Jacqueline Hadel BEYOND THE PROMPT

In February 2026, a young developer launched a tool that claimed it could log into your students' Canvas accounts, watch their lectures, complete their assignments, and submit them autonomously. The tool was taken down within days. The capability it pointed at is not going anywhere. Beyond the Prompt is the twelfth book in Jacqueline Hadel's AI-in-education series and the first to confront the shift from generative AI to agentic AI. The distinction matters enormously. Generative AI required a human in the loop, typing prompts and evaluating outputs. Agentic AI, now available through tools like Claude Cowork, ChatGPT Atlas, Perplexity Computer, and a growing open-source ecosystem, can be given a goal and left to complete it. The student's role has shifted from producer to dispatcher. The take-home assignment, as most teachers currently design it, no longer measures what it was built to measure. This book is a clear-eyed, practical guide for teachers, administrators, and program directors navigating this transition. It does not panic. It does not preach. It names what has changed, explains what still works, and offers concrete strategies for designing assessments that remain meaningful in a world where software can complete the work a student was supposed to do. Inside you will find a plain-language explanation of how agentic AI differs from earlier tools. A named inventory of the specific platforms students are using right now. A walkthrough of what actually happens when an agent completes a sandbox course. An honest account of why detection tools will not save you. A direct examination of which assignment formats have lost their meaning, including the take-home essay, the discussion board, the term paper, and the fully asynchronous online course. A detailed framework for agent-resistant assessment built on five principles: observable thinking, continuity, local context, authentic products, and visible process. A clear-eyed look at the teacher's role in the agentic classroom, including what to stop doing, what to start doing, and how to protect your professional identity through the transition. Three ready-to-use appendices including an Agent-Vulnerability Audit, a Glossary of the Agentic Era, and Twenty Assessments That Still Work. A full Sources and Further Reading section with verifiable references. Written in April 2026 from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, by a global educator with 23 years of teaching experience across more than 40 countries, this book is the field guide for teachers who have refused to let the dead classroom become the default. You are not obsolete. Your take-home assignments are. There is a difference. This book helps you see it, name it, and teach well on the other side of it.