Artificial intelligence is creating new opportunities for schools, but it is also raising difficult questions. How much technology belongs in the classroom? How can teachers use AI without compromising student learning? And how can school leaders prepare educators for a future that is still taking shape?

For Amos Fodchuk, founder of Advanced Learning Partnerships, the answer begins with a shift in perspective: Schools should focus less on how much AI they use and more on how effectively they use it.

In a recent episode of SREB’s Making Schools Work podcast, Fodchuk joined SREB’s Daniel Rock and Leslie Eaves to discuss how schools can build AI literacy, support teachers and rethink instructional practices in an increasingly technology-driven world.

“The goal is not to scale AI use,” Fodchuk explained. “It’s to scale the capacity to make good decisions about AI.”

That distinction has important implications for school leaders and classroom teachers alike.

Start With Leadership, Not Technology

When schools introduce new technology, professional learning often begins with teachers. But Fodchuk argues that sustainable AI implementation requires a different approach: Start with the people responsible for leading organizational change.

“If you don’t start with the senior leadership, then the change effort will, at very best, result in pockets of excellence and pockets of risk,” he said.

School and district leaders need opportunities to experiment with AI, understand its limitations and develop their own confidence before asking teachers to change their practices.

This approach is central to the work Advanced Learning Partnerships has undertaken with the Virginia Department of Education, the Virginia Association of School Superintendents and Virtual Virginia.

The statewide initiative began by building AI literacy among education leaders before expanding professional learning opportunities to classroom educators. Its teacher-focused courses are designed around instructional competencies rather than individual AI products.

The courses also allow districts to adapt the content to local needs, with opportunities for instructional coaches and school leaders to facilitate learning within their own communities.

The goal isn’t simply to train more people to use AI. It’s to create a shared understanding of how technology can support instructional goals while protecting student privacy, maintaining professional judgment and addressing community concerns.

For school leaders, that means asking important questions before launching an AI initiative:

• What instructional challenges are we trying to address?
• What do our teachers need to understand before using AI with students?
• How will we establish expectations around privacy, security and responsible use?
• How will we support teachers as they experiment, reflect and refine their practices?

Without that foundation, AI implementation risks becoming another disconnected technology initiative rather than a meaningful improvement in teaching and learning.

Make Professional Learning Collaborative and Practical

Even well-designed professional learning can have limited impact if educators don’t have opportunities to apply what they’ve learned.

Eaves raised this concern during the conversation, noting that teachers already have demanding schedules. Self-paced virtual training may offer flexibility, but it can also become one more task competing for their attention.

Fodchuk explained that Virginia’s approach combines independent learning with communities of practice and job-embedded support.

Educators can work through virtual content at their own pace while also learning alongside colleagues. Facilitator guides allow instructional coaches, literacy coaches and assistant principals to bring the material into face-to-face conversations, team meetings and ongoing professional learning.

That collaborative element matters because AI literacy involves more than learning technical skills. Teachers also need opportunities to discuss what responsible AI use looks like in their individual classrooms.

A professional learning community might examine a lesson and consider where AI could improve formative assessment, reduce preparation time or provide additional support for students. Teachers could then try an approach, evaluate the results and share what they learned.

This turns professional learning into an ongoing process of instructional improvement rather than a course educators complete and leave behind.

Use AI to Strengthen What Teachers Already Do

One of the most practical opportunities for AI lies in helping teachers address familiar classroom challenges.

Fodchuk identified three areas where AI can support instructional practice: teacher workflows, formative assessment and the design of learning experiences.

• Save time without sacrificing professional judgment. Teachers can explore ways to use AI for planning and other routine tasks, potentially creating more time for collaboration and instructional creativity. However, they must also protect confidential student information and evaluate AI-generated materials before using them.
• Make formative assessment more responsive. AI may help educators analyze student work, develop feedback and identify patterns that inform instructional decisions. The goal is not simply faster grading, but better information about what students understand and where they need additional support.
• Build on existing lessons rather than starting over. Teachers have already invested considerable time and expertise in designing instruction. AI can help them adapt or extend those lessons without abandoning the instructional approaches that make them effective.

As Rock observed during the conversation, AI is one tool among many. Sometimes a simple classroom whiteboard may be just as effective.

