learning agents

2025: The Year the Frontier Firm Is Born — from Microsoft

We are entering a new reality—one in which AI can reason and solve problems in remarkable ways. This intelligence on tap will rewrite the rules of business and transform knowledge work as we know it. Organizations today must navigate the challenge of preparing for an AI-enhanced future, where AI agents will gain increasing levels of capability over time that humans will need to harness as they redesign their business. Human ambition, creativity, and ingenuity will continue to create new economic value and opportunity as we redefine work and workflows.

As a result, a new organizational blueprint is emerging, one that blends machine intelligence with human judgment, building systems that are AI-operated but human-led. Like the Industrial Revolution and the internet era, this transformation will take decades to reach its full promise and involve broad technological, societal, and economic change.

To help leaders understand how knowledge work will evolve, Microsoft analyzed survey data from 31,000 workers across 31 countries, LinkedIn labor market trends, and trillions of Microsoft 365 productivity signals. We also spoke with AI-native startups, academics, economists, scientists, and thought leaders to explore what work could become. The data and insights point to the emergence of an entirely new organization, a Frontier Firm that looks markedly different from those we know today. Structured around on-demand intelligence and powered by “hybrid” teams of humans + agents, these companies scale rapidly, operate with agility, and generate value faster.

Frontier Firms are already taking shape, and within the next 2–5 years we expect that every organization will be on their journey to becoming one. 82% of leaders say this is a pivotal year to rethink key aspects of strategy and operations, and 81% say they expect agents to be moderately or extensively integrated into their company’s AI strategy in the next 12–18 months. Adoption is accelerating: 24% of leaders say their companies have already deployed AI organization-wide, while just 12% remain in pilot mode.

The time to act is now. The question for every leader and employee is: how will you adapt?

On a somewhat related note, also see:

Exclusive: Anthropic warns fully AI employees are a year away — from axios.com by Sam Sabin

Anthropic expects AI-powered virtual employees to begin roaming corporate networks in the next year, the company’s top security leader told Axios in an interview this week.

Why it matters: Managing those AI identities will require companies to reassess their cybersecurity strategies or risk exposing their networks to major security breaches.

The big picture: Virtual employees could be the next AI innovation hotbed, Jason Clinton, the company’s chief information security officer, told Axios.

“AI agents arrive in US classrooms” [Rajkumar] + other items re: AI in our learning ecosystems

On 04/25/2025, in Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, colleges, community colleges, content development, aggregation, repositories, creativity, education, education technology, emerging technologies, experimentation, faculty/staff, game-changing environment, higher education, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, innovation, 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, liberal arts, personalized/customized learning, podcasting, research, teachers, teaching & learning, trends, UK, United States, universities, vendors, by Daniel Christian

AI agents arrive in US classrooms — from zdnet.com by Radhika Rajkumar
Kira AI’s personalized learning platform is currently being implemented in Tennessee schools. How will it change education?

AI for education is a new but rapidly expanding field. Can it support student outcomes and help teachers avoid burnout?

On Wednesday, AI education company Kira launched a “fully AI-native learning platform” for K-12 education, complete with agents to assist teachers with repetitive tasks. The platform hosts assignments, analyzes progress data, offers administrative assistance, helps build lesson plans and quizzes, and more.

“Unlike traditional tools that merely layer AI onto existing platforms, Kira integrates artificial intelligence directly into every educational workflow — from lesson planning and instruction to grading, intervention, and reporting,” the release explains. “This enables schools to improve student outcomes, streamline operations, and provide personalized support at scale.”

Also relevant/see:

Coursera Founder Andrew Ng’s New Venture Brings A.I. to K–12 Classrooms — from observer.com by Victor Dey
Andrew Ng’s Kira Learning uses A.I. agents to transform K–12 education with tools for teachers, students and administrators.

“Teachers today are overloaded with repetitive tasks. A.I. agents can change that, and free up their time to give more personalized help to students,” Ng said in a statement.

