Really thoughtful and insightful as always Stephen. Your point about teachers’ instinct to absorb new technology into existing methodology rather than asking the difficult questions about the validity of the methodology in the light of the technology is crucial I think. And I agree with @SahanRao1 and @betteconnects in the comments that the discussion and decisions have to be made 'on the ground', driven by teachers who are working with students and using AI in practical ways
I read the same piece and had lots of similar thoughts—really appreciate this post overall in how it navigates it. Though at the same time, "redesign" is one of those words that is so much easier to type than manifest, especially within the limitations and confinements in many education systems.
Thanks for articulating all these points in a reasonable way in response to the article—well-reasoned, start-to-finish!
Thanks, Marcus. I wish I knew what redesign looks like - I'm almost tempted to ask kids to try to write an entire chapter of a textbook with information that's left out of traditional narratives or something like that. Aim for the fences. But I'm more and more convinced that they need space to do the hard stuff first. And that can't involve AI.
I do think the solution comes in bits and pieces, and then further a sharing collaboratively of the bits and pieces that work for us so we can learn from each other.
At the end of the day, too, it's never been a worse time to assign students a purposeless, generic assignment—and it would definitely be a win if we could use this as an opportunity to inject innovation and purpose into what we ask students to do.
This is such an important conversation. Marcus, you’re absolutely right — “redesign” is easier to type than to manifest. I think part of the challenge is that we’re often redesigning without a clear compass for what we’re redesigning toward.
Stephen, your point about students needing space to do the hard stuff first really resonates. What if the question isn’t just how do we redesign assignments? but how do we redesign with intention around what we actually want students to learn about learning itself?
I’ve been working to bridge that gap between the idealism Marcus names and the reality of classrooms. Instead of starting with how do we use AI?, I try to start with what do we want this experience to teach students about themselves as learners? The “bits and pieces” approach works when we have shared principles guiding what we’re building. Otherwise, we’re just collecting random tactics.
Such an important conversation. With AI, everything is shifting starting from how we work and travel to how children will soon receive their education. Whilst most discussions focus on productivity gains, what we really need is a ground level conversation on How do we introduce AI in education? What does that actually look like?
It's almost like the redesign needs to be flattened, with student input guiding the process just as much as administrative direction. Everyone is learning in real time. This isn't a top-down rollout. It's a two-way learning model. In many cases, students will be teaching the teachers more than the other way around.
Really thoughtful and insightful as always Stephen. Your point about teachers’ instinct to absorb new technology into existing methodology rather than asking the difficult questions about the validity of the methodology in the light of the technology is crucial I think. And I agree with @SahanRao1 and @betteconnects in the comments that the discussion and decisions have to be made 'on the ground', driven by teachers who are working with students and using AI in practical ways
I read the same piece and had lots of similar thoughts—really appreciate this post overall in how it navigates it. Though at the same time, "redesign" is one of those words that is so much easier to type than manifest, especially within the limitations and confinements in many education systems.
Thanks for articulating all these points in a reasonable way in response to the article—well-reasoned, start-to-finish!
Thanks, Marcus. I wish I knew what redesign looks like - I'm almost tempted to ask kids to try to write an entire chapter of a textbook with information that's left out of traditional narratives or something like that. Aim for the fences. But I'm more and more convinced that they need space to do the hard stuff first. And that can't involve AI.
I do think the solution comes in bits and pieces, and then further a sharing collaboratively of the bits and pieces that work for us so we can learn from each other.
At the end of the day, too, it's never been a worse time to assign students a purposeless, generic assignment—and it would definitely be a win if we could use this as an opportunity to inject innovation and purpose into what we ask students to do.
This is such an important conversation. Marcus, you’re absolutely right — “redesign” is easier to type than to manifest. I think part of the challenge is that we’re often redesigning without a clear compass for what we’re redesigning toward.
Stephen, your point about students needing space to do the hard stuff first really resonates. What if the question isn’t just how do we redesign assignments? but how do we redesign with intention around what we actually want students to learn about learning itself?
I’ve been working to bridge that gap between the idealism Marcus names and the reality of classrooms. Instead of starting with how do we use AI?, I try to start with what do we want this experience to teach students about themselves as learners? The “bits and pieces” approach works when we have shared principles guiding what we’re building. Otherwise, we’re just collecting random tactics.
Such an important conversation. With AI, everything is shifting starting from how we work and travel to how children will soon receive their education. Whilst most discussions focus on productivity gains, what we really need is a ground level conversation on How do we introduce AI in education? What does that actually look like?
That is the million dollar question.
It's almost like the redesign needs to be flattened, with student input guiding the process just as much as administrative direction. Everyone is learning in real time. This isn't a top-down rollout. It's a two-way learning model. In many cases, students will be teaching the teachers more than the other way around.