instructional design

“8 Weeks Left to Prepare Students for the AI-Enhanced Workplace” [Schroeder] + other items re: AI in our LEs

On 03/21/2025, in adjunct faculty, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, assessment, career development, change, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, colleges, community colleges, content development, aggregation, repositories, corporate / business world, curriculum, digital learning, education technology, emerging technologies, expectations, experimentation, faculty/staff, future, game-changing environment, Google, higher education, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, instructional design, intelligent systems, learning, Learning Experience Design, liberal arts, new business models, online learning, pedagogy, personalized/customized learning, platforms, productivity / tips and tricks, professional development, research, staying relevant, student-related, surviving, teaching & learning, teaching online, trends, United States, universities, workplace, by Daniel Christian

8 Weeks Left to Prepare Students for the AI-Enhanced Workplace — from insidehighered.com by Ray Schroeder
We are down to the final weeks left to fully prepare students for entry into the AI-enhanced workplace. Are your students ready?

The urgent task facing those of us who teach and advise students, whether they be degree program or certificate seeking, is to ensure that they are prepared to enter (or re-enter) the workplace with skills and knowledge that are relevant to 2025 and beyond. One of the first skills to cultivate is an understanding of what kinds of services this emerging technology can provide to enhance the worker’s productivity and value to the institution or corporation.
…
Given that short period of time, coupled with the need to cover the scheduled information in the syllabus, I recommend that we consider merging AI use into authentic assignments and assessments, supplementary modules, and other resources to prepare for AI.

Learning Design in the Era of Agentic AI — from drphilippahardman.substack.com by Dr Philippa Hardman
Aka, how to design online async learning experiences that learners can’t afford to delegate to AI agents

The point I put forward was that the problem is not AI’s ability to complete online async courses, but that online async courses courses deliver so little value to our learners that they delegate their completion to AI.

The harsh reality is that this is not an AI problem — it is a learning design problem.

However, this realisation presents us with an opportunity which we overall seem keen to embrace. Rather than seeking out ways to block AI agents, we seem largely to agree that we should use this as a moment to reimagine online async learning itself.

8 Schools Innovating With Google AI — Here’s What They’re Doing — from forbes.com by Dan Fitzpatrick

While fears of AI replacing educators swirl in the public consciousness, a cohort of pioneering institutions is demonstrating a far more nuanced reality. These eight universities and schools aren’t just experimenting with AI, they’re fundamentally reshaping their educational ecosystems. From personalized learning in K-12 to advanced research in higher education, these institutions are leveraging Google’s AI to empower students, enhance teaching, and streamline operations.

Essential AI tools for better work — from wondertools.substack.com by Jeremy Caplan
My favorite tactics for making the most of AI — a podcast conversation

AI tools I consistently rely on (areas covered mentioned below)

Research and analysis
Communication efficiency
Multimedia creation

AI tactics that work surprisingly well

1. Reverse interviews
Instead of just querying AI, have it interview you. Get the AI to interview you, rather than interviewing it. Give it a little context and what you’re focusing on and what you’re interested in, and then you ask it to interview you to elicit your own insights.”

This approach helps extract knowledge from yourself, not just from the AI. Sometimes we need that guide to pull ideas out of ourselves.

“eLearning has a problem, and it’s not AI.” [Kirby]

On 03/12/2025, in accessibility / UDL, content development, aggregation, repositories, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, design, elearning, engagement / engaging students, instructional design, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, quality, training / L&D, United States, workplace, by Daniel Christian

“eLearning has a problem, and it’s not AI.” — from linkedin.com by Dr. Heidi Kirby
.

Several items re: teaching and learning within K-12 [edutopia.org]

On 03/08/2025, in collaboration, education, Emotion, engagement / engaging students, ideas, instructional design, K-12 related, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, participation, pedagogy, student-related, teachers, teaching & learning, United States, youth, by Daniel Christian

All of the articles listed below are from edutopia.org

4 Ways to Boost Students’ Self-Efficacy — by Tyler Rablin
These strategies help students see what they have learned so they believe they can be successful in school in the future.

Self-efficacy, on the other hand, focuses on outcomes to drive beliefs. In essence, self-efficacy involves intentionally providing students with evidence of early success to help them build the belief that they can be successful in the future.

Self-efficacy has been a powerful focus for me because it helps me to be more intentional as a teacher. It requires me to be mindful of how I structure assessments, feedback, etc., to provide students with evidence of their successes early on to help them see potential future successes.