Kira was co-founded by Andrea Pasinetti and Jagriti Agrawal, both longtime collaborators of Ng. The platform embeds A.I. directly into lesson planning, instruction, grading and reporting. Teachers can instantly generate standards-aligned lesson plans, monitor student progress in real time and receive automated intervention strategies when a student falls behind.

Students, in turn, receive on-demand tutoring tailored to their learning styles. A.I. agents adapt to each student’s pace and mastery level, while grading is automated with instant feedback—giving educators time to focus on teaching.

‘Using GenAI is easier than asking my supervisor for support’ — from timeshighereducation.com
Doctoral researchers are turning to generative AI to assist in their research. How are they using it, and how can supervisors and candidates have frank discussions about using it responsibly?

Generative AI is increasingly the proverbial elephant in the supervisory room. As supervisors, you may be concerned about whether your doctoral researchers are using GenAI. It can be a tricky topic to broach, especially when you may not feel confident in understanding the technology yourself.

While the potential impact of GenAI use among undergraduate and postgraduate taught students, especially, is well discussed (and it is increasingly accepted that students and staff need to become “AI literate”), doctoral researchers often slip through the cracks in institutional guidance and policymaking.

AI as a Thought Partner in Higher Education — from er.educause.edu by Brian Basgen

When used thoughtfully and transparently, generative artificial intelligence can augment creativity and challenge assumptions, making it an excellent tool for exploring and developing ideas.
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The glaring contrast between the perceived ubiquity of GenAI and its actual use also reveals fundamental challenges associated with the practical application of these tools. This article explores two key questions about GenAI to address common misconceptions and encourage broader adoption and more effective use of these tools in higher education.

AI for Automation or Augmentation of L&D? — from drphilippahardman.substack.com by Dr. Philippa Hardman
An audio summary of my Learning Technologies talk

Like many of you, I spent the first part of this week at Learning Technologies in London, where I was lucky enough to present a session on the current state of AI and L&D.

In this week’s blog post, I summarise what I covered and share an audio summary of my paper for you to check out.

Bridging the AI Trust Gap — from chronicle.com by Ian Wilhelm, Derek Bruff, Gemma Garcia, and Lee Rainie

In a 2024 Chronicle survey, 86 percent of administrators agreed with the statement: “Generative artificial intelligence tools offer an opportunity for higher education to improve how it educates, operates, and conducts research.” In contrast, just 55 percent of faculty agreed, showing the stark divisions between faculty and administrative perspectives on adopting AI.

Among many faculty members, a prevalent distrust of AI persists — and for valid reasons. How will it impact in-class instruction? What does the popularity of generative AI tools portend for the development of critical thinking skills for Gen-Z students? How can institutions, at the administrative level, develop policies to safeguard against students using these technologies as tools for cheating?

Given this increasing ‘trust gap,’ how can faculty and administrators work together to preserve academic integrity as AI seeps into all areas of academia, from research to the classroom?

Join us for “Bridging the AI Trust Gap,” an extended, 75-minute Virtual Forum exploring the trust gap on campus about AI, the contours of the differences, and what should be done about it.

“How People Are Really Using Gen AI in 2025” [Zao-Sanders] + other items re: AI

On 04/17/2025, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, bots, business, corporate / business world, creativity, education, emerging technologies, learning, learning agents, platforms, productivity / tips and tricks, relationships, research, society, the downsides of how people use tech, workplace, by Daniel Christian

How People Are Really Using Gen AI in 2025 — from hbr.org by Marc Zao-Sanders

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Here’s why you shouldn’t let AI run your company… — from theneurondaily.com by Grant Harvey; emphasis DSC

When “vibe-coding” goes wrong… or, a parable in why you shouldn’t “vibe” your entire company.
Cursor, an AI-powered coding tool that many developers love-to-hate, face-planted spectacularly yesterday when its own AI support bot went off-script and fabricated a company policy, leading to a complete user revolt.

Here’s the short version:

A bug locked Cursor users out when switching devices.
Instead of human help, Cursor’s AI support bot confidently told users this was a new policy (it wasn’t).
No human checked the replies—big mistake.
The fake news spread, and devs canceled subscriptions en masse.
A Reddit thread about it got mysteriously nuked, fueling suspicion.

