Finding the Right Questions: Why AI Implementation Must Start with Educational Values
Source: Educating AI / Nick Potkalitsky Substack
Author: Nick Potkalitsky
Original source: https://nickpotkalitsky.substack.com/p/finding-the-right-questions-why-ai
Private backup: the full article text is archived in the private repository at archives/articles/nickpotkalitsky-substack-com-finding-the-right-questions-why-ai.source.md. It is not published on the public Quartz site.
Summary
Potkalitsky argues that school districts often begin AI implementation in the wrong place when they start with tools, pilots, or policy language. Because students are already using AI, the real question is not whether a district will “use AI” but what educational stance it will take toward a changed learning environment. He proposes a structured protocol for AI committees that begins with concrete scenarios, surfaces core beliefs about learning and teaching, defines where AI threatens or supports those values, and then translates those commitments into organizing principles. Coherent AI policy and implementation must be grounded in a district’s educational vision.
Big ideas
- District AI work is a long-term redesign project
- Schools should start with learning values before choosing AI tools
Claims
- Schools should start with learning values before choosing AI tools
- District AI implementation needs living guidance and teacher-led redesign
Key evidence and examples
- The protocol begins with concrete scenarios such as an AI-written history essay, AI-differentiated reading passages, ChatGPT as math tutor, and AI-generated teacher feedback.
- Committee work is organized around core commitments, threats and opportunities, and shared organizing principles.
- Example principles include authentic intellectual work, reducing barriers without replacing learning, and preserving teacher time for meaningful relationships.
Education relevance
Highly relevant for K-12 districts, AI committees, policy design, professional development, tool evaluation, academic integrity, and instructional leadership.