Students need to learn not only how to use AI, but also how to understand and master the technology.
Students can read books to learn how artificial intelligence (AI) learns from data, or they can ask a chatbot a question and get an answer in seconds. But to truly understand how machine learning works, they need to try it themselves.
Minh Quyet, a sixth-grade student in Hanoi, is working on his Natural Science homework. He can open his textbook, read the right section, and find the answer himself. Or he can get an answer almost instantly by asking an AI tool such as ChatGPT. The tool can even provide detailed explanations that are easy to understand.
But at that point, Quyet was only asking questions and receiving answers. How had the machine learned? What data helped it give the right or wrong answer? If the data was poor, how would that change the results? Most importantly, if the AI gave an incorrect or harmful answer, who would check it and take responsibility?
To answer these questions, students need to learn more than just how to use AI tools.
Not everyone who uses AI understands how it works.
In Vietnam, AI is moving from being a topic outside the classroom to becoming a formal part of general education. In August 2026, the Ministry of Education and Training issued a framework for teaching AI to general education students. Starting in the 2026–2027 school year, schools will teach 12 lessons per grade each year. These lessons will focus not only on AI skills but also on critical thinking, checking facts, and using technology safely and responsibly.
In other words, students need to understand how AI is created to help people, what ethical problems it might raise, how the technology works, and how to design an AI system that solves a real-world problem.
To understand AI, students need to work with data, watch how machines learn, check results, write programs, and create products. AI education should cover four main areas: putting people first, AI ethics, AI techniques and uses, and designing AI systems.
This is also the approach being used by Vietnam Education Publishing House and Viettel Solutions in their Artificial Intelligence product series for students in grades 1–12.
A traditional textbook usually ends on its last page, but this product series takes learning further. Along with printed books, it offers digital learning materials and practical tools. These include AI Buddy, an assistant that answers questions; Block Studio, a drag-and-drop programming tool; and Sense Learner, software developed with Viettel Solutions to build AI and machine learning models. All these tools are connected to the K12Online learning management system. Students can put what they learn into practice right away. Instead of studying the theory first and trying it later, they can turn what they read into hands-on activities in a digital environment immediately.
The learning path also moves from simple topics to harder ones. In elementary school, students learn how machines can "see" and "hear" and how they learn from examples and data. In middle school, they study machine learning, image and sound recognition, and chatbots. AI-generated content, large language models, RAG systems, AI agents, and practical projects are introduced only in high school.
Learning AI is like doing experiments.
Let's return to Minh Quyet. In a sixth-grade lesson on image recognition, he does not have to simply read that machines learn from data. He can use Sense Learner to add images to the system himself, let the machine learn from them, and then check its results.
If the machine receives incorrect data, Quyet can change the data or add more and try again. This helps him understand the idea of "data quality" by seeing what happens on the screen.
If the data does not include enough different examples, the system might identify one group of images correctly but make mistakes with another group. These technical errors can lead students to ask questions about AI ethics. Is the data biased? Are the results fair? Should people trust decisions made by machines completely?
Students must also ask another question: What problem was this AI created to solve, and who is it meant to help? This teaches them to put people first. Technology should support human decisions, not completely replace human judgment.
Quyet could also use Block Studio, where he can move and connect blocks on the screen to learn how algorithms work and create small projects, such as tools that sort images or chatbots. When he comes across something he does not understand, AI Buddy is designed to give hints and ask questions that make him think, rather than always giving him an immediate answer.
Each lesson therefore follows three steps: "read to know, try to understand, and do to verify." This kind of learning environment can gradually help students build a fuller understanding of AI. People create these systems, train them with data, and use them to meet human needs. That is why people must also check and control them.
From an educational solution to an AI learning ecosystem.
Over the years, Viettel Solutions has helped bring digital transformation to the education sector. SMAS is used to manage schools, K12Online supports online teaching, learning, tests, and assessments, the education sector's database helps connect information, and SmartLMS is used to train teachers.
With its Artificial Intelligence product series, Viettel Solutions is taking another step in helping students learn. Technology is no longer just working behind the scenes to run classrooms or manage data. It now supports students as they read lessons, ask questions, test models, write programs, and build small products.
This product series brings together the strengths of Vietnam Education Publishing House and Viettel Solutions. Vietnam Education Publishing House is responsible for the content, teaching methods, and publishing. Viettel Solutions contributes its technology expertise, advises on textbook content, and brings tools into classrooms. These tools turn what students read on paper into digital lessons where they can interact with AI and take part in practical activities.
In other words, Viettel Solutions is doing more than providing software and digital systems. It is also a technology partner helping to build a complete environment for teaching and learning AI.
The result is more than a book with extra software. It is designed as a connected AI learning environment. The book is the starting point, while students continue exploring and practicing on a digital platform.
When children can use AI before they understand how it works, schools face a challenge that goes beyond giving them early access to the technology. More importantly, schools need to help students gradually learn how to understand, control, and use it well.