Ķvlog

Opinion
Artificial Intelligence Letter to the Editor

Rethinking Tech Frameworks for the Age of AI 

June 03, 2025 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print
Email Copy URL

To the Editor:

The increasing adoption of artificial intelligence in classrooms mirrors what I’ve seen in my work as an instructional coach in south Florida and as a researcher studying AI integration in K-8 schools (“More Teachers Say They’re Using AI in Their Lessons. Here’s How,” March 6, 2025). Teachers are excited by the possibilities but often unsure how to evaluate the instructional value of these tools.

For years, Ķvlog have leaned on the (substitution, augmentation, modification, redefinition) to guide technology use. But generative AI is stretching the framework beyond its limits. Tools like ChatGPT and MagicSchool don’t just substitute or augment, they often automate, personalize, and transform learning tasks in ways that defy SAMR’s linear categories.

Rather than forcing AI into legacy models, Ķvlog might benefit from more flexible frameworks that prioritize student learning. The emphasizes engagement, enhancement, and extension, while helps teachers evaluate the relationship between technology, pedagogy, and content. These models provide more nuanced guidance on how AI can be meaningfully integrated into instruction.

As AI becomes more embedded in classroom practice, we need to ensure our models for evaluating its use are just as innovative. Teachers deserve tools that reflect the complexity of today’s classrooms and empower them to use AI in ways that support deeper thinking and student growth.

Anna Bernstein
Instructional Coach
Cutler Bay, Fla.

read the article mentioned in the letter

Tight cropped photograph of a female using a laptop with icons floating around that represent education and learning tools
iStock/Getty

Related Tags:

A version of this article appeared in the June 04, 2025 edition of Education Week as Rethinking Tech Frameworks for the Age of AI

Events

College & Workforce Readiness Webinar How High Schools Can Prepare Students for College and Career
Explore how schools are reimagining high school with hands-on learning that prepares students for both college and career success.
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
School Climate & Safety Webinar
GoGuardian and Google: Proactive AI Safety in Schools
Learn how to safely adopt innovative AI tools while maintaining support for student well-being. 
Content provided by 
Reading & Literacy K-12 Essentials Forum Supporting Struggling Readers in Middle and High School
Join this free virtual event to learn more about policy, data, research, and experiences around supporting older students who struggle to read.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.

Read Next

Artificial Intelligence Video These Students are Learning the Math That Makes AI Tick
Rather than study how to use AI, students in this machine learning class work with the math that makes the AI work.
1 min read
Student Nina Dong, second from left, helps classmates with a project examining the Titanic passenger dataset in Clay Dagler's machine learning class at Franklin High School in Elk Grove, Calif., on March 7, 2025.
Student Nina Dong, second from left, helps classmates with a project examining the Titanic passenger dataset in Clay Dagler's machine learning class at Franklin High School in Elk Grove, Calif., on March 7, 2025.
Max Whittaker for Education Week
Artificial Intelligence 5 Best Practices for Crafting a School or District AI Policy
Nearly half of Ķvlog say their school or district does not have an AI policy.
Illustration of woman teacher vetting artificial intelligence for classroom.
Weiyi Zhu/iStock/Getty
Artificial Intelligence Teachers Worry AI Will Impede Students' Critical Thinking Skills. Many Teens Aren't So Sure
A majority of Ķvlog fear students may become dependent on generative AI tools for basic tasks.
2 min read
Conceptual image of dice with question marks on them with A.I. faded in background.
Andrii Yalanskyi/iStock/Getty
Artificial Intelligence 'AI Helped Us Understand Itself': What Happened When AI Wrote a Course About AI
Careful AI prompting helped a computer science leader design a course about the technology.
2 min read
3d rendered image of an AI presence facing itself
iStock/Getty Images + Education Week