In my years in the classroom, it never occurred to me to question a request from my boss. “Sure, no problem…” was my refrain.

Teachers work in silos and we don’t often get to see the behaviors of our most challenging colleagues; we only hear their narrative as they share how terribly they were treated. I tried to stay away from this group in the corner of the faculty lounge because I didn’t receive the same harsh treatment they were describing, and I feared being called out as a favorite. It never occurred to me that they were the problem, exasperating and complaining at every turn.

My first weeks as a school leader were the end of my innocence–I couldn’t believe the things some teachers did! One teacher left her classroom unsupervised for 20 minutes to make a personal phone call. When I highlighted the legal duty of care and negligence, she stared me down and said, “I’ve been teaching longer than you’ve been alive….”

The masters of victim mindset are difficult to manage. You know who they are. They sit in the loser support group in the lounge recruiting others. As toxic as they are, their real danger is how they skillfully flip blame back on you, leaving you wondering how their problem became yours.

I can think of countless stories of victim mindset. I’ll highlight one, since they all exhibit the patterns of behavior. Then I’ll share how to manage these, which may not be the way you think….

Years ago, a teacher marched a student over to the classroom phone to call her parents to let them know she forgot her homework. The parent called me, irate that the teacher had done this in front of the entire class. As difficult as this parent was, it was indefensible. I notified the teacher of this parent’s displeasure and she agreed to call the parent on her way home that afternoon.

The next morning, the parent called me again, even more angry because the teacher never called. I notified the teacher in lieu of her duty for the next period, to call. She ignored my directive and immediately called from the classroom. Contemptuous in her tone, the parent pushed back with profanities.

Later I was in a meeting with a colleague and was summoned to the hall where this teacher was being transported by ambulance, having experienced a panic attack. I felt terrible, and told her, “You’re in good hands, they’ll take care of you.”

I’ll never forget her reply: “You did this to me.”

Fortunately, there were faculty in the building who had come to know me. They remember the human in you and how you treat others. They look at someone like the victim and say something just doesn’t sit right.

‘You Can’t Negotiate With Crazy’

Todd Whitaker wrote an entire book about not getting sucked in by perpetual victims. Shifting the Monkey cleverly illustrates how to navigate the difficult person, the negative Nelly, and most importantly, the victim mindset. It seems sensible to lean back against a victim's strong stance as if to repel their insanity. Remember: You can’t negotiate with crazy.

Also, everyone is watching the leader. If you get sucked in, the monkey is on your back, just where the victim wants it. They point and exclaim, ‘See!’

So how do you approach the victim? Go against your instinct to fight…

Stay Objective

Many people will say to you, “I wouldn’t let them leave early in an emergency, or give them the same allowances as others.”

Don’t listen. That’s emotion. You feel that way, and that’s okay, but don’t act on it. Be even-handed, fair, and balanced. When they try to trounce you at Human Resources or to the superintendent (and believe me, they will try), everyone will note your objectivity and patience, and see them for the problem they are.

In another instance, I was tasked with addressing attendance concerns for those staff with too many days absent. I received an antagonistic response from one staff member who submitted a detailed and notably challenging email. Rather than approaching the concerns collaboratively, their tone was defensive and questioned administrative intent, raising concerns about her professional responsiveness.

This all sounds so strange to effective educators who are driven by a conscience. And that’s the tricky part–victims have so cleverly shifted blame in their own minds that it’s easy to dismiss legitimate concerns as being picked on or some other absurd claim. They have hijacked perception to suit their narrative, fictional as it is. Don’t feed into the negativity!

Never Argue

Arguing with these kinds of folks is like mud wrestling a pig in that you both get dirty but only the pig enjoys it. A victim has so much more practice at arguing, their goal is to pull you into their conflict. Your objectivity keeps you from letting them win. The moment you argue, the victim is victorious.

As leaders, we are tasked with giving directives. Always remember that this is entirely different than being lulled into an argument. Your directives are fair, balanced, even-handed. Stay the course, stay objective, and you will always be able to take the higher ground when a union representative shows up or your boss calls. Don’t get dirty, and you can sustain your goals with the rest of your staff.

Kill Them With Kindness

Victims are experts at breaking down other people, so we turn on our own instincts. That level of deception is uncanny. You have to give them credit.

Yet, understanding this psychology is pivotal in redirecting with sincere goodwill. Difficult people are so good at shifting the gears of others into exasperated frustration and reaction that they have no idea how to handle the tenderness that comes from persistent kindness.

What makes this more significant is that you are modeling your expectation of their behavior, and can safely provide a benchmark with authority. That’s power shifting!

Ultimately, this approach can help ensure that students will not be overpowered by negative, victim mindsets, and instead will be encouraged by your fair and balanced–and positive–approach.

• A Tale of Two Struggles: Instilling Resilience In At-Risk Students
• Rebuilding Trust In School Leadership In An Untrusting World

Yet, amid this excitement, many institutions overlook a critical issue: ensuring that existing technologies are being used to full potential before investing in new ones. Equally important is the ability to strategically phase out tools that no longer serve the institution’s mission.

Without these actions, schools and colleges risk financial waste, user confusion, and missed opportunities for impact. Within our current environment, where most schools are struggling with both budget issues and the ability to attract qualified staff, increasing the productivity of those who are currently engaged is important.

For instance, do the office staff know how to fully use the organization’s productivity software? In working with a variety of staff over the years, I have seen executive assistants manually striking out words and underlining new ones in revising policy documents. Showing them how to use the track changes function in Word saved them hours per month in tedious formatting. Another example was when an assistant was taking days to manually email a long list of prospective students instead of using Mail Merge to complete the task in under 30 minutes.

Both of these examples come from basic word processing software. Think of how much additional time can be saved within educational institutions if this basic tool was fully understood. Providing training on more advanced systems could then potentially enhance productivity even more.

The Risks of Unnecessary or Premature Expansion

When new tools are adopted without first evaluating the performance and use of current technologies, the consequences can be significant. Financially, institutions may find themselves paying for overlapping platforms or unused licenses. Instructionally, faculty and staff may experience platform fatigue, juggling multiple systems with redundant features, inconsistent interfaces, and varying levels of support. Students, too, suffer when digital learning environments become fragmented and confusing.

Consider a district that implements a new learning management system (LMS) while still supporting legacy systems from previous initiatives. Teachers may be unsure which tool to use, parents may receive communications from multiple platforms, and students may encounter varying expectations across courses. The result can be frustration, underuse, and often, a return to analog workarounds. Poorly implemented technologies can have a negative impact on morale as well.

Technology decisions should not be driven by vendor pitches or novelty but by data, user feedback, and strategic alignment with educational goals.

Assessing Current Technology Use

Before expanding an organization’s technology footprint, educational leaders must conduct a thorough audit of what is already in place and how it is being used. This includes gathering data to understand usage patterns and stakeholder experiences.

Quantitative data might include:

• Login frequency of key systems
• User engagement with specific features particularly inside an organization’s LMS and more broadly, the Digital Learning Environment (DLE)
• Percentage of staff or students actively using the tools of the DLE
• Participation and satisfaction with technology professional development

Qualitative data should come from:

• Faculty and staff surveys or focus groups. It is recommended to conduct an annual technology survey to gather feedback
• Student feedback mechanisms including end of course surveys
• IT support logs or help desk trends. Help desk tickets should always be followed up with a systematic survey to make sure users are satisfied with IT support.

These data points help determine whether tools are being used effectively or merely tolerated.

Leaders must ask: Is this technology helping us achieve our goals? For example, if a platform is intended to promote individualized learning, is it doing so? Linkedin Learning is provided in many institutions, but how well do the people within the organization use it and do faculty know how to leverage it within their courses to support student success? These kinds of questions need to be answered first.

Maximizing What You Have

Once leaders have assessed current usage, the next step is to invest in maximizing the potential of those tools already in place. This may involve improving training, setting clearer expectations, and ensuring that staff and students understand the value of the tools at their disposal.

Professional development should go beyond single-shot training. Ongoing, job-embedded learning opportunities, such as peer coaching, tech mentors, and collaborative professional learning communities, are far more effective in cultivating meaningful use. A variety of formats should be provided for training. Some will prefer face-to-face training, others might be fine with virtual training, while others might be willing to use a self-paced online training platform. Providing choice is an important way to engage participants.

Leaders should establish clear guidelines for what effective technology use looks like. For example, “All teachers will use the LMS to post weekly assignments and communicate with families” is a more actionable expectation than a pronouncement to “Use the LMS.” Leadership should additionally provide resources for users to refresh their training.

Sharing stories of how technology has improved teaching, learning, or operations reinforces its value and encourages wider adoption. A teacher who shares how a formative assessment app helped identify struggling students, or a student who benefited from assistive technology, can be more persuasive than any vendor demo.

Conclusion

When institutions prioritize thoughtful use over constant acquisition, they not only save resources but build a stronger culture of purpose-driven innovation. Strategic leadership in technology is never about the tools, it’s about using the tools to advance the organization’s mission and goals.

• 3 Key Concepts Education Leaders Need To Understand About Technology
• 4 Ways to Leverage AI to Bridge Cultural Gaps in K-12 Classrooms

Over the last few months, I’ve used ChatGPT’s deep research feature, and while I don’t agree with those who claim it’s as good at research or writing as most graduate students, it's certainly a useful tool for me. I believe many educators would find it helpful when looking for research on various educational strategies or for the latest findings in their field of study.

Like many, I’ve increasingly begun to use AI as an alternative to a traditional search engine. Deep Research works as a beefed-up version of that. It can be quicker and more efficient than searching a site such as Google Scholar, and can help you find different results than you might find searching more traditional academic archives.

Here’s a closer look at how OpenAI’s Deep Research works, and how it performed on various academic prompts with which I tested it.

How ChatGPT’s Deep Research Works

Deep research is designed to work independently by finding, analyzing, and summarizing hundreds of online searches. The tool is powered by OpenAI’s o3 model and uses reasoning—meaning it can break down problems into smaller components, make predictions, infer information, and apply logic.

Those who use the free version of ChatGPT, get five free deep research prompts per month. Plus, Team, Enterprise, and Edu users get 25 per month, while Pro subscribers get 250 prompts.

To access Deep Research, you need to click on the tools icon at the bottom of the chatbot used to chat with ChatGPT. Then select “run deep research.”

After you put in a prompt, the tool will ask several clarifying questions about the type of research you want. Once you’ve answered these, it will take a few minutes to generate a response.

Here are some of the prompts I used and what I thought about the results Deep Research generated.

Flipped Learning Prompt

The Prompt: Can you write a summary of the research on flipped learning? Pay particular attention to randomized control trials looking at the educational strategy in college and k-12 settings.

The Result: ChatGPT quickly responded with a detailed summary of the research into flipped learning with effects divided between college and K-12 research. The summary concluded the intervention had a moderate but fairly consistent effect observed in most studies. ChatGPT provided links to pertinent research with which I was already familiar, but which had taken me quite a while to track down. Additionally, ChatGPT provided several interesting studies I hadn’t come across.

