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If you’ve been hanging around the Ditch That Textbook community for a while, you know we are always on the hunt for tools that take the heavy lifting out of lesson prep while keeping students actually engaged.

I recently spent some time diving deep into Knowt, and honestly? I was floored (you can watch my Knowt demo here)

At its core, Knowt is an AI-powered learning platform that helps students and teachers turn any resource—PDFs, YouTube videos, or even textbook photos—into instant study materials. It’s like having a digital teaching assistant that can whip up a set of flashcards or a practice quiz in seconds.

But it’s the "extra" features that really set it apart. And lots of them are available (with some limitations) on the free plan.

Here are four practical ways you can start using Knowt in your classroom tomorrow:

Instead of spending hours typing out terms and definitions, you can upload a PDF or scan a textbook chapter directly into Knowt. The AI instantly generates a comprehensive set of flashcards that students can use for active recall, which research consistently shows is one of the most effective ways to learn.

Turn your lesson materials into a "Gossip Podcast" or a conversational audio file that students can listen to on the go. This is a game-changer for auditory learners or busy students who want to review material while they walk to class, making complex topics like photosynthesis feel like the latest "tea."

Students can actually "call" Kai, the platform’s AI persona, for a voice-based study session. Kai asks questions based on your specific lesson material, listens to student responses, and provides immediate feedback or corrections, providing a safe and interactive way for students to practice their speaking and retrieval skills.

Bring the whole class together with "Knowt Play," an integrated review game feature that turns your study sets into a competitive experience. With modes like Classic, Race, and Survival, you can host live games where students join via a QR code to test their knowledge and climb the leaderboard in real-time.

In lots of classrooms, the impact of AI has been tangible. Teachers feel the effects of student access to AI apps all over the place.

There are lots and lots of factors at play, and no one factor will “fix cheating” or “make things like they used to be.”

There’s one factor that’s playing a big part, though …

AI is good at creating finished products. By finished products, I mean …

… and virtually any other type of classwork that students turn in to show evidence of learning.

Here’s a strategy I’ve been offering in my AI workshops at schools and breakout sessions at conferences …

We all know that points in the grade book are like a currency, right?

Grades don’t motivate every student. But many students will do whatever it takes to get enough points to get the grade that they want (or the grade that will keep them out of trouble or eligible for sports).

“I’ll get X points if I do Y.”

Here’s the problem: The Y that students must do to get X points is often an end product. (Especially if it’s worth lots of points.)

Students do a multi-step process to get to an end product and they turn it in. Then we give them points based on the end product.

There’s an inherent flaw in this — especially in the AI age.

We’re asking students to show learning by doing tasks that AI is really good at doing — tasks where students can easily “cognitive offload” the task to AI.

So, what do we do?

Consider this …

When we assign the most points in the grade book to the end product, what message are we telling students?

Remember, the grade book is like an economy. Points are like a currency.

Putting all of the points on the end product tells them a lot about value. It shows that we value the product more than the process.

But do we?

As teachers, we love the process. It’s where students roll up their sleeves and interact with new content, new processes, new ideas.

It’s where the problem-solving process happens.

It’s where critical thinking happens.

It’s where grit and resilience and perseverance are born.

We love the process. But so often, we assign all of the points to the end product.

How can we fix this broken process? I’ve talked to teachers who are experimenting with new strategies — or sticking with these effective strategies they had long before AI.

Here are some of the best I’ve seen …

Based on what I just said, this is kind of an obvious answer — but it’s not the traditional approach.

The assignment of points in the grade book looks like this …

It gives honor and value to the steps that lead to the end product.

Plus, in the end, students are less likely to bypass the entire process to generate the end product. Because the steps are for credit, they need to do the steps.

Now … can they use AI to bypass the steps? Absolutely.

But why wouldn’t they? That’s a conversation about motivation … and about self-efficacy (the feeling that “I can do this”) and relevance … and other factors that cause students not to want to do work.

I have found that I give myself my best chance to have students actually do their work when …

A quick note about the “why” point — It’s so easy for us to assign work to students and assume that they know why they’re doing it. But students don’t always make that connection. Remember … we’re the ones that are trained and highly qualified in curriculum and instruction and pedagogy. What seems obvious to us might feel like unnecessary busywork to them. Give yourself your best chance of getting good student work by telling them why they’re doing what they’re doing.

Focusing on the process is just one piece of the puzzle.

To fully address all of the factors impacting classwork and academic integrity in the AI age, it’s going to take lots and lots of pieces to complete the puzzle.

I’ve started telling teachers in my presentations that there’s no quick fix — and no single fix. It’s like building the foundation of a house with bricks. Focusing on the process — and the other strategies below — and lots of other strategies? That’s what’s going to make lasting change.

Here are a few other strategies teachers have shared with me …

Can students outsource this to AI, too? Yes, I’m sure they can. Like I said earlier, there’s no sure-fire foolproof plan. But if they’re constantly trying to outsource everything to AI, this isn’t a situation where you need assignments that are more AI-resistant. It’s time to talk to the student and ask, “Hey, what’s going on?”

What is working for you? What are you trying? Hit reply and let me know!

There are even more ways I can support you in the important work you do in education: