Building Friction, Autonomy, and Design with AI | Doan Winkel

What if the best thing AI can do for students is refuse to help them? Matt sits down with entrepreneur and educator Doan Winkel to dig into why "helpful AI" might be the worst thing to happen to learning and what to do instead.

In this episode:

The philosophy behind AI Friction Labs and why deliberately frustrating students might be the most effective teaching tool yet
Why Doan thinks the "easy button" problem isn't really an AI problem
The ungrading experiment that revealed something startling: students aren't cheating at teachers. Teachers never even cross their minds.
How one small prompt change turned a skeptical lawyer into an AI evangelist overnight
Why the most resistant person in the room might be exactly who you need on your AI committee
The inertia problem: education hasn't fundamentally changed in decades. Will AI finally be the thing that breaks it?
Doan's take on student autonomy, and the uncomfortable question he ends with that has no clean answer

Chapters:

0:00 Introduction & Guest Welcome
1:04 What Is AI Friction Labs?
5:01 The Sparring Partner Concept & Mike Kentz
5:43 Student Autonomy vs. the Easy Button
7:39 The Ungrading Experiment & AI Cheating Reality
14:54 Teacher Risk-Taking & Finding the Opening
15:56 AI in Rural Schools & Learning from Others' Mistakes
25:08 Designing Learning Experiences with AI
31:55 Bandwidth, Training & Building Champions
41:02 Curiosities: Breaking the Inertia of Education
44:33 Outro & Where to Find Doan

Find Doan:

LinkedIn
Newsletter: How to Teach AI on Substack (free, weekly, practical)
Website: doanwinkel.com

(00:00) - Introduction & Guest Welcome
(01:03) - What Is AI Friction Labs?
(05:01) - The Sparring Partner Concept & Mike Kentz
(05:43) - Student Autonomy vs. Easy Button AI
(07:39) - The Ungrading Experiment & AI Cheating Reality
(14:54) - Teacher Risk-Taking & Finding the Opening
(15:56) - AI in Rural Schools & Watching Others Learn from Mistakes
(25:08) - Designing Learning Experiences with AI
(31:55) - Bandwidth, Training & Building Champions
(41:02) - Curiosities: Breaking the Inertia of Education
(44:33) - Outro & Where to Find Doan

We’re thrilled to be sponsored by Renaissance and IXL.

Learn more about Renaissance:

As a global leader in education technology operating in more than 110 countries, Renaissance is committed to providing educators with insights and resources to accelerate growth and help all students build a strong foundation for success. We believe that technology can unlock a more effective learning experience, ensure that students get the personalized teaching they need to thrive, and help educators and administrators to truly, fully, See Every Student. Learn more at renaissance.com.

IXL’s comprehensive teaching and learning platform for math, language arts, science, and social studies is accelerating achievement in 95 of the top 100 U.S. school districts. Loved by teachers and backed by independent research from Johns Hopkins University, IXL can help you do the following and more:

Simplify and streamline technology
Save teachers’ time
Reliably meet Tier 1 standards
Improve student performance on state assessments

🚀 Ready to see why leading districts trust IXL for their educational needs? Visit IXL.com/BE today to learn more about how IXL can elevate your school or district.