Impressively, the overview also described some of the limitations around flipped learning, addressing how it can increase the workload outside of class and how teachers who attempt to implement it can find significant pushback from students. ChatGPT also cited a 2019 paper describing a randomized control trial looking at flipped learning conducted at West Point that found short-term gains in Math and no effect in Economics. The study also suggested that the intervention could widen the achievement gap: as positive effects were driven by white male, and higher-achieving students.

The study is an outlier, so it's hard to say what its significance is, but it was interesting to see and an important part of the flipped learning conversation.

Learning Styles Prompt

The Prompt: Is there any evidence that learning styles are real that you can find in academic journals?

The Result: ChatGPT did a nice job pointing out the problems with this approach to education, writing: “Major meta-analyses and reviews – especially in the last 15 years – largely refute the learning styles hypothesis, or at best find only weak effects. The current consensus in the academic community is that educators should be skeptical of the learning styles approach.”

The overview it generated also included many studies that supported this conclusion. Because of the way my prompt was phrased, I think it encouraged ChatGPT to look for evidence in support of this theory. It found some older studies that suggested a link, but was quick to point out the problems with this earlier research.

I was impressed with ChatGPT’s response. I’ve written about the persistent myth of learning styles before, and worried ChatGPT’s research mode would be confused by all the online chatter from educators in support of this debunked theory. It wasn’t.

Writing and Cognition Prompt

The Prompt: Can you research the potential positive link between writing and thinking/cognition?

The Result: This is a topic I’m curious about as a writer and writing professor, but I’ve only come across a few studies and haven’t yet done a deep research dive myself. ChatGPT may have saved me the effort.

The response here provided a wide-ranging and well-cited overview of different ways in which writing can help our thinking processes, from increasing memory to reducing stress and improving critical thinking and metacognition.

One example of the type of research included in the summary is a fascinating study that found college freshmen who wrote about the stress of starting college saw larger working memory improvements than their classmates who did not have this writing assignment.

Conclusion

Deep Research is one of the more helpful AI tools I’ve come across for academics, and I believe it can be helpful to educators in various fields and levels. By essentially generating high-quality Wikipedia articles on demand, it’s a great search tool that can help make research more efficient. I’ve found it helpful in the examples above and in other uses.

However, much like Wikipedia itself, it’s a good place to start your research and a bad place to end it. Deep Research can help you get a fast overview of a topic and suggest research to review, but actually assessing that research and deciding what implications it has is still best performed by a human.

• DeepSeek: Everything Educators Need to Know About The New AI Model
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The Chromebook Plus 515 is a powerful productivity-forward Chromebook for those that want to be productive as well as enjoy web browsing, music, and streaming.

Acer Chromebook Plus 515: Getting Started

After unboxing I was able to set up the Acer Chromebook Plus 515 just like any other Chrome device by simply logging in with my Google account. Once I finished some of the set up steps the device was ready for use.

Right from the start I could tell this device was quite powerful. Everything loaded very quickly and the response to more processor heavy tasks was handled without issue. It has a sturdy build to take abuse while on the go but is not too heavy for a device its size.

I liked the responsiveness and accuracy of the touchscreen as well as the quality images it produced. The speakers did a nice job delivering clear sound in both video and music streaming, while the battery delivered with a respectable charge to get me through a workday. Although, as with any cordless device your battery life may vary depending on use. But, overall it did a very nice job for all of my tasks.

I found the Chromebook Plus AI features to be a great help with both productivity and research tasks. It allows for text generation, live video/audio captioning, and basic image editing, all of which worked very well and are great additions.

I also liked how AI is integrated into so many areas of the ecosystem with new features being rolled out at a nice pace.

Acer Chromebook Plus 515: Key Specifications

• Display - 15.6-inch, 1920 x 1080 IPS (non-touch or touch)
• Processor - Intel Core i3-1215U (configurable up to Core i7-1355U)
• RAM - 8GB LPDDR5X (up to 16GB in higher configs)
• Storage - 128GB UFS (up to 512GB in higher configs)
• Graphics - Intel UHD
• Ports - 2x USB-C, 1x USB-A, HDMI 1.4, 3.5mm audio jack
• Connectivity - Wifi 6E, Bluetooth 5.1
• Webcam - 1080p with privacy shutter
• Dimensions - 14.2 x 9.4 x 0.79 inches (approx. 360.6 x 238.4 x 19.95mm)
• Weight - 3.7 pounds (1.68 kg)
• Battery - 53Wh, up to 8 hours per charge
• Build - Plastic chassis, MIL-STD 810H durability

Acer Chromebook Plus 515: Cost

The Acer Chromebook Plus 515 as tested is priced at $399.99

Acer Chromebook Plus 515: Key Takeaways

The Chromebook Plus 515 offers performance for everyday tasks such as writing, web browsing, and streaming, thanks to its Intel Core i3 (or higher) processor and 8GB of RAM. The large 15.6-inch 1080p screen is large and the option touchscreen is very responsive. The upward-facing stereo speakers are a standout feature, delivering surprisingly good sound for a Chromebook.

The device offers a wide selection of ports, including two USB-C, one USB-A, HDMI, and a headphone jack, making it versatile for peripherals and external displays. The AI features of Chromebook Plus such as text generation and live captioning, work well and add value, especially for productivity.

Overall, the Acer Chromebook Plus 515 is an excellent choice for students, writers, and anyone needing a reliable, affordable large-screen Chromebook for everyday productivity. It may need a bit of a charge for long, heavy-use days, but its performance, port selection, and speakers make it a standout in its price range.

While some schools have started to introduce AI literacy requirements, it is not something that is widespread. Moreover, students (and teachers) need to understand not only what AI is and how it functions, but also how it impacts many facets of our society, and its potential for harm.

In this article, we share free lessons and resources that you can incorporate into lessons for students about using AI.

AI Overview

For an overall understanding of AI, Code.org has a wonderful set of resources, including lessons that are aligned with computer science standards as well as concise-but-clear videos that break down related topics. The instructional videos are under the “How AI Works” program and explore topics on machine learning, training and data bias, neutral networks, computer vision, chatbots, and large language models. Learning materials are connected to the videos that can be used in lessons.

1. AI Responsible and Ethical Use

While Code.org briefly highlights biases that are inherent in AI, it is important to intentionally expand on AI responsible and ethical use from a tech justice lens. The Kapor Center offers a free Responsible AI and Tech Justice Guide for K-12 education. The guide is organized into six core components with the aim of building students’ capacity to explore the impacts and implications of AI technologies on society, be aware of personal usage of AI, and examine the AI creation ecosystem, among other goals. The comprehensive guide is packed with lessons, case studies, articles, and other resources.

2. Al Environmental Impacts

AI has major impacts on the environment, agriculture, water consumption, energy, and more, so there are developed lessons that you can use to teach students about these concerns. You can also build a focus on sustainability and taking personal actions to mitigate some of AI’s carbon footprint. Partially funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), this Environmental Impact of AI Lesson, which is under a Creative Common license, can be used. It features a vocabulary review, an interactive activity, and a planning guide as well as a section on teacher modifications that include teacher-made resources aligned with the lesson.

Similarly, the Share My Lesson community created by the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) offers “AI’s Environmental Impact: The Growing Strain on Power Grids and Local Communities.” This resource includes video, defined key terms, discussion questions, extension content, and suggested deliverables.

3. AI Misinformation

The News Literacy Project offers Checkology, a free virtual platform with a curriculum to develop students’ ability to confirm when information is from credible sources, understand what a credible source is and where to locate one, and to use critical thinking to assess the credibility of content. The Checkology platform has a host of resources and interactive activities for students to engage in while learning about misinformation. It also has an evaluation center for teachers to track student progress and a help center for support. The lessons within the platform are aligned with myriad standards, including ISTE Student Standards, Next Generation Science Standards, Common Core ELA Standards, American Association of School Librarians Standards Framework for Learners, and the College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework for Social Studies State Standards.

4. AI Deepfakes

AI for Education provides downloadable resources that include a classroom guide and discussion questions to use as you teach students about misinformation and AI deepfakes. The materials will help students understand what deepfakes are, the dangers of deepfakes, such as cyberbullying and misinformation, and techniques that are used to create deepfakes. It also offers real examples of deepfakes that feature popular artists and books, such as Katy Perry and Harry Potter.

Which Face is Real? also offers a game that you could play with students after they learn about deepfakes. In the game, two images appear (one AI-generated and one real image). The students then need to apply the skills they have learned on misinformation and deepfakes, and choose the one that is real. Which Face is Real? also has a Learn tab with information that can be shared with students as well.

We hope some of these resources are helpful as you prepare your students to understand and responsibly use AI. If you feel like you would like training yourself first, check out these 10 Free Certifications and Trainings for Educators.

• Developing AI Pedagogical Practices
• AI Lesson Plan Tips
• Explaining AI in the Classroom to Families

The current version of Kira offers AI tools that are built to support teachers and students across educational scenarios and subjects. The company says this gives teachers more time to focus on students and classroom impact.

Built by a team of educators, engineers, designers, and operators, Kira is a multi-faceted system that offers a finished and complete AI solution for teachers' needs, and is free for educators and students.

The company claims, "Kira is the first AI platform that delivers personalized education at scale."

This guide lays out all you need to know about Kira in your class.

What is Kira Learning?

Kira Learning is an AI platform that works to make the job of teachers more simple while also supporting students in their learning.

This is actually described by its creators as an AI toolkit consisting of more than 20 different AI tools, so it can cover a wide variety of teacher and student needs.

This can be used to prepare, with lesson plans and rubrics; to assess with quiz design and differentiated instructions; and to grade with feedback generation, progress tracking, and more.

A course library for teaching computer science is also available -- listed below -- since this does still offer the original Kira content, only now with a way more AI-focused approach.

How does Kira Learning work?

Kira Learning offers a rich course catalog that you can get into for computer science teaching. But now there is all that AI power as well, it's possible to use it in a way that is focused on more general teaching.

Sign up with a Google or school account initially and as a teacher you can begin using the services. You build activities using AI, create a course using instructional sequences, use interactive video to teach, or align content to educational standards as needed.

The point is this is very broad in its offerings, so how you use it as a teacher is up to you. You may wish to dive into the AI Tutor, which allows you to offer students real-time feedback on multimodal learning. Teachers can program this in a way that allows them to save time on individual support, while students still get that level of assistance while learning.

What are the best Kira Learning features?

Kira Learning is a powerful and rich offering so it can deliver an AI tool to work with most needs for teachers. For example, that means saving on time while still offering students personalized guidance and feedback, that can be monitored and analyzed by teachers to track progress.

Usefully, the Kira AI can adapt to student needs, so it will suggest targeted practice, offer useful insights to educators, and adapt explanations to help students as required.

