What If We Assumed Every Student Was Already Using AI?

February 17-Written By Tara Voigt

Let’s just say it out loud: Our students are using AI.

Not all of them. Not always.

But enough that maybe it’s time we stop treating it like a secret or a threat—and start designing as if it is part of the learning environment.

Because it is.

And if we accepted that—fully—how would that change what we do? 

What would change if we started there?

Would it shift our learning objectives? 

Our assignments? 

Our expectations?

Could we jump ahead—skipping the slow crawl through step-by-step instruction and going straight to thinking, shaping, questioning, reflecting?

Maybe that is what feels risky. 

It disrupts the comfort of sequence. 

It skips “the basics.” 

But what if AI makes some of those basics… optional?

We have done this before. 

We don’t teach the Dewey Decimal System anymore. 

We don’t expect students to memorize map coordinates or balance checkbooks. 

Why? Because the tools changed—and so did our teaching.

Maybe it’s time to let go of what we think “real learning” looks like.

Maybe what we are calling “cheating” is actually the next level of inquiry.

We don’t need to lower our expectations. 

We need to change what we expect. 

Shift what we teach so it matches what is possible now.

And here is the best part: we can.

As humans, adaptability is our superpower. 

We love change—new books, new ideas, new challenges, new years.

So maybe this isn’t about resisting what is new. 

Maybe it is about recognizing that something has shifted— 

and letting our teaching rise to meet it.

What would change if we started there?