As parents, we’ve always faced the challenge of guiding our children through new technologies. Whether it was the arrival of television, video games, or smartphones, every generation of parents has had to ask: How will this change the way my child learns, interacts, and grows?

Today, that challenge comes in the form of artificial intelligence (AI). With large language models like OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Google Gemini, and countless derivative tools being released daily, the pace of change is dizzying. It can feel overwhelming. But just like with past technologies, the most important step parents can take is simple: get involved.

Why Blocking Doesn’t Work

In my presentations, I often ask: What should we do with all these tools? Some argue that the safest option is to block AI entirely. But I honestly believe that blocking doesn’t work. Students are resourceful; if they want to use these tools, they’ll find a way.

Instead of shutting doors, we should open conversations and make sure that, as parents, we are truly informed about what AI can and cannot do. By understanding its potentials, limits, and perils, we can guide our children to use it as a support for learning rather than a shortcut, encouraging them to ask critical questions about accuracy and bias while also finding ways to integrate AI thoughtfully into their creative and academic work.

Our Roles as Parents

As a child, I spent many hours playing video games, and I know I developed important skills (like problem-solving, persistence, and strategic thinking) through those experiences. I still enjoy gaming today, but what I’ve learned is that not all games are created equal (something I have shared about in a previous blog post). That understanding is what pushed me to get more involved with my kids in the games they play and the activities they enjoy. By sharing those experiences, I can better understand how these tools shape their thinking, language, and creativity, and I can guide them to make better choices and turn play into opportunities for learning.

I’ve also shared how I’ve used tools like the Kindle ebook reader and Audible’s audiobooks to nurture language and literacy with my kids. With the Kindle, for example, features like built-in dictionaries, translators, and even contextual links to online resources make reading more interactive and efficient, helping us go beyond the text on the page. I’ve also discussed how listening to audiobooks or podcasts together (sometimes while driving) allows us to connect with the stories collectively, creating mental images and sparking conversations along the way. These experiences remind me that technology is not just something our children use; it’s something we can actively explore with them. And in today’s world, where technology shapes so much of what we do, I believe it’s essential for us as parents to get involved, learn alongside our children, and discover how these tools can support their growth.

Learning How AI Works

For many people, AI still feels like magic, and in fact, it is truly an extraordinary achievement of human engineering. Companies like OpenAI, Google, and others have built powerful systems based on large language models that can generate text, answer questions, and even simulate conversation in ways that were unimaginable just a few years ago. But at the end of the day, these are just systems. They are tools that we can guide, control, and learn to use to our advantage.

That’s why, over the past two years, we’ve dedicated much of our work (and many of our blog posts) to exploring how AI can support education. We’ve worked intensively on developing our own AI tutor and creating support tools for pre-service, in-service, and bilingual/ESL teachers. Along the way, we’ve collaborated with other educators and drawn on our background in computer education and cognitive systems to better understand how to guide and control AI for meaningful use in the classroom. At the same time, I’ve been reflecting on AI not only as an educator and instructional designer but also as a parent, asking how these tools can help me work better, learn faster, and support my kids in their own learning.

The key is simple: get to know the tools. That’s why we launched our free online course, Boosting Productivity with AI. From the very beginning, we designed this course with three groups in mind: teachers, administrators, and parents, to help them be more productive in whatever they are doing. It not only shows how to use AI responsibly and productively, but also introduces areas that go beyond the basic free services most people are familiar with. For example, we cover advanced features such as custom GPTs, Gemini Gems, and projects (features that often require paid access but can unlock powerful new ways to work and learn).