When Israeli students return to school this fall, the biggest change in their classrooms won't be a new textbook or a renovated building. It will be the AI tools already sitting on their phones and computers - and the question of what schools should do about it.
A survey by Israel's National Authority for Measurement and Evaluation in Education found that 57% of Israeli students already use AI tools for schoolwork, while only 36% say their school teaches them how to use them. Students are using AI to summarize material, solve problems, prepare presentations and write assignments. The debate over whether AI belongs in education is over; the debate over how to teach with it is just beginning.
The blurring line between completing and learning
The central problem is that AI makes it hard to tell whether a student has actually learned something or simply generated a polished answer. A student can submit a better paper without improving their writing skills, choose the correct answer without understanding the method, or turn in an excellent summary without reading the source material.
"The debate over whether AI will be part of children's lives is already over," said Chen Bareket, an expert in social and technological innovation in education. "The responsibility of the education system is to teach children when to use it and, more importantly, when not to let it do for them what we want them to learn to do on their own."
Parents share that concern. Nadav Rose, a father of two from Ra'anana, said: "My concern isn't the use of AI itself. It's obvious to me that this is a tool that will be part of their lives. What worries me is the point at which a child no longer tries to do things on his own. If the first reaction to every question, assignment or exercise is to open an AI tool, how do we know they have actually learned something rather than simply received an answer?"
Redesigning assignments, not banning tools
The solution may not be to prohibit AI but to change what teachers ask students to do. Instead of assigning another 1,000-word paper, teachers could give students an AI-generated answer and ask them to identify errors, verify sources, compare claims and explain what they would change. Rather than assessing only the final product, schools could evaluate the process as well. The question shifts from "What is the answer?" to "How do you know the answer is correct?"
This approach aligns with broader professional training for educators who want to integrate AI thoughtfully into their teaching practice. For teachers seeking practical strategies, AI for Teachers Courses cover tools and methods for using AI as a teaching aid rather than a substitute for student thinking. The broader conversation about AI for Education continues to evolve as schools figure out what responsible use looks like.
In an era when answers can be generated within seconds, knowledge and critical thinking become more important, not less. To spot an error, students need to understand the subject. To verify a source, they need to know what they are looking for. And to ask a good question, they need to know enough to recognize what is missing.
"In a world where answers have become cheap, judgment becomes more valuable," Bareket said. "Students need to know how to use AI, but also how to challenge it, verify it and question it."
What AI can and cannot do in the classroom
AI can be an effective educational tool. It can explain material in a different way, provide personalized practice and help a student who is stuck. But its proper use should begin with the learning objective. If the goal is to teach creative writing, the student may need to explain which version works better and why. If the goal is critical thinking, an AI-generated text may actually be an ideal starting point for analysis.
"The more AI is able to do," Bareket concluded, "the clearer the education system needs to be about what it expects children to know how to do on their own. Not in order to compete with technology, but so that children know when to use it, when to challenge it and when to simply think for themselves."
Why this matters for educators
This school year may be the one in which schools are forced to redefine what learning actually means. For teachers, the practical takeaway is to design assignments that AI cannot complete for students - tasks that require judgment, verification and explanation. A student who can critique an AI-generated answer has demonstrated more understanding than one who wrote the answer from scratch. The teachers who adapt their assessments now will be the ones whose students actually learn the skills they are supposed to be teaching.
Your membership also unlocks:
