The Shifting Landscape of Knowledge Domain:

During my Master's in Education, I studied influential philosophers like John Locke, Immanuel Kant, and Jean Piaget. Their ideas about how the mind works and how people learn helped explain my experiences as a teacher. These philosophical foundations have only become more relevant in the digital age. Thinkers like Michel Foucault and Andy Clark provide frameworks for understanding how technology is changing education by mediating access to information and extending students' cognitive abilities.

Having taught in secondary schools since 2004 and now working in higher education, I’ve witnessed a fascinating transformation in how students navigate this expanding universe of knowledge. In the early days, students relied on tools like Encarta and Ask Jeeves, later transitioning to Wikipedia and YouTube. Copy-pasting information is not a new thing, but the awareness and intentionality around this practice have evolved. Back then, students maintained a clearer connection to their sources, even when taking shortcuts.

School libraries have always played a pivotal role in supporting students' learning journeys. The library was the gem of the school—a sanctuary where knowledgeable staff provided guidance, and students could gather their thoughts in a calm environment. Libraries should remain the heart of schools, helping students critically examine information. However, as the knowledge landscape has grown more vast and accessible than ever before, I’ve noticed a shift in how students access information.

Traditional pillars such as books and curated resources can now feel overwhelming, especially when formal education prioritises efficiency over exploration. This has led to a concerning evolution of the copy-paste mentality: a careless over-reliance on digital sources, often paired with a tick-box approach to avoid getting a detention, into trouble or receiving poor grades.

This reveals a deeper issue in modern education. Mounting expectations on students have fundamentally altered their approach to academic learning. The process of refining and interpreting information has been overshadowed by the pursuit of the “right” answer to achieve high grades. Yet, it's important to note. Many students still engage meaningfully with academic work, demonstrating critical thinking and the ability to synthesize information from multiple sources. The real challenge lies in how formal education often creates transactional relationships with knowledge: teachers set tasks, and students chase predetermined answers from a range of different sources.

What’s striking is the contrast in how students engage with knowledge outside of school. They’ll spend hours mastering online games or learning from tutorials to pursue hobbies or build online platform with immaculate presentation and intention. This demonstrates their capacity for deep, domain-specific learning when they find the content relevant and engaging. Why, then, is this not mirrored in their academic work? The fact is, students aren’t avoiding deep learning—they’re just engaging with it differently, prioritising contexts that feel meaningful to them.

The rise of the internet has transformed not just how we access information but also how young minds process and seek content. We’ve entered what I call the “microwave content economy”—a world of instant, digestible, and accessible information. This shift has profoundly impacted students' attention spans and patience levels. The same impulse driving endless TikTok scrolling now influences their approach to academic tasks, fostering an expectation for immediate results with minimal effort to understand the process. AI fits seamlessly into this landscape, offering quick solutions and content generation. As schools grapple with AI’s impact on the learning economy, it’s clear that it will significantly disrupt education.

From a bird’s-eye view, disparities are already emerging. In some schools, students skillfully use AI as a personal assistant, leveraging its potential by crafting thoughtful prompts and applying its output critically. In others, students merely copy and paste AI-generated content without refinement or understanding. This disparity in AI literacy will likely widen the gap in educational outcomes, dividing those who can harness AI effectively from those who become overly dependent on it.

The telltale signs of AI reliance are often obvious in student work. Many fail to edit out generic AI responses or adapt the formal, structured language typical of AI outputs. This highlights a critical gap in digital literacy—the ability to use AI thoughtfully and effectively. While concerns about academic integrity and plagiarism persist, my deeper worry is about the essence of learning itself. How can we preserve deep understanding in an era of instant feedback and content? Can we harness AI’s efficiency without sacrificing the skills of thorough research, critical thinking, and multi-source exploration?

This moment reminds me of the calculator debate of the 1970s. When pocket calculators became widely available, critics feared they would erode basic arithmetic skills. Yet today, while calculators are ubiquitous, mathematical understanding remains essential. Calculators didn’t eliminate the need for foundational knowledge—they became tools for tackling more complex problems. Similarly, AI won’t replace the need for critical thinking or original thought; it will transform how we approach them.

Through my years in education, I’ve learned that technological tools don’t replace fundamental skills—they reshape how we apply them. The challenge isn’t just about integrating new technologies into education but bridging different modes of learning. Can we design educational experiences that evoke the same engagement students display in their personal interests? The answer may lie in making academic learning feel as relevant and rewarding as mastering an online game or creating content for social media.