Andrew Cantarutti on Classroom Habits of Attention in the Age of AI

Mar 12, 2026

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Today, we have an increasing store of research to evaluate the claims of educational tech. Where does it assist or upend our goals as a school? Where does it support or bypass our students' intellectual sovereignty? Can it be used constructively?

This week on HeightsCast, writer and educator Andrew Cantarutti shares with us the research on digital tools, and especially AI, in K-12 education. In passionate detail, he also lays out how a school can cultivate the habits of attention by its curriculum, pedagogy, character, and even the physical school building.

Chapters:

3:05 Cantarutti's background

5:27 The lay of the digital land in education

8:38 Attention: a capacity that can grow—and shrink

12:35 A school's mission and the habits of attention

20:08 School schedules, school spaces

23:35 Four cognitive skills for your lesson plans

34:14 The research on AI and education

38:47 Teachers' AI use

43:26 Constructive ways to engage with AI

50:47 Whether you can teach critical thinking

53:26 Promises of AI vs. the goals of education