ideas

“…students to use AI to help businesses solve ‘real world’ challenges” [McVicar] + other items re: AI in our learning ecosystems

On 09/09/2025, in adjunct faculty, adult learning, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, bots, business, career development, change, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, collaboration, colleges, communities of practice, community colleges, content development, aggregation, repositories, copyright/ownership/NFTs, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, curriculum, data related items, digital audio, digital learning, digital storytelling, digital video, education technology, emerging technologies, experimentation, faculty/staff, future, future of higher education, game-changing environment, generational differences, higher education, homeschooling/homeschoolers, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, innovation, instructional design, intelligent systems, intelligent tutoring, IT in HE, K-12 related, leadership, learner profiles, learning, learning agents, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning preferences, liberal arts, multimedia, personalized/customized learning, platforms, productivity / tips and tricks, real-world assignments, reinvent, skills, society, staying relevant, student-related, teachers, teaching & learning, trends, United States, universities, vendors, vision/possibilities, workplace, by Daniel Christian

GRCC students to use AI to help businesses solve ‘real world’ challenges in new course — from www-mlive-com.cdn.ampproject.org by Brian McVicar; via Patrick Bailey on LinkedIn

GRAND RAPIDS, MI — A new course at Grand Rapids Community College aims to help students learn about artificial intelligence by using the technology to solve real-world business problems.
…
In a release, the college said its grant application was supported by 20 local businesses, including Gentex, TwistThink and the Grand Rapids Public Museum. The businesses have pledged to work with students who will use business data to develop an AI project such as a chatbot that interacts with customers, or a program that automates social media posts or summarizes customer data.

“This rapidly emerging technology can transform the way businesses process data and information,” Kristi Haik, dean of GRCC’s School of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, said in a statement. “We want to help our local business partners understand and apply the technology. We also want to create real experiences for our students so they enter the workforce with demonstrated competence in AI applications.”

As Patrick Bailey said on LinkedIn about this article:

Nice to see a pedagogy that’s setting a forward movement rather than focusing on what could go wrong with AI in a curriculum.

Forecast for Learning and Earning in 2025-2026 report — from pages.asugsvsummit.com by Jennifer Lee and Claire Zau

In this look ahead at the future of learning and work, we aim to define:

Major thematic observations
What makes this moment an inflection point
Key predictions (and their precedent)
Short- and long-term projected impacts

The LMS at 30: From Course Management to Learning Management (At Last) — from onedtech.philhillaa.com; a guest post from Matthew Pittinsky, Ph.D.

As a 30 year observer and participant, it seems to me that previous technology platform shifts like SaaS and mobile did not fundamentally change the LMS. AI is different. We’re standing at the precipice of LMS 2.0, where the branding change from Course Management System to Learning Management System will finally live up to its name. Unlike SaaS or mobile, AI represents a technology platform shift that will transform the way participants interact with learning systems – and with it, the nature of the LMS itself.

Given the transformational potential of AI, it is useful to set the context and think about how we got here, especially on this 30th anniversary of the LMS.

LMS at 30 Part 2: Learning Management in the AI Era — from onedtech.philhillaa.com; a guest post from Matthew Pittinsky, Ph.D.

Where AI is disruptive is in its ability to introduce a whole new set of capabilities that are best described as personalized learning services. AI offers a new value proposition to the LMS, roughly the set of capabilities currently being developed in the AI Tutor / agentic TA segment. These new capabilities are so valuable given their impact on learning that I predict they will become the services with greatest engagement within a school or university’s “enterprise” instructional platform.

In this way, by LMS paradigm shift, I specifically mean a shift from buyers valuing the product on its course-centric and course management capabilities, to valuing it on its learner-centric and personalized learning capabilities.

AI and the future of education: disruptions, dilemmas and directions — from unesdoc.unesco.org

This anthology reveals how the integration of AI in education poses profound philosophical, pedagogical, ethical and political questions. As this global AI ecosystem evolves and becomes increasingly ubiquitous, UNESCO and its partners have a shared responsibility to lead the global discourse towards an equity- and justice-centred agenda. The volume highlights three areas in which UNESCO will continue to convene and lead a global commons for dialog and action particularly in areas on AI futures, policy and practice innovation, and experimentation.

