Technology Essentials in Education Episode 33:
Protecting the Human Touch: Science of Reading in the Age of AI

Welcome to today's episode of Technology Essentials in Education. Today I'm chatting with Dr. Molly Ness. I first met Molly when I was doing a lot of presentations at literacy conferences. There were a few years where I was at a lot of literacy events, kind of like the techie person sharing some strategies. I still get a chance to go to lots of ILA affiliates over the past decade or so. It's been so much fun. But that's how Molly and I met. So today I asked her to come on to talk about some literacy connections to AI in education. That's what we talk about. She shares some insights and strategies. If you're curious about what AI might do to reading and writing instruction, definitely listen to what Molly has to share.

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Welcome to the podcast, Molly. I'm so excited to chat with you today about a really big topic, which is how AI is reshaping literacy instruction. But before we get into all of that, can you share a bit with listeners, what is your day-to-day look like? What is your role in education?

So I have worn many hats. I was a classroom teacher, a university professor, and consider myself a reading researcher and a teacher educator. I have always centered literacy as an issue of social justice in my work. My day-to-day work now is as the founder of a literacy consulting firm and working with Solution Tree, which is a publisher and professional learning provider. Most of the work I'm doing now is supporting educators in the implementation of the science of reading. We've had an exciting few years in the literacy landscape with many conversations about literacy instruction. But what we're doing now is the real hard work of making sure the work in schools and classrooms aligns with the research basis that we know as the science of reading. I'm in schools a lot supporting teachers, doing audits for districts wanting to see what systems are in place. I love writing, so I am writing book number eight for teachers and school leaders around literacy implementation.

Your wide range of perspective is one of the reasons why I wanted to bring you on to talk about this topic. You're seeing many different things and hearing from lots of people in the field on what's working, their challenges, and what they're excited about. You've really spent your career focused on reading, literacy, writing, and sharing with educators. So how has the rise of AI changed the conversation you're having with educators about reading instruction?

Most of the conversations I'm having are supporting teachers in using AI to lighten their load and make wise decisions about planning instruction for students. I'm looking more from the teacher lens than the student lens. I've been working with schools who say, okay, we've got this new resource out there. How can we lean into it as a way to support the work that teachers are doing in providing research-based instruction? Schools are doing backwards designs of novel studies or thinking through the entire scope of their middle school literacy instruction, using AI to make their work easier. You can take a text and generate great questions, learning crosswalks, pull out vocabulary, and those sorts of things. We're working with a critical eye so people don't take AI as the be-all and end-all, but as a nice starting point to make wise instructional decisions that save time and effort.

I love that emphasis on a critical eye. It's a tool in our toolbar. It's something we're using. Of course, all the expertise and experience someone has to review an output is so important. Are there any aspects of literacy instruction that you think should stay protected from AI, like a whole class read-aloud or something where students and teachers come together to explore as a group?

I very much believe AI should not replace the role of a well-informed teacher who has an interpersonal relationship with students. One question I'm often asked is whether a read-aloud, which is the cornerstone of literacy instruction building kids' language comprehension, can AI do that for me? I'm cautious here. Research shows that when we rely on AI or pre-recorded videos of read-alouds, we miss language opportunities, intentionality, and in-the-moment learning and responsiveness to students. So I'm cautious about that, and there's some research around it. AI is great to generate decodable text for young or struggling readers, but I don't want it to take the role of my read-aloud for students. We're not there yet. There's a balance and critical eye to say when this is appropriate, useful, or when we shouldn't use the technology even if we have access to it.

When we talk about reading in the age of AI, what does that mean for the work happening in classrooms right now? What are you seeing in the field?

I think AI is encouraging teachers and students to be more critical consumers of reading and writing. For example, a student might use an AI-generated version of Raisin in the Sun instead of reading the original. It's moving students away from shallow reading, where we read with shorter duration, for headlines, superficially. Incorporating AI in meaningful ways pushes students past the surface level to connect to the text in a richer way than just the storyline. I'm excited about it. It creates opportunities for students to be more reflective about the texts they use.

Just that idea that there are still opportunities to go deeper, have rich conversations, and make personal connections, especially if students feel the content they encounter elsewhere, like the AI slop of it all, feels less personal or authentic. They might lean more into those types of conversations. There's a lot of excitement around AI in education in general. I often use the term healthy hesitation, like let's take a step back and pause. With all the excitement and hesitation around AI, including in literacy, what do you wish more educators understood about how AI might fit into reading instruction?

I wish educators better understood or could evaluate what they are having students produce in an age of AI. I support K through 12 teachers and teach graduate students. Normally, students read a text and reflect on it. For example, graduate students read a research article. Now AI can take the place of that by generating a synopsis from a title. This puts the onus on me as the instructor to recreate assignments and opportunities for students to connect to the text beyond mere summarization. We're rethinking student output so we don't just use AI as a quick shortcut but think through what we want students to do, know, or produce when they can get the AI version.

Just focusing on what that output for students will be. We talk a lot about AI prompts and what we'll get, but if that's what the AI or chatbot can give, maybe that's not the right question for students. It's a big shift for educators, whether they've been teaching for 20 years or two years, to rethink how they approach conversations with students and what they ask them to do.

