Educators and EdTech providers face a dilemma: how do we prepare today’s learners to become great professionals tomorrow without turning learning into “education fast food”? It’s tempting to offer quick, flashy experiences – the bling-bling of gamified apps and bite-sized content – because that’s what grabs students’ attention. And yes, meeting students where they are and engaging them with some fun is a great start. But after the initial sizzle, we still need to nourish them with substance and skills that stick. In a comforting twist, we can assure teachers and policymakers that we don’t have to choose between fun and depth; we can serve up both in a balanced diet of learning (ideally with a dash of humor on the side).

Chocolate-dipped broccoli, anyone? This humorous analogy warns against disguising an unappetizing core with a sugary coating. In education, excessive “bling” can be the chocolate shell over broccoli – fun appearance, but not exactly nourishing. [1]

Engagement vs. Deep Learning: No More “Fast-Food” Education

Just because students love flashy gamification doesn’t mean we should feed them only empty-calorie content. A little sugar is fine to “pick them up where they are” but then comes the main course of deep learning. Many gamified tools today are the digital equivalent of junk food: fun in the moment, but hardly nourishing [2]. Overdoing the gimmicks can even turn education into a race for quick points, teaching students speed over substance. In other words, too much “education fast food” leaves students underprepared for the complex meals of real life. The solution? Use engagement as an appetizer, then serve a hearty portion of critical thinking and creativity.

Academic Writing: The Secret Ingredient for Depth

Once we’ve hooked students, it’s critical to guide them into deeper learning. Academic writing might not have the glitz of a quiz game and many tend to disregard it completely, due to AI-cheating possibilities, but it’s a time-tested superfood for developing understanding. Research shows that students who engage in regular writing make significant gains in critical thinking skills, whereas those who skip writing do not [3]. This makes sense: writing forces learners to organize their thoughts, support their arguments, and reflect on what they know (and don’t know). In one study, only the students who wrote about their lab work improved their analytical reasoning; the non-writing group saw no such benefit. Through writing, we essentially get students to slow-cook their ideas – letting them simmer and deepen – instead of just microwaving facts for a quick bite. It’s an integral part of learning that helps turn novices into thoughtful researchers and professionals.

AI Literacy and Clear Communication

In the age of AI, communication skills have become more important than ever. To ultimately use AI to its fullest potential, students need to communicate with it clearly and logically. All good communication follows a certain logic. It must be understandable, precise, and even inspiring. Interestingly, this is exactly what crafting effective AI prompts requires. Rhetorical literacy informs your ability to prompt AI tools to produce quality outputs [4]. In other words, if a student can form a clear, structured question or command, they’re far more likely to get a useful answer from an AI. This is AI literacy 101: know how to ask, not just what to ask. On the flip side, if students rely on AI to do all their thinking and writing, they bypass the learning process and fail to develop those essential writing and reasoning skills [5]. We want future graduates who can have productive conversations – whether with human colleagues or AI assistants – which means teaching them to express ideas coherently. By practicing structured writing and thoughtful prompting, students become AI-savvy communicators who use technology as a tool, not a crutch.

Cultivating Future Professionals

Ultimately, serving the students of tomorrow means finding the sweet spot between edutainment and education. We certainly have to embrace innovation – using games, apps, and AI to engage learners – and still insist on the rigorous practices that build expertise. Think of it like offering dessert after they’ve had their vegetables: a bit of sweetness built on a healthy foundation. By balancing the glitter with the grit – fun with deep learning – we help today’s learners grow into well-rounded researchers, colleagues, and leaders. They’ll graduate not only with knowledge, but with the ability to communicate clearly, think critically, and continue learning for life. And that is a recipe for success no amount of fast food can beat.

Sources:

[1] Segar, A., Gamification makes about as much sense as chocolate-dipped broccoli, 2021, conferencesthatwork.com.

[2] Carr, S, Gamification Has Ruined Education Technology, 2024, Gamification Has Ruined Education Technology.

[3] Quitadamo IJ, Kurtz MJ., Learning to improve: using writing to increase critical thinking performance in general education biology. CBE Life Sci Educ. 2007 Summer;6(2):140-54. doi: 10.1187/cbe.06-11-0203.

[4] Stanford | Teaching Commons, Understanding AI Literacy, 2025, teachingcommons.stanford.edu.

[5] Deep, P.D.; Chen, Y. The Role of AI in Academic Writing: Impacts on Writing Skills, Critical Thinking, and Integrity in Higher Education. Societies 2025, 15, 247. https://doi.org/10.3390/soc15090247.