As guardian of ethical, equitable human-centred AI in education.
As thought leader in reimagining curriculum and pedagogy
As a platform for engaging pluralistic and contested dialogues

AI, copyright and the classroom: what higher education needs to know — from timeshighereducation.com by Cayce Myers
As artificial intelligence reshapes teaching and research, one legal principle remains at the heart of our work: copyright. Understanding its implications isn’t just about compliance – it’s about protecting academic integrity, intellectual property and the future of knowledge creation. Cayce Myers explains

The School Year We Finally Notice “The Change” — from americanstogether.substack.com by Jason Palmer

Why It Matters
A decade from now, we won’t say “AI changed schools.” We’ll say: this was the year schools began to change what it means to be human, augmented by AI.

This transformation isn’t about efficiency alone. It’s about dignity, creativity, and discovery, and connecting education more directly to human flourishing. The industrial age gave us schools to produce cookie-cutter workers. The digital age gave us knowledge anywhere, anytime. The AI age—beginning now—gives us back what matters most: the chance for every learner to become infinitely capable.

This fall may look like any other—bells ringing, rows of desks—but beneath the surface, education has begun its greatest transformation since the one-room schoolhouse.

How should universities teach leadership now that teams include humans and autonomous AI agents? — from timeshighereducation.com by Alex Zarifis
Trust and leadership style are emerging as key aspects of teambuilding in the age of AI. Here are ways to integrate these considerations with technology in teaching

Transactional and transformational leaderships’ combined impact on AI and trust
Given the volatile times we live in, a leader may find themselves in a situation where they know how they will use AI, but they are not entirely clear on the goals and journey. In a teaching context, students can be given scenarios where they must lead a team, including autonomous AI agents, to achieve goals. They can then analyse the situations and decide what leadership styles to apply and how to build trust in their human team members. Educators can illustrate this decision-making process using a table (see above).

They may need to combine transactional leadership with transformational leadership, for example. Transactional leadership focuses on planning, communicating tasks clearly and an exchange of value. This works well with both humans and automated AI agents.

In Rural Wisconsin, Pat Perry Connects the Various Forces That Shape Our World [Perry & Ebert]

On 09/09/2025, in art, creativity, education, Emotion, ideas, society, teachers, United States, by Daniel Christian

In Rural Wisconsin, Pat Perry Connects the Various Forces That Shape Our World — from thisiscolossal.com by Pat Perry & Grace Ebert

To conceptualize the work, the collective helped to contact and secure permissions from the teachers pictured, and with the exception of the woman in the red floral garment at the bottom of the piece—she’s the artist’s mother and a retired educator—all work in the area. And why teachers? Perry explains:

Day after day, people find purpose. They wake up early, show up with intention, and try to make sense of things—not just for themselves, but also for others. Teachers do this every day. Not for recognition, and rarely for much pay. It’s a repetitive act of maintenance that holds things together. Choosing to shoulder that task, even while standing at the edge of something vast and indifferent, is a quiet act of defiance. Amidst overwhelmingness and uncontrollableness and unanswerableness, teachers—and all custodians of human affairs—keep meaning in the world by steadily and stubbornly tending to it.

While you’re out there, also see:

Song Dong’s Monumental Installations Mirror Memories, Globalization, and Impermanence — from thisiscolossal.com by Song Dong and Kate Mothes

The Transformative Power of Arts Education; Moving to Student-Centered Environments; + Transforming Career Connected Learning

On 09/05/2025, in active learning, art, career development, collaboration, creativity, education, engagement / engaging students, ideas, instructional design, K-12 related, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, more voice more choice more control, participation, pedagogy, project-based learning, real-world assignments, by Daniel Christian

The Transformative Power of Arts Education | A Conversation with Dr. Lucy Chen — from gettingsmart.com by Mason Pashia

Key Points

Arts education boosts academic performance, communication skills, and student engagement, supported by long-term data.
Tailoring arts programs to individual student needs creates impactful pathways, from foundational exposure to professional aspirations.

12 Shifts to Move from Teacher-Led to Student-Centered Environments — from gettingsmart.com by Kyle Wagner

Key Points

Despite modern technological advancements in classroom tools, many educational settings still center around a traditional model where the teacher is the primary source of information and students passively receive content.
Slowly, learning environments are inviting students to actively participate and take ownership of their learning through collaborative projects, inquiry-based experiences, and real-world problem-solving, thereby transforming traditional educational roles and practices.

From Readiness to Relevance: 3 Ways to Transform Career Connected Learning — from gettingsmart.com by Dr. Mahnaz R. Charania

Key Points

Career-connected learning must start early and be integrated across K–12 to provide students with exposure and informed choices for their futures.
Real-world, immersive learning experiences enhance student engagement and help build critical skills, social capital, and opportunities for success.