This being education-specific, you can enjoy all the benefits of AI without any of the worries since this is compliant with COPPA and FERPA, uses AWS servers in the U.S., and is Common Sense privacy-verified.

The adaptive nature of Kira is really helpful. If a student keeps making the same or a similar mistake, for example, Kira will spot that and then adjust guidance accordingly. This should allow a new approach through which students find a way to understand and progress.

How much does Kira Learning cost?

Kira Learning is free for teachers and students, however, districts are charged at a bespoke rate for analytics.

Kira Learning best tips and tricks

Discuss first
Initially explain how this AI works so students are aware of its limitations and abilities -- and that they can ask you directly if needed.

Check in
The more you use AI, the more you can and should check-in to make sure it's working effectively and helping students as expected.

Teach CS
This is built from a computer science teaching platform so using it for that specifically is a great way to maximize what you're getting out of Kira.

• New Teacher Starter Kit
• Best Tools for Teachers

Fortunately, the image and clip art sites below provide an extensive supply of moderate- to high-quality visuals for cost-conscious schools. Most of these sites are completely free, and most have a clear license/FAQ page explaining what uses are allowed or prohibited.

Best Image and Clip Art Sites for Education

Freerange

Freerange boasts a stylish easy-to-navigate website with thousands of free high-quality images. Users can search easily by category or keyword, and filter by specific license and popularity. Download options include three sizes. Bonus- users can “download” directly to PIXLR for editing. While photos are tastefully and artistically composed, a few do include mild-moderate nudity. All photos and illustrations are licensed for commercial use, with details provided. Account required.

PROS:

• Clear Licensing Information and credit text provided
• Search by category, keyword, license type, recency and popularity
• High-quality photos and illustrations
• Three sizes available for download
• Users may share directly from image page to social media and email
• Users can contribute images

CONS:

• Occasional mild-moderate nudity may be considered inappropriate

Free Images

One of the oldest and largest free image sites, Free Images was founded as Stock.xchng in 2001. Over the next 20 years, the site merged with several free illustration sites and was renamed Free Images. Available in more than a dozen languages, the site is a repository for thousands of free photos, vector images, clipart, and editable Photoshop templates as well as icons. The robust selection of free downloads is supplemented by AI-generated images and content from the paid site iStock. No account is required, but each download is delayed for six seconds in order to show users an iStock advertisement/promo code.

PROS:

• 16 languages available
• Photos, vector images, clip art, icons, and editable Photoshop files
• Search by categories and themes
• Very good image quality
• Download size options
• Attribution clarity
• No account required

CONS:

• Paid images from iStock sprinkled in free results
• Download delay due to ads

Pics4Learning

A safe, curated image library for classroom assignments, school websites, or any education-related project, Pics4Learning provides a diverse spectrum of images in subjects ranging from American Sign Language to fractals to weather. Contribute your own JPEG or PNG images. Fully free, no account required.

PROS:

• Thousands of images curated for students
• Search by keyword, themes and collections
• Download as .jpg or save directly to Google Drive
• Citation for each image provided
• Users can contribute their own images

CONS:

• While image quality is at least adequate, there are fewer high-quality, professional-style photos compared to other sites

Pixabay

In just 15 short years, Pixabay has grown to be one of the best-known and most comprehensive free image sharing sites. Here visitors can explore and download collections of photos, illustrations, vector images, videos, and even music. All are free to download and free to use under the Pixabay license, which is a modified Creative Commons CC0 license. Pixabay shines in another way as well—its blogs and forums keep users apprised of the latest news and tips to make the most of the site.

PROS:

• Extensive collections of quality free images, videos, music, sound effects, and gifs in a wide range of categories
• Search by content type, orientation, size, color, date of publication, AI-generation, popularity
• Clear summary of license dos and don'ts
• Users can contribute their own content
• User forums allow discussions about site practices as well as artistic techniques

CONS:

• Quality varies, as is true for all free image sites

Photos For Class

From a partnership between Storyboard That and Pixabay, this education-focused image site allows teachers and students to download high-quality Creative Commons photos for school assignments. The main advantage of Photos for Class is that its curation process ensures that all images are appropriate for kids. However, no categories are listed for easy browsing and the search feature is limited, allowing only free text and voice search.

PROS:

• Four-step filtering process ensures that all images are appropriate for kids
• Downloaded images automatically cite author and image license terms
• Voice search
• No account required

CONS:

• Limited search capabilities
• No category list for browsing

Pexels

A top resource not only for free stock images, but also free stock videos. Pexels hosts photo and video challenges for multiple categories, with professional photography equipment awarded to winners. While you’ll find many high-quality images and videos on Pexels, there’s no category list or dedicated color search, so finding a specific image may take longer. No account is required, but create a free account to collect your favorites and contribute your own images and videos. Currently, 28 languages are supported.

PROS:

• Search by keyword, orientation, size, color, popularity, user, or upload date
• License rules clearly explained
• 28 languages supported
• User challenges

CONS:

• No comprehensive category list for browsing

Freepik

With photos, vector images, Photoshop (PSD) files, customizable icons, easy-to-edit illustrations, and an online template editor, Freepik is a one-stop shop for free images and image tools. Freepik's, freemium model provides a generous selection of high quality free content, although free users are limited to ten daily downloads.

PROS:

• Easy sign in with Google, Apple, or email.
• High-quality photos, vectors, illustrations, 3D models, video snippets, and more
• Filters let users search by keywords, free or premium, orientation, color, AII-generated, file type, popularity, and more
• Built-in editing tools for images and videos.

CONS:

• Free plan limited to 10 downloads daily.
• No access to premium images with free plan
• Attribution required for free downloads.

Unsplash

Thousands of free sometimes ordinary—but often eye-popping—images include categories such as nature, current events, technology, and many more suitable for education use. Most are free to download and use according to the Unsplash License, with the exception of premium (Unsplash+) content. A fun feature for contributors is the “Made With Unsplash” page, which showcases creative remixes of its images. Unsplash provides strong support for its contributors, so it's a great place for young photographers to get started sharing their work.

PROS:

• Many interesting, unusual, and stylish images to choose from
• Search by keyword or image
• Four download sizes
• Users can upload their own work
• Clear rules for licenses and attribution
• No account required

CONS:

• Premium content mixed with free content in searches
• Lacks comprehensive category list for browsing

Kaboompics

A professional-looking site featuring free high-quality photos in diverse categories, from lifestyle to technology to healthcare. Users can search by category, color of the spectrum and image orientation. A nifty perk is that each photo includes a free downloadable complementary colors palette. No account required.

PROS:

• Each image includes a specific color palette with color hex codes
• Custom size and orientation downloads
• Search by keyword, category, color, recency, or popularity
• Photoshoots are a great way to explore a theme
• Clear license and attribution rules

CONS:

• Sometimes tricky to distinguish premium photo blocks from free content
• "View more" button links to paid image site

NegativeSpace

A stylish and professional-looking site offering a wide variety of free, high-resolution Creative Commons CC0 photographs as well as free virtual backgrounds for videoconferencing and remote teaching. More than two dozen categories are available, from Abstract to Virtual Backgrounds. Search by category, hashtag and color. Be sure to check out the awesome outer space photos! No account required.

PROS:

• Easy to navigate interface
• Browse two dozen categories

CONS:

• Keyword search is somewhat unreliable
• No choice of download size

Gratisography

Gratisography is a great resource for creative and quirky stock photos and vector images. It's not only fun to browse, but also provides a clear, plain-language explanation of what users can and can’t do with the photos. Search by topic or browse categories including nature, food, urban and more. Collections range from “AI Generated” to “Artsy Architecture" to “Goofy Grownups” to “Hijinks Hands.” Although the site is heavy on whimsy, it’s not light on quality -- vectors and images appear to be professionally composed and executed.

PROS:

• Unusual, uncommon, and amusing high-quality images
• Search by keyword or browse categories and collections
• Clear license terms
• No account required

CONS:

• No attribution provided for images
• AI-generated images are not always labeled as such

Flickr Commons: The Commons

The Commons, from the photo-sharing site Flickr, serves as a free catalog of the world’s public photos with no known copyright restrictions, contributed by dozens of government and academic bodies. Comments from Flickr members provide context and additional information for many images. Search by subject, color, black and white, or seven different license options. Safe search option available.

PROS:

• Search by keyword, license, color, pattern, Flickr members, and themed groups
• Safe search available
• Users can contribute their own content
• Wide variety of image download sizes
• Great for historical images

CONS:

• Because contributors may disable downloading, not all images can be used
• License terms not always clear
• Account required
• Relatively high percentage of older content of varied quality

Vector Characters

A relatively simple site, Vector Characters focuses on character-based vector art in categories such as man, woman, child, robot, etc. For adding a touch of whimsy or humor to any school project, check out the Fruit Vector, Monster Vector, and Animal Vector categories. Free and premium content. Find free content by entering "free" in the search box.

PROS:

• No account required
• Hundreds of free vector images.
• Browse by category or character type.
• Informative blog posts

CONS:

• Limited search options
• No photos or other types of illustrations

In her chapter in the book, which is composed by chapters written by various education experts, Royce argues that “the future educator will be less a conveyor of information and more a facilitator of learning experiences that foster critical thinking, creativity, and adaptability.”

However, this transformation requires rethinking how we train teachers and prepare them to implement these forward-thinking processes, says Royce, co-director of MAT in STEM Education at Shippensburg University and a past president of the National Science Teaching Association.

Recently, Royce shared highlights from Futuristic Insights on Education, which is free and available online, and other advice on making modern classrooms more friendly, inviting, effective, and future-ready. For Royce, that starts with how we educate teachers and facilitate these types of practices at a cultural level.

1. Truly Be A Guide On The Side

“We, as a society and field, need to redefine the teacher's role,” Royce says. “Teachers must transition from being content deliverers to facilitators who guide students in developing critical thinking, creativity, and adaptability for a future that doesn’t yet exist.”

Many educators don’t argue with this premise. Even so, many of these strategies are not implemented, or only implemented on occasion.

“We may say that we do this with terms like 'guide on the side,' etc., [but] we need to restructure how we teach to fully embrace this idea,” Royce says. “This means that we need to help students apply the knowledge and skills they have learned.”

Often, doing this involves incorporating teaching philosophies such as flipped and active learning, place-based learning, and problem-based learning into teacher education programs.

2. Forget Memorization

Memorizing for quizzes and tests is an aspect of teaching that Royce would like to see deemphasized in the future.

“Traditional memorization must give way to developing problem-solving, inquiry-based, and project-based learning approaches that engage students in real-world challenges,” she says. “When students are asked to engage with content using these types of skills, it also prioritizes the 4Cs: communication, collaboration, critical thinking, and creativity.”

She adds, “If we truly structure the learning process in this way, it will help students to also become lifelong learners, which is needed due to continuous technological and societal changes.”

