Read a guest blog from our TEACH partner, the Military Child Education Coalition!

 

AI Literacy and Guardrails: Building Stability and Support for Military-Connected Students

By Sue Lopez, M. Ed. School Counseling

MCEC Curriculum Development and Instructional Design

 

 

As artificial intelligence (AI) continues to evolve, its integration into education presents both exciting opportunities and important responsibilities, especially those supporting military-connected students. These students, who often face frequent relocations, deployments, and transitions between schools, can benefit immensely from AI’s ability to personalize learning, ensure continuity, and provide academic stability amid constant change. In this effort, the partnership between the Military Child Education Coalition (MCEC) and Wreaths Across America plays a vital role bringing together community, advocacy, and educational expertise to ensure that AI tools are implemented responsibly and ethically. As schools and educators adopt AI, it becomes critical to understand the importance of AI guardrails and AI literacy—the ethical, informed use of technology that protects students' well-being.

Defining AI Tools in Education

Artificial intelligence in education is not about replacing teachers; rather, it’s about enhancing human capacity. AI-driven tools use data and algorithms to adapt instruction, provide feedback, and support students in real time. From adaptive learning platforms to writing assistants and predictive analytics, AI offers tailored pathways that can close learning gaps and empower students to take ownership of their education.

According to the RAND Corporation (2023), AI has the potential to transform teaching and learning by automating administrative tasks, supporting differentiated instruction, and identifying at-risk students earlier. These applications can be particularly beneficial for military-connected students who frequently experience disruptions in coursework due to Permanent Change of Station (PCS) moves or deployments.

However, as noted in Carnegie Learning’s 2025 national survey on AI in education, many educators' report uncertainty about AI’s appropriate use, data privacy implications, and the need for professional learning. This highlights a growing need for both AI guardrails for ethical and policy-based protections and AI literacy with the ability to critically understand, evaluate, and use AI effectively.

AI Literacy: A Foundational Skill for Educators and Students

AI literacy is about more than understanding how AI works; it’s about knowing how to use it responsibly. For educators and professionals serving military-connected students, AI literacy means being able to:

1. Evaluate AI tools for bias, reliability, and educational value.
   AI systems learn from data and data can reflect societal or systemic bias. If a platform is trained on data that doesn’t include military-connected experiences or transient student populations, its recommendations may be incomplete or inequitable.
2. Understand data privacy and student protection laws.
   Military-connected students often transition between school districts and states, each with different privacy policies. Ensuring compliance with Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) or public-school standards is essential when AI platforms store or analyze student data.
3. Foster digital citizenship and critical thinking.
   Students need guidance to understand when AI is helpful and when it should be questioned. Encouraging them to verify information, interpret results, and reflect on AI-generated feedback builds essential skills for lifelong learning.

As Holmes, Bialik, and Fadel (2019) emphasize, the goal is to develop learners who can work with AI, not simply through it. For military-connected students, who are often adapting to new learning environments, these skills also build confidence and consistency, helping them thrive despite transitions.

Using AI Tools to Support Student Well-Being

Well-being is directly tied to academic performance. For military-connected students, frequent moves, separations, and new environments can heighten stress and anxiety, making it harder to focus and learn. Each relocation often means rebuilding friendships, adapting to new teachers, and adjusting to unfamiliar academic expectations—all while coping with the absence of a deployed or training parent. These repeated school transitions can compound feelings of instability, leaving students vulnerable to social isolation or disengagement from school.

Service member absences are a reality of military life. But through small, intentional practices, educators and professionals can help students feel connected, capable, and cared for even when a parent is far away. By combining emotional support with AI-powered tools for communication, progress tracking, and flexible learning, schools can reduce disruptions and support a sense of continuity for military-connected children (Perkins et al., 2025; U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, n.d.).

Understanding AI Literacy: What Families Should Know

Just as we once learned how to use the internet safely, families now need to understand the basics of AI literacy, how these systems work, what data they collect, and how to protect children’s privacy.

According to the RAND Corporation (2023) and the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence (2025), AI literacy means knowing:

• What kind of information AI programs use (for example, student responses, attendance, or test results)
• How to ask schools questions about privacy and security policies
• How to recognize that not all AI suggestions are perfect and teachers and parents should still use their judgment

For military families, privacy takes on special meaning. Any tool that tracks student information must protect sensitive details, including location or deployment-related data. Schools must follow federal privacy laws like FERPA (for education records) and COPPA (for children’s online data). Parents and guardians should feel comfortable asking schools how student data is used, who has access to it, and how it’s removed when no longer needed.