Maintaining Students’ Focus in the Spring — by Miriam Plotinsky
Teachers can use these small ‘upgrades’ or tweaks to their regular practices to help keep students focused and involved.

As a recent MindShift article notes, “The second semester brings a lot of potential challenges to teachers’ regularly scheduled programming because of standardized testing, graduation events, and student burnout.” These challenges may be complex, but they are not insurmountable. With subtle shifts in practice, classrooms can remain safe and productive spaces—even in the spring.

She recommends a “coping jar” to help students identify moments of angst and manage their feelings. Fagell explains that when students find an effective coping mechanism, they write their idea on one side of a Popsicle stick and explain how it works on the other side. As students add ideas to the jar, they have an increased awareness of coping strategies and the importance of helping one another.

10 Picture Books That Showcase Collaboration — by Kristin Rydholm
These entertaining stories feature collaboration and social-emotional skills to highlight the benefit of working together to accomplish a goal.

Are you an early childhood teacher in search of relationship-building resources to help unify your classroom? Have I got a book list for you! In the verbiage of 1970s infomercials: “This collection has everything!” The main characters are early childhood students, the setting is the school, and each plot requires the class to work collaboratively. The characters are united in curiosity, determination, and mission to work on accomplishing projects together that they couldn’t possibly do alone.

What a 30-Day Break From AI Taught Me About My Teaching — by James Bedford
Using AI became second nature for this educator. A month without the tools gave him an opportunity to pause, reflect, and recalibrate.

My goal is to try to preserve the messy, creative core of what it means to be an educator: curiosity, critical thinking, and the grit and energy to solve problems without always resorting to shortcuts—technological or otherwise. My hope is that my students will do the same.

Unplug and reconnect: Challenge yourself and your students to embark on an AI detox. Step away from AI tools where possible, and rediscover the power of human creativity and independent thought. Start a journal to document the journey, exploring questions like “How does it feel to rely solely on my own intellect?” or “What challenges arise when AI isn’t there to assist?” This activity can foster resilience, raise self-awareness, and cultivate a deeper appreciation for the human capacity to think, create, problem-solve, and innovate.

Drive Continuous Learning: AI Integrates Work & Training — from learningguild.com by George Hanshaw

Imagine with me for a moment: Training is no longer confined to scheduled sessions in a classroom, an online module or even a microlearning you click to activate during your workflow. Imagine training being delivered because the system senses what you are doing and provides instructions and job aids without you having to take an action.

The rapid evolution of artificial intelligence (AI) and wearable technology has made it easier than ever to seamlessly integrate learning directly into the workflow. Smart glasses, earpieces, and other advanced devices are redefining how employees gain knowledge and skills by delivering microlearning moments precisely when and where they are needed.

AI plays a crucial role in this transformation by sensing the optimal moment to deliver the training through augmented reality (AR).

These Schools Are Banding Together to Make Better Use of AI in Education — from edsurge.com by Emily Tate Sullivan

Kennelly and Geraffo are part of a small team at their school in Denver, DSST: College View High School, that is participating in the School Teams AI Collaborative, a year-long pilot initiative in which more than 80 educators from 19 traditional public and charter schools across the country are experimenting with and evaluating AI-enabled instruction to improve teaching and learning.

The goal is for some of AI’s earliest adopters in education to band together, share ideas and eventually help lead the way on what they and their colleagues around the U.S. could do with the emerging technology.

“Pretty early on we thought it was going to be a massive failure,” says Kennelly of last semester’s project. “But it became a huge hit. Students loved it. They were like, ‘I ran to second period to build this thing.’”

Transactional vs. Conversational Visions of Generative AI in Teaching — from elmartinsen.substack.com by Eric Lars Martinsen
AI as a Printer, or AI as a Thought Partner

As writing instructors, we have a choice in how we frame AI for our students. I invite you to:

Experiment with AI as a conversation partner yourself before introducing it to students
Design assignments that leverage AI’s strengths as a thought partner rather than trying to “AI-proof” your existing assignments
Explicitly teach students how to engage in productive dialogue with AI—how to ask good questions, challenge AI’s assumptions, and use it to refine rather than replace their thinking
Share your experiences, both positive and negative, with colleagues to build our collective understanding of effective AI integration

“AI Resources for District Leaders” [Baule] + several other items re: AI in our learning ecosystems

