Teaching History with Chatty Geeps: A Technocurious Approach to Using Generative AI in the Classroom
Amy Allen and David Hicks
August 24, 2026
Authors
Publisher
Release Date
July 2026
Summary
Teaching History with Chatty Geeps: A Technocurious Approach to Using Generative AI in the Classroom examines how generative AI can function as a scaffold for historical thinking. Framed through the literary lens of Alice in Wonderland and the authors’ concept of technocuriosity, the book positions educators within the “messy middle” between skepticism and enthusiasm.
Drawing on case studies, classroom vignettes, and disciplinary frameworks, Amy Allen and David Hicks demonstrate how AI can support inquiry, interpretation, feedback, and reflection while maintaining the ethical and evidentiary standards central to the field. The text integrates theory and practice, illustrating how tools such as ChatGPT (affectionately renamed “Chatty Geeps”) can foster self-regulated learning, critical AI literacy, and the development of historical thinking skills.
More than a procedural guide, this book advances a sustained argument for curiosity, care, and experimentation in a rapidly evolving educational landscape, inviting readers to reconsider what it means to teach and learn history in an age of generative AI.