The reality? Just a bug, plus a bot hallucination… doing maximum damage.
…
Why it matters: This is what we’d call “vibe-companying”—blindly trusting AI with critical functions without human oversight.

Think about it like this: this was JUST a startup. If more big corporations continue to lay off entire departments, replaced by AI, these already byzantine companies will become increasingly more opaque, unaccountable systems where no one, human or AI, fully understands what’s happening or who’s responsible.

Our take? Kafka dude has it right. We need to pay attention to WHAT we’re actually automating. Because automating more bureaucracy at scale, with agents we increasingly don’t understand or don’t double check, can potentially make companies less intelligent—and harder to fix when things inevitably go wrong.

Why agency is becoming a new buzzword in educational circles [Davies]

On 04/11/2025, in education, education reform, instructional design, K-12 related, learning, learning agents, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, learning preferences, more voice more choice more control, student-related, teachers, United States, youth, by Daniel Christian

Why agency is becoming a new buzzword in educational circles — from jerseyeveningpost.com by by Megan Davies
When people believe that they can effectively navigate life challenges, it’s easier to find the resilience and persistence that is needed

The term agency has gained increasing attention as educators and researchers emphasise the importance of providing students with a greater sense of ownership and competence in their learning journeys. Equally, agency has relevance to anyone who seeks to become more self-directed, confident, and be able to adapt to the challenges of a volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous world. There is no running away from the fact that, for most people, there is a need for a mindset that facilitates the capabilities for lifelong learning, personal responsibility and resilience.

Learners need: More voice. More choice. More control. -- this image was created by Daniel Christian

How might the memory of an AI — over time — impact personalized and lifelong learning? [Christian]

On 04/11/2025, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, adjunct faculty, adult learning, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, colleges, community colleges, corporate universities / corporate training, Daniel S. Christian, education, education reform, education technology, emerging technologies, experimentation, faculty/staff, formal learning, future, future of higher education, game-changing environment, generational differences, higher education, homeschooling/homeschoolers, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, informal learning, innovation, 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, learning preferences, lifelong learning, online learning, online media, online tutoring, personalized/customized learning, platforms, skills, society, student-related, teachers, teaching & learning, teaching online, technologies for your home, training / L&D, trends, universities, vendors, vision/possibilities, web-based collaboration, by Daniel Christian

From DSC:
After seeing Sam’s posting below, I can’t help but wonder:

How might the memory of an AI over time impact the ability to offer much more personalized learning?
How will that kind of memory positively impact a person’s learning-related profile?
Which learning-related agents get called upon?
Which learning-related preferences does a person have while learning about something new?
Which methods have worked best in the past for that individual? Which methods didn’t work so well with him or her?

we have greatly improved memory in chatgpt–it can now reference all your past conversations!

this is a surprisingly great feature imo, and it points at something we are excited about: ai systems that get to know you over your life, and become extremely useful and personalized.

— Sam Altman (@sama) April 10, 2025

Starting today, memory in ChatGPT can now reference all of your past chats to provide more personalized responses, drawing on your preferences and interests to make it even more helpful for writing, getting advice, learning, and beyond. pic.twitter.com/s9BrWl94iY

— OpenAI (@OpenAI) April 10, 2025

“AI agents that can train thousands of employees simultaneously” [Nuñez], “Introducing Claude for Education” [Anthropic], + other items re: AI in our LEs

On 04/03/2025, in adult learning, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, chemistry, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, colleges, community colleges, content development, aggregation, repositories, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, design, education technology, emerging technologies, experimentation, future, future of higher education, game-changing environment, generational differences, Google, graphics, higher education, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, innovation, instructional design, intelligent systems, learning, learning agents, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning spaces, lifelong learning, mathematics, multimedia, Open AI, pedagogy, platforms, productivity / tips and tricks, student-related, teachers, teaching & learning, tools, training / L&D, trends, United States, universities, vendors, workplace, youth, by Daniel Christian

Uplimit raises stakes in corporate learning with suite of AI agents that can train thousands of employees simultaneously — from venturebeat.com by Michael Nuñez|

Uplimit unveiled a suite of AI-powered learning agents today designed to help companies rapidly upskill employees while dramatically reducing administrative burdens traditionally associated with corporate training.

