How Core Compass works
Decide once what stays yours. Then every tool starts from you.
AI literacy teaches how AI works. Core Compass helps people decide how AI should work in their own learning, teaching and lives, and then put that decision into practice.
Why this matters
The AI problem in education isn’t only cheating. It’s that no one has decided what AI is for.
Students, faculty and institutions adopted AI faster than anyone could agree on where it helps learning and where it replaces it. Core Compass starts there.
4 → 816
AI misconduct cases at Ohio State, up from 4 to 816 in two academic years.
17%
of US and Canadian students believe their instructors are well-equipped to use AI.
46%
of higher education employees don’t know their institution’s AI policies. 94% already use AI for work.
And trust is wearing thin. In a national survey of K-12 teachers, three in four who reported an AI dilemma described suspected AI use, and researchers warn of a growing “two-way suspicion” between students and teachers. (Harvard Graduate School of Education, Oct 2026)
A cycle, not a course
Know yourself. A short guided conversation helps you put into words what matters to you and how you want AI to work with you. Every line is yours to approve.
Put it to work. Bring a real task, assignment, project or decision to a short tool. It starts from your own words, after you approve exactly what it uses.
Look back. Note what happened and what you learned. AI can help you remember; you decide what it means.
Grow. Carry it into the next situation, and revisit your Compass when experience gives you a reason. Reflection is an invitation, never a test.
The parts
| Part | What it is | What you do |
|---|---|---|
| Compass | A guided conversation of 20 to 30 minutes, built on approved questions | Put into words what matters, approve every line, and write guidance for your own AI assistant |
| Compass Card | A few lines you choose to carry | Keep it as a reminder, print it, or share it on purpose |
| Compass Home | One place to come back to | See your Compasses and Card, find tools by need, look back, and move to another device with your Compass file |
| Connector | The step every tool uses before it draws on your Compass | See what the tool would use, change or remove any line, and approve it for this use only |
| Tools | Short, repeatable tools for real situations | Get useful help in minutes. Every tool also works without a Compass |
One system, for each audience
| Know yourself | Put it to work | |
|---|---|---|
| Faculty Compass | Faculty AI Compass and AI Steering Document | Assignment Adapter, Student AI Reflection, Task Compass, Department Compass |
| Student Compass | My Student Compass and My AI Guidelines. Instructor rules and school policy come first | Task Compass, Group Project Compass |
| Personal Compass | Your Personal Compass and instructions for your own AI | Task Compass, Discern a decision, Prepare for a difficult conversation |
| Personal Moral Compass (from FaithWise.AI) | Formation Document and AI Steering Document | Discern a decision, Prepare for a difficult conversation |
| Department Compass | Each colleague's own Faculty Compass, shared without names | A map of agreement and difference, a Decision Record, and shared guidelines |
Every Compass ends with a Compass Home and a chance to look back. A person can hold more than one Compass, and with their approval a tool can draw on any of them.
Yours to keep
No accounts. Your Compass is saved in your own browser. Core Compass doesn't store it, and no institution sees it.
Approval before use. A tool sees only the lines you approve, for that one use.
Shared only on purpose. Your full Compass stays private. You choose the few lines on your Card. Department contributions are shared without names, need at least three people, and are deleted 12 months after a department's last activity.
Sent only to write a reply. To respond, a tool sends your words to our AI provider. They aren't kept by Core Compass.
Keeping it yours, with care
The aim is not more AI or less AI. It is better judgment about when, how and why to use it. Each tool asks what you will keep for yourself, what you'll hand to AI on your terms, and when you'll bring in a person.
Care is built in and scaled to the situation. Ordinary uncertainty or sadness is part of real reflection, and the tools stay with it. Signs of serious distress bring a kind check-in and encourage human support. Signs of danger point clearly to crisis help. No tool presents itself as therapy, counseling, pastoral care or crisis help.
What we want to learn
We are testing a claim: that intentional collaboration with AI can help people become more capable of directing their own learning and lives. We don't yet claim these outcomes.
- Does completing a Compass help people put their priorities for AI use into words?
- Do Compass-connected tools lead to more intentional AI decisions than generic tools?
- Does repeated use strengthen judgment, wise delegation and independent thinking over time?
For campuses and partners
Bring Core Compass to students, faculty, departments or all three. Each campus gets its own group, access codes and completion reports. Completion reports show only that a person finished, never what they wrote.
See it for yourself.
Free previews take 5 to 10 minutes.