A Journalist’s Toolkit for the AI Era — from wondertools.substack.com by Jeremy Caplan and Joe Amditis
A guest expert shares his practical tools

As news organizations scramble to update their digital toolkits, I invited one of the most tech savvy journalism advisors I know to share his guidance.

In the guest post below, Joe Amditis shares a bunch of useful resources. A former CUNY student of mine, Joe now serves as associate director of operations at the Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University.

PODCAST: The AI that’s making lawyers 100x better (and it’s not ChatGPT) — from theneurondaily.com by Matthew Robinson
How Thomson Reuters solved AI hallucinations in legal work

Bottom line: The best engineers became 100x better with AI coding tools. Now the same transformation is hitting law. Joel [the CTO at Thomson Reuters] predicts the best attorneys who master these tools will become 100x more powerful than before.

Legal Tech at a Turning Point: What 2025 Has Shown Us So Far — from community.nasscom.in by Elint AI

4. Legal Startups Reshape the Market for Judges and Practitioners
Legal services are no longer dominated by traditional providers. Business Insider reports on a new wave of nimble “Law Firm 2.0” entities—AI-enabled startups offering fixed cost services for specific tasks such as contract reviews or drafting. The LegalTech Lab is helping launch such disruptors with funding and guidance.

At the same time, alternative legal service providers or ALSPs are integrating generative AI, moving beyond cost-efficient support to providing legal advice and enhanced services—often on subscription models.

In 2025 so far, legal technology has moved from incremental adoption to integral transformation. Generative AI, investments, startups, and regulatory readiness are reshaping the practice of law—for lawyers, judges, and the rule of law.

Insights On AI And Its Impact On Legal, Part One — from abovethelaw.com by Stephen Embry
AI will have lasting impact on the legal profession.

I recently finished reading Ethan Mollick‘s excellent book on artificial intelligence, entitled Co-Intelligence: Living and Working with AI. He does a great job of explaining what it is, how it works, how it best can be used, and where it may be headed.
…
The first point that resonated with me is that artificial intelligence tools can take those with poor skills in certain areas and significantly elevate their output. For example, Mollick cited a study that demonstrated that the performance of law students at the bottom of their class got closer to that of the top students with the use of AI.

Lawyers and law firms need to begin thinking and planning for how the coming skill equalization will impact competition and potentially profitability. They need to consider how the value of what they provide to their clients will be greater than their competition. They need to start thinking about what skill will set them apart in the new AI driven world.

267 | AI First Drafts: What Your Clients Aren’t Telling You (and Why It Matters) — from thebrainyacts.beehiiv.com by Brainyacts

Welcome to the new normal: the AI First Draft.
Clients—from everyday citizens to solo entrepreneurs to sophisticated in-house counsel—are increasingly using AI to create the first draft of legal documents before outside counsel even enters the conversation. Contracts, memos, emails, issue spotters, litigation narratives: AI can now do it all.

This means outside counsel is now navigating a very different kind of document review and client relationship. One that comes with hidden risks, awkward conversations, and new economic pressures.

Here are the three things every lawyer needs to start thinking about when reviewing client-generated work product.

1. The Prompt Problem: What Was Shared, and With Whom?…
2. The Confidence Barrier: When AI Sounds Right, But Isn’t…
3. The Economic Shift: Why AI Work Can Cost More, Not Less…

Anthropic Education Report: How educators use Claude — from anthropic.com

We find that:

Educators use AI in and out of the classroom
Educators’ uses range from developing course materials and writing grant proposals to academic advising and managing administrative tasks like admissions and financial planning.

Educators aren’t just using chatbots; they’re building their own custom tools with AI
Faculty are using Claude Artifacts to create interactive educational materials, such as chemistry simulations, automated grading rubrics, and data visualization dashboards.

Educators tend to automate the drudgery while staying in the loop for everything else
Tasks requiring significant context, creativity, or direct student interaction—like designing lessons, advising students, and writing grant proposals—are where educators are more likely to use AI as an enhancement. In contrast, routine administrative work such as financial management and record-keeping are more automation-heavy.

Some educators are automating grading; others are deeply opposed
In our Claude.ai data, faculty used AI for grading and evaluation less frequently than other uses, but when they did, 48.9% of the time they used it in an automation-heavy way (where the AI directly performs the task). That’s despite educator concerns about automating assessment tasks, as well as our surveyed faculty rating it as the area where they felt AI was least effective.

