Irreplaceable: Schools that Prepare Future-Ready Learners

Graham Forman, Managing Director and Founder, Edovate Capital

Preparing Learners to Thrive with AI

As an entrepreneur and investor focused on traditional K12 schools and districts, I’m surrounded by artificial intelligence (AI) every single day. Whether you’re bullish or bearish on AI, there’s no denying that it’s here and unavoidable. I’m convinced that not only is AI here to stay, but we’re in the very early stages of its profound effects on K12 education and the workforce. This leads me to think more about what school system leaders, entrepreneurs and investors can do to prepare learners to thrive with AI.

To me, one of the most important questions in all of K12 education is, “How do we prepare learners to thrive with AI?”

Developing Human Skills, Learning to Work with AI

For starters, we need to create an environment that allows teachers and students to focus on developing uniquely human skills, such as adaptability, curiosity, collaboration, communication and problem-solving. In a world where the value of technical knowledge is changing quickly (remember a few years ago when being a software developer was a can’t-miss opportunity?), these durable human skills will stand the test of time no matter what technology brings our way.

The increased demand from employers for these skills predates generative AI, and I have no doubt that this demand will continue to rise as new technologies are introduced in the years to come.

We need to prepare for a future where humans work alongside AI. The evidence is mounting that AI is unlikely to cause a jobs apocalypse; however, it is likely to dramatically reshape the human workforce. A favorite quote of mine comes from Harvard Business School professor Karim Lakhani, who observed, “AI won’t replace humans, but humans with AI will replace humans without AI.”

Learning to work alongside AI starts with K12 schools, which are best equipped to:

• Give all learners an opportunity to learn and work alongside AI

• Ensure a good balance where learners use their creativity and problem-solving abilities while guarding against an overreliance on the technology that reduces critical thinking skill development

“Not only is AI here to stay, but we’re in the very early stages of its profound effects on K12 education and the workforce.”

I’m encouraged to see schools move past their initial instincts to ban AI and move towards adopting systems that help students use AI in safe, observable environments. Tools such as MagicSchool—which provides AI tools that assist teachers with lesson planning, grading, Individualized Education Program (IEP) creation, assessment and differentiated instruction—help create that safe learning environment and includes tools to develop AI literacy skills for students as well.

Rethink K12 Education

Finally, for schools to deliver on this future, we need to rethink K12 education. Today’s K12 schools are heavily focused on academic content knowledge and need to shift to a model that focuses more heavily on durable-skill development. Schools that are future-ready will integrate social learning (many are moving in this direction), project-based learning and work-based learning experiences to lean into developing these skills.

It’s a challenge to design systems that focus on skill development and it will take courageous school leaders, teachers trained on education experiences to impart these skills, policymakers to create the conditions to innovate and the support of parents and communities to ensure schools serve all students.

Develop Solutions for Future-Ready Schools

For innovators, this situation presents a series of opportunities to develop solutions for these future-ready schools.

First, we need more technologies that enable social learning experiences. Now that most schools have devices for all students, it’s easy to build solutions where students interact one-on-one with a device, and we have lots of those solutions. What we need instead is more solutions that get students off their devices to interact, communicate, problem-solve and collaborate with each other. These are the most impactful and memorable learning experiences for students. Curipod (interactive lessons for K12 students) and Oko (AI-powered assistant for small group learning) are two solutions that come to mind, but I believe there’s so much more we can do here.

I also see a related opportunity for innovators to build tools that help schools measure and manage durable skills. There are only a few methods for measuring durable skills in classrooms at this time, and more schools want to focus on imparting these skills with tools that enable easy measurement and management of them. AI is a powerful observer and I’m starting to see technologies that capture, measure and report on durable skills by running in the background.

Learners need more work-based learning opportunities while in school. These experiences range from low-intensity, short-duration offerings such as hackathons, case competitions and micro-internships to high-intensity, long-duration offerings including internships and apprenticeships.

There are far too few high-quality work-based offerings available to students relative to the growing demand for them. The State of Colorado has a new framework for offering academic credit for work-based learning opportunities. Some Colorado schools even require that all students graduate with at least one work-based learning opportunity.

It’s hard to aggregate lots of work-based learning opportunities for high-school students, but an innovator who figures this out is sure to find an interested school audience.

A Thriving Future for Humans and AI

Our K12 schools are an indispensable part of raising adaptable, ethical humans ready to thrive in a world with AI. As AI becomes embedded in every sector, learners will need to combine technical proficiency with strong human skills including creativity, collaboration and problem-solving. The goal is not only workforce readiness but also the capacity to thrive as engaged citizens and lifelong learners. This requires intentional action from educators, policymakers and innovators to design systems that elevate durable skills, ensure equity and foster meaningful partnerships with families and communities. By doing so, we can raise future-ready learners who see AI not as a threat, but as a powerful partner in shaping a better future. The future belongs to those who can think, adapt and collaborate; skills that AI cannot replace.

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