3. Break The Status Quo

Many educators are familiar with these types of strategies but are often unable to implement any because they have to cover specific content or prepare students for standardized tests, Royce says. Another barrier can be that teachers worry that if they fully adopt the “guide on the side” approach, their classes will be misinterpreted by their higher-ups or parents. Royce herself has experienced this.

“I ​​had one former principal tell me that my classroom does not look like learning is happening because students were not in their seats taking notes, with my quizzing them throughout,” she says.

She adds that the field should move away from this type of thinking. “Teacher preparation programs need to focus on teaching strategies that break the cycle of ‘the status quo’ or the ‘teach the way we were taught’ approach,” she says.

Royce has many strategies in mind for doing this, including reimagining clinical or field-based experiences to include mentorship in innovative classrooms where facilitation is modeled and having new educators learn about exciting teaching techniques from across the globe.

4. Make Traditional Lessons More Innovative

To see this type of thinking in action, Royce shares an example of an intermediate lesson on weather, geared to middle grades.

“In the traditional approach where information is conveyed, the teacher might present a slideshow on types of clouds, define weather terms, explain the four seasons, and show a video about weather patterns,” Royce says. “Students take notes and complete a worksheet matching cloud names to images.”

Meanwhile, the same type of assignment will look totally different in a classroom that utilizes both place-based and three-dimensional instruction in science, Royce says. In this type of classroom, the teacher will pose questions to students such as:

• Why are there more clouds in the morning some days?
• How does our local landscape (mountains, rivers, urban areas) affect the weather?
• Can we predict tomorrow’s weather using what we see today?

“With these questions, the students are asked to keep track of their own understandings as they record local sky conditions, temperatures, cloud types, using observations or photos, and any precipitation. Students then compare their data, identifying patterns and differences,” Royce says.

This and activities related to the exercise allow “students to construct understanding through direct engagement, critical thinking, and collaboration, guided by the teacher, not directed by a lecture, outline, or notes," she says. "This method empowers students as investigators, with the teacher facilitating discovery and making the content relevant and memorable.”

• AI Won’t Revolutionize Education. Here’s What Will
• Reimagining Learning Spaces To Empower Students

The company behind the platform says that developing a stronger connection between teacher and student can have a positive impact on student academic growth, well-being, and social development.

This offers a digital way to forge that connection with lots of support for teachers that can make this an easy way to engage. Crucially, this is also about making students feel comfortable so they too want to engage and share.

This guide aims to explain all you need to know about Along for your class.

What is Along?

Along is a digital communications platform designed to help strengthen the relationship between teachers and students.

Using a mixture of text messaging, images, and videos, this offers a rich way for teachers to make contact with students and for them to respond and start a digital dialogue -- which can also spill over into physical conversations.

Unlike many other platforms, this one is purely focused on conversations that encourage deeper thinking and reflection for students and teachers. So while you can bring in academic topics, that's not the main focus here, with this being a more SEL-focused platform.

The idea is for teachers to better understand their students so that they can help meet their needs in the classroom far better and more effortlessly.

How does Along work?

Along works digitally, allowing teachers and students to connect across their own devices. Initially, teachers can sign-up using a Google or Microsoft account for quick access.

A range of resources are available immediately, including tutorials and teacher resources to help support reflective thinking. The idea of reflection itself is covered with tips on how to find time to do this, ways to reflect, research on how this works, and more.

A useful Google Slides presentation is available for teachers to share with students as a way to explain the idea behind this process so they can choose to get onboard, as informed and willing.

Teachers can email students the sign-up link so they are then able to using their own accounts to get started.

What are the best Along features?

Along helpfully offers plenty of pre-built resources for teachers to use. This includes guidance and explanations with research. But, perhaps most crucially, there are also pre-written questions.

Thanks to a mix of research-informed and partner co-created content, teachers can access a mix of open and scaffolded questions to get conversations started with students.

Once the response comes in, the teacher can reflect on it and analyze what was said -- individually as well as for class-wide trends. Support is provided from Along that helps during this part of the process too, which includes insights and recommendations.

Research-informed questions include ones such as, "What's one way you like to be recognized when you've worked hard?" with a selection of optional responses from which to pick. This is a more obvious and direct one, in terms of actionable outcome for teachers, but just shows how helpful this kind of space for dialogue can be.

How much does Along cost?

Along offers a range of options, all of which are free packages.

The Free option is for individuals and gets you on-demand setup and usage as well as troubleshooting technical support.

The School package, also free, gets you clever secure sync, live support for setup, dedicated onboarding, admin dashboard, school-wide sentiment survey, custom insights, and dedicated implementation planning for strategy and execution.

The District package, also free, gets you the above only applied to multiple schools at once.

Along best tips and tricks

Teach yourself first
Use the resources on offer to become accustomed to how the platform works before you start offering it to students.

Go IRL too
Determine if follow-up chats in real life are helpful to your student, and don't be afraid to use that should things get more complex.

Use others
This platform can open up more discussion points so be prepared to use other teachers, parents, and school counselors as needed.

• New Teacher Starter Kit
• Best Tools for Teachers

This month's new offerings feature many products that are being showcased at ISTELive 2025.

Avocor | A Series

The A Series features a detachable 4k camera for high-quality video. With Avocor EDLA OPS PC, users can enhance their Google experience with a certified Google EDLA display, enjoying the full benefits while maintaining energy efficiency. Handwriting recognition enables users to write naturally in whiteboarding mode before instantly converting to text.

Cellairis | CyberSystem

The new CyberSystem is a signal-blocking pouch designed to reduce distractions while keeping phones safely accessible for emergencies. Features include: Water-resistant and tear-resistant materials; ultra-strong Velcro; fits all major phones (with or without cases), plus earbuds, and smartwatches; hands-free carrying solution with attached carabiner; ID holder; built-in signal blocking stops incoming/outgoing communication.

Discovery Ed | DreamBox Reading PreK-Grade 5 Enhancements

Discovery Education is adding significant enhancements to the online, adaptive literacy program DreamBox Reading. These improvements broaden DreamBox Reading’s coverage to support all PreK-5 learners and expand educators’ abilities to develop students’ foundational skills and confidence in reading through personalized instruction. Among the latest enhancements made to DreamBox Reading are:  expanded access to adaptive, personalized learning for older readers; enhancements to the student experience; and improved teaching and learning Supports

Edlio | Community Analytics Dashboard

Designed to foster stronger engagement with families and communities, Edlio's new Community Analytics dashboard enables education leaders to monitor communication success, identify contact gaps, and take action to ensure that vital information reaches every member of their school community. It includes deliverability reports, targeted group messaging, and multilingual support.

Epson | PowerLite L-Series laser projectors

Epson's new three-chip 3LCD PowerLite L-Series laser projectors are compatible with Apple AirPlay, allowing users to share videos, photos, music, and more from Apple devices directly to their projector. The new lineup delivers higher brightness and pro level features in a portable design, with an expanded range of throw ratios from 0.5 to 2.2.

Ergotron | YES Adjusta Pre-wired Charging Cart

Ergotron’s YES Adjusta Pre-wired Charging Carts are available in two configurations to support safe, secure, and fast charging. The YES24 fits up to 24 devices with 24 charging bays pre-wired with USB-C power adapters, and the YES36 fits up to 36 devices with 36 charging bays pre-wired with USB-C power adapters. Because each Charging Cart is pre-wired with its own dedicated set of power adapters accessible behind a lockable panel, schools can eliminate the ongoing need to replace lost, stolen, or damaged charging cords.

Extron | UCS SW 313

The UCS SW 313 is a collaboration and presentation switcher for presentation, unified communications, and other meeting spaces. It features three inputs that support USB and dual HDMI sources and five USB device ports connect to peripherals such as USB cameras and microphones. The USB-C input provides video and audio, USB data, and 60 watts of power to charge a user's laptop computer. The HDMI output provides signal for the room display and supports resolutions up to 4K/60.

FETC | FETC State Network Alliance

The FETC State Network Alliance is a groundbreaking initiative designed to unite state edtech leaders in scaling innovation, amplifying professional learning, and sharing resources to strengthen the national education ecosystem. This alliance demonstrates how state leaders are leveraging technology to enhance teaching and learning while also cultivating resilient, future-ready communities. The FETC State Network Alliance will operate as a national network dedicated to promoting innovation, enhancing professional development, and showcasing exemplary practices in leveraging technology to support teaching and learning.

Hemco | Vented Demonstration Hood

The Vented Demonstration Hood is ideal for classroom experiments and demonstrations because of its viewing visibility from all four sides. An instructor can perform a science demonstration while the class gathers around and safely observes. The hood can also be used as a student workstation, or vented storage enclosure. A hinged viewing window or horizontal sliding glass panels allow easy access and user safety. An integral exhaust blower with a front-mounted switch safely exhausts fumes and odors. A vapor-proof light is factory-installed. A power cord is provided for immediate operation.

HMH | HMH AI Tools

HMH AI Tools integrate secure, purpose-built artificial intelligence with trusted curriculum to deliver personalized, high-quality instruction at scale. Designed for educators, these tools automate daily instructional tasks—like generating leveled reading passages, vocabulary scaffolds, and formative assessments—so teachers can focus more on student engagement and less on prep. Embedded in the HMH ecosystem and aligned with HMH curriculum, HMH AI Tools ensure seamless integration with district instructional materials and professional learning strategies.

Kramer | MTX3-88-PR Pro 8x8 4K60

The MTX3-88-PR Pro 8x8 4K60 is an all-in-one matrix that offers high-performance video processing and fast-switching scaling capabilities for AV needs in enterprise, education and government settings and beyond. This single-box solution is rack-efficient and reduces installation complexity, required cabling and potential points of failure. It is ideal for sharing local and remote content.

LG | LG CreateBoard Core, LG Chromebox OPS, and LG CreateBoard Prep

Among the new offerings on display at ISTELive 2025, LG is debuting LG CreateBoard Core, tailored for schools that prefer to operate with their own content management systems and operating platforms. Also featured is the new LG Chromebox OPS for LG CreateBoard, which transforms the display into a large-format Chromebook, enabling seamless integration with Google-based learning environments. Rounding out the innovations is LG CreateBoard Prep, a new, free interactive lesson-planning software that allows teachers to prepare and collaborate from virtually anywhere using a laptop or tablet.

Magewell | Pro Convert IP to USB

The new Pro Convert IP to USB is a plug-and-play device that enables computers, including laptops, to capture an NDI®, NDI® HX or other streaming sources through a USB interface with no external power required. It is ideal for use in conference rooms, production studios, and in environments where software does not natively support NDI or other IP protocols and/or the installation of additional software is not permitted.