Collaborative Innovation [marketoonist.com]; a great and true cartoon accompanies this posting.

On 08/26/2025, in collaboration, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, ideas, innovation, leadership, productivity / tips and tricks, strategy, by Daniel Christian

Collaborative innovation — from marketoonist.com

Disney alum Paul Williams once shared the brainstorming method developed by Walt Disney. Disney used to separate the act of coming up with and executing ideas into three distinct steps (and associated mindsets): The Dreamer, The Realist, and The Spoiler.

As Paul wrote:

“By compartmentalizing the stages, Walt didn’t let reality get in the way of the dream step. The realist was allowed to work without the harsh filter of a spoiler. And, the spoiler spends time examining a well-thought idea… something with a bit more structure.

“When we brainstorm alone and in groups – too often – we tend to fill the room with a dreamer or two, a few realists, and a bunch of spoilers. In these conditions, dream ideas don’t stand a chance.”

The Dreamer mentality specializes in blue sky thinking without constraints, the Realist mentality puts practical structure to the ideas, and the Spoiler asks the hard questions and kicks the tires. We need all three mindsets. But we need those mindsets at the right time and in the right way.

From DSC:
How true this is! I’m the Dreamer in the room…and have been shut down more times than I can count. For all of you Visionaries and Dreamers out there, keep trying! And consider establishing something like Walt Disney did.

“We’re witnessing the biggest shift in education since the textbook—and most institutions are still deciding whether to allow it.” [Kilgore]

On 08/26/2025, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, adjunct faculty, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, Asia, bots, business, Canada, career development, change, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, colleges, communities of practice, community colleges, computer science, content development, aggregation, repositories, corporate / business world, culture, curriculum, education technology, emerging technologies, expectations, experimentation, faculty/staff, future, future of higher education, game-changing environment, generational differences, higher education, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, innovation, instructional design, intelligent systems, IT in HE, law schools, learning, learning agents, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, learning spaces, liberal arts, pedagogy, platforms, reinvent, skills, staying relevant, student-related, teaching & learning, trends, United States, universities, workplace, by Daniel Christian

The AI Education Revolution — from linkedin.com by Whitney Kilgore
We’re witnessing the biggest shift in education since the textbook—and most institutions are still deciding whether to allow it.

What’s In Your Statement? — from aiedusimplified.substack.com by Lance Eaton, Ph.D.
Friendly reminder that there’s a Syllabi AI Policy Repository

AI Policy Resources

AI Syllabi Policy Repository: 180+ policies
AI Institutional Policy Repository: 17 policies

One of the country’s largest community college districts expands support for students with criminal records—and the employers who hire them. [Fain]

On 08/22/2025, in Alternatives, colleges, community colleges, experimentation, funding / grants, higher education, ideas, innovation, learning ecosystem, society, sociology, student-related, United States, universities, by Daniel Christian

Diamonds in the Rough — from the-job.beehiiv.com by Paul Fain
One of the country’s largest community college districts expands support for students with criminal records—and the employers who hire them.

Clearing Records, Building Careers

The Big Idea: Toyotetsu is now one of several employers in talks with Alamo Colleges as they expand their support for students with criminal backgrounds. The effort is part of a larger push to broaden the colleges’ role in lifting up their cities and regions. Alamo Colleges is one of 15 institutions participating in Achieving the Dream’s Community Vibrancy Cohort, which encourages community colleges to reimagine their role in the health and economic success of their communities.

Before joining the Achieving the Dream cohort, San Antonio College was already establishing an associate degree program at Dominguez State Jail. Julia Stotts, director of strategic planning and partnerships for the Alamo Colleges Foundation, says the initiative spurred leaders to think about how to also help those kinds of students after release.

“The earlier we can catch these students who are having these challenges, the better off they’re going to be,” Stotts says.

These ChatGPT Prompts Will Fast-Track Your Job Search [Rumage]

On 08/21/2025, in career development, content development, aggregation, repositories, ideas, intelligent systems, Open AI, productivity / tips and tricks, student-related, tools, vendors, vision/possibilities, vocational / trades, workplace, by Daniel Christian

These ChatGPT Prompts Will Fast-Track Your Job Search — from builtin.com by Jeff Rumage
Used correctly, ChatGPT could help you land your dream job — but used incorrectly, it can cost you the offer. Here’s how you can make ChatGPT your secret weapon for research help, resume writing, interview prep and more.