The important question is whether a particular tool helps students learn.

Fodchuk offered another example from his own experience teaching through Socratic inquiry. He described emerging research exploring how AI tutors might support questioning and reflection — connecting a new technology with a teaching approach that has existed for centuries.

The opportunity isn’t to replace established instructional practices. It’s to consider whether AI can help teachers use those practices in new and potentially more effective ways.

Rethink Assessment in an AI-Enabled Classroom

Perhaps one of the most challenging questions schools face is how to assess student learning when AI can generate answers, complete assignments and produce polished written work.

During the podcast, Rock and Eaves shared examples of how their own teenagers use AI to support learning.

Eaves described helping her daughter use AI to turn driver’s education materials into audio-based study resources and flashcards. Her daughter has also used AI to work through difficult mathematics concepts by requesting explanations in different ways.

These examples illustrate how AI can support students who genuinely want to understand something.

But they also highlight a concern: What happens when students use AI to complete assignments without engaging in the learning process?

Eaves suggested that educators need to examine the cognitive demands of the work they assign. When assignments rely primarily on factual questions that AI can answer easily, students may be tempted to use the technology simply to finish the task.

Fodchuk challenged educators to reconsider what he called “empty assessment” — work that students complete without receiving meaningful feedback or demonstrating deeper understanding.

He argued that AI creates an opportunity to rethink assessment practices that emphasize completing tasks over applying knowledge.

That doesn’t mean every assignment must involve AI or that traditional assessments have no place in schools. Instead, educators can consider whether their assessments provide meaningful evidence of what students know, understand and can do.

For example, teachers might examine whether students have opportunities to explain their reasoning, demonstrate a skill, defend a decision, create a product or apply their knowledge to an authentic problem.

These approaches can make student thinking more visible and help teachers distinguish between completing an assignment and mastering its learning goals.

The question is no longer just whether students used AI. It’s whether the learning experience required them to think.

Find the Balance Between Innovation and Distraction

As schools consider AI, they are also navigating broader concerns about screen time and technology use.

Fodchuk acknowledged that some concerns are justified. Speaking as a former classroom teacher, parent and education leader, he noted that excessive or purposeless technology use can interfere with learning.

At the same time, he cautioned against treating all educational technology as equally beneficial or harmful.

Schools need to distinguish between tools that support measurable learning outcomes and technology that adds distraction without educational value.

That requires listening to families and community members, establishing clear expectations and making thoughtful decisions about which technologies belong in classrooms.

It also requires recognizing that different students, subjects and learning goals may call for different approaches.

A tool that helps one student understand a difficult concept may be unnecessary for another. An AI-supported activity that strengthens one lesson may undermine the purpose of another.

Responsible technology integration depends on educators who have the knowledge and flexibility to make those distinctions.

Take the Next Step, Not the Biggest Leap

For teachers who are curious about AI but uncertain where to begin, Fodchuk offered a practical reminder: They don’t have to figure everything out on their own.

He encouraged educators to consider whether their hesitation comes from needing more knowledge about AI or from working in a school environment that isn’t yet prepared for the changes they envision.

Those challenges require different solutions.

A teacher who needs greater AI literacy might begin by exploring an approved tool, discussing its possibilities with colleagues or participating in professional learning.

A teacher who already understands the technology but lacks organizational support may need to work with school leaders to establish expectations and identify appropriate opportunities for experimentation.

In either case, collaboration is essential.

“Find someone you trust and unpack the next step, not the ideal outcome,” Fodchuk advised.

AI will continue to evolve, and schools will continue to face new questions about its role in education. But effective teaching, thoughtful leadership and meaningful student learning remain the foundation for making good decisions.

The goal isn’t to put AI into every classroom activity. It’s to help educators recognize when technology can make learning better — and when it can’t.

Hear More From Amos Fodchuk

Listen to the full Making Schools Work podcast conversation with Amos Fodchuk, Daniel Rock and Leslie Eaves to explore Virginia’s approach to AI professional learning, the challenges of leading organizational change and the opportunities AI presents for rethinking teaching and assessment.

Learn more from Fodchuk by checking out Advanced Learning Partnerships.

Make sure you catch every episode by liking and subscribing to the Making Schools Work Podcast wherever you listen to podcasts.