The San Francisco-based company announced three sets of purpose-built AI agents that promise to change how enterprises approach learning and development: skill-building agents, program management agents, and teaching assistant agents. The technology aims to address the growing skills gap as AI advances faster than most workforces can adapt.

“There is an unprecedented need for continuous learning—at a scale and speed traditional systems were never built to handle,” said Julia Stiglitz, CEO and co-founder of Uplimit, in an interview with VentureBeat. “The companies best positioned to thrive aren’t choosing between AI and their people—they’re investing in both.”

Introducing Claude for Education — from anthropic.com

Today we’re launching Claude for Education, a specialized version of Claude tailored for higher education institutions. This initiative equips universities to develop and implement AI-enabled approaches across teaching, learning, and administration—ensuring educators and students play a key role in actively shaping AI’s role in society.

As part of announcing Claude for Education, we’re introducing:

Learning mode: A new Claude experience that guides students’ reasoning process rather than providing answers, helping develop critical thinking skills
University-wide Claude availability: Full campus access agreements with Northeastern University, London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), and Champlain College, making Claude available to all students
Academic partnerships: Joining Internet2 and working with Instructure to embed AI into teaching & learning with Canvas LMS
Student programs: A new Claude Campus Ambassadors program along with an initiative offering API credits for student projects

A comment on this from The Rundown AI:

Why it matters: Education continues to grapple with AI, but Anthropic is flipping the script by making the tech a partner in developing critical thinking rather than an answer engine. While the controversy over its use likely isn’t going away, this generation of students will have access to the most personalized, high-quality learning tools ever.

Should College Graduates Be AI Literate? — from chronicle.com by Beth McMurtrie (behind a paywall)
More institutions are saying yes. Persuading professors is only the first barrier they face.

Last fall one of Jacqueline Fajardo’s students came to her office, eager to tell her about an AI tool that was helping him learn general chemistry. Had she heard of Google NotebookLM? He had been using it for half a semester in her honors course. He confidently showed her how he could type in the learning outcomes she posted for each class and the tool would produce explanations and study guides. It even created a podcast based on an academic paper he had uploaded. He did not feel it was important to take detailed notes in class because the AI tool was able to summarize the key points of her lectures.

Showing Up for the Future: Why Educators Can’t Sit Out the AI Conversation — from marcwatkins.substack.com with a guest post from Lew Ludwig

The Risk of Disengagement
Let’s be honest: most of us aren’t jumping headfirst into AI. At many of our institutions, it’s not a gold rush—it’s a quiet standoff. But the group I worry most about isn’t the early adopters. It’s the faculty who’ve decided to opt out altogether.

That choice often comes from a place of care. Concerns about data privacy, climate impact, exploitative labor, and the ethics of using large language models are real—and important. But choosing not to engage at all, even on ethical grounds, doesn’t remove us from the system. It just removes our voices from the conversation.

And without those voices, we risk letting others—those with very different priorities—make the decisions that shape what AI looks like in our classrooms, on our campuses, and in our broader culture of learning.

Turbocharge Your Professional Development with AI — from learningguild.com by Dr. RK Prasad

You’ve just mastered a few new eLearning authoring tools, and now AI is knocking on the door, offering to do your job faster, smarter, and without needing coffee breaks. Should you be worried? Or excited?

If you’re a Learning and Development (L&D) professional today, AI is more than just a buzzword—it’s transforming the way we design, deliver, and measure corporate training. But here’s the good news: AI isn’t here to replace you. It’s here to make you better at what you do.

The challenge is to harness its potential to build digital-ready talent, not just within your organization but within yourself.

Let’s explore how AI is reshaping L&D strategies and how you can leverage it for professional development.