Microsoft | Learning Zone, plus AI updates to Microsoft 365 Copilot and Copilot+ PCs

Microsoft’s new solutions to support educators include: Microsoft Learning Zone, the first education-focused Copilot+ PC app, allows educators to quickly create, share, and track personalized and interactive learning activities right from their Copilot+ PC; Teach module in Microsoft 365 Copilot App, a hub that brings the latest functionality for AI-powered features for educators in one place, allowing for easy lesson planning, material creation and modification, and more; and Study Guides in Copilot Notebooks, a tool to help students, or educators, turn materials into organized study material with engaging learning activities such as podcasts, flashcards, quizzes and more.

Nearpod | AI Literacy Lessons and Question and Lesson generators

Nearpod has launched a comprehensive package of AI literacy lessons that introduce students to AI concepts and technology, building a strong foundation for responsible and ethical AI use. Nearpod’s 21st Century Readiness Program equips educators with tools to teach AI literacy, digital citizenship, and other essential future-ready skills. The new AI generators can save teachers time by instantly generating high-quality interactive instructional materials customized by topic, grade, and standard. This gives teachers endless ways to introduce and re-teach content in order to differentiate their instruction.

Nureva | HDX Series

The HDX series is a response to the costs and complexities faced by IT managers who need to support a growing set of in-room audio requirements beyond full-room microphone pickup. This includes high-quality in-room media playback, voice amplification, voice lift, assistive listening, lesson capture, meeting recording and support for AI agents. The HDX series delivers this functionality in an integrated, cost-effective solution that doesn’t require special expertise to install, set up or maintain.

Philips | Unite LED 6000 Series All In One

The new foldable and height-adjustable 135” Philips Unite LED 6000 Series All In One combines cutting-edge Chip on Board (COB) technology with a fine 1.5mm pixel pitch for ultra reliable, ultra sharp visuals, from spectacular video to intricate meeting room presentations. It ensures content is always presented as intended, delivering vibrant colors, deep blacks, and uniform brightness.

Roland | BN2-30 Printer/Cutter and BD-12 UV Flatbed Printer

The BN2-30 is an eco-solvent printer/cutter with a maximum material width of 30 inches (736 mm), and the BD-12, a UV direct-to-object printer with a print bed of 12.2” x 8.3” (305 mm x 210 mm) that can accommodate items slightly larger than A4 in size. The BD-12 UV flatbed printer is designed for high-definition printing on three-dimensional objects up to A4 size and four inches (102 mm) in height, such as smartphone covers, notepads, sports memorabilia, giftware, fashion accessories, and promotional items. Optional rotary devices are also available that allow users to print easily and effectively on cylindrical objects up to two inches (50 mm) in diameter, such as cosmetics and travel items.

SMART | SMART Board GX Plus

Packed with premium features to help schools deliver modern learning experiences without the premium price, the GX Plus stands as a purpose-built innovation for both teachers and school leaders. It features a refreshed design, built-in tools that spark learning, and greater energy efficiency than competing models. Other key features include: EDLA licensed Android 14 experience with better security, speed, and access to the Google Play Store; upgradable to future versions of Android for superior longevity; integration with Google for Education and Microsoft 365 apps; 4K Ultra HD resolution with responsive multi-touch interactivity; and much more.

Sphero | Sphero Edu App upgrades

Sphero has introduced Python programming in the Sphero Edu App, giving students the tools to explore one of today’s most widely used and in-demand coding languages. Python joins JavaScript as an advanced programming option, helping learners bridge visual coding with text-based syntax. A new Python lesson collection for BOLT+, focused on robotics and physical computing, is now available in Sphero Central for students in grades 7–10. These lessons move programming off the screen and into real-world applications while helping students understand Python fundamentals. An educator guide supports each lesson with background info, instructional tips, and extension ideas.

Targus | VersaVu Bluetooth Keyboard Cases

The Targus VersaVu Bluetooth Keyboard Cases are versatile, slim keyboard cases made to upgrade the latest iPad models to a laptop-like experience, while keeping them protected. Standout features include: patented 360-degree rotation for seamless portrait and landscape viewing, an adjustable kickstand for comfortable typing, viewing, sketching, and reading angles, a full QWERTY backlit keyboard with large multi-touch trackpad and media keys, and mil-spec drop-rated protection made from high-quality materials and components.

Vernier | Go Direct 2-Axis Force Plate and Go Direct Turbidity Sensor

Vernier Science Education recently launched two new wireless sensors—the Go Direct 2-Axis Force Plate and the Go Direct Turbidity Sensor—for high school- and college-level science. These sensors can be used in a wide range of hands-on investigations to help students easily collect and analyze scientific data as they make real-world connections. The Go Direct 2-Axis Force Plate combines the Go Direct Force Plate and the Lateral Force Accessory into a single wireless tool, while the Go Direct Turbidity Sensor helps students analyze various water samples as part of water quality, water treatment, and short- and long-term water pollution investigations.

• Edtech Show & Tell

All these services integrate the science of reading best practices. Amira can also adhere to each district’s chosen reading curriculum.

Here’s a quick look at everything you need to know about Amira Learning.

What Is Amira Learning?

Amira Learning’s system is built upon research led by Jack Mostow, a professor at Carnegie Mellon who helped pioneer AI literacy education. Amira uses Claude AI to power its AI features, but these features are different than many other AI tools on the market. Instead of focusing on chat and generative response, Amira’s key feature is its advanced speech recognition and natural language processing capabilities, which allow the app to “hear” when a student is struggling and tailor suggestions to that student’s particular mistakes.

Though it’s not meant to replace a teacher, Amira provides real-time feedback and also helps teachers pinpoint where a student is struggling. For these reasons, Amira Learning is a favorite of education scientists and advocates for science of reading-based literacy instruction. The tool currently is used by more than 4 million students worldwide and across the U.S.

What Does The Research Say About Amira?

In one study by Columbia University, Amira's reading tutor demonstrated the ability to match human tutoring outcomes after just 30 sessions. Carnegie Mellon University researchers found that Amira’s read-out-loud tutoring approach significantly improved vocabulary in students.

These are just a few of many studies touting the benefits of the Amira app. The company notes that other studies have shown Amira outperforming human students at scale.

Amira is also constantly improving as AI continues to evolve. Amira is working with Digital Promise on a nearly $10 million grant-funded study to boost AI’s ability to recognize children’s speech overall, particularly children who speak English as a second language

How Much Does Amira Cost?

Amira is available through district-wide licensing, with flexible options specific to meet the scale and needs of each implementation.

Amira Learning Tips and Tricks

Check With Other Districts That Have Used Amira

Amira is used by schools in all 50 states, so if the tool is new to you, reach out to a district that has used it nearby and to their results. Utah has published a report on Amira’s efficacy in schools in the state, and in 2023 and 2014, the published data demonstrates that students who use Amira made significant gains.

Share Data With Students and Parents

A tool such as Amira is only effective if students use it. Reminding students and their parents that students who read with Amira outperform those who don’t can help encourage them to take advantage of the benefits Amira offers.

Read Aloud With Amira

One of the aspects that makes Amira unique is its ability to listen to students as they read. This feature is one of the best examples of AI edtech around, say some researchers.

Let Amira Help You As a Teacher

Using Amira as an AI assistant that can help coach students and identify areas they need to improve on can help make a literacy class more effective.

• AI Reading Tutors Are Already in Schools. Digital Promise Wants To Make Them Better
• The Science of Reading: What Teachers Need to Know

In the first class meeting, there are three key points that I emphasize that leaders need to consider.

1. Balancing usability versus security. Seeing regular news items about ransomware attacks on schools and public organizations tends to push leaders to embrace all of the security recommendations of their IT staff. However, usability is just as important as security. Secure systems that cannot be effectively accessed by end users are not effective. Security systems that require too many steps for end users tend to encourage users to develop work arounds that may be significantly less secure. Leaders must ensure that systems protect data without negatively impacting workflow.

2. Leaders do not need to be technology experts, but they need a basic understanding of the way technology systems are built and how they function within an organizational ecosystem. This foundational knowledge enables leaders to ask informed questions, engage meaningfully in strategic planning, and evaluate the risks and benefits of potential technology investments. Without this baseline understanding, leaders risk becoming overly reliant on technical staff or even IT vendors, which can lead to misaligned priorities, missed opportunities, or inadequate oversight.

For example, a school district superintendent doesn’t need to write code or pull reports, but they should understand how a student information system (SIS) integrates with extant learning management platforms and state reporting tools before approving a new purchase. This awareness helps them ensure that procurement decisions align with instructional goals and compliance requirements, rather than being driven solely by technical convenience or vendor promises.

3. Strong leadership is data-informed and not data-driven. The difference is that data-informed leaders view decisions as based upon data but they also take organizational culture and their leadership experiences into account. This provides the necessary human agency so decisions are made holistically and not only based upon data without context.

For example, a new principal once sent a truancy letter to the parents of a child who was struggling with cancer because they had missed ten days of school. The parents called me to complain. I was shocked, but when I reached out to the new principal, she told me she didn’t think that she had the ability to not follow the ten-day letter rule. Previous leadership had felt that such data had to be followed without considering the context of the absences, etc. As we enter a world that is becoming more data-rich by the day, it is essential that leaders at all levels understand that their experiences and judgement have to be engaged to bring context and hopefully clarity to the piles of data being gathered.

In today’s technology-saturated environment, organizational leaders must develop a strong foundational understanding of how technology influences strategic and operational decisions. Aspiring leaders need to balance usability with security so they recognize that overly secure systems that hinder usability can lead to risky workarounds. They need to understand how technology systems function and how the various facets of technology impact one another within an organization in order to make informed, mission-aligned decisions. Finally, they need to be data-informed rather than data-driven, and be able to contextualize data within the realities of organizational culture and human experience to avoid harmful missteps and make thoughtful decisions.

• 9 Ways School Leaders Can Use AI
• AI Resources for District Leaders

The idea behind finding that sweet spot on price and power, is to ensure your school can afford to get as many machines as possible, without scrimping on performance.

It's worth considering what these are being used for as that could mean you buy a mix. Some more powerful machines for taxing gaming that requires the fastest performance, and more affordable options for those that have less pressure to perform -- such as those with lots of processing going on in the cloud, for example.

You may also want to think about setting aside budget for accessories such as gaming keyboard and mouse, headphones, webcams, and even gaming chairs.

This guide lays out the best affordable gaming computers for schools available right now.

The best affordable gaming computers for schools

1. HP Victus 15L: Best overall affordable gaming computer

The HP Victus 15L is the perfect combination of gaming specific setup for performance power while keeping that price tag well under the $1,000 mark. Despite this packing in plenty of power, it also remains relatively compact in a home console-sized setup that can make fitting many into a small space a possibility.

Inside you get all the grunt of an Intel Core 10th-gen processor backed by Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 Super graphics, up to 16B of RAM, and up to 1TB of storage. More than enough for most gaming needs in school then.

So when it comes to getting the most out of your space, and your budget, this is an option that does that really very well. And it's worth keeping in mind this comes from HP, which is a reputable brand that offers good support and warranty cover, so you have that longer term peace of mind also.

As a bonus this also offers a good selection of ports on the front of the machine, so it can be easily interfaced by students using their personal hardware, or for accessing external drives more easily than on if these were on the back.

An excellent affordable gaming computer for schools with a good selection of variation in specs so you can find the ideal price and power point that meets your needs.

2. Refract Gaming Jade: Best custom build

The Refract Gaming Jade is a custom-built machine that is setup by Overclockers to offer a full-on PC gaming experience without the usual steep price tag. It's worth noting this is often available in sales so you can get it for a lower price if you keep your eyes peeled.

This looks great, with see-through sides, LED lighting, and fantastic framing. But that goes further as it produces superb-looking gaming visuals too, right up to 4K quality thanks to the hardware. This usefully comes in one configuration, making things very simple when buying.

Everything is powered by the AMD Ryzen 7 7700 and backed by Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 Ti graphics, 32GB of DDR5 RAM, and a 1TB SSD. That makes this an entry-level gaming PC but one that should offer more than enough power for schools. It's also simple to setup and use with room to upgrade, which makes it a more future-proof option than many at this price and spec level.

It's worth noting that this is air-cooled only, so if you have a lot of these in a room it could get quite noisy. Although since most gamers have headsets on anyway this may not be much of an issue.

3. Lenovo Legion Tower 5i: Best for multi-use

The Lenovo Legion Tower 5i is around the $1,000 mark yet offers powerful gaming specs and works well for wider PC uses, too. It can be good for gaming while also providing enough grunt for video and image-editing purposes.

The tower is an eye-catcher with its glass side and multi-colored LED lighting setup. Thanks to plenty of ventilation holes on the front, this can be cooled efficiently so you get powerful performance at the 1080p-quality level, which 77fps levels on the likes of Cyberpunk 2077.

Don't expect this to offer ray-tracing level performance as that's rare at this price point without suffering on FPS performance. Instead, you can enjoy quality graphical gameplay from the Intel Core i7 CPU backed by Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 Ti with up to 16GB of RAM and a combination 1TB HDD and 512GB SSD for storage capacity and speed combined.

4. Acer Predator Orion 3000: Best compact model

The Acer Predator Orion 3000 manages to keep the price low while also making sure the footprint of this machine is minimal. As such, this is a compact PC that won't take up too much room while still offering plenty of power at that sub-$1,000 price point. You can go higher than that with specs, if needed though.

At the base you get an Intel Core i5 11th-Gen chip backed by Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 graphics card, and up to 16GB of DDR4 RAM plus 512GB or 1TB SSD.

This system uses the company's FrostBlade cooling fans to make sure the setup remains chill even under the most intense pressure. This runs Windows with gaming-friendly features such as the Auto HDR to ensure the dynamic range is as vast as possible to give you the most realistic picture quality.

On top of all that you have a glass side with LED lighting for a truly powerful gaming machine look, plus plenty of space for future upgrades.

5. HP Omen 25L: Best performance on a budget

The HP Omen 25L is a model that stands out when it comes to design and performance. While still keeping the price low this manages to offer superb performance for 1080p gaming, meaning high frame rates on pretty much anything your throw at this machine.

You have an RBG LED lighting setup on the glass-sided main unit that features clean lines and a minimalism that really makes this look fantastic. It also offers super simple tool-free access, making it a good model for upgrades and changes whenever needed.

The top quality performance comes at the base configuration but you can spend more and get that even more powerful, if needed. On entry you get plenty with that AMD Ryzen 5 5600G CPU, AMD Radeon RX 6500 XT GPU, 8GB RAM, and 256GB SSD.

6. Asus ROG Ally: Best handheld

The Asus ROG Ally is a gaming computer compact enough to hold in your hands. This is a really great option if mobility is an important requirement, as this can go anywhere.

Thanks to a built-in 7-inch IPS 120Hz 1080p display flanked by controls and speakers, this is an all-in-one setup. Yet, despite that size, it still packs in full-powered gaming specs.

That's due to a powerful AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme chip running the show with the backing of an RDNA 3 GPU, a massive 16GB of DDR5 RAM, and a plentiful 512GB SSD.

Despite having all this, and in such a small package, it still manages to keep the price down, making it one of the most affordable options on this list.

7. MSI Codex R2: Best for power without compromises

The MSI Codex R2 is a powerful-yet-affordable gaming machine that offers 1080p-quality gaming and even 1440p performance without making many compromises at all.

This is thanks to plenty of grunt in the form of that Intel Core i5-14400F processor that's backed by an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 GPU as well as 16GB dual channel DDR5 RAM and SSD storage.

This also looks the part with that RGB lighting setup that shows off the plentiful hardware as well as the space for more if needed.

8. Zhic Gaming PC: Best super cheap

The Zhic Gaming PC is a super affordable option that is sub-$500 at time of publishing. Despite that low price, it still manages to offer decent specs, including plentiful RAM at 16GB and a hefty 1TB of SSD storage. Plus, it's powered by the AMD Ryzen 5 5600G CPU and backed by AMD Radeon Vega graphics.

This is where money is clearly saved, as the graphics are built into the CPU rather than having a dedicated separate GPU. As such, this will be more limited than the other machines on this list in terms of top performance power.

That said, you can upgrade as required, so adding in a GPU to this setup may work out more affordable, and powerful, than some of the pre-built options on this list.

• Best Hardware for Teachers
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“AI has been here—it’s just forward-facing now and it’s here to stay,” says Bedden, who is wrapping up a five-year superintendency at Centennial School District in Pennsylvania. “There is uncertainty and a lack of awareness, and trepidation based on fear. But, for lack of a better term, it’s not the boogeyman.”

At the Networking Lunch and Panel Discussion at Tech & Learning’s EdExec Summit in Atlanta on August 19, Bedden will share the impacts of going big on strategic AI implementation in Centennial schools.

“We’re doing students a disservice if we don’t require [AI], and include work about responsible use,” says Bedden, who will be more than a month into his new role leading Village Charter School in New Jersey by conference week.

Bedden notes that before long, AI literacy will be as fundamental as traditional literacy. Such a statement “is absolutely controversial, but it’s our prediction,” he says. At college and in the workforce, AI will be part of students’ world, so talking through how to prepare students is educators’ responsibility.

Centennial’s AI implementation, launched in 2023, reflects leaders’ recognition that it’s far more than just another tech trend. Priorities include:

• Equipping educators and staff to safely and effectively leverage AI for innovative teaching, personalized learning, and efficiency.
• Establishing clear parameters and expectations for student use on generative AI in assignments.
• Building a foundation of responsible AI use that emphasizes transparency, accountability, and safety (including a mandatory district-developed AI Ethics Course for students in grades 7 to 12).
• Assessing AI tools continuously for age-appropriateness, potential bias, privacy protections, accessibility, and data security.
• Adhering to regulations (FERPA, IDEA, ADA, CIPA, COPPA) and district policies to ensure a safe, legally sound environment.

Centennial served as a model for this work when hosting the recent 2025 AI Symposium for Philadelphia region education leaders. In addition, through his consulting work Bedden is promoting how AI can create a more efficient, effective, and supportive learning environment, plus help schools reduce operational costs by optimizing budgets and minimizing waste while also meeting regulatory compliance requirements.

AI Efficiencies for Leaders and Staff

Technology implementations saving resources sounds like a budgetary win, yet one that could cost jobs. At Centennial, Bedden says, “We deployed without the intent to replace staff. If anything, it helped our staff be more efficient and effective, and in some cases we haven’t had to add staff.”

In his own work, using AI has been invaluable—resulting in colleagues being “in awe of how fast I’ve been able to deliver a response or product that has been requested,” Bedden says.

For example, recently he had to update the board on a school incident and got an assist from AI, with goals and guardrails. He asked for a summary of the incident and an email response that doesn’t violate privacy. “It gave me a succinct response and removed student names for me,” he shares. Then he asked for wording to show how the incident response adhered to a specific board policy.

When a colleague asks for assistance with a project, Bedden might share various AI-produced actions to consider, plus the iterative process he used for fine tuning the ideas. It doesn’t take long and he can quickly continue with his own to-dos.

Parents and other constituents interacting with Centennial’s website can now use an AI chatbot to get questions answered. “We call that a closed AI tool because it only pulls from our website,” Bedden says. “We didn’t want it pulling from outside. But if it doesn’t exist on the website, then people can’t give us feedback. It’s helping us improve transparency and service.”

AI for Teaching and Learning

Teachers and parents have had mixed reactions to the AI focus. “One thing we did from the get-go was communicate to parents, trying to get everyone on the same playing field,” Bedden says. “We wrote newsletters explaining what AI was and that we were going to be strategic. … Some people were hungry and excited about it, and a lot of people were like, ‘No, kids are going to cheat.’”

A video featuring three students sharing they already use AI—such as to get an explanation of a topic that’s different from a confusing one presented in class—helped show the need for educators to learn more.

Employee surveys made clear the need to address the technology’s human aspect. “You’ve got to be mindful of the false information, what they call hallucinations. They do exist,” Bedden says. “I always ask for evidence on a statement.”

Teachers get the final say on whether students use AI or not, and any cheating is handled like plagiarism. In their ethics course, students learn about properly referencing AI use and to “never look at it as the final say,” he explains. “As long as we do that, then we own the outcome.”

Bedden’s hope for AI is that educators accept it as part of our world. “But we also embrace our responsibility of keeping the human in the loop, and making sure users use it with a code of ethics,” he says.

• EdExec Summit

The company behind this appears excited to say that this represents a "new paradigm for education." A bold claim, but one that appears to be backed up by some very well thought out, designed, and built VR experiences.

The end result is a way to teach STEM subjects through physical experiences, rather than simply having to conceive what numbers and concepts might represent.

The platform was founded by Anurupa Ganguly, an MIT engineer turned educator. After working with districts for over a decade she decided we needed a new way to teach, and Prisms was born.

This guide aims to help you assess if Prisms could be a useful tool for your class.

What is Prisms?

Prisms is a digital learning platform that uses VR and AR to help teach math and science concepts in a more physical way.

The idea is to allow students to kinesthetically manipulate numbers around them in space to see how that can change and affect them -- before applying that to pen-and-paper work.

If a student can learn a STEM concept physically -- their way -- so that they can better grasp it at the outset, the idea is that they can then use that in future, and build on that more easily as they progress.

Using VR experiences, students can manipulate mathematical concepts while keeping focused on a real-world task, combining the two naturally so they can learn how it works through actual use.

How does Prisms work?

Prisms uses VR so you will need to have students wearing a headset and using the motion controls to interact with the augmented reality experience.

Currently, Prisms offers a service that not only delivers the software but also the hardware, which includes providing Pico and Meta Quest VR kits to schools. It is also working on Apple Vision Pro integration at time of publishing.

Educators are given guidance and training on both the use of the VR kits as well as working with the software. This includes ways to transition from the virtual learning environment to paper and pen work.