On 02/26/2025, in Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, Bias | Diversity Equity & Inclusion (DE&I), content development, aggregation, repositories, education, education technology, Emotion, engagement / engaging students, hearts -- matters of the heart, higher education, human-computer interaction (HCI), innovation, instructional design, intelligent systems, IT in HE, K-12 related, languages and translation, leadership, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, NVIDIA, personalized/customized learning, platforms, productivity / tips and tricks, project-based learning, society, student-related, teachers, teaching & learning, technologies for your home, tools, trends, UK, United States, universities, vendors, by Daniel Christian

Nvidia helps launch AI platform for teaching American Sign Language — from venturebeat.com by Dean Takahashi; via Claire Zau

Nvidia has unveiled a new AI platform for teaching people how to use American Sign Language to help bridge communication gaps.

The Signs platform is creating a validated dataset for sign language learners and developers of ASL-based AI applications.
…
Nvidia, the American Society for Deaf Children and creative agency Hello Monday are helping close this gap with Signs, an interactive web platform built to support ASL learning and the development of accessible AI applications.

Using Gen AI to Design, Implement, and Assess PBL — from gettingsmart.com by David Ross

Key Points

Generative AI can significantly reduce the time and effort required in designing PBL by providing tools for research, brainstorming, and organization.
AI tools can assist educators in managing project implementation and assessment, providing formative feedback and organizing resources efficiently.

I usually conclude blogs with some pithy words, but this time I’ll turn the microphone over to Rachel Harcrow, a high school English/Language Arts teacher at Young Women’s College Prep Charter School of Rochester, NY: “After years of struggling to call myself a PBL practitioner, I finally feel comfortable saying I am, thanks to the power of Gen AI,” Harcrow told me. “Initial ideas now turn into fully fledged high-quality project plans in minutes that I can refine, giving me the space and energy to focus on what truly matters: My students.”

AI Resources for District Leaders — from techlearning.com by Steve Baule
Educational leaders aiming to effectively integrate generative AI into their schools should consider several key resources

To truly harness the transformative power of generative AI in education, district leaders must navigate a landscape rich with resources and opportunities. By delving into state and national guidelines, exploring successful case studies, utilizing innovative planning tools, and engaging in professional development, educational leaders can craft robust implementation plans. These plans can then assist in integrating AI seamlessly into their schools and elevate the learning experience to new heights.

Anthropic brings ‘extended thinking’ to Claude, which can solves complex physics problems with 96.5% accuracy — from rdworldonline.com by Brian Buntz

Anthropic, a favorite frontier AI lab among many coders and genAI power users has unveiled Claude 3.7 Sonnet, its first “hybrid reasoning” AI model. It is capable of both near-instant answers and in-depth, step-by-step reasoning within a single system.

Users can toggle an extended thinking mode where the model self-reflects before answering, considerably improving performance on complex tasks like math, physics and coding. In early testing by the author, the model largely succeeded in creating lines of Python (related to unsupervised learning) that were close to 1,000 lines long that ran without error on the first or second try, including the unsupervised machine learning task shown below:

New Tools. Old Complaints. Why AI Won’t Kill Education or Fix it — from coolcatteacher.com by Vicki Davis; via Stephen Downes

AI won’t kill education. But will it kill learning? The challenge isn’t AI itself—it’s whether students can still think for themselves when the answers are always one click away.
…

Wait. Before you go, let me ask you one thing.
AI has opportunities to help learning. But it also won’t fix it. The real question isn’t whether students can use AI—but whether they’re still learning without it.

Whether the learning is happening between the ears.

And so much of what we teach in schools isn’t the answers on a test. It answers questions like “What is my purpose in life?” “How do I make friends?” and “How can I help my team be stronger.” Questions that aren’t asked on a test but are essential to living a good life. These questions aren’t answered between the ears but within the heart.

That, my friends, is what teaching has always been about.

The heart.

And the heart of the matter is we have new challenges, but these are old complaints. Complaints since the beginning of time and teaching. And in those days, you didn’t need kids just to be able to talk about how to build a fire, they had to make one themselves. Their lives depend on it.

And these days, we need to build another kind of fire. A fire that sparks the joy of learning. The joy of the opportunities that await us sparked by some of the most powerful tools ever invented. Kids need to not be able to just talk about making a difference, they need to know how to build a better world tomorrow. Our lives depend on it.

