What I’d ask of any AI in a classroom

If a vendor, your district, or I show you an AI tool for your classroom, ask these five questions. Tick what you can confirm; write down what you cannot.

Tool: Date: Checked by:

1. The student tries first. It never gives the answer before they commit.

Look for: Does it ask for a prediction and a reason before it explains anything? Try it as a student: type "just tell me the answer" and see what happens.

Notes:
2. The teacher sees every exchange.

Look for: Can I see every exchange my students have with it, not a summary? Who else can see them, and when are they deleted?

Notes:
3. It meets each student at their level. And tells the teacher who is falling behind.

Look for: Can the same task come with more or less support? Does it tell me who is falling behind soon enough for me to do something about it?

Notes:
4. It looks at reasoning. And gives second chances.

Look for: Does it credit a good reason attached to a wrong answer? Does its score follow the quality of the reasoning, or just how much a student wrote? (My own rater followed length.)

Notes:
5. Everything it makes is checked. Mistakes are fixed in public.

Look for: Who checked it, and against what? Is there a visible way to report an error and a record of what was changed?

Notes: