Is AI Having a Chuckle at Us While Guiding Us Back to Our Own Humanity?
...and how Florida’s Online Schools Offer a Roadmap for Global Education Ecosystems
Education is no longer confined to four walls and rigid timetables. As the world increasingly embraces hybrid learning, the question is no longer whether schools should use online learning, but how they can integrate it effectively into their local communities.
Florida has been at the forefront of this shift, leading statewide virtual learning initiatives that provide a blueprint for other countries looking to develop their own School in the Cloud.
AI operators (as Chris Goodall and Darren Coxon showcased in recent posts) are making a mockery of our education system. We now have AI completing assignments on platforms like Seneca and other LMS systems—showing, in real time, just how broken our assessment and learning models are. My last newsletter explored how AI is distorting our own images of ourselves online.
There has never been more evidence that now is the time to look hard at ourselves in the mirror and question what it is to be human and what it is to be machine.
Last week, I asked my youngest son if he was being taught about AI in school.
He said, "No, but I just take a photo of my homework and ask ChatGPT to help me, and it does."
Meanwhile, I attended an event at King’s College London, bringing together the brightest minds and key stakeholders in AI and education answer three key questions:
What can schools best do to get ready for AI?
How can we ensure that the human remains at the heart of education and AI creates the space for this to happen?
How can we get government to deepen this restructure?
Are we asking the wrong stakeholders?
More notably, no one asked the children themselves - the very students already engaging with AI as an intuitive part of their learning. They weren’t in the room. No one approached AI with the same curious wonder that my son did when he simply asked ChatGPT to guide him.
Are we asking the right questions?
Three Better Questions We Should Be Asking
What if AI is not just a tool for education, but a catalyst for redefining intelligence itself?
Who decides what AI teaches us - and what are we unconsciously absorbing?
What if education was built around questions instead of answers?
As I ponder this, there’s nothing that makes me feel more human than talking to my friends about what’s happening in their real-world lived experience. So this week, I want to share with you my conversation with Mandy Perry, Principal of Pinellas Virtual School and education leader in Florida, about how online schooling is evolving in her state and what we can learn from it globally.
We'll pick up on this discussion live on LinkedIn later this week.
Lessons from Florida’s Online Learning Model
Statewide Collaboration Drives Impact: Florida has established a statewide network of virtual schools that collaborate instead of competing. Each district retains autonomy while working together to share resources, best practices, and policy insights.
Teachers Need Training to Teach Online Effectively: Teaching online is not the same as teaching in-person. Florida has developed statewide professional development programs to share best practice and learn together from what's working in different contexts.
Online Learning Must Be Purpose-Driven, Not a Last Resort: The success of Florida’s virtual schools comes from intentional design, not emergency adaptation. Online learning is treated as a valid, equal mode of education - not just a backup plan.
Technology Must Support, Not Replace, Human Connection: Florida’s model prioritises teacher-student relationships in virtual environments. Schools leverage technology to enhance interaction, not eliminate it.
The Future of Online Learning: A Call for Global Collaboration
This conversation is just the beginning. As online learning becomes more integral to education worldwide, we have an opportunity to create a global learning ecosystem, one that is adaptable, inclusive, and designed for the world as it is today, not the past.
Want to be part of this conversation? Join me in my next LinkedIn Live with Mandy Perry as we discuss how schools can practically implement their own School in the Cloud. We’ll share more insights, practical tools, and strategies for making online learning a sustainable, community-driven movement.
Because the future of education isn’t just about technology—it’s about how we connect, collaborate, and co-create a better way forward.
#AIandHumanity #TheFutureIsNow #EthicalAI #DigitalTransformation #CollaborationOverCompetition #SystemsThinking #TheNovacene #WhatItMeansToBeHuman #ConsciousTechnology #Relationship #LearningEcosystem
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First published in Building Schools in the Cloud on LinkedIn, 9 March 2025.