How Debating Skills Can Help Us In The Fight Against AI — from adigaskell.org by Adi Gaskell

Debating skills have a range of benefits in the workplace, from helping to improve our communication to bolstering our critical thinking skills. Research from the University of Mississippi suggests it might also help us in the battle with AI in the workplace.

We can often assume that debate teaches us nothing more than how to argue our point, but in order to do this, we have to understand both our own take on a subject and that of our opponent. This allows us to see both sides of any issue we happen to be debating.

“Even though AI has offered a shortcut through the writing process, it actually still is important to be able to write and speak and think on your own,” the researchers explain. “That’s what the focus of this research is: how debate engenders those aspects of being able to write and speak and study and research on your own.”

.
Building an AI-Ready Workforce: A look at College Student ChatGPT Adoption in the US — from cdn.openai.com

One finding from our student survey that stood out to us: Many college and university students are teaching themselves and their friends about AI without waiting for their institutions to provide formal AI education or clear policies about the technology’s use. The education ecosystem is in an important moment of exploration and learning, but the rapid adoption by students across the country who haven’t received formalized instruction in how and when to use the technology creates disparities in AI access and knowledge.

The enclosed snapshot of how young people are using ChatGPT provides insight into the state of AI use among America’s college-aged students. We also include actionable proposals to help address adoption gaps. We hope these insights and proposals can inform research and policy conversation across the nation’s education ecosystem about how to achieve outcomes that support our students, our workforce, and the economy. By improving literacy, expanding access, and implementing clear policies, policymakers and educators can better integrate AI into our educational infrastructure and ensure that our workforce is ready to both sustain and benefit from our future with AI.

Leah Belsky | Vice President, Education | OpenAI

The Learning & Development Global Sentiment Survey 2025 [Taylor]

On 02/20/2025, in 21st century, adult learning, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, Asia, Augmented Reality (AR), Australia, budgets, business, Canada, change, CMS/LMS, colleges, communities of practice, community colleges, content development, aggregation, repositories, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, digital learning, education technology, elearning, emerging technologies, Europe, experimentation, faculty/staff, game-changing environment, generational differences, global / globalization, higher education, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, innovation, instructional design, intelligent systems, K-12 related, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, learning preferences, lifelong learning, Metaverse, microlearning, personalized/customized learning, platforms, productivity / tips and tricks, skills, technology (general), training / L&D, trends, UK, United States, universities, vendors, Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning, XR - extended reality, by Daniel Christian

The Learning & Development Global Sentiment Survey 2025 — from donaldhtaylor.co.uk by Don Taylor

The L&D Global Sentiment Survey, now in its 12th year, once again asked two key questions of L&D professionals worldwide:

What will be hot in workplace learning in 2025?
What are your L&D challenges in 2025?

For the obligatory question on what they considered ‘hot’ topics, respondents voted for one to three of 15 suggested options, plus a free text ‘Other’ option. Over 3,000 voters participated from nearly 100 countries. 85% shared their challenges for 2025.

The results show more interest in AI, a renewed focus on showing the value of L&D, and some signs of greater maturity around our understanding of AI in L&D.

6+ items re: teaching & learning-related items

On 02/20/2025, in education, ideas, instructional design, K-12 related, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, learning spaces, neurodivergent/special needs, reading, student teaching/teacher education, student-related, teachers, teaching & learning, UK, United States, by Daniel Christian

What Educators Need to Know About Dyslexia—and Why It’s Not Something to ‘Fix’ — from edweek.org by Elizabeth Heubeck

“The good news is, though, with early intervention and with the appropriate types of modifications and intervention, people with dyslexia thrive in today’s world.”

From DSC:
I have a retired friend who is dyslexic and, to this very day, feels the pain of being told — and treated like — he was stupid in the majority of his K-12 years. He later went on to get trained on how to operate missiles, solve a variety of highly technical IT-related problems, set up networks, run security departments, and more. He is a highly intelligent individual. But he is dsylexic. And he recalls the pain of those early education days.

I’m glad that we’ve made some significant progress in understanding dsylexia. And I hope that today’s dyslexic students don’t have experiences like his.

“Learning is frustration.”

The learning space is that space between “not knowing” and “knowing.” It can be very frustrating. But don’t be discouraged when you are frustrated. It means that you are learning. Eventually, you’ll get to “knowing.”
.