In one example, students are asked to put trash in a waste can before being taken to a virtual dump site to see that waste building. They are then in a virtual x-y space where they can manipulate the amount of trash coming in versus the capacity to deal with that, in order to see how too much can be a problem. At the same time they're learning how to formalize concepts of residuals in math.

What are the best Prisms features?

Prisms focuses on specific areas so teachers are able to work on a specific scale with students, based on the curriculum and their individual needs. While that covers wider areas such as Algebra 1, Geometry, Advanced Algebra, and both High School Chemistry and Biology, there's more.

Within grades 7 and 8 there are specific math concepts, including fractions, surface area, probability, ratios, volume, angles, functions, inequalities, and plenty more.

Prisms modules are created to fit into a teacher's calendar with pacing to suit. The idea being to teach bottle-neck topics, not just to review these.

A full day of professional development is available for teachers to understand how the Prisms idea works, to play with the hardware, learn the lesson cycle, get supporting curriculum materials, discover the Teacher Dashboard, and more.

Support is then ongoing with round-the-clock access to coaches and tech support for teachers.

All modules are available in six languages as well as English: Spanish, Haitian Creole, Portuguese, Vietnamese, Mandarin, and Russian.

How much does Prisms cost?

Prisms offers hardware, software, and support all as part of a package for classrooms and schools.

The basic setup gets you 35 VR headsets and chargers, at $20,000 per classroom. The software is then charged on use at $12-$14 per student, depending on scale.

Prisms best tips and tricks

Use the support
Go to the training and use continuing support to get the most out of all this platform has to offer both students and teachers.

Lead with this
Use these VR experiences as a way to teach new STEM concepts in which students can physically play and discover themselves.

Monitor with the Dashboard
Use the Teacher Dashboard to see exactly what students are seeing in order to help them along when needed and monitor understanding.

• New Teacher Starter Kit
• Best Tools for Teachers

This free/volunteer program will include regular meetings, activities, networking, and more, all designed to bolster personal growth and learning, as well as the general educational leadership pipeline.

“Through this mentoring program we are hoping to bridge the gap between established and emerging leaders, helping districts eliminate silos and collaborate to foster ongoing generations of people centered leaders,” says Marquita Amoah, Tech & Learning Event Partnership Development Director who will be overseeing the program.

With this program, Tech & Learning also hopes to capitalize on the collected professional experience and innovation that is so prominent among its advisors and on display during regional leadership summits, and share it more widely. As most educators know, the profession tends to be very siloed and fraught with internal politics, so being able to connect beyond your own school, district, and state can provide a unique opportunity to build your career pathway.

Why be a mentor?

Being a mentor provides an opportunity to give back without heavy time commitment and shape the next generation of education leaders. It will inspire you by exposing you to new perspectives, and also keep you connected to national education trends and conversations. It will also help you expand leadership influence

Why be a mentee?

If you’re an emerging district leader, this opportunity provides access to a trusted sounding board that can help you develop and grow your leadership mindset and confidence. You will also break out of your own school silo and gain insights on challenges in other schools and districts, which can inform best practices for your own challenges.

GO HERE TO REGISTER AS A MENTOR OR MENTEE

Spoiler alert: It won’t. At least not in the way some evangelists predict.

Why Tech Alone Doesn’t Transform Schools

Public education is not just a system. It’s a structure governed by high-stakes testing mandates, compliance-focused policies, union contracts, and deeply embedded cultural norms.

The issue isn’t a lack of innovation. It’s that the system is designed to resist meaningful change. It follows the money and prioritizes producing a compliant workforce.

We’ve Seen Better Models and Ignored Them

For decades, innovative school models that have broken the mold and defied conventional structures have emerged. These have proven that when you reimagine time, space, and curriculum, you can create places where learning feels real, relevant, and even joyful.

But today, most public schools have doubled down on test prep, pacing calendars, compliance, and seat time.

We already know what works. The real question is: Why don’t we adopt it?

What Other Countries Get Right About Innovation

Some nations do fund innovation, not just in theory, but in practice.

• In Israel, progressive schools, such as Democratic, Montessori, and Waldorf, are publicly funded on a per-pupil basis.
• In the Netherlands, the constitution guarantees freedom of education, meaning anyone can establish a school aligned with a specific philosophy (such as Dalton, Waldorf, or a religious one) and receive equal government funding.

In the U.S today., schools such as these are usually private, reserved for families with financial means. Public systems remain tethered to uniformity and test score data that primarily reflects socioeconomic status, English proficiency, and disability labels, making it a poor measure of factors under a school’s control.

If we can’t adopt successful, proven, human-centered approaches that already exist, why would we assume generative AI will force the change?

AI Can’t Fix What Culture Won’t Change

AI may auto-grade, differentiate, tutor, and respond instantly, but it won’t transform how we “do school” unless leadership, policy, and culture evolve.

Consider this: something as simple as the way we move students from class to class, by the ringing of bells, has remained unchanged for generations in most public schools. Students usually sit in rows, listen to lectures, memorize facts, and regurgitate information for tests.

And when AI emerged, what was the reaction of teachers, schools, and systems? Instead of integrating technology thoughtfully, many reverted to banning it, requiring students to rely solely on pen and paper. This approach, while well-intentioned, overlooks the fact that not all learners thrive with pen and paper, and technology can be an essential tool for many to express their thoughts and learn effectively.

If we haven't rethought these outdated fundamentals, why would we assume AI will suddenly spark a revolution?

Here’s What Will Revolutionize Education

If we truly want to revolutionize education, it won’t come from technology or AI. It will come from humans who embrace:

• Leadership that is bold enough to challenge the status quo and outdated norms
• Policy that funds and protects innovation in public schools, not just private ones
• Culture that understands and promotes student agency, relevance, and purpose

Until we empower public schools to implement what’s currently only available to the privileged, nothing will change.

The Revolution Comes from Us!

The revolution doesn’t come from smarter machines. It comes from smarter humans—leaders who dare to change policy and foster a culture that will open doors to innovation for all. That revolution won’t come from AI. It will come from us.

• Navigate AI with New Risk Assessments from Common Sense Media
• Lights, Camera, and 7 Actionable Ways to Use Google Vids

Of course, as you’ve already guessed, even though the people in the video look, sound, and appear to be real, they were indeed created with “prompts” by AI — specifically Google’s new VEO 3, the tech giant’s most advanced public-facing AI video model.

VEO 3 is currently available to subscribers of Google’s $250 per month AI Ultra plan, which makes it unavailable for many education budgets. Yet, it’s still technology that seems likely to influence education in positive and not-so-positive ways.

On the positive side, once the technology trickles down and becomes more available, it’s easy to imagine educational-use cases with tons of options to create videos that relate to class exercises in various subjects, such as history or STEM.

But this technology also highlights the gray area around AI use and what its impact on actual creatives might be. Beyond that, it will -- troublingly -- lend itself very well to deepfakes. AI videos have already been used to spread misinformation, and to bully and harass in school settings. A tool such as VEO 3 potentially makes those types of illegitimate, and in some cases criminal, uses easier to create and even harder to spot.

Here’s a closer look at everything educators need to know about VEO 3.

What Is VEO 3 and Why Is It Different Than Other Video Generators?

VEO 3 is Google’s latest and greatest AI video generator. Combining Google’s Veo, Imagen, and Gemini AI models, VEO 3 is designed to let users create short, life-like videos with audio, and then string these videos together in longer scenes.

The tool is designed to make writing prompts for these videos easy and intuitive. This audio and ease of prompting in particular stand out when compared to other Google video tools and the competition. For example, when I used OpenAI’s Sora video generator, there was no audio, and prompting was as unpleasant as high school calculus.

But reviewers say VEO 3 not only produces amazing clips with audio, it does so with relative ease, though VEO 3 is far from perfect.

What Are Some Ways VEO 3 Can Be Used For Teaching?

If VEO 3 becomes more widely available for less money, or if your school has a large AI budget, it doesn’t take much to come up with creative uses for it: Writers can bring their stories to life with prompts, history students can recreate scenes from events they’re studying, and biology students can model photosynthesis and assess the video’s accuracy.

VEO 3 also has a feature that lets you see exactly what prompts others used to create their videos. For the growing field of AI education and prompt writing, this is a valuable feature and one that educators might encourage their students to explore in the future.

What Are Some Concerns About VEO 3 Technology?

VEO 3 does not yet have a tool that lets users upload an image and generate a video based on that, but that tool is available for VEO 2 and is expected to be rolled out to VEO 3 eventually. This will make VEO 3 a particularly powerful tool for generating deepfakes.

Even without this, VEO 3’s realistic videos and ease of use make it likely to increase the use of AI to spread misinformation and potentially bully and harass people. This is true for society in general, but will be amplified in school settings.

What Else Should Teachers Know?

Regardless of whether you’re a fan of AI technology or not, learning about the capabilities of VEO 3 and other AI video generators is critical. These tools are here, for better or worse, and educators and their students need AI literacy training in order to navigate a world in which what we see is not always real.

We’re not all prompts, as the video referenced at the start of this article claims, but increasingly much of what we read and see on the internet will be created from prompts, and we all should be thinking about how to navigate that.

• Sora: Is OpenAI's Video Generating Tool Helpful For Teaching?
• Lights, Camera, and 7 Actionable Ways to Use Google Vids

“Collaborative learning is good for what goes into your own brain individually, but it's also really good for those teamwork skills that are going to give you a really great career later on,” says Jeremy Roschelle, co-executive director of Learning Sciences Research at Digital Promise.

Roschelle adds that challenge-based learning is a way to get students excited about collaborative learning, and can help raise the bar on student achievement overall.

What Is Challenge-Based Learning and How Does It Work?

Challenge-based learning fosters student learning by having them solve real-world issues that are important to them. These challenges can be international, national, regional, school, or even classroom-based.

The challenge-based learning framework was developed in the late 2000s, and was partly inspired by the challenges featured on reality TV. But unlike the challenges contestants face on shows, the challenges students engage in with challenge-based learning are not frivolous or arbitrary. Instead, these challenges connect to core learning concepts and help solve community issues. This process can also lead to deep learning.

“It's a very effective technique to get people highly engaged in a new area but also give them a choice about how they approach it, what they work on, and really stimulate their learning,” Roschelle says. “It also has the really nice feature of raising the bar based on what students and teachers in real school districts can do. Because often, when you come from a national-level perspective, you might underestimate what students can do.”

What Are Some Examples of Challenge-Based Learning?

Digital Promise helped launch the Ciena Solutions Challenge in 2021, which annually invites middle and high school students from across the globe to design solutions that address the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. This year, 62 school teams from across 20 countries were awarded cash prizes for their Ciena challenge projects, including 20 teams that received a $3,000 sustainability award and 42 additional teams that received a $750 award.

Recent winning projects ranged from promoting sustainability and AI literacy to empowering women and making schools drug-free to exploring the impact of decoding virus genomes and creating wildfire alert systems.