Example prompt: Here are several bullet points from my resume: [paste bullets]. Rewrite them so each one begins with a strong action verb, clearly states what I did, and quantifies results or outcomes wherever possible. If metrics are missing, suggest realistic ways they could be added.

Example prompt: Here is my resume [paste resume]. Here’s the job description of a job I’m applying for [paste job description]. Highlight the most important skills and qualifications for this job. Without making up information, revise my resume to match these requirements. Include action verbs for each accomplishment on the resume, and highlight which accomplishments could be quantified.

Example prompt: What are the current trends impacting companies in the [industry]? How would [company name] be affected by these trends, and what might it do to adjust to/capitalize on these trends?

Example prompt: I’m a [current role] but want to become a [dream role]. Create a detailed career development plan outlining:

- - Skills I should develop
  - Relevant experiences I need to gain
  - Educational or certification needs
  - Recommended resources or programs
  - A realistic timeline with milestones for the next 1-3 years.

Thomson Reuters CEO: Legal Profession Faces “Biggest Disruption in Its History”from AI — from lawnext.com by Bob Ambrogi

Thomson Reuters President and CEO Steve Hasker believes the legal profession is experiencing “the biggest disruption … in its history” due to generative and agentic artificial intelligence, fundamentally rewriting how legal work products are created for the first time in more than 300 years.

Speaking to legal technology reporters during ILTACON, the International Legal Technology Association’s annual conference, Hasker outlined his company’s ambitious goal to become “the most innovative company” in the legal tech sector while navigating what he described as unprecedented technological change affecting a profession that has remained largely unchanged since its origins in London tea houses centuries ago.

Legal tech hackathon challenges students to rethink access to justice — from the Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Auckland Law School
In a 24-hour sprint, student teams designed innovative tools to make legal and social support more accessible.

The winning team comprised of students of computer science, law, psychology and physics. They developed a privacy-first legal assistant powered by AI that helps people understand their legal rights without needing to navigate dense legal language.

Teaching How To ‘Think Like a Lawyer’ Revisited — from abovethelaw.com by Stephen Embry
GenAI gives the concept of training law students to think like a lawyer a whole new meaning.

Law Schools
These insights have particular urgency for legal education. Indeed, most of Cowen’s criticisms and suggested changes need to be front and center for law school leaders. It’s naïve to think that law student and lawyers aren’t going to use GenAI tools in virtually every aspect of their professional and personal lives. Rather than avoiding the subject or worse yet trying to stop use of these tools, law schools should make GenAI tools a fundamental part of research, writing and drafting training.

They need to focus not on memorization but on the critical thinking skills beginning lawyers used to get in the on-the-job training guild type system. As I discussed, that training came from repetitive and often tedious work that developed experienced lawyers who could recognize patterns and solutions based on the exposure to similar situations. But much of that repetitive and tedious work may go away in a GenAI world.

The Role of Adjunct Professors
But to do this, law schools need to better partner with actual practicing lawyers who can serve as adjunct professors. Law schools need to do away with the notion that adjuncts are second-class teachers.

It’s a New Dawn In Legal Tech: From Woodstock to ILTACON (And Beyond) — from lawnext.com by Bob Ambrogi

As someone who has covered legal tech for 30 years, I cannot remember there ever being a time such as this, when the energy and excitement are raging, driven by generative AI and a new era of innovation and new ideas of the possible.
…
But this year was different. Wandering the exhibit hall, getting product briefings from vendors, talking with attendees, it was impossible to ignore the fundamental shift happening in legal technology. Gen AI isn’t just creating new products – it is spawning entirely new categories of products that truly are reshaping how legal work gets done.

Agentic AI is the buzzword of 2025 and agentic systems were everywhere at ILTACON, promising to streamline workflows across all areas of legal practice. But, perhaps more importantly, these tools are also beginning to address the business side of running a law practice – from client intake and billing to marketing and practice management. The scope of transformation is now beginning to extend beyond the practice of law into the business of law.
…
Largely missing from this gathering were solo practitioners, small firm lawyers, legal aid organizations, and access-to-justice advocates – the very people who stand to benefit most from the democratizing potential of AI.
…
However, now more than ever, the innovations we are seeing in legal tech have the power to level the playing field, to give smaller practitioners access to tools and capabilities that were once prohibitively expensive. If these technologies remain priced for and marketed primarily to Big Law, we will have succeeded only in widening the justice gap rather than closing it.

