How can teachers support students to develop their ability to use generative AI effectively and responsibly in their learning?

Students increasingly encounter generative AI tools (e.g., ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini) in and out of school. Many approach these tools with curiosity, creativity, and a desire to understand their potential. Even with good intentions, students may unintentionally engage in use that is harmful to their learning and cognitive development.

With generative AI, the lines between acceptable support and academic dishonesty are still blurry for many, including when AI use supports learning versus when it undermines it. This lack of clarity can lead to over-reliance on AI, reinforce shallow engagement, and mask gaps in understanding that teachers may not easily detect.

As generative AI becomes a core tool for writing, researching, and problem-solving, students need support to engage not just as consumers but as active, thoughtful users. Many are already experimenting with AI in their daily lives, often without guidance on responsible or effective use. With intentional instruction, students can learn to critically evaluate AI outputs, iterate on them, and apply the technology to solve real-world problems. When students use AI to extend their ideas, they build the kinds of creative, analytical, and metacognitive skills that prepare them for success in a world where these tools are ubiquitous.

Equipping students to navigate this also means preparing them to act with agency, ethics, and purpose. Classrooms must be places where students explore how AI intersects with their values, interests, and goals, and teachers play a crucial role in this process. They can guide students to stay “in the loop” so technology is not the main driver, while also showing how AI can personalize learning and unlock new possibilities.

• Some teenagers are using generative AI to help them do their school work, and think there are ways to use AI that are acceptable and unacceptable.

• A significant majority of students have used AI, and many are using it for homework help. A significant number of students are using it with or without their teacher’s explicit permission.

• Cheating rates by high school students did not change significantly after the release of ChatGPT. However, there is the possibility that as generative AI becomes more prevalent, this rate could increase if students are not taught how to use it appropriately.

• Students have concerns about the impact AI will have on their critical thinking skills, but are approaching AI with curiosity. Around half of Gen Z students say schools should permit the use of generative AI and that schools should be required to teach students how to leverage AI.

• Evidence is still emerging, but early studies suggest AI can improve student performance if it provides students with step-by-step instructions. However, students had trouble applying these learnings if they could not use AI.

As AI becomes more embedded in students’ lives, educators have an opportunity to help students develop the skills, mindsets, and habits to use it in thoughtful and meaningful ways. By designing learning experiences that treat AI as a tool for inquiry, creativity, and critical thinking, teachers can guide students to become active users of AI rather than passive consumers. The following strategies offer concrete ways to help students use AI as a thought partner, build students’ AI literacy skills, and actively use AI to support their learning.

The following guidance and examples come from the School Teams AI Collaborative, a partnership between The Learning Accelerator and Leading Educators that brought together ~80 innovative educators from 19 schools across the country to collaborate and surface promising ways to implement generative AI into their teaching and learning practices.

Position AI as a Thought Partner, Not a Shortcut

Positioning AI as a collaborator helps students stay engaged in the thinking process. When AI is treated as a thought partner, students learn to question, adapt, and build upon its outputs rather than passively accept them. This mindset encourages curiosity, deepens understanding, and fosters a sense of ownership over their learning. This critical lens also prepares students to identify, assess, and address shortcomings in AI outputs, including inaccurate information and biased content.

What this looks like in practice:

• Explicitly develop and define guardrails for AI use. In the same way that expectations for calculator use are helpful in math class, be clear about which parts of an assignment AI can support (e.g., brainstorming, outlining, or drafting) and which parts should reflect the student’s own thinking and voice. This can and should vary for different assignments and contexts. Transparency offers clarity and helps students build responsible habits and understand AI’s role in the learning process.

• Embed opportunities to use AI in familiar assignments to scaffold AI instruction. Start with tasks students already know well, like writing prompts or research projects, and integrate structured use of AI to help them see how it can enhance, rather than replace, their efforts. This lowers the barrier to experimentation while reinforcing core academic skills.

• Design assignments that require students to pause and use AI for feedback. Rather than promoting passive use, structure learning tasks that make it clear AI is a tool to help create starting points, not the final product. For example, prompt students to generate an initial draft or idea with AI, then have them analyze the output for accuracy, bias, tone, or quality. Build in checkpoints where students annotate changes, explain revisions, or compare AI-generated work to peer- or self-created versions. This helps practice oversight, build critical AI literacy, and develop a deeper sense of authorship and agency in their learning.

• Incorporate reflection questions that help students track how AI influenced their thinking and choices. Students can develop their metacognitive skills by reflecting on how they used AI in their learning and how it impacted their thinking and choices, if at all. Students can also reflect on where the AI did the work and where they did the thinking. This will help make sure that they, as humans, are driving the learning, not the technology.

Below are examples of how teachers and schools laid a strong foundation for students to use AI to support their learning.

Center Student Skill Building in AI Literacy

Developing AI literacy helps students become thoughtful users and evaluators of AI-generated content, preparing them to engage with information actively and responsibly. When students are taught how to interrogate, revise, and reflect on AI outputs, they gain transferable skills that strengthen both their academic and real-world problem-solving abilities. Embedding AI literacy into everyday instruction makes learning relevant and applicable across subjects and grade levels.

What this looks like in practice:

• Teach students how to critically evaluate AI-generated information for credibility, bias, and accuracy. Prompts that ask students to compare multiple outputs, critique accuracy, or revise suggestions can help students move beyond passive consumption toward active authorship. These practices foster metacognition, media literacy, and judgment, skills that will serve students far beyond the classroom.

• Create space for students to explore and reflect on the ethical and societal impacts of AI. Rather than presenting fixed answers, invite students to investigate and discuss the complex questions surrounding AI, such as its environmental impact, potential for bias, and issues of ownership and authorship. Use open-ended prompts, case studies, or current events to encourage critical thinking, and position yourself as a co-learner, guiding students as they develop their own informed perspectives on this technology.

• Embed AI literacy into instructional content. Teachers have a lot to cover with their curriculum. Finding opportunities to embed AI literacy into the curriculum allows teachers to still cover the content while developing these critical skills. This not only strengthens AI literacy but also demonstrates AI's impact across various subjects.

• Provide students with a safe environment for experimentation and reflection: Exploring new technologies requires psychological safety. Teachers can create classroom norms that encourage curiosity, allow for mistakes, and make space for reflection. When students feel safe to try, fail, and learn with AI, they develop not only technical fluency but also confidence in navigating complexity.

The strategies below highlight how teachers are supporting students in developing their AI literacy.

Teachers can support students in using AI to support and transform their learning in various ways:

• aiEDU’s Curricular Resources: These resources offer lesson plans and activities teachers can use to develop students’ AI literacy. There are resources for elementary and secondary classrooms and vary in length from quick 15-minute activities to a full 10-week course.

• Playlab: Playlab provides students and teachers a safe platform to develop their own generative AI chatbots. Developing the tools helps them understand how AI works and bring solutions to challenges in their schoolwork and communities.

• ChatGPT for Education: OpenAI’s team features Student Chats that feature how higher education students are using ChatGPT in their education. Many of these strategies can be transferred and adopted for use by middle and high school students.

• EdTech Insiders Generative AI: Use Cases in Education: This resource provides strategies broken up by categories of how teachers and students can use AI to support their learning. Categories are connected to research from Stanford’s Generative AI Hub.