5 Recent AI Notables — from automatedteach.com by Graham Clay

1. OpenAI’s New Image Generator
What Happened: OpenAI integrated a much more powerful image generator directly into GPT-4o, making it the default image creator in ChatGPT. Unlike previous image models, this one excels at accurately rendering text in images, precise visualization of diagrams/charts, and multi-turn image refinement through conversation.

Why It’s Big: For educators, this represents a significant advancement in creating educational visuals, infographics, diagrams, and other instructional materials with unprecedented accuracy and control. It’s not perfect, but you can now quickly generate custom illustrations that accurately display mathematical equations, chemical formulas, or process workflows — previously a significant hurdle in digital content creation — without requiring graphic design expertise or expensive software. This capability dramatically reduces the time between conceptualizing a visual aid and implementing it in course materials.
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The 4 AI modes that will supercharge your workflow — from aiwithallie.beehiiv.com by Allie K. Miller
The framework most people and companies won’t discover until 2026

AI Can’t Fix Bad Learning — from nafez.substack.com by Nafez Dakkak
Why pedagogy and good learning design still come first, and why faster isn’t always better.

I’ve followed Dr. Philippa Hardman’s work for years, and every time I engage with her work, I find it both refreshing and deeply grounded.

As one of the leading voices in learning design, Philippa has been able to cut through the noise and focus on what truly matters: designing learning experiences that actually work.

In an era where AI promises speed and scale, Philippa is making a different argument: faster isn’t always better. As the creator of Epiphany AI—figma for learning designers—Philippa is focused on closing the gap between what great learning design should look like and what’s actually being delivered.

While many AI tools optimize for the average, she believes the future belongs to those who can leverage AI without compromising on expertise or quality. Philippa wants learning designers to be more ambitious using AI to achieve what wasn’t possible before.

In this conversation, we explore why pedagogy must lead technology, how the return on expertise is only increasing in an AI-driven world, and why building faster doesn’t always mean building better.

An excerpted graphic:

Pearson, AWS Collaborate to Enhance AI-Powered Learning Functionality — from cloudwars.com

Pearson, the global educational publisher, and AWS have expanded their existing partnership to enhance AI-driven learning. AWS will help Pearson to deliver AI-powered lesson generation and more for educators, support workforce skilling initiatives, and continue an ongoing collaboration with Pearson VUE for AWS certification.

“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

“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.”
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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

Four objectives to guide artificial intelligence’s impact on higher education — from timeshighereducation.com by Susan C. Aldridge
How can higher education leaders manage both the challenge and the opportunity artificial intelligence presents? Here are four objectives to guide the way

That’s why, today, the question I’m asking is: How best can we proactively guide AI’s use in higher education and shape its impact on our students, faculty and institution? The answer to that broad, strategic question lies in pursuing four objectives that, I believe, are relevant for many colleges and universities.

In This Week’s Gap Letter — by Ryan Craig

Learning to use business software is different from learning to think. But if the software is sufficiently complex, how different is it really? What if AI’s primary impact on education isn’t in the classroom, but rather shifting the locus of learning to outside the classroom?

Instead of sitting in a classroom listening to a teacher, high school and college students could be assigned real work and learn from that work. Students could be matched with employers or specific projects provided by or derived from employers, then do the work on the same software used in the enterprise. As AI-powered digital adoption platforms (DAPs) become increasingly powerful, they have the potential to transform real or simulated work into educational best practice for students only a few years away from seeking full-time employment.

If DAPs take us in this direction, four implications come to mind….

The Impact of Gen AI on Human Learning: a research summary — from drphilippahardman.substack.com by Dr. Philippa Hardman
A literature review of the most recent & important peer-reviewed studies

In this week’s blog post, I share a summary of five recent studies on the impact of Gen AI on learning to bring you right up to date.
…
Implications for Educators and Developers

For Educators:

Combine ChatGPT with Structured Activities: …
Use ChatGPT as a Supplement, Not a Replacement:…
Promote Self-Reflection and Evaluation:

For Developers:

Reimagine AI for Reflection-First Design: …
Develop Tools that Foster Critical Thinking: …
Integrate Adaptive Support: …

Assessing the GenAI process, not the output — from timeshighereducation.com by Paul McDermott, Leoni Palmer, and Rosemary Norton
A framework for building AI literacy in a literature-review-type assessment

In this resource, we outline our advice for implementing an approach that opens AI use up to our students through a strategy of assessing the process rather than outputs.