Thinking about specific classroom practices, how do you see AI tools changing how teachers approach comprehension, vocabulary, or read-alouds?

Teachers are no longer satisfied with just reading a text and summarizing it. They want students to connect to it, draw connections, and reflect. Whether it's a graduate student working with a research article or a middle schooler reading The Outsiders, teachers now ask what students take away, their connection to the text, and how it improves learning or changes their thinking or role as learners and humans. This is forcing us to create better products that students produce. Some teachers have students handwrite assignments to avoid relying on AI, but I'd rather rethink outputs that make students reflect deeply and personally rather than just write a five-paragraph essay.

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It's interesting as you frame that. We talk so much about student-centered experiences and authentic assessments where students connect and their voice is heard. This provides an opportunity to move away from just summaries to richer, deeper personal experiences. We've been advocating student voice for a long time, and this might be part of the push for those navigating this space.

Are there any traditional literacy practices or routines that you think AI is making more accessible or doable for an average teacher?

AI lets us generate vocabulary and create deeper questions for students. For example, I supported early childhood educators using the beloved picture book A Very Hungry Caterpillar. We discussed dialogic reading, which involves young children conversationally engaging with the text at a deep language level. We can ask AI to write dialogic questions about the text, jumpstarting our work. Of course, we don't just copy and paste but use it as a planning tool.

That's a great example because someone who has done a good job reading aloud or prepping something might know what they want from the experience but need a head start or ideas to choose from. In that example, AI powers the planning piece, but students still have a high-quality offline experience without interacting with technology in that setting. It's a good example of using AI behind the scenes to create a high-quality offline experience for students.

When we think about planning, what about students themselves? How do you think about AI's role for kids as readers and writers?

I can certainly talk about this. In my support of middle schools and as a parent of a high school student, watching her use of AI is amazing. She uses AI to generate study questions for calculus tests or chemistry quizzes. She's not using it to cheat on the product but as a tool for learning the process. That's where we need to lean into students more and show them this is not like the 1980s cliff notes where you cheat by reading summaries instead of the original. We want to support understanding how to use AI as a learning tool in the process rather than just producing AI-generated output.

That's a great example for someone appreciating that a student is curious and wants to try things out and play in this space. They're not just getting the essay or short response answer but can have a productive experience.

In your varied conversations, you're hearing many thoughts and feelings about AI and literacy. How can schools and districts have productive conversations about AI and literacy, especially with strong opinions on both sides?

I'm cautious about schools banning AI outright. I think about myself as a proficient reader, writer, and adult learner and how I use AI in my writing to generate references and in many ways. If we want to empower kids for lifelong literacy, banning AI is not the way. We need to show them how to use it intentionally and properly. Banning often comes from fear rather than recognizing that adults use AI in workplaces and personal lives, so we should build those skills and capacities.

There are so many different use cases and experiences. It's hard to say no to this big thing with many moving pieces.

For a literacy coach or teacher leader wanting to bring AI into a professional development session or grade-level meeting, what advice would you give about facilitating that first conversation on AI's connection to literacy instruction?

People need to see AI as a tool, like a pencil. Once we spark curiosity about our end goal in using a text or planning a lesson, we can discuss how AI can support work and lighten instructional burdens. Start there and embrace it with curiosity. We can also do better speaking with students, especially secondary kids, asking how they use AI. Kids are often ahead of us. It's empowering to ask them to show how AI helps them as learners, readers, or writers and explain it so we can rethink our feelings about it. We'll find kids aren't using AI as a workaround but in intentional ways. I see this with my own child, who uses AI to support the process meaningfully rather than to generate essays for history class.

Just opening up a safe space for conversation is huge. We don't know what we don't know, and being curious about what others do is important.

This has been an informative conversation with great strategies and things to consider as people navigate AI and literacy.

Where can people connect with you and learn more about your work?

I am online as Dr. Mollie Ness, with a Y, Ness like the Loch Ness Monster dot com. I'm doing a lot of thinking and writing about an upward cycle of literacy. We have so much gloom and doom data around declining literacy rates and reading for pleasure. My latest writing explores how to create an upward trajectory and cycle around literacy. I'm excited about a paper I wrote on this, which I will gladly send to anyone. It helps me rethink what schools can do instructionally and culturally to get kids to joyful and productive lifelong reading and writing.

I love that positive note to finish our conversation on. Thank you so much for your time, insights, and energy today.

Thank you. It was lots of fun chatting with Dr. Molly Ness today about AI and its connection to literacy.

Let's finish with a few takeaways from the conversation. First, use AI to generate dialogic questions, vocabulary lists, and comprehension prompts as a planning springboard, not a finished product. Protect interactive read-alouds from AI replacement since research shows pre-recorded or AI-delivered versions miss critical in-the-moment learning opportunities. Rethink student assignments so the output requires personal connection and reflection, not just summarization that AI can replicate. Approach AI with curiosity rather than fear and avoid blanket bans that prevent students from building skills needed as lifelong learners. Thanks to Dr. Molly Ness for joining today, and thank you all for listening. A big thank you to Jotform, the presenter of today's episode. To learn more about Jotform and how educational institutions can get a 30% discount on Jotform Enterprise, head to Jotform.com slash enterprise slash education.