Welcome to Teacher’s AIed: the newsletter about AI in the K12 Classroom.

How AI will affect K12 Classrooms is complex. Each week, we curate knowledge for educators about the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of AI and K12 education.

In this week’s edition, we continue our SWOT Analysis of AI and K12 series by overviewing the weaknesses. If you haven’t read the introduction article to this series or our review of the strengths yet, take a look here and here.

The Achilles Heel

Unlike ChatGPT’s history book, we aren’t here to unnecessarily harp on the flaws of K12 Education. As educators, we murmur “strengths-based” and “positively-framed” in our sleep. Yet, in continuing with our SWOT analysis of AI and K12, these cracks in the armor are important to uncover.

Throughout history, even the mightiest heroes had their vulnerabilities, those hidden weak points that led to their downfall. In the realm of modern education, K12 institutions boast many strengths (see Strengths article), yet they also grapple with their own Achilles heels.

The weaknesses we're about to explore aren't entirely new problems that sprouted solely due to AI's rise. They've been present in education for decades, if not longer. However, with AI's emergence, these weaknesses are in sharper focus.

As we step into the era of Artificial Intelligence, K12 education must confront its vulnerabilities, as these cracks in the foundation might hinder the integration of AI.

K12’s Weaknesses

In this article, we share four of the weaknesses we identified:

• In the realm of education, a rigid adherence to the status quo and established curricula often prevails.

• Teachers are already stretched thin and typically do not have dedicated time for innovation and experimentation.

• Educators as a whole are not well-versed in AI foundations or AI tools.

• While specialized content has its place, K-12 education primarily imparts foundational knowledge, rather than delving into research niches.