AI and the Future of Teaching and Learning

Screen time bans and limits are rolling out in schools across the country even as AI becomes a fixture in nearly all schools. Some families are flocking to schools that use no digital technology whereas others are enrolling their kids in microschools that leverage AI as a core part of the instructional experience.

To help make sense of these paradoxes and understand what different countries are learning from AI in schools, I was thrilled to moderate a conversation for the Brookings Institution with Rebecca Winthrop, senior fellow and director of the Center for Universal Education at the Brookings Institution and coauthor of The Disengaged Teen, and Andreas Schleicher, director for Education and Skills at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

The two brought a wealth of data, research, and good sense to the conversation to shed light on the parental backlash to edtech, global usage trends, and the pedagogical implications of integrating AI into learning environments. We talked about the value of narrow uses of AI as opposed to integrating general tools; research showing that AI tools can bolster task performance, which can mask a lack of deeper learning and retention; and the varying global strategies around AI from China’s “make AI present but not visible” to Europe’s more fragmented approach.

I hope you enjoy the conversation as much as I enjoyed hosting it.

Building Adolescent Literacy

One of my favorite education startups is Storyshares, which offers a rich collection of resources designed to support literacy growth for older students. Its founder and CEO, Louise Baigelman, joined me for an episode of The Future of Education a few years ago, and I was delighted to join her on her new podcast, The Adolescent Literacy Podcast.

“Schools were not built to optimize learning,” I told her on the show, as we unpacked just what it would take to rethink education for the students actually sitting in classrooms today. From mastery-based learning to the false binary around small group instruction, Louise and I had fun digging into what it would really take to rebuild a system around how kids actually learn—starting with the most foundational skill of all: reading.

Listen here:

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