Greeting the AI when dropping your kid off at school hasn’t exactly happened yet, but its presence in K-12 classrooms is already reshaping how students learn and how educators teach.
Michael Kozak, assistant clinical professor and program director for Educational Administration in Drexel’s School of Education, argues that while AI presents ethical and logistical challenges to be addressed, it also offers powerful tools for personalization, engagement and support — making it imperative for educators and school leaders to thoughtfully integrate it.
He foresees teachers using AI like a personal assistant and teacher’s aide to create individualized and differentiated lessons for diverse learners or engage and motivate disengaged students. Gamified lessons, conversational tutoring or simulations are all ripe for AI. “People who are resistant to change will usually become more open to innovative ideas when they see a personal benefit from the change,” says Kozak.
He’s optimistic that teachers will benefit from using it to tailor lesson plans to individual learning styles. “AI is not replacing teachers’ knowledge or skills, but it certainly can enhance their skills by handling tasks such as designing lessons, aligning assessments with the curriculum map and standards to ensure students are being assessed on what they are actually being taught, and handling routine tasks that are time consuming,” Kozak says.
“Educators, regardless of whether they like AI or not, are obligated to prepare their students for tomorrow, not yesterday. AI is being integrated into almost everything that affects us, from medicine to job requirements. Not preparing students for using AI should be considered educational malpractice.”
Creating, and updating, existing “guardrails” like ethical standards, appropriate usage, and guiding principles will help educators and school administrators adapt, just as an earlier generation of teachers evolved to the rise of the internet. DM