To start with, we recommend identifying learning outcomes for your students that can be achieved in collaboration with AI.

What’s New: The Updated Edtech Insiders Generative AI Map — from edtechinsiders.substack.com by Sarah Morin, Alex Sarlin, and Ben Kornell
A major expansion on our previously released market map, use case database, and AI tool company directory.

.

Tutorial: 4 Ways to Use LearnLM as a Professor — from automatedteach.com by Graham Clay
Create better assessments, improve instructions and feedback, and tutor your students with this fine-tuned version of Gemini.

I cover how to use LearnLM

to create sophisticated assessments that promote learning
to develop clearer and more effective assignment instructions
to provide more constructive feedback on student work, and
to support student learning through guided tutoring

AI educators are coming to this school [Hal Schwartz] + other items re: AI in our learning ecosystems

On 01/07/2025, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, adjunct faculty, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, colleges, community colleges, content development, aggregation, repositories, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, digital learning, education, education technology, experimentation, faculty/staff, future, future of higher education, game-changing environment, higher education, homeschooling/homeschoolers, human-computer interaction (HCI), innovation, instructional design, intelligent systems, intelligent tutoring, IT in HE, K-12 related, law schools, learning, learning agents, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning spaces, liberal arts, library / librarians, research, society, teachers, teaching & learning, training / L&D, United States, universities, vision/possibilities, by Daniel Christian

AI educators are coming to this school – and it’s part of a trend — from techradar.com by Eric Hal Schwartz
Two hours of lessons, zero teachers

An Arizona charter school will use AI instead of human teachers for two hours a day on academic lessons.
The AI will customize lessons in real-time to match each student’s needs.
The company has only tested this idea at private schools before but claims it hugely increases student academic success.

One school in Arizona is trying out a new educational model built around AI and a two-hour school day. When Arizona’s Unbound Academy opens, the only teachers will be artificial intelligence algorithms in a perfect utopia or dystopia, depending on your point of view.

AI in Instructional Design: reflections on 2024 & predictions for 2025 — from drphilippahardman.substack.com by Dr. Philippa Hardman
Aka, four new year’s resolutions for the AI-savvy instructional designer.

Debating About AI: A Free Comprehensive Guide to the Issues — from stefanbauschard.substack.com by Stefan Bauschard

In order to encourage and facilitate debate on key controversies related to AI, I put together this free 130+ page guide to the main arguments and ideas related to the controversies.

Universities need to step up their AGI game — from futureofbeinghuman.com by Andrew Maynard
As Sam Altman and others push toward a future where AI changes everything, universities need to decide if they’re going to be leaders or bystanders in helping society navigate advanced AI transitions

And because of this, I think there’s a unique opportunity for universities (research universities in particular) to up their game and play a leadership role in navigating the coming advanced AI transition.

Of course, there are already a number of respected university-based initiatives that are working on parts of the challenge. Stanford HAI (Human-centered Artificial Intelligence) is one that stands out, as does the Leverhulm Center for the Future of Intelligence at the University of Cambridge, and the Center for Governance of AI at the University of Oxford. But these and other initiatives are barely scratching the surface of what is needed to help successfully navigate advanced AI transitions.

If universities are to be leaders rather than bystanders in ensuring human flourishing in an age of AI, there’s an urgent need for bolder and more creative forward-looking initiatives that support research, teaching, thought leadership, and knowledge mobilization, at the intersection of advanced AI and all aspects of what it means to thrive and grow as a species.

