School policies around phone use are changing—and fast. In Ontario, Canada students are already being asked to maintain their phones out of sight during class. Several European countries have taken steps in that direction, and now discussion is constructing within the U.S. as well. Lawmakers are pushing similar restrictions, with two senators introducing a bill that may fund phone bans nationwide. The talk isn’t black and white, however the goal is evident: reduce distractions, improve student focus, and mitigate the results it will probably have on student mental health. Many teachers have long said smartphones pull attention away from learning. With nearly half of educators reporting that student engagement has dropped since 2019, schools are under growing pressure to do something. And for a lot of districts, that something starts with locking up the phones.
But banning phones doesn’t mean removing screens. Classrooms today have replaced notebooks with laptops and pens with tablets. It’s how students do research, turn in assignments, and follow together with lessons.
These tools are helpful, but they’re also one other sort of distraction. Open tabs and easy accessibility to the web still make it tough to maintain students on target. Teachers are left juggling technology’s advantages with its potential to derail a whole lesson.
And for a lot of educators, especially newer ones, the issue isn’t nearly student use, it’s about confidence. Over half of first-year teachers say they don’t feel properly trained to administer or integrate classroom tech in ways which are truly effective.
Enter the Next Generation of Tools
Now with the rise of AI, an increasing variety of teachers are turning to the technology to help with all the pieces from organizing lessons to providing feedback. As many as 62% of U.S. teachers and 60% of U.K. teachers confirmed in a 2025 survey that they’re integrating AI into their workflow. Not only leveraging essentially the most recognized tools like ChatGPT to create answers for a test, but AI tools that give back educators control in schools in other ways.
And essentially the most promising AI tools are those being built alongside educators, not only handed to them.
David Waugh of ManagedMethods tells Unite.AI that the features they’ve recently integrated of their Classroom Manager tool, was designed based on input they received from education leaders. The result’s a real-time tool that offers access to how tech is getting used by students during school hours, letting them monitor activity, flag unsafe behavior, and even pause digital access when needed. Consider it like parental controls, but built for teachers and scaled for the classroom.
But the usage of AI and machine learning doesn’t take control away from the teacher within the classroom. “We’re adamant that we need to make certain things automated to make it more efficient and streamlined for college districts and the users and the productivity. But at the top of the day, you continue to must have human interaction and human decision to do what’s ethically right”, says Waugh. Emphasizing the purpose isn’t to switch educators, it’s to back them up.
As a substitute, AI is leveraged to support cybersafety and security through cloud monitoring, offering an additional layer of protection.
Other platforms like MagicSchool are going a step further by positioning AI as a helpful classroom assistant and as a bridge toward something larger. The corporate points to rising burnout across the occupation, with educators clocking longer hours accompanied by administrative work, lesson planning, and student support.
“We’re here to assist lighten the load, so teachers can save their energy for where they shine best—within the classroom, in front of scholars,” reads a message on the corporate’s site. Like ChatGPT, MagicSchool might help educators construct quizzes and lesson plans. But where it’s starting to face out is in the way in which it supports individualized education, helping teachers tailor content for college students with special needs, and even offering guidance for managing behavioral challenges.
And now, the corporate is broadening its reach by offering AI literacy on to students.
With a deal with teaching kids the best way to use this technology thoughtfully and safely, because it becomes a staple in each classrooms and inevitable of their careers. In a way that gives engagement on a subject tailored to the person student, “MagicSchool for Students unlocks learning opportunities impossible without generative AI – think escape rooms, virtual field trips, and choose-your-own adventure stories.”
Much like the talk about phone use in classrooms, not everyone seems to be on the identical page about AI in students’ hands.
If AI Is The Future, Are We Preparing Kids to Use it Correctly?
Last month, President Donald Trump called for AI education to change into a national priority, signing an executive order to advertise education and integration of artificial intelligence in schools through public-private partnerships with industry leaders and academic institutions. This echoes what many educators and oldsters have already began to ask—if that is the longer term, are we preparing kids to make use of it correctly?
Canada has already taken major steps to include AI learning within the classroom, with many educators seeing this as a practical approach to prepare the subsequent generation for an AI-driven workforce. Nonetheless, The Canadian Teachers’ Federation is voicing growing concern about its use in education when there aren’t any clear regulations protecting students from data breaches and ethical concerns, including mental health.
This comes as Common Sense Media released research and suggestions concluding that AI apps explicitly designed for companionship mustn’t be utilized by children and teenagers under 18. These aren’t school tools but relatively AI apps designed to talk, listen, and mimic friendship.
While not technically latest, these tools are evolving quickly, with parents struggling to maintain up and ultimately fueling concern over the influence AI can have on a student’s well-being. Just as schools start limiting phones to assist protect mental health, a fresh wave of AI-powered “companions” is landing in app stores, unfiltered and sometimes unregulated.
So What Comes Next?
Removing phones from the classroom solves one a part of the puzzle. However the devices left behind, like laptops, apps, and unmonitored AI platforms, bring a special sort of complexity.
Technology isn’t going anywhere. The larger query now could be: how can we use it higher?
Educators, parents, and policymakers all have a job in shaping what that answer looks like. It won’t come from banning a tool or downloading the subsequent big tool. It is going to come from learning the best way to strike a balance—where tech supports, not overwhelms.
And where students learn not only from technology, but in addition the best way to live with it.
