When CDs, cassettes, and digital streaming entered the music scene, they didn’t kill live concerts—they transformed them. Artists had to rethink their performances, adding more visual spectacle, audience interaction, and unique live experiences that couldn’t be replicated by simply listening to an album at home. Similarly, photography didn’t make painting obsolete—it forced artists to innovate. Impressionism, modernism, and abstract art emerged because photography handled realism better.
The lesson? When technology changes, we don’t abandon what we do—we adapt.
Now, AI is reshaping education. Students can ask ChatGPT for answers, generate essays, and get instant explanations for concepts. If we continue teaching the same way we did before AI, we risk making our classrooms irrelevant. Instead of resisting, we need to rethink lesson design, focus on critical thinking, and embrace strategies that make learning more interactive, meaningful, and student-driven.
Rethinking Lesson Design in the Age of AI
Just like concerts became more immersive and art evolved beyond realism, our lessons need to shift from simple content delivery to engagement, creation, and analysis. Here’s how:
1️⃣ Prioritize Higher-Order Thinking
- If students can Google or AI-generate an answer in seconds, we need to ask better questions. Instead of “What were the causes of the War of 1812?” ask, “If you were an advisor to Madison, how would you justify going to war?”
- Shift from fact recall to argument-building, analysis, and problem-solving.
2️⃣ Make Learning Active
- Move beyond passive note-taking. Use strategies where students do, create, and explain rather than just memorize.
- Example: Instead of a worksheet on Jacksonian Democracy, students can use a 2xPOV activity—writing from both the perspective of a Jackson supporter and a critic.
3️⃣ Teach with AI, Not Against It
- AI isn’t going away, so we should show students how to use it effectively—as a research tool, for feedback, and to refine their thinking rather than just generate quick answers.
- Example: Have students draft a paragraph, run it through Class Companion for feedback, and revise based on AI suggestions.
EduProtocols That Fit the Future
Teaching in an AI-driven world doesn’t mean we need students to use AI all the time—it means we need to design lessons that push beyond what AI can do. Here are a few EduProtocols that naturally work in a world where instant answers are at their fingertips:
- Fast & Curious (Gimkit/Quizizz) → AI can provide definitions and summaries, but students still need retrieval practice. This strategy ensures repetition, reinforcement, and real understanding—not just quick lookups.
- Thin Slides (Padlet) → Students must create quick, one-word, one-image explanations and then present their ideas in 8 seconds or less. This forces concise, critical thinking—something AI-generated responses can’t do for them.
- MiniReport → Instead of copying an AI-generated summary, students compare two different sources to analyze perspectives, evaluate bias, and construct an argument.
- Sketch & Tell → Forces students to translate complex information into visuals, proving they truly understand a concept rather than just regurgitating words.
- Parafly (Socrative/Padlet) → AI can provide summaries, but students still need to develop their own voice. This activity builds paraphrasing skills by having students rewrite key information in their own words—a critical skill in an AI-driven world.
These strategies go beyond recall and require students to think, create, and engage, ensuring that AI remains a tool—not a replacement—for deep learning.
The Bottom Line: Change is Inevitable, So Let’s Adapt
Technology has never eliminated the need for human creativity, thinking, or teaching—it has forced us to evolve. AI is doing the same to education. The key isn’t banning AI but designing learning experiences that AI can’t replicate.
Concerts didn’t die because of CDs; they became bigger and better experiences. Art didn’t disappear because of photography; it became more expressive and boundary-pushing.
Education won’t disappear because of AI, either. But it’s on us as teachers to rethink how we engage students, challenge them, and prepare them for a future where knowing information is less important than knowing what to do with it.
Moler's Musings 