time, is the Key to High Performance and Personal Renewal by Tony Schwartz and Jim Loehr.  The authors make the case that engagement is tied directly to our energy levels. That energy (not time or any other factor) contributes to whether or not we have a full level of attention and commitment.

Haidt offers this as as summation on his work:

“My central claim in this book is that these two trends—overprotection in the real world and underprotection in the virtual world—are the major reasons why children born after 1995 became the anxious generation.”

Let’s work to improve both in schools and environments where we have some control and influence. And, as always, let’s discuss the many gray areas that this book and research bring up, to get a clear picture of what works best for our kids and communities in this moment, and the future.

The Anxious Generation dives into the various societal shifts contributing to the growing unease among our youth (and adults), and offers a thought-provoking analysis of factors like social media, overprotective parenting, and media polarization.

However, Haidt's work has not gone unchallenged. Critics argue that some of his conclusions oversimplify complex issues, while others believe his emphasis on resilience and free play minimizes the legitimate struggles faced by today’s youth. Despite the debates surrounding Haidt's ideas, the lessons from his work provide a crucial lens through which to examine the forces shaping the education right now, and in the future.

Let’s dig in.

Every now and then you stumble across a resource that was truly made for teachers. When Tom Murray first showed me The Achievery, I didn’t know what to expect.

Then I dove in. And it has so many great lessons, activities, and resources.

Oh, and it is free. No catch!

The Achievery is a website and lesson hub that has 7 subject categories and over 1000 videos, all paired with learning activities that can be accessed at home, in the classroom, and in their communities.

Whether you are an educator looking for innovative ways to teach and plan your lessons, a parent or caregiver seeking additional resources for your children, or a motivated student searching for new challenges and opportunities, The Achievery provides the best experience for you.

Here in the United States, some of us are in the middle of our summer break (like my family on the East Coast), while others are getting ready to set their classrooms up and welcome students back.

A new school year is right around the corner, and the challenges many of us faced last year are rearing their heads again!

It’s about this time that I hear the words of my good friend, and author George Couros: “Change is an opportunity to do something amazing!”

Our kids, and us, live in an era of distraction. We can see the challenges of teaching and learning in this reality as insurmountable, or we can use them as an opportunity for change.