Megan Barnes

In this episode, Priten speaks with Megan Barnes, a PhD student in learning technologies at the University of North Texas and a K-12 librarian with 14 years of experience, about what age-appropriate AI in education actually means. Megan holds dual roles as library director and director of educational technology for early childhood through fourth grade in Dallas, and her research draws on cognitive and affective neuroscience to evaluate how emerging tools interact with child development. The conversation moves through the real-versus-synthetic distinction that young children struggle with, the attention economy driving AI product design, information literacy as a foundation for AI literacy, and why curiosity may be the most important thing educators need to protect.Key Takeaways:Before children can use chatbots, they need a solid concept of real versus not real. Most kindergartners interact with AI through voice and animated characters, adding layers of anthropomorphization that make it nearly impossible for them to distinguish a computer from a person. Megan argues that chatbot-based AI is not developmentally appropriate at this age, and any exposure should be adult-controlled and side-by-side, consistent with American Academy of Pediatrics guidance on co-viewing media.The attention economy is becoming a relational economy—and children are the target. The same design logic that removed page numbers from Google search results is now being applied to conversational AI. If a child builds five years of chat history with a platform before adulthood, that relationship becomes a powerful lock-in mechanism. Megan also raises the concern that chat histories are now being used to drive advertising, meaning the tools students use for learning are simultaneously selling to them.AI literacy in elementary school means information literacy, not prompt engineering. Rather than teaching young students how to use AI tools directly, Megan focuses on helping them understand who generates information, who validates it, and where AI is already present in their daily lives. During morning announcements, she points out the background remover tool and tells students, "This is AI right here." The goal is building foundational skills for evaluating any new technology, not training on a specific product.Every generation of creative technology triggers the same panic—and the pattern holds. Megan draws on her background as a violinist and recording arts student. When Apple's GarageBand launched during her final semester, her synthesizer professor declared it the downfall of music. Instead, it democratized creativity. More people creating doesn't mean everything produced is good, but the tool itself is not the threat. AI follows the same arc.Curiosity doesn't need to be taught—it needs to be protected. Young children arrive with natural wonder intact. Megan distinguishes between formal classroom learning and the informal learning space of the library, where autonomy and exploration still drive engagement. The job of early education is not to instill curiosity but to give children frameworks for approaching new things with wonder while still thinking critically, so that instinct survives into adulthood.