How AI is Transforming Deposition Review: A LegalTech Q&A — from jdsupra.com

Thanks to breakthroughs in artificial intelligence – particularly in semantic search, multimodal models, and natural language processing – new legaltech solutions are emerging to streamline and accelerate deposition review. What once took hours or days of manual analysis now can be accomplished in minutes, with greater accuracy and efficiency than possible with manual review.

From Skepticism to Trust: A Playbook for AI Change Management in Law Firms — from jdsupra.com by Scott Cohen

Historically, lawyers have been slow adopters of emerging technologies, and with good reason. Legal work is high stakes, deeply rooted in precedent, and built on individual judgment. AI, especially the new generation of agentic AI (systems that not only generate output but initiate tasks, make decisions, and operate semi-autonomously), represents a fundamental shift in how legal work gets done. This shift naturally leads to caution as it challenges long-held assumptions about lawyer workflows and several aspects of their role in the legal process.

The path forward is not to push harder or faster, but smarter. Firms need to take a structured approach that builds trust through transparency, context, training, and measurement of success. This article provides a five-part playbook for law firm leaders navigating AI change management, especially in environments where skepticism is high and reputational risk is even higher.

ILTACON 2025: The vendor briefings – Agents, ecosystems and the next stage of maturity — from legaltechnology.com by Caroline Hill

This year’s ILTACON in Washington was heavy on AI, but the conversation with vendors has shifted. Legal IT Insider’s briefings weren’t about potential use cases or speculative roadmaps. Instead, they focused on how AI is now being embedded into the tools lawyers use every day — and, crucially, how those tools are starting to talk to each other.

Taken together, they point to an inflection point, where agentic workflows, data integration, and open ecosystems define the agenda. But it’s important amidst the latest buzzwords to remember that agents are only as good as the tools they have to work with, and AI only as good as its underlying data. Also, as we talk about autonomous AI, end users are still struggling with cloud implementations and infrastructure challenges, and need vendors to be business partners that help them to make progress at speed.

Harvey’s roadmap is all about expanding its surface area — connecting to systems like iManage, LexisNexis, and more recently publishing giant Wolters Kluwer — so that a lawyer can issue a single query and get synthesised, contextualised answers directly within their workflow. Weinberg said: “What we’re trying to do is get all of the surface area of all of the context that a lawyer needs to complete a task and we’re expanding the product surface so you can enter a search, search all resources, and apply that to the document automatically.”

The common thread: no one is talking about AI in isolation anymore. It’s about orchestration — pulling together multiple data sources into a workflow that actually reflects how lawyers practice.

5 Pitfalls Of Delaying Automation In High-Volume Litigation And Claims — from jdsupra.com

Why You Can’t Afford to Wait to Adopt AI Tools that have Plaintiffs Moving Faster than Ever
Just as photocopiers shifted law firm operations in the early 1970s and cloud computing transformed legal document management in the early 2000s, AI automation tools are altering the current legal landscape—enabling litigation teams to instantly structure unstructured data, zero in on key arguments in seconds, and save hundreds (if not thousands) of hours of manual work.

Your Firm’s AI Policy Probably Sucks: Why Law Firms Need Education, Not Rules — from jdsupra.com

The Floor, Not the Ceiling
Smart firms need to flip their entire approach. Instead of dictating which AI tools lawyers must use, leadership should set a floor for acceptable use and then get out of the way.

The floor is simple: no free versions for client work. Free tools are free because users are the product. Client data becomes training data. Confidentiality gets compromised. The firm loses any ability to audit or control how information flows. This isn’t about control; it’s about professional responsibility.

But setting the floor is only the first step. Firms must provide paid, enterprise versions of AI tools that lawyers actually want to use. Not some expensive legal tech platform that promises AI features but delivers complicated workflows. Real AI tools. The same ones lawyers are already using secretly, but with enterprise security, data protection, and proper access controls.

Education must be practical and continuous. Single training sessions don’t work. AI tools evolve weekly. New capabilities emerge constantly. Lawyers need ongoing support to experiment, learn, and share discoveries. This means regular workshops, internal forums for sharing prompts and techniques, and recognition for innovative uses.

The education investment pays off immediately. Lawyers who understand AI use it more effectively. They catch its mistakes. They know when to verify outputs. They develop specialized prompts for legal work. They become force multipliers, not just for themselves but for their entire teams.

Back to School in the AI Era: Why Students Are Rewriting Your Lesson Plan — from linkedin.com by Hailey Wilson

As a new academic year begins, many instructors, trainers, and program leaders are bracing for familiar challenges—keeping learners engaged, making complex material accessible, and preparing students for real-world application.

