When and how do we let them use AI?
When and how do we let them use AI? It’s the new version of an old question. Schools have been wondering for years when to introduce technology in learning, at what age to give each learner a laptop, or how much time behind a screen is too much. Parents, on the other hand, keep asking slightly different ones: when do we give them a mobile phone, or how do we make sure they use it responsibly? Tablets have already found their way into the hands of the youngest children. That doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a bad thing, but it does show that the question has shifted from if to how.
Still, all these questions share the same root. Because it’s not really about when or how old. It’s about why.
Technology, in all its forms, is just a tool. The real question is whether it’s fit for purpose. If it helps a learner explore, create, or express something they couldn’t before, or if it speeds up a boring or repetitive learning process, then it’s worth using. If it’s just a shortcut or a distraction, it isn’t. That sounds simple, but it isn’t easy.
Think of something as old as a hammer. Have you ever thought about when you first gave your child a real one? As a small child, they practised coordination with the toy version, the colourful hammer and plastic shapes you probably still find in many play corners. But that hammer was always put away at certain moments. At lunchtime, or when the table was set with glasses and plates that could break. Fit for purpose. Later, when you finally handed them a real hammer, it was again for a reason. There was something real to shape or create. And even then, they didn’t walk around with it all day. They used it for what it was meant for, and when the work was done, it went back on the shelf.
It’s no different with paint. Before we hand over tablets or digital design software, learners should first know what it feels like to create. To press their hands into paint, to mix colours, to notice how colours change as a result of their own actions. Only then does software become more than a shortcut. It becomes a way to potentially deepen creativity. Using technology before you’ve had that tactile experience is like eating steak without realising it could potentially come from the cow you’ve seen in the field.
That same principle applies to digital tools and AI. Full-time work behind a laptop is not the way to go in schools. There are so many other tools learners can use to create, investigate, and develop their skills. The problem is that in many schools, those tools have disappeared, or they’re locked away in cupboards where learners can’t see them, let alone use them. We tell them to be creative, but we don’t always leave the tools for creativity within reach.
So how do we do this with AI? The answer, again, lies in Fit for Purpose. I saw this principle beautifully in action at Real World School in Costa Rica, where Adrià , one of the teachers, had to make his six-year-olds enthusiastic about learning Spanish. He began with something they already loved: space. The children drew their own aliens on paper, described them in English, and later translated those descriptions into Spanish. Only then did they open an AI drawing tool to see how the computer imagined their alien. What followed was pure curiosity. The AI didn’t always get it right, so they began asking questions: “How do I tell it that the eyes should be bigger?” or “How do I say that the skin should be green?” They weren’t just learning vocabulary; they were learning how words shape meaning.
That’s how tools should be used, and understood. Purposefully. With boundaries. With awareness. You choose the tool that best helps you achieve your goal, not because it’s new or exciting, but because it serves your why. And when learners use tools that way, whether it’s a hammer, a paintbrush, a laptop, or AI, they’re far less likely to get distracted. They’re too engaged with what they’re actually trying to make.
Introducing IT in schools should always happen with moderation and intent, guided by Fit for Purpose. Because once learners understand that principle, they’ll carry it with them for life.
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