Roschelle notes that Digital Promise’s League of Innovative Schools works with many rural districts where access to health care is an issue. In these communities, “A challenge might be, how could AI enable our community to streamline its access and use of available healthcare resources. And students and teachers might work together on what we could do with AI to do that?" Roschelle says. "It's well within reach for a group of school students to take that on.”

How Is Challenge-Based Learning Different Than a Spelling Bee Or Academic Competition?

Challenge-based learning can have a competitive element; it’s not a traditional science, math, or spelling test because the goal is broad and open-ended.

“[Students are] not being dictated to do a uniform experience, which would be more like an international math competition,” Roschelle says. “In those, you have no control over what the math is; some panel of judges decides and you've got to deal with it.”

The same is true of a spelling bee, but is not true of a well-designed challenge, which has a broad learning destination in mind but no specific route to get there.

“The unconstrained nature is really important, because that's what creates the personal buy-in of the local students—they can make this matter for them,” Roschelle says.

What Ages is Challenge-Based Learning Appropriate For?

“Challenge-based learning can be used at every age,” Roschelle says. “I think its sweet spot starts in upper elementary school and goes through high school and into university education.”

He adds, “Successful universities often take on challenges for their community or for industry partners.”

Why Does Challenge-Based Learning Seem To Resonate With Today’s Students

Challenge-based learning can be particularly appealing to current students because of its approach to issues of real-world importance.

“We're seeing this is a generation of kids that are super aware of the world around them, and they want to contribute to solutions to the problems they see in the world, and challenges are a way to take advantage of the motivation they have and to funnel their energies to help them with skills, like teamwork and problem-solving, that are enduring skills,” Roschelle says.

He adds, “We're at a time that it's so important to feature what students are really capable of and how they want to contribute. It's their world. We need to create venues like challenge-based learning where students can show us how they want to contribute to the world.”

• Authentic Learning: What It Is And How to Incorporate It In Your Teachin
• What is Phenomenon-Based Learning?

The idea, according to CEO and former English and math teacher Josh Poskin, is to use intelligent video recordings to monitor and improve teaching in class.

Crucially, this works via an app that be used on smartphones and laptops, so it should be easily accessible for many schools. And it's something teachers can setup and have running themselves as part of monitoring performance. Since the app works right there, feedback is available immediately, making this a powerful tool.

This guide aims to explain all you need to know so you can decide if TeachFX is a good fit for your class.

What is TeachFX?

TeachFX is an app that works on smartphones and laptops, using recording hardware, to analyze teachers -- as they work -- and provide feedback.

It's worth mentioning that this is about helping teachers improve, not enabling monitoring. As such, all the data is owned by the teachers, and reports cannot be accessed by other teachers or administrators. Although aggregated data across a school is helpfully available.

Talking about just this, Poskin says: "Let’s say a school is focused on getting more open-ended questions asked in their classrooms. We’ll show that as an aggregated thing, but never on an individual teacher level because we just philosophically believe it’s so important for anybody’s learning and growth that you feel safe doing it."

The app has been around since 2016, and after a brief scare during COVID times, it's now making $2.5 million per year and just secured $10 million in Series A funding.

How does TeachFX work?

TeachFX can be downloaded and installed on devices so teachers can login themselves. Once they do so, they are then able to set to record before beginning a lesson.

Various data entry points are available before and after, to supplement everything that is picked up by the app's ability to monitor the lesson.

After a lesson, teachers can then go through the data to see how they taught and to be given insights into ways they may considering improving.

The app will be able, for example, to tell a teacher a percentage split of how much time they spent talking versus how much time was given to the class to take part. A simple metric, but a powerful way to find the right balance that best suits the lesson and the students.

As mentioned, the over-arching numbers can then be seen across the school as a good way to address any focus that may be needed for affective change.

What are the best TeachFX features?

TeachFX is super easy to setup and use, with the app doing a lot of the work both recording data points and offering potential actions to help improvements.

This is a goal-orientated platform through which teachers can set goals, track progress as they work toward that, and ultimately, see how they achieve that goal and what affect it has. All that should equate to an empowering experience for teachers that also helps students.

Inquiry-based personal learning workshops are also available to help build on instructional capacity as well as strengthen collective teacher efficacy.

From a school or district level, this allows for wider improvements as you can share your situation with the company, go to customized workshops, and then begin with specific goals or for all teachers based on all the learning.

The company says this only requires five hours of time invested, versus 49 in other evidence-based systems, yet you get a 25% impact on student achievement versus 21% in other cases.

How much does TeachFX cost?

TeachFX does not openly advertise its costs since it works on a bespoke basis and at varying scales.

However, a small school will typically pay about $10,000 for a subscription, with a medium school paying $20,000, and the top-end larger schools getting charged $30,000.

TeachFX best tips and tricks

Start smaller
Go for a demo or trial to see if you like how this works before committing to the full service.

Check with teachers
As a school or district, be sure to check if teachers want to take part in this before purchasing.

Keep track
Spot trends and data changes to learn what works and what doesn't to improve even faster year after year.

• New Teacher Starter Kit
• Best Tools for Teachers

Teachers may not need to imagine too much longer. AI already provides helpful reading tutors and could have all the capabilities described above in the coming years, says Jeremy Roschelle, Digital Promise’s Director of Learning Sciences Research.

Digital Promise received a nearly $10 million grant from the Institute of Education Sciences to launch and lead the Using Generative Artificial Intelligence for Reading R&D Center (U-GAIN Reading). U-GAIN Reading will build on existing research conducted by Amira Learning, a research-backed Intelligent Tutoring System (ITS) already being used by more than 1 million students each year.

The goal of U-GAIN is to turn the page on many of the literacy struggles that students across the nation struggle with by helping to provide research-backed evidence and training data to improve the ability of AI tutors to recognize diverse student voices and further engage students.

“Learning to read remains a national challenge with declining NAEP scores, and those scores show that many students are struggling to read even at a basic level by fourth grade,” Roschelle says.

As any teacher knows, these types of struggles often have heartbreaking consequences.

“If you learn to read, you learn every subject better, you end up with better outcomes in terms of going to college, better finances, better health," Roschelle says. "Learning to read is just such an important predictor of a student's further trajectory.”

AI and Literacy: Hearing Student Voices and Boosting Engagement

AI reading tutors already have impressive abilities. Amira, for instance, can listen to students read and offer feedback and assistance on mispronounced words and more, but the U-GAIN team hopes to take these capabilities to the next level when it comes to understanding what students are trying to say and recognizing their engagement levels.

Listening To Students

“For this thing to work, it has to accurately hear kids,” Roschelle says. “Many students speak with a dialect or an accent, or from a different regional idiom, and when this kind of technology can't hear a kid accurately, it can't help them.”

He adds, “Teachers experience their kids on speech recognition products, and they tell us the pain [they experience] when a multilingual learner, an English learner, speaks and the teacher can understand what the student is saying, but the technology can't.”

This problem arises because most speech recognition AI doesn’t have enough training listening to kids speak overall, and kids with various accents, in particular.

To help change this, the U-Gain Reading team is hoping to listen to between 500 and 1,000 kids who are using Amira weekly for a half year or more. They are working with linguistic experts from multiple school districts, and are optimistic they can get appropriate permission forms from enough parents to create a robust new dataset on which to train the AI tutors.

“We'll be able to make a big improvement in hearing kids speak,” Roschelle says.

AI Engagement

A student can sit with an AI reading tutor for half an hour each week, but if they’re not engaged, they’re not going to get the most out of it.

“We need that half hour per week, minimum, but they need to be really cognitively engaged in reading, which isn't always fun when you're struggling to read,” Roschelle says. “The really big challenge is many of the techniques we have for detecting engagement works with clicks and work with keystrokes.”

To be effective in this setting, Roschelle says, we need tools that can measure engagement through thing such as the tone of a child's voice in the same way a teacher might be able to.

Harnessing AI's Potential For Individualized Learning

After challenges around engagement and speech recognition are overcome, AI tutors can respond to students in new and robust ways.

“Once we have those, then we have these amazing capabilities of generative AI that we can start to apply to solve problems,” Roschelle says. In particular, Roschelle is excited about the possibility of generating unique readings and responses for each student.

“Most products, Amira included, have a corpus of texts that they can give to a student to read, but they don't necessarily engage every student’s background knowledge,” Roschelle says. “And you read better — this is pure science of reading— when you engage background knowledge and you build background knowledge. Reading isn't just decoding. It's also using knowledge.”

An AI that can build higher-quality customized texts can potentially boost student engagement with the lesson. “We know if kids like dinosaurs, give them more dinosaurs,” Roschelle says.

AI tutors also need to learn to better respond verbally to students who are struggling with a text. Since many new readers are by definition unable to read, responding in a conversational way is key.

“You have to give them verbal feedback,” Roschelle says. “Right now most of the products do that in a limited way with canned interventions.”

He adds, “What we're on the verge of is being able to generate conversations much more like what a parent or a teacher would have with the kid that feature both the engagement and the reading skills, side by side.”

Roschelle is excited about what the U-GAIN Reading team will learn over the next five years, and believes with the help of a skilled teacher, AI can start to make more of a dent in some of the reading struggles students currently have.

“We’re working on the tough problems that will really drive the field to the next generation,” he says.

• AI In Education Executive Order: What You Need To Know
• 4 Studies About AI Tutors Every Teacher Should Know

The panel featured:

• Matthew Winters, AI Education Specialist, Utah State Board of Education
• Dr. Michael Gaskell, School Principal in East Brunswick, New Jersey, Author, and Speaker
• Kathi Kersznowski, Lead Educational Technology Specialist, Washington Township Public Schools in New Jersey
• Kellie Ady, Senior Director, Education Strategy, PowerSchool & Government Relations

The participants shared advice, best practices and specific ways that they personally approach providing PD centered around implementing AI into their work.

Watch the on-demand webinar here

Key Takeaways

More Engaging AI PD - “I love to make PD fun, and people don't wanna work in the summer,” said Kersznowski. “So if you can make learning not feel like work, I think that's your best bet." She shared suggestions to make AI PD more engaging and informal, including:

• AI Appetizers: Friends gather, bring appetizers, and informally explore AI tools such as ChatGPT or Claude.
• AI Accountability Buddies: A group text in which colleagues share AI discoveries and ideas.
• AI Cook-off: Participants challenge one other to use AI to generate recipes and then prepare them.
• Daily Coffee Chat: Anyone can spend five minutes each morning trying out an AI app on their phone.
• Spontaneous Planning: Use AI to generate fun day trip ideas based on preferences and budget.
• Playing with a Podcast (NotebookLM): Using NotebookLM (a free Google product) to create conversational podcasts from prompts, topics, websites, or YouTube videos. This can be used for personal interests or to spark ideas for classroom use.
• AI Book Club Member: Adding a chatbot as a member of a book club