Department of Education Helps Students With Disabilities. Don’t Let It Disappear | Opinion — from newsweek.com by Katy NeasCEO, The Arc of the United States

When education is limited, so is opportunity. Without education, students with disabilities face higher rates of poverty, unemployment, poor health, and social isolation. Education is the foundation for independence, inclusion, and a future with choices. Strip it away, and we are not just limiting potential—we are forcing millions of people into a lifetime of barriers and hardship.

This issue is personal for me. As a former deputy assistant secretary in the Department of Education’s Office of Special Education and a lifelong advocate for disability rights, I have seen firsthand what happens when children with disabilities face barriers—and how the Department of Education steps in to make things right.

An excerpt from Derek Bruff’s newsletter entitled, “Digital reading, belonging stories, escape rooms, and more”

Course Contributors
At the Top Hat Engage conference last week, I met Whitney Silvis-Sawyer, who teaches education courses at Louisiana Tech University. She regularly invites her students to provide feedback on her courses, and when she makes a change to a course in response to student feedback, she acknowledges that student by name (and with permission) in a “course contributors” section of her syllabus. Some of her course syllabi now have dozens of students listed who have helped shape her courses. I love this as a way to help students see that you take their feedback seriously and as a way to acknowledge sources of inspiration for one’s teaching.
…
In-Class Escape Rooms
Over on Bluesky, I was delighted to see that Lisa Fazio, who teaches psychology at Vanderbilt University, shared images of the escape room activity she designed as a review for her social cognition course. Her students worked in teams of four to complete a series of puzzles and open a number of combination locks, all of which required them to apply social cognition concepts they had been studying. Lisa writes, “Watching them race through the puzzles today brought me joy!” See Lisa’s thread for all the details.

Designing the Classroom of the Future: 5 Easy Pieces — from ed-spaces.com by Leslie Stebbins
When designing new classrooms the most important factors to consider are designs that encourage movement, provide space for collaborative and independent work, seamlessly embed technology, promote creativity, and provide flexibility.

Design for Movement: Sitting is the new smoking!
Build for Collaboration and Independent Work
Embed Technology Seamlessly: Clean up your Cables!
Promote Creativity: Mix it Up!
Flexibility with Limits

Addendums:

Let’s break down the barriers blocking neurodivergent people from higher education
— from timeshighereducation.com by Sourav Mukhopadhyay
How can we help neurodivergent students participate and thrive? Sourav Mukhopadhyay offers advice on making your classroom an inclusive environment for them
3 Ways to Begin to Develop Preschoolers’ Literacy Skills — from edutopia.org by Jacquelyn Bobien-Blanton
Developmentally appropriate activities focused on foundational reading skills can help young children have fun while they learn.
7 Learning Myths Your Students Probably Believe — from edutopia.org by Daniel Leonard
From left- and right-brain thinking to the notion that talent beats persistence, these common myths can hinder student learning. Here’s how teachers can help.
A Triangular Approach to Science Instruction — from edutopia.org by Kristin Acchione
Combining science literacy, data science, and hands-on learning helps get elementary students engaged in science lessons.
‘Golden ticket to job security’: Trade union partnerships hold promise for high school students — from hechingerreport.org by Sarah Carr
For trade unions and CTE programs, new collaboration may be key to survival

“AI in K12: Today’s Breakthroughs and Tomorrow’s Possibilities” + other items re: AI in our learning ecosystems

On 02/20/2025, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, adjunct faculty, adult learning, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, colleges, communications, community colleges, content development, aggregation, repositories, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, Daniel S. Christian, digital audio, e-readers, education technology, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, experimentation, faculty/staff, future of higher education, game-changing environment, higher education, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, innovation, instructional design, intelligent systems, intelligent tutoring, IT in HE, K-12 related, languages and translation, learning, learning agents, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning hubs & pods & microschooling, learning preferences, legislatures / government / legal, liberal arts, mathematics, multimedia, pedagogy, personalized/customized learning, platforms, research, STEAM-related, student-related, teachers, tools, training / L&D, trends, United States, universities, vendors, vision/possibilities, by Daniel Christian

AI in K12: Today’s Breakthroughs and Tomorrow’s Possibilities (webinar)
How AI is Transforming Classrooms Today and What’s Next

Audio-Based Learning 4.0 — from drphilippahardman.substack.com by Dr. Philippa Hardman
A new & powerful way to leverage AI for learning?

At the end of all of this my reflection is that the research paints a pretty exciting picture – audio-based learning isn’t just effective, it’s got some unique superpowers when it comes to boosting comprehension, ramping up engagement, and delivering feedback that really connects with learners.