But there’s a quiet shift happening in classrooms and online courses everywhere.

This fall, it’s not the syllabus that’s guiding the learning experience—it’s the conversation between the learner and an AI tool.

From bootcamp to bust: How AI is upending the software development industry — from reuters.com by Anna Tong; via Paul Fain
Coding bootcamps have been a mainstay in Silicon Valley for more than a decade. Now, as AI eliminates the kind of entry-level roles for which they trained people, they’re disappearing.

Coding bootcamps have been a Silicon Valley mainstay for over a decade, offering an important pathway for non-traditional candidates to get six-figure engineering jobs. But coding bootcamp operators, students and investors tell Reuters that this path is rapidly disappearing, thanks in large part to AI.

“Coding bootcamps were already on their way out, but AI has been the nail in the coffin,” said Allison Baum Gates, a general partner at venture capital fund SemperVirens, who was an early employee at bootcamp pioneer General Assembly.

Gates said bootcamps were already in decline due to market saturation, evolving employer demand and market forces like growth in international hiring.

Here are my favorite back-to-school activities to strengthen learning — from retrievalpractice.org by Pooja K. Agarwal, Ph.D.

Welcome back to school! For most of us (myself included), the whirlwind of lesson prep, meetings, professional development—and of course, teaching—is here. Keep reading for my favorite back-to-school activities to engage students with retrieval practice during the first week of class.
…
It may (or may not) surprise you to know that my first day of class is full of retrieval practice. Even if you haven’t introduced content yet, use retrieval practice the first day or week of class. Here’s how, with quick activities you can adapt for K–12 students, higher ed courses, and all content areas:

Get students familiar with retrieval practice from day 1 with no-stakes trivia questions and warm up questions where everyone knows the answer (click here to download my free warm up slides)
Build a welcoming class culture with mnemonics to remember student names (spoiler alert: trying to memorize names with students’ LMS photos doesn’t work)
Jumpstart students’ prior knowledge with an engaging ungraded pre/post worksheet (check out an example of my worksheet online)
Boost students’ long-term learning from previous classes with a brain dump or two things activity in one minute or less
Make students’ break memorable with a simple question to model how we retrieve in everyday life

How to Teach a Good First Day of Class — by James Lang; via Dr. Pooja Agarwal’s posting above

What you can expect to find here:

I’ll start, as we academics so love to do, with a little bit of theory — specifically, four core principles that can help shape your planning for the first day of your course.
Next, I’ll cover the logistics of a successful first day, including managing the space and technology as well as getting to know your students.
To show you how to put the principles and the logistics into practice, I will provide examples of what a good set of first-day activities might look like in four disciplines.
I’ll finish with some suggestions for how to support the good work you have done on the first day with some follow-up activities.

7 Pieces of Advice for New Teachers — from edutopia.org by Brienne May
Focus on relationships with students and colleagues to make a good start to the year—and remember to ask for what you need.

Too often, teacher preparation programs are rich in theory but light on practical guidance. After working hard through my undergraduate classes, completing student teaching, and spending countless hours laminating and cutting, I still found myself on the first day of school, standing in front of a room full of expectant faces with eager eyes, and realized I had no idea what to do next. I didn’t know what to say to students in that moment, let alone how to survive the following 180 days. Twelve years later, I have collected a trove of advice I wish I could have shared with that fresh-faced teacher.

The Transient Information Effect: Why Great Explanations Don’t Always Stick — from scienceoflearning.substack.com by Nidhi Sachdeva and Jim Hewitt
In this post, Dr. John Sweller describes how the Transient Information Effect can overload student working memory and what teachers can do about it.

Highlights:

The Transient Information Effect happens when important information disappears before learners can process and remember it.
Dr. John Sweller, who first studied the Transient Information Effect, answers our questions about this overlooked learning challenge.
Turning transient information into something students can revisit (like writing key steps on the board) can help explanations stick.

41 Elementary Classroom Jobs to Build Shared Responsibility and Community — from edutopia.org by Donna Paul
Classroom jobs help students feel seen, trusted, and excited to contribute to their classroom community.

Each fall, one of the first routines I introduce is our classroom job board. It’s more than a list of tasks—it helps students feel that they belong and have real roles in our shared space. Over the years, I’ve expanded beyond classic jobs like Line Leader and Pencil Sharpener to include creative roles with quirky titles that engage and resonate with students.

Here are the jobs that have helped my students feel seen, trusted, and excited to contribute.

