Importance of Teaching AI in K-5 Classrooms

 Monday, September 15, 2025

The Importance of Teaching AI in K-5 Classrooms

As technology advances and many students find themselves in a classroom setting, the use of AI is a topic many educators are questioning. Artificial intelligence is described as a computer system that allows for problem solving and decision making. Some examples include Snapchat Ai, ChatGPT, and so many more. Teaching AI to young students has a few positives, but come with some negatives as well!

First, while teaching the use of artificial intelligence through early education can show students the benefit of citation, using for an extra hand on an assignment, or even just to get an idea of brainstormed ideas, AI goes beyond that. AI leads to many issues including non original texts and even the suspicion of plagiarism. 

Harvard Graduate School of Education is a perfect use and provides many reasons as to why students should and should not use AI when working. The big question, are students really learning and engaging through AI? Professor Ying Xu exaggerates, "Xu shares what we know so far about how AI impacts children's development and the importance of AI literacy." Read more here. 

Chapter One, Page Four of the EdTech in classrooms K-5 book writes a few reasons as to why AI with young students is a great way to explore beyond their knowledge.

• "Think in mini lessons; breaking down lessons and adding activities helps make learning more digestible and creates a new opportunity for new information," (Teaching and Learning with EdTech, Page 4).

• "Make connections; Kids never want to rewrite their work, but when they have a robot on the floor and it's not moving, they want to get it right. Think of it like a code," (Teaching and Learning with EdTech, Page 4).

• "Allow time to explore; Setting students on their own time to learn and explore. Then the teacher creates a lesson on what they've learned and explored," (Teaching and Learning with EdTech, Page 4). 

This allows for students to have the opportunity to explore their own types of lessons and web tools without the use of AI. While artificial intelligence is a beneficial use for students around the world, it doesn't let them explore and find their best ideas as the computer is doing it for them. Studies show that students in the classroom should use their knowledge and brain and only use AI to cite the correct way and not use the ideas from the computer. 

By Jocelyn Bassi, September 15, 2025