“5 Ways Teachers Can Use NotebookLM Today” [Burns} + other items re: AI in our learning ecosystems

On 12/29/2024, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, adjunct faculty, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, Australia, change, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, colleges, communities of practice, community colleges, content development, aggregation, repositories, corporate universities / corporate training, digital audio, digital learning, digital video, education technology, emerging technologies, experimentation, faculty/staff, future, future of higher education, game-changing environment, generational differences, Google, higher education, homeschooling/homeschoolers, human-computer interaction (HCI), innovation, intelligent systems, intelligent tutoring, IT in HE, K-12 related, learning, learning agents, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, liberal arts, library / librarians, lifelong learning, Open AI, personalized/customized learning, platforms, productivity / tips and tricks, skills, student-related, teachers, teaching & learning, technologies for your home, the downsides of how people use tech, tools, training / L&D, United States, universities, vendors, vision/possibilities, by Daniel Christian

How AI Is Changing Education: The Year’s Top 5 Stories — from edweek.org by Alyson Klein

Ever since a new revolutionary version of chat ChatGPT became operable in late 2022, educators have faced several complex challenges as they learn how to navigate artificial intelligence systems.
…
Education Week produced a significant amount of coverage in 2024 exploring these and other critical questions involving the understanding and use of AI.

Here are the five most popular stories that Education Week published in 2024 about AI in schools.

What’s next with AI in higher education? — from msn.com by Science X Staff

Dr. Lodge said there are five key areas the higher education sector needs to address to adapt to the use of AI:

1. Teach ‘people’ skills as well as tech skills
2. Help all students use new tech
3. Prepare students for the jobs of the future
4. Learn to make sense of complex information
5. Universities to lead the tech change

5 Ways Teachers Can Use NotebookLM Today — from classtechtips.com by Dr. Monica Burns

“An AI tutor for every student” + numerous other items re: AI in our learning ecosystems

On 12/21/2024, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, education, education technology, emerging technologies, 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, intelligent tutoring, K-12 related, leadership, learning, learning agents, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning hubs & pods & microschooling, learning preferences, learning spaces, liberal arts, lifelong learning, Open AI, personalized/customized learning, strategy, student-related, teachers, teaching & learning, teaching online, tools, training / L&D, United States, vendors, virtual tutoring, youth, by Daniel Christian

60 Minutes Overtime
Sal Khan wants an AI tutor for every student: here’s how it’s working at an Indiana high school — from cbsnews.com by Anderson Cooper, Aliza Chasan, Denise Schrier Cetta, and Katie Brennan

“I mean, that’s what I’ll always want for my own children and, frankly, for anyone’s children,” Khan said. “And the hope here is that we can use artificial intelligence and other technologies to amplify what a teacher can do so they can spend more time standing next to a student, figuring them out, having a person-to-person connection.”
…
“After a week you start to realize, like, how you can use it,” Brockman said. “That’s been one of the really important things about working with Sal and his team, to really figure out what’s the right way to sort of bring this to parents and to teachers and to classrooms and to do that in a way…so that the students really learn and aren’t just, you know, asking for the answers and that the parents can have oversight and the teachers can be involved in that process.”

Nectir lets teachers tailor AI chatbots to provide their students with 24/7 educational support — from techcrunch.com by Lauren Forristal

More than 100 colleges and high schools are turning to a new AI tool called Nectir, allowing teachers to create a personalized learning partner that’s trained on their syllabi, textbooks, and assignments to help students with anything from questions related to their coursework to essay writing assistance and even future career guidance.
…
With Nectir, teachers can create an AI assistant tailored to their specific needs, whether for a single class, a department, or the entire campus. There are various personalization options available, enabling teachers to establish clear boundaries for the AI’s interactions, such as programming the assistant to assist only with certain subjects or responding in a way that aligns with their teaching style.

“It’ll really be that customized learning partner. Every single conversation that a student has with any of their assistants will then be fed into that student profile for them to be able to see based on what the AI thinks, what should I be doing next, not only in my educational journey, but in my career journey,” Ghai said.

