What's Worth Learning in the Age of AI: Reflections about a Summer Camp in Beijing

There is widespread concern about student cheating in schools, but why do we want students to do things that AI can do? If we free students from learning traditionally prescribed content, what else can they learn and how can learning happen?In a week-long summer camp held in Beijing, China last month (August 2025), over 100 middle and high school students from multiple cities in China and Australia explored these questions. The camp was organized by YEE Education under the Innovation, Creativity, and Entrepreneurship Education (ICEE) philosophy, which focuses on personalized learning to enable students develop their personal strength and interests, problem finding and solving to encourage students to find and solve authentic and meaningful problems, and building human interdependence through collaboration and problem solving for each other. In this camp, students from different backgrounds and with diverse expertise and interests used AI to explore their strengths, discover and refine problems and solutions, and investigate the meaning of human interdependence. The camp did not use traditional teachers. Instead, it used graduate students from different colleges in China as mentors.The camp significantly affected students' perspectives on education and learning. In this episode, we invite a group of students and teachers from University Senior College (USC) to reflect on their experiences at the camp and helps understand the question: What Is Worth Learning in the Age of AI?More after the videohttps://youtu.be/iQSwdD_7xPMRead more about the theoretical discussions about the program:If Schools Don’t Change, the Potential of AI Won’t Be Realized published in Educational Leadership. Available at: https://ascd.org/el/articles/if-schools-dont-change-the-potential-of-ai-wont-be-realizedArtificial Intelligence and Education: End the Grammar of Schooling published in ECNU Review of Education. Available at https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/20965311241265124Paradigm Shifts in Education: An Ecological Analysis published in ECNU Review of Education. Available at: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/20965311241296162From Meritocracy to Human Interdependence: Redefining the Purpose of Education published in ECNU Review of Education. Available at:https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/20965311251351988Participants:Students include Anita, Ari, Anika and Shayanne.Shayanne Lim is a Year 11 student at University Senior College (USC) in Adelaide, South Australia. She is currently studying Legal Studies, Politics, Business Innovation, Philosophy, and Accounting as part of her SACE pathway. Being immersed in USC’s university-style learning environment has strengthened her interest in pursuing further study in Law and International Relations, with a major in Business. Outside of her studies, she has worked in a range of part-time roles that centre on teaching, mentoring, and connecting with children, from volunteering at kids’ church on Sundays, to teaching sport, and hosting parties. In 2025, she participated in her first YEE Camp, where she especially enjoyed the new experience of learning alongside the young participants. The highlight for her was interacting with the children, and despite language barriers, she found it fun and rewarding to engage with them and share conversations across cultures. Her passions are in learning, helping others, and embracing new opportunities. She is particularly interested in Law and International Relations to advocate for social justice and global collaboration. She is also drawn to entrepreneurship and hopes to use her passion in educational reform and to contribute to a better society, whether through improving education systems for children or creating meaningful social initiatives.Anika Anantula is a Year 11 student at University Senior College (USC) in Adelaide, South Australia. She is currently studying English Literature Studies, Mathematical Methods, Biology, Psychology, Philosophy, and Economics as part of her SACE pathway. Being immersed in USC’s university-style learning environment has strengthened her interest in pursuing further study in Neuropsychology, specifically a Bachelor of Psychology (Honours) with a focus on Cognitive Neuroscience. She hopes to use this knowledge to better understand the human brain, contribute to improving educational and social systems, and support individuals in reaching their potential. Outside of her studies, Anika has gained experience working in roles that involve teaching, mentoring, and supporting others, including volunteering at a scout group, babysitting, and working in Coles’ online department. In 2025, she participated in her first YEE Camp, where she particularly valued learning to communicate beyond words, using gestures and symbols to connect across language barriers. The experience of teaching the children fostered a deep appreciation for educators’ resilience and highlighted the ...