As new technological tools emerge, they are changing the face of modern education, creating a field with the potential to become more intuitive and interactive.
Over the past several years, the capabilities of educational resources in the classroom have evolved dynamically, but so too have the challenges modern students face. From a literacy crisis driven by over-reliance on technology to the rise of AI tools that shortcut the learning process, educators today are navigating an unprecedented landscape.
Yet amid these pressures, innovative approaches are emerging that center human connection, creative engagement, and structured problem-solving. Education leaders across the country are rethinking what it means to help learners truly thrive.
Utilizing the Right Tools
Kathryn Starke, Founder and CEO of Creative Minds Publications, has spent years confronting a troubling paradox: the very tools meant to help kids read may be holding them back.
She explains, “Oral listening and oral communication are actually the first step of literacy, and a lot of people are jumping over that part and getting right into, like, tap your screen and match this picture. None of that knowledge is being transferred over into actual, real conversations and understanding of reading.”
With 40–60% of K-12 students reading below grade level, Starke points to an over-reliance on tech apps and rigid curricula as key culprits. Her approach centers on restoring teacher autonomy, giving educators the flexibility to differentiate instruction based on each student’s actual level.
“I am finding that teachers do not have the autonomy to provide quality differentiated literacy instruction like they used to have. It’s very much you have to do this, you have to check this box. That teacher should be able to still use her degree and professionalism to differentiate,” Starke explains.
Initiatives like “Tackle Reading,” which brings NFL players into schools to model reading aloud, show that creative engagement can turn the tide.
“Sports is a motivator, music is a motivator, pop culture is a motivator; why don’t we use it? The kids remember when the Hall of Fame player came to read and when they say they struggled with reading. Those are the things that should be happening in schools to make a difference.”
Conquering the Passive Consumption Mindset
Timmy Bauer, Founder of Dinopreneurs, is tackling a different kind of learning crisis: the passive consumption mindset. When he asked kids what they wanted to be when they grew up, the answer was overwhelmingly “YouTubers,” a sign, he argues, that children are being shaped as consumers, not creators.
“Almost all the kids would answer with some version of wanting to be a YouTuber. They didn’t really have much of a thought beyond that other than I want to be a YouTuber. What it tells me is they’re spending the majority of their time consuming YouTube and just thinking, ‘This is what I’m going to do.’”
Bauer’s K–3 curriculum uses storytelling to flip that script, teaching entrepreneurship concepts through children’s books and activities designed to make complex ideas feel like natural discoveries.
“Part of the power of the medium of a children’s book is that you can take an idea that you know is good for the child and incept it… into their mind such that it’s like it was their idea,” Bauer explains.
His goal is to help kids see themselves as builders, not just watchers.
“If there’s one thing I could get kids to adopt as a mindset, it is the mindset of, I am not just a consumer. I’m a creator. And when you have that mindset, it redeems even your consumption. Because you will devote a significant amount of your consumption hours to consuming things that help you become a better creator.”
When Connection Goes Astray
Jason Robinovitz, COO and General Counsel of Score Academy, believes the root of student disengagement is not a content problem; it’s a connection problem.
“In our schools, the ability to build a rapport is one of the primary things we hire for. You can have the smartest person in the world, but if they can’t connect with the students, the students are going to get nothing from that person,” he details.
Score Academy uses a 1:1 to 6:1 student-to-teacher ratio, creating an environment where there’s no place to hide, and every student’s progress is visible. But more than class size, Robinovitz emphasizes hiring teachers who can build genuine rapport.
“In a small classroom, there’s no place to hide. And I think that’s the most important thing because when you have six kids in a classroom, it’s really easy to see who gets it, who’s not getting it, who’s paying attention, who’s not.”
When students care about their teacher, they work harder, not for grades, but to make someone they respect proud of them.
Robinovitz surmises, “We can give students the accommodation of leaving the room for a few minutes to use whatever tools their therapist has given them. And by having that type of autonomy, being able to figure out how you can best self-regulate, you can start getting under control and realize that nobody in that classroom is going to make fun of you for it.”
Confronting AI Head-On
Cheryl Strauss Einhorn, Founder of the AREA Method, is helping educators confront AI head-on.
“One of the overarching things that AI takes away is the struggle. It’s this idea that things should be easy and they should be fast. I think we want to give the students a mindset that the struggle is not bad, that that discomfort is a sign that we need to grow and we need to think something through.”
While students are drawn to AI for its speed and ease, Einhorn warns that this convenience comes at a cost: the elimination of productive struggle, which is where real judgment develops.
“Problem solving is a skill, and we all can be good problem solvers, but we have to be taught what the steps for a quality due diligence process. The most foundational step ,and this sounds obvious, is the problem definition step. If you’re moving ahead in the wrong direction, you are not going to get where you need to go.”
Einhorn’s 8-step structured problem-solving framework gives students a replicable process for thinking through complex problems, starting with problem definition and building toward strength-testing their own conclusions. The goal is not to avoid AI, but to develop the critical skills to evaluate it.
“Students need to learn what questions to ask to evaluate it — judgment doesn’t live in finding the answer; it lives in knowing whether to trust it.”
Final Thoughts
The through-line across these approaches is simple: students need more than information; they need engagement, connection, structure, and the freedom to struggle productively. Whether addressing a literacy gap, a creativity deficit, or an AI shortcut, the most effective educators meet students where they are while building the human capacities technology cannot replace.