How Will AI Influence Higher Ed in 2025? — from insidehighered.com by Kathryn Palmer
No one knows for sure, but Inside Higher Ed asked seven experts for their predictions.

As the technology continues to evolve at a rapid pace, no one knows for sure how AI will influence higher education in 2025. But several experts offered Inside Higher Ed their predictions—and some guidance—for how colleges and universities will have to navigate AI’s potential in the new year.

How A.I. Can Revive a Love of Learning — from nytimes.com by Anant Agarwal
Modern technology offers new possibilities for transforming teaching.

In the short term, A.I. will help teachers create lesson plans, find illustrative examples and generate quizzes tailored to each student. Customized problem sets will serve as tools to combat cheating while A.I. provides instant feedback.
…
In the longer term, it’s possible to imagine a world where A.I. can ingest rich learner data and create personalized learning paths for students, all within a curriculum established by the teacher. Teachers can continue to be deeply involved in fostering student discussions, guiding group projects and engaging their students, while A.I. handles grading and uses the Socratic method to help students discover answers on their own. Teachers provide encouragement and one-on-one support when needed, using their newfound availability to give students some extra care.

Let’s be clear: A.I. will never replace the human touch that is so vital to education. No algorithm can replicate the empathy, creativity and passion a teacher brings to the classroom. But A.I. can certainly amplify those qualities. It can be our co-pilot, our chief of staff helping us extend our reach and improve our effectiveness.

Dancing with the Devil We Know: OpenAI and the Future of Education — from nickpotkalitsky.substack.com by Nick Potkalitsky
Analyzing OpenAI’s Student Writing Guide and Latest AI Tools

Today, I want to reflect on two recent OpenAI developments that highlight this evolution: their belated publication of advice for students on integrating AI into writing workflows, and last week’s launch of the full GPTo1 Pro version. When OpenAI released their student writing guide, there were plenty of snarky comments about how this guidance arrives almost a year after they thoroughly disrupted the educational landscape. Fair enough – I took my own side swipes initially. But let’s look at what they’re actually advising, because the details matter more than the timing.

Tutor CoPilot: A Human-AI Approach for Scaling Real-Time Expertise — from studentsupportaccelerator.org by Rose E.Wang, Ana T. Ribeiro, Carly D. Robinson, Susanna Loeb, and Dora Demszky

Pandemic, Politics, Pre-K & More: 12 Charts That Defined Education in 2024 — from the74million.org
From the spread of AI to the limits of federal COVID aid, these research findings captured the world of education this year.

Tutoring programs exploded in the last five years as states and school districts searched for ways to counter plummeting achievement during COVID. But the cost of providing supplemental instruction to tens of millions of students can be eye-watering, even as the results seem to taper off as programs serve more students.

That’s where artificial intelligence could prove a decisive advantage. A report circulated in October by the National Student Support Accelerator found that an AI-powered tutoring assistant significantly improved the performance of hundreds of tutors by prompting them with new ways to explain concepts to students. With the help of the tool, dubbed Tutor CoPilot, students assigned to the weakest tutors began posting academic results nearly equal to those assigned to the strongest. And the cost to run the program was just $20 per pupil.

On Capacity, Sustainability, And Attention — from marcwatkins.substack.com by Marc Watkins

Faculty must have the time and support necessary to come to terms with this new technology and that requires us to change how we view professional development in higher education and K-12. We cannot treat generative AI as a one-off problem that can be solved by a workshop, an invited talk, or a course policy discussion. Generative AI in education has to be viewed as a continuum. Faculty need a myriad of support options each semester:

Course buyouts
Fellowships
Learning communities
Reading groups
AI Institutes and workshops
Funding to explore the scholarship of teaching and learning around generative AI

New in 2025 and What Edleaders Should Do About It — from gettingsmart.com by Tom Vander Ark and Mason Pashia

Key Points

Education leaders should focus on integrating AI literacy, civic education, and work-based learning to equip students for future challenges and opportunities.
Building social capital and personalized learning environments will be crucial for student success in a world increasingly influenced by AI and decentralized power structures.

Learning Ecosystems

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