The temptation of the silver platter: Preventing the sidestep and normalising the productive struggle

In an era characterised by rapid technological advancements, educational tools have become integral to academic success. Tools such as Grammarly, Studiosity, assessment exemplars, and more recently, Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) technologies like ChatGPT, offer students unprecedented support. This paper considers the critical role of the productive struggle as part of the journey to meta-learning and meta-cognition and emphasises the risk of educational tools in sidestepping this crucial process. To explore how educators can support students in achieving learning success when tempted by product-oriented educational tools, this paper presents the Responsible Use of Educational Tools Thinking Framework which offers a pragmatic approach for assisting educators and students in applying critical thinking when integrating educational tools into the assessment process. This proposed framework, complemented by a teaching model, serves as a guide to help students navigate their path and use critical thinking while using educational tools. To further support this thinking framework, this conceptual paper presents three key practices essential for embedding educational tools into the learning journey. First, students must purposefully engage with educational tools to develop technological competence. Second, they must exercise critical thinking and judgment during the productive struggle of idea generation, and third, students must employ ethical decision-making to ensure the responsible and morally conscious use of these tools. Aligned with the imperative of cultivating technological competence, exercising critical thinking amidst the productive struggle, and instilling ethical decision-making, the framework functions as a practical solution to ensure that students not only acquire knowledge through the assessment process, but also cultivate essential skills for critical thinking and managing educational success.