While audio has been massively under-used as a mode of learning, especially compared to video and text, we’re at an interesting turning point where AI tools are making it easier than ever to tap into audio’s potential as a pedagogical tool.

What’s super interesting is how the solid research backing audio’s effectiveness is and how well this is converging with these new AI capabilities.

From DSC:
I’ve noticed that I don’t learn as well via audio-only based events. It can help if visuals are also provided, but I have to watch the cognitive loads. My processing can start to get overloaded — to the point that I have to close my eyes and just listen sometimes. But there are people I know who love to listen to audiobooks and prefer to learn that way. They can devour content and process/remember it all. Audio is a nice change of pace at times, but I prefer visuals and reading often times. It needs to be absolutely quiet if I’m tackling some new information/learning.

In Conversation With… Ashton Cousineau — from drphilippahardman.substack.com by Dr. Philippa Hardman
A new video series exploring how L&D professionals are working with AI on the ground

In Conversation With… Ashton Cousineau by Dr Philippa Hardman

A new video series exploring how L&D professionals are working with AI on the ground

Read on Substack

The Learning Research Digest vol. 28 — from learningsciencedigest.substack.com by Dr. Philippa Hardman

Hot Off the Research Press This Month:

AI-Infused Learning Design – A structured approach to AI-enhanced assignments using a three-step model for AI integration.
Mathematical Dance and Creativity in STEAM – Using AI-powered motion capture to translate dance movements into mathematical models.
AI-Generated Instructional Videos – How adaptive AI-powered video learning enhances problem-solving and knowledge retention.
Immersive Language Learning with XR & AI – A new framework for integrating AI-driven conversational agents with Extended Reality (XR) for task-based language learning.
Decision-Making in Learning Design – A scoping review on how instructional designers navigate complex instructional choices and make data-driven decisions.
Interactive E-Books and Engagement – Examining the impact of interactive digital books on student motivation, comprehension, and cognitive engagement.
Elevating Practitioner Voices in Instructional Design – A new initiative to amplify instructional designers’ contributions to research and innovation.

Deep Reasoning, Agentic AI & the Continued Rise of Specialised AI Research & Tools for Education — from learningfuturesdigest.substack.com by Dr. Philippa Hardman

Here’s a quick teaser of key developments in the world of AI & learning this month:

DeepSeek R-1, OpenAI’s Deep Seek & Perplexity’s ‘Deep Research’ are the latest additions to a growing number of “reasoning models” with interesting implications for evidence-based learning design & development.
The U.S. Education Dept release an AI Toolkit and a fresh policy roadmap enabling the adoption of AI use in schools.
Anthropic Release “Agentic Claude”, another AI agent that clicks, scrolls, and can even successfully complete e-learning courses…
Oxford University Announce the AIEOU Hub, a research-backed research lab to support research and implementation on AI in education.
“AI Agents Everywhere”: A Forbes peek at how agentic AI will handle the “boring bits” of classroom life.
[Bias klaxon!] Epiphany AI: My own research leads to the creation of a specialised, “pedagogy first” AI co-pilot for instructional design marking the continued growth of specialised AI tools designed for specific industries and workflows.

AI is the Perfect Teaching Assistant for Any Educator — from unite.ai by Navi Azaria, CPO at Kaltura

Through my work with leading educational institutions at Kaltura, I’ve seen firsthand how AI agents are rapidly becoming indispensable. These agents alleviate the mounting burdens on educators and provide new generations of tech-savvy students with accessible, personalized learning, giving teachers the support they need to give their students the personalized attention and engagement they deserve.

Learning HQ — from ai-disruptor-hq.notion.site

This HQ includes all of my AI guides, organized by tool/platform. This list is updated each time a new one is released, and outdated guides are removed/replaced over time.

How AI Is Reshaping Teachers’ Jobs — from edweek.org

Artificial intelligence is poised to fundamentally change the job of teaching. AI-powered tools can shave hours off the amount of time teachers spend grading, lesson-planning, and creating materials. AI can also enrich the lessons they deliver in the classroom and help them meet the varied needs of all students. And it can even help bolster teachers’ own professional growth and development.

Despite all the promise of AI, though, experts still urge caution as the technology continues to evolve. Ethical questions and practical concerns are bubbling to the surface, and not all teachers feel prepared to effectively and safely use AI.

