What if the students who use educational technology every day had a real say in how it’s built?
That’s not a hypothetical at Scholar — it’s exactly what’s been happening since January.
This semester, Scholar welcomed three high school students into a brand-new role: Scholar Co-Designers. These aren’t shadowing opportunities or resume-padding internships. They’re real seats at the table, where students are actively shaping how Scholar works, what it looks like, and where it’s headed.
As AI in education continues to accelerate, and as more EdTech companies race to build “student-centered” tools, Scholar is doing something that’s actually rare: listening to students as design partners, not just end users.
Here’s who they are, what they’ve built, and what’s coming next.
Why Student Co-Designers — and Why Now?
The conversation around AI in education in 2026 is louder than ever. Districts are grappling with AI literacy policies. Teachers are navigating new tools every month. And somewhere in the middle of it all? Students — who are often consulted last.
Research in participatory design consistently shows that when young people are included in the creation of tools meant for them, those tools work better. They’re more intuitive. They address real friction points. They feel less like something handed down and more like something built with them.
Scholar’s Co-Designer program was built on exactly that premise. Over the course of one semester, three high school students from Florida joined the Scholar team to work directly alongside staff — attending meetings, testing features, surfacing blind spots, and contributing original thinking to Scholar’s product roadmap.
The result? Insights you can’t get from a focus group.
What Student-Led Design Actually Looks Like
Over the course of this semester, the Co-Designers contributed to:
- Product feedback cycles — attending design reviews and submitting structured observations after using Scholar features in real homework and study contexts
- Original research — conducting informal interviews with peers and compiling findings into presentations shared directly with Scholar’s product team
- Summit planning — taking ownership of the Scholar Summit (more on that below)
The work they’ve done isn’t advisory. It’s in the product.
What’s Next: The Scholar Summit
Here’s where it gets exciting.
May 12-15, the Scholar Co-Designers will lead the inaugural Scholar Summit — a virtual gathering bringing together teachers, administrators, and EdTech practitioners to talk about what AI-powered learning tools should actually look like.
The Co-Designers aren’t just presenting. They’re running it.
They’ve helped design the agenda, shape the conversation topics, and recruit participants from their own school networks. Sessions will include:
- Session 1 — Monday, May 12 | 4:00–4:30 PM | How AI Is Really Being Used in Schools
- Most students aren’t using AI to learn — they’re using it to skip the work. This session pulls back the curtain on how students actually use AI to complete homework and projects without engaging with the material, and shows how Scholar flips that dynamic by helping students do the work and actually understand it.
- Session 2 — Wednesday, May 14 | 4:30–5:00 PM | Scholar as a Learning Amplifier Not a Replacement for Thinking
- In this session, Scholar’s role as a learning amplifier will be explored — helping students understand concepts more quickly and in greater depth, rather than simply replacing the thinking process often associated with AI tools. It provides immediate feedback and multiple explanations, allowing learners to identify and correct misunderstandings efficiently while exploring concepts from different perspectives. When used intentionally, it increases active engagement with learning material rather than reducing it.
- Session 3 — Thursday, May 15 | 4:00–4:30 PM | Using AI to Actually Benefit Your Education
- There’s a difference between using AI to get a quick answer and using it to genuinely learn. This session walks through what it looks like to use AI as a real educational tool — from finding sources and brainstorming ideas, all the way to writing a final paper. The takeaway: AI can work for your education, if you know how to use it.
The Scholar Summit is open to all educators! If you’re a teacher, instructional coach, or school leader who wants a student’s-eye view of AI in education, this is the event you don’t want to miss.
The Bigger Picture: Student Voice in the Age of AI
As AI tools become a permanent fixture in K–12 classrooms, the question isn’t just “does this tool work?” It’s “does this tool work for students?”
The Scholar Co-Designer program is our answer to that question — and a model we intend to grow. Because the students using Scholar deserve to have a hand in shaping the tools that shape their learning.
We’re proud of these three. And we can’t wait for you to meet them at the Summit.