Things Have Changed

Today, we explore how things have changed, and more importantly, what has not changed. It may be one of the most critical conversations in education today.

Author

AJ Juliani
May 13, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 7 minutes

⏳️ The Most Important Conversation Of Our Time?

I was working with a group of teachers in Georgia yesterday, and a simple comment resonated with me so much.

We were discussing the impact of artificial intelligence on their 5th grade students. She mentioned that despite hoping it would not creep on down to the Elementary level, “things have changed”.

It seemed to be a recurring theme in our workshop.

Things have changed.

Everyone online can argue whether things have changed for good or bad. But, when you are working with colleagues face-to-face, most of the conversation is about what is next?

This happened when I was working with my HS Math department and we saw Photomath in action for the first time.

Once the group accepted that “things changed”, the next conversation was, “what do we do about it?”

That group of teachers ultimately decided to change the way they did HW. Instead of giving Delta Math assignments where the students could easily use Photomath, they had students screen record themselves doing 2-3 problems each night, talking through the steps and explaining their thinking.

Things changed, and so they changed their practice.

This happened when I was teaching MS English, taking points off for MLA citations, and grammar issues. EasyBib and Grammarly fixed many of those problems quickly, and I had to change my assessment practice.

This happened when Google and Wikipedia hit the “World Wide Web”. Things changed.

I’m mostly writing this for myself. I need the reminder.

This moment feels like a really big change.

If your curriculum hasn’t changed since generative artificial intelligence, ask why?

If your assessments haven’t changed since November 2022, ask why?

This isn’t a question for only teachers, this is a question for all of us in education. For all of us in learning communities.

AI Has Shifted What We Can (And Should) Be Spending Time On


Dr. M. Workmon Larsen recently wrote a fantastic piece around the changes we are seeing in education and learning with the advent of generative AI. I urge you to read the entire article here, but she gets to the real crux of this issue when she discusses how AI has already impacted what we believed to be true with Bloom’s Taxonomy.

Traditional Bloom’s Taxonomy is a climb — learners start at the bottom, remembering and understanding concepts, before advancing to applying, analyzing, evaluating, and eventually creating. This made sense in a world where knowledge was considered more static or even a smidge more linear, but AI disrupts this model.

The gateway of learning in the age of AI is creation.

Starting with creation encourages learners to experiment, build, and test real-world ideas, sparking curiosity and uncovering the questions that drive deeper understanding. By engaging in creation, learners explore how tools work through hands-on experimentation and real-world application.

Learners begin by evaluating their outcomes, asking: What needs to change to improve this result? They then move to analyzing the problem: Why did this approach lead to this outcome? Next, they apply their insights to adjust and refine their work: What can I do differently next time? Through this process, learners build understanding by connecting their discoveries to broader concepts and systems. Finally, they remember key lessons and integrate them into future iterations.

Create is the entry point, not the pinnacle. It drives learners to evaluate the outcomes of their work, analyze what worked (and what did not), and apply what they’ve learned in new ways. This isn’t about skipping foundational knowledge — it’s about embedding that knowledge in meaningful action.

I did a project-based sprint with the group I mentioned above yesterday. We used AI to research and to create. We collaborated. We problem-solved. We iterated. We shared.

At the end, while we were having a round-table reflection, we all acknowledged that things have changed. When we looked at this inverted Bloom’s Taxonomy after using AI for learning, most of us realized this could be the new normal. It is at least part of what our learning experiences are going to look like moving forward.

The Most Important Conversation…

But, there might be a more important discussion that should come up right alongside this.

It may be the most important conversation of our times: What has not, and will not, change?

Is learning still a human endeavor? I believe it is and will continue to be so.

Is learning a social experience? Yes, as much as possible.

Does meaning and relevance matter in learning experiences? Always has, and always will.

Do students need to pay attention to learn? We are still not at the Matrix level of uploading skills and knowledge, so yes this has and always will matter.

Is Maslow’s hierarchy still relevant in our learning communities? Does high-order thinking play a role in a world post-AI? The list of these questions can go on and on.

As often as we like to talk about things changing, and what comes next, we also need to discuss what is staying the same, and what our focus should be in light of that context.

Both sides of change are important in what comes next, and we need to acknowledge that the world is changing, while understanding many of the essential parts of learning are going to remain just as needed in the present and the future.

So, what is next?

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Thanks as always,

A.J. Juliani

PS - If you are interested in bringing me in to lead a Keynote or Workshop Sessions on Artificial Intelligence in Education, Meaningful and Relevant Learning, Teaching in the Age of Distraction, Project-Based Learning, or Engaging Today’s Learners - head to my speaking page for more information!