Guiding Students to Overcome Learned Helplessness — from edutopia.org by Michelle Singh
New teachers can create an environment where students feel supported and understand that mistakes are part of the learning process.

Creating a Kid-Led Hall of Fame for Books — from edutopia.org by Eric Hall
Allowing elementary students to nominate and vote for their favorite books of the year can create a culture of celebration in the classroom.

When I started teaching, I remembered that conversation with my elementary school librarian. I thought, “Why should adults have all the fun?” I wanted my students to experience the excitement of recognizing books they thought were the best. And just like that, the Hallbery Awards were born and continued twice a year for over 15 years. (Why Hallbery? Because my last name is Hall.)

Understanding Diagnostic, Formative, and Summative Assessments — from edmentum.com

Today, we’re taking a look at the three primary forms of assessments—diagnostic, formative, and summative—with the goal of not only differentiating between them but also better understanding the purpose and potential power of each.

At their core, each of the three primary assessment types serves a distinct purpose. Diagnostic assessments are used before instruction to help identify where students are in their comprehension of academic content. Formative assessments are used while content is being taught to understand what students are picking up, to guide their learning, and to help teachers determine what to focus on moving forward. Summative assessments are used after instruction to evaluate the outcomes of student learning: what, or how much, they ultimately learned.

How one state revamped high school to reflect reality: Not everyone goes to college — from hechingerreport.org by Kavitha Cardoza
Indiana’s initial plan for revised graduation requirements was criticized for prioritizing workforce skills over academic preparedness. The state has tried to find a balance between the two

This story is part of Hechinger’s ongoing coverage about rethinking high school. Read about high school apprenticeships in Indiana, a new diploma in Alabama that trades chemistry for carpentry, and “career education for all” in Kentucky.

The “New Indiana Diploma” — which was signed into law in April and goes into effect for all incoming first-year students this academic year — gives students the option to earn different “seals” in addition to a basic diploma, depending on whether they plan to attend college, go straight to work or serve in the military. Jenner describes it as an effort to tailor the diploma to students’ interests, expose students to careers and recognize different forms of student achievement.

How Teachers in This District Pushed to Have Students Spend Less Time Testing — from edweek.org by Elizabeth Heubeck

Students in one Arizona district will take fewer standardized tests this school year, the result of an educator-led push to devote less time to testing.

The Tucson Education Association, backed by the school board and several parents, reached an agreement with the Tucson Unified school system in May to reduce the number of district-mandated standardized assessments students take annually starting in the 2025-26 academic year.

Just 25 percent of educators agreed that state-mandated tests provide useful information for the teachers in their school, according to a 2023 EdWeek Research Center survey of teachers, principals, and district leaders.

30 Ways to Bring Calm to a Noisy High School Classroom — from edutopia.org by Anne Noyes Saini
From ‘finding the lull’ to the magic of a dramatic whisper, these teacher-tested strategies quickly get high school students focused and back on track.

Approaching Experiential Learning as a Continuum — from edutopia.org by Bill Manchester
Teachers can consider 12 characteristics of experiential learning to make lessons more or less active for students.

AI’s Impact on Early Talent: Building Today’s Education-to-Employment Systems for Tomorrow’s Workforce — from bhef.com by Kristen Fox and Madison Myers

To rise above the threshold, consider the skills that our board member and Northeastern University President Joseph Aoun outlines as essential literacies in Robot-Proof: Higher Education in the Age of Artificial Intelligence. In addition to technical and data literacies, he shares two key components of human literacy.

First, a set of “catalytic capacities” that include:

Initiative and self-reliance
Comfort with risk
Flexibility and adaptability

Second, a set of “creative capacities” that include:

Opportunity recognition, or the ability to see and experience problems as opportunities to create solutions
Creative innovation, or the ability to create solutions without clearly defined structures
Future innovation, or the disposition to orient toward future developments in society

The most effective approach to achieve these outcomes? Interdisciplinary models that embed skills flexibly across curriculum, that engage learners as part of networks, teams, and exploration, and that embed applied experiences in real-world contexts. Scott Carlson and Ned Laff have laid out some great examples of what this looks like in action in Hacking College.

The bottom line: the expectations of entry-level talent are rising while the systems to achieve that level of context and understanding are not necessarily keeping pace.

Learning Ecosystems

In Rural Wisconsin, Pat Perry Connects the Various Forces That Shape Our World [Perry & Ebert]

Collaborative Innovation [marketoonist.com]; a great and true cartoon accompanies this posting.

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