In this episode we explore what happens when students learn with AI or other cognitive supports, and then suddenly have to work without them.

We look at a recent learning science study highlighted by Carl Hendrick in The Learning Dispatch, where students who had been using a simple planning tool saw their performance drop when that tool was removed. 

Topics covered:

• Why introducing an AI tool also means planning for its removal
• The difference between scaffolds, accommodations, and persistent AI tools
• What learning science suggests about tool dependence
• Why “taking the tool away” can reveal whether students have actually built skill
• Why teachers need control over when AI feedback is on, limited, or turned off
• Why AI implementation should be judged not only by access and efficiency, but by whether students can still think and perform when the support is gone
  

Sources:

https://carlhendrick.substack.com/p/the-monthly-dispatch-whats-new-in-a9a

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s41235-026-00722-0