AI + Community Support: Strengthening the Human Connection

Behind every thriving student is a circle of caring adults, teachers, school counselors, family members, coaches, and mentors who provide encouragement, stability, and connection. For military-connected students, this human network is essential. Frequent moves, deployments, and separations make consistent relationships harder to keep, which is why combining human care with AI support can be so powerful.

Think of AI as an extra set of hands that helps personalize learning, fill gaps after a move, and keep students on track when life gets complicated. AI tools can provide tutoring, monitor academic progress, or suggest reviewing materials, but empathy, motivation, and moral guidance will always come from people.

For example:

• AI programs might track a student’s learning progress, but it’s the counselor who helps manage stress during deployment.
• An algorithm can suggest a math review, but it’s a teacher who explains it in a way that makes sense.
• A digital tutor can reinforce skills, but a parent or grandparent celebrates each success and provides motivation, patience, and love.

This partnership between AI and community care reflects what the Stanford AI Index (2025) calls human-centered AI systems designed to complement, not compete with, human strengths. In this model, AI provides structure and consistency, while people provide compassion, wisdom, and understanding. The result is a stable, caring environment that travels with military-connected students no matter where the mission takes them.

As Holmes, Bialik, and Fadel (2019) note, the most effective classrooms are those where technology supports human relationships. When schools and families use AI as a tool—not a teacher—it creates a more stable, compassionate learning environment.

A Call to Action: Building Confidence, Continuity, and Care

As education and technology evolve, families are still at the heart of every child’s success. Artificial intelligence can help personalize learning and reduce the stress of constant change, but it’s the care and consistency of parents, teachers, and community members that give military-connected children the courage to thrive wherever life takes them.

When guided by compassion and supported by clear guardrails, AI becomes more than a tool. It becomes a bridge that maintains learning across moves, nurtures emotional well-being, and helps students feel seen and supported even during periods of separation. By working together, educators, counselors, and organizations like the Military Child Education Coalition (MCEC) can create a hybrid support system in which technology enhances, rather than replaces, human connections.

Every military family carries a legacy of service, resilience, and hope. By embracing thoughtful innovation, we extend that legacy into the future, ensuring every child of a service member has access to a learning environment that is personalized, ethical, and filled with heart.

As Wreaths Across America reminds us, honoring service is not just about remembering the past—it’s about inspiring the next generation to live with purpose and integrity. When we blend technology with humanity, we teach our children that progress means more than advancement; it means compassion, connection, and care for one another.

 

References

Carnegie Learning. (2025). The state of AI in education 2025: National survey report.

Holmes, W., Bialik, M., & Fadel, C. (2019). Artificial intelligence in education: Promises and implications for teaching and learning. Center for Curriculum Redesign.

Ling, H. C., et al. (2022). Learning performance in adaptive learning systems. [PMC]. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8831801

Liu, H. L., et al. (2022). The influence of affective feedback adaptive learning system on learning engagement and self-directed learning. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, 858411.

Luckin, R., Holmes, W., Griffiths, M., & Forcier, L. B. (2016). Intelligence unleashed: An argument for AI in education. Pearson.

Perkins, D. F., et al. (2025). Supports can improve educational success for military-connected students. Penn State SSRI.

RAND Corporation. (2023). Artificial intelligence and the future of teaching and learning.

Reyes-Portillo, J. A., et al. (2025). Generative AI-powered mental wellness chatbot for college students: Exploration of use and effects. JMIR Formative Research, 9, e71923.

Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence. (2025). AI index report 2025.

U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences. (n.d.). An exploratory study of student mobility, school supports, and educational outcomes for military-connected students.

Vertsberger, D., et al. (2022). Adolescents’ well-being while using a mobile artificial agent: Effects of psychological intervention. JMIR AI, 1(1), e38171.

Zawacki-Richter, O., Marín, V. I., Bond, M., & Gouverneur, F. (2019). Systematic review of research on artificial intelligence applications in higher education. IJETH, 16(39).