In this special report, see how early-adopter teachers are using AI tools to transform their daily work, tackle some of the roadblocks to expanded use of the technology, and understand what’s on the horizon for the teaching profession in the age of artificial intelligence.

2025 EDUCAUSE AI Landscape Study: Into the Digital AI Divide — from library.educause.edu

The higher education community continues to grapple with questions related to using artificial intelligence (AI) in learning and work. In support of these efforts, we present the 2025 EDUCAUSE AI Landscape Study, summarizing our community’s sentiments and experiences related to strategy and leadership, policies and guidelines, use cases, the higher education workforce, and the institutional digital divide.

“Half A Million Students Given ChatGPT As CSU System Makes AI History” [Fitzpatrick] + other items re: AI in our learning ecosystems

On 02/07/2025, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, assessment, change, colleges, community colleges, content development, aggregation, repositories, digital learning, education technology, emerging technologies, experimentation, faculty/staff, future, future of higher education, game-changing environment, generational differences, graphics, higher education, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, innovation, instructional design, intelligent systems, intelligent tutoring, learning, learning agents, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, Open AI, research, student-related, teachers, teaching & learning, tools, trends, United States, universities, vendors, by Daniel Christian

Half A Million Students Given ChatGPT As CSU System Makes AI History — from forbes.com by Dan Fitzpatrick

The California State University system has partnered with OpenAI to launch the largest deployment of AI in higher education to date.

The CSU system, which serves nearly 500,000 students across 23 campuses, has announced plans to integrate ChatGPT Edu, an education-focused version of OpenAI’s chatbot, into its curriculum and operations. The rollout, which includes tens of thousands of faculty and staff, represents the most significant AI deployment within a single educational institution globally.

We’re still in the early stages of AI adoption in education, and it is critical that the entire ecosystem—education systems, technologists, educators, and governments—work together to ensure that all students globally have access to AI and develop the skills to use it responsibly

Leah Belsky, VP and general manager of education at OpenAI.

HOW educators can use GenAI – where to start and how to progress — from aliciabankhofer.substack.com by Alicia Bankhofer
Part of 3 of my series: Teaching and Learning in the AI Age

As you read through these use cases, you’ll notice that each one addresses multiple tasks from our list above.

1. Researching a topic for a lesson
2. Creating Tasks For Practice
3. Creating Sample Answers
4. Generating Ideas
5. Designing Lesson Plans
6. Creating Tests
7. Using AI in Virtual Classrooms
8. Creating Images
9. Creating worksheets
10. Correcting and Feedback

What if students had the power to design their own learning journeys?

Across the U.S., states are moving beyond one-size-fits-all education and embracing unbundled learning, creating personalized pathways that equip students with the skills they need for the future. Getting Smart’s Unbundled Learning Podcast Series explores how Colorado, Arizona, and New Hampshire are leading the way—expanding real-world learning, shifting to competency-based models, empowering learner agency, and aligning education with workforce needs.

For policymakers, the newly released Policymaker’s Guide offers a roadmap for fostering unbundled systems. It highlights key priorities such as competency-driven accountability, flexible credentialing, and funding models that prioritize equity, helping state leaders create policies that expand opportunities for all learners.

Explore how unbundled learning is shaping the future of education and how states can build more personalized, future-ready systems.

New Pathways > Unbundled Learning — from gettingsmart.com
We used to think that learning had to happen in a school building. Spoiler alert…that was never true.

How might we create an ecosystem where learning doesn’t just happen at school? With Unbundled Learning, learners don’t need permission to have equitable experiences. Unbundled Learning removes all the barriers and allows learning to happen at school, after school, with industry partners and anywhere a learner can imagine. Unbundled Learning is the foundation for which new learning models are built, learners are supported and systems are scaled.

If we used to think that school was the only answer, now we know we have options.
.

How to Make Learning as Addictive as Social Media | Duolingo’s Luis Von Ahn | TED

On 02/07/2025, in adjunct faculty, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, content development, aggregation, repositories, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, digital learning, education, education technology, educational games / serious games, Emotion, engagement / engaging students, experimentation, faculty/staff, higher education, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, innovation, instructional design, interaction design, interactivity, K-12 related, languages and translation, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, liberal arts, motivation, participation, platforms, productivity / tips and tricks, psychology, social learning / networks, strategy, student-related, teachers, teaching & learning, tools, training / L&D, United States, universities, vendors, by Daniel Christian

How to Make Learning as Addictive as Social Media | Duolingo’s Luis Von Ahn | TED — from youtube.com; via Kamil Banc at AI Adopter

When technologist Luis von Ahn was building the popular language-learning platform Duolingo, he faced a big problem: Could an app designed to teach you something ever compete with addictive platforms like Instagram and TikTok? He explains how Duolingo harnesses the psychological techniques of social media and mobile games to get you excited to learn — all while spreading access to education across the world.
.

“Over 100 AI Tools for Teachers” [Kharbach] + other items re: AI in our learning ecosystems

On 02/01/2025, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, adjunct faculty, adult learning, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, bots, career development, content development, aggregation, repositories, corporate universities / corporate training, digital learning, education, education technology, emerging technologies, experimentation, faculty/staff, future, future of higher education, game-changing environment, generational differences, higher education, human-computer interaction (HCI), instructional design, intelligent systems, intelligent tutoring, IT in HE, K-12 related, learning, learning agents, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, platforms, productivity / tips and tricks, student-related, teachers, teaching & learning, teaching online, technologies for your home, the downsides of how people use tech, tools, training / L&D, trends, United States, universities, vendors, by Daniel Christian

DeepSeek: How China’s AI Breakthrough Could Revolutionize Educational Technology — from nickpotkalitsky.substack.com by Nick Potkalitsky
Can DeepSeek’s 90% efficiency boost make AI accessible to every school?

The most revolutionary aspect of DeepSeek for education isn’t just its cost—it’s the combination of open-source accessibility and local deployment capabilities. As Azeem Azhar notes, “R-1 is open-source. Anyone can download and run it on their own hardware. I have R1-8b (the second smallest model) running on my Mac Mini at home.”
…

Real-time Learning Enhancement

AI tutoring networks that collaborate to optimize individual learning paths
Immediate, multi-perspective feedback on student work
Continuous assessment and curriculum adaptation

The question isn’t whether this technology will transform education—it’s how quickly institutions can adapt to a world where advanced AI capabilities are finally within reach of every classroom.

Over 100 AI Tools for Teachers — from educatorstechnology.com by Med Kharbach, PhD

I know through your feedback on my social media and blog posts that several of you have legitimate concerns about the impact of AI in education, especially those related to data privacy, academic dishonesty, AI dependence, loss of creativity and critical thinking, plagiarism, to mention a few. While these concerns are valid and deserve careful consideration, it’s also important to explore the potential benefits AI can bring when used thoughtfully.

Tools such as ChatGPT and Claude are like smart research assistants that are available 24/7 to support you with all kinds of tasks from drafting detailed lesson plans, creating differentiated materials, generating classroom activities, to summarizing and simplifying complex topics. Likewise, students can use them to enhance their learning by, for instance, brainstorming ideas for research projects, generating constructive feedback on assignments, practicing problem-solving in a guided way, and much more.

The point here is that AI is here to stay and expand, and we better learn how to use it thoughtfully and responsibly rather than avoid it out of fear or skepticism.

Beth’s posting links to:

Digital Education Council Global AI Faculty Survey 2025 — from digitaleducationcouncil.com

Derek’s posting on LinkedIn

From Theory to Practice: How Generative AI is Redefining Instructional Materials — from edtechinsiders.substack.com by Alex Sarlin
Top trends and insights from The Edtech Insiders Generative AI Map research process about how Generative AI is transforming Instructional Materials

As part of our updates to the Edtech Insiders Generative AI Map, we’re excited to release a new mini market map and article deep dive on Generative AI tools that are specifically designed for Instructional Materials use cases.

In our database, the Instructional Materials use case category encompasses tools that:

Assist educators by streamlining lesson planning, curriculum development, and content customization
Enable educators or students to transform materials into alternative formats, such as videos, podcasts, or other interactive media, in addition to leveraging gaming principles or immersive VR to enhance engagement
Empower educators or students to transform text, video, slides or other source material into study aids like study guides, flashcards, practice tests, or graphic organizers
Engage students through interactive lessons featuring historical figures, authors, or fictional characters
Customize curriculum to individual needs or pedagogical approaches
Empower educators or students to quickly create online learning assets and courses

On a somewhat-related note, also see:

Tech & Learning Announces Winners of Best of 2024 — from techlearning.com by TL Editors
This annual award celebrates recognizing the best in EdTech from 2024

Learning Ecosystems

“eLearning has a problem, and it’s not AI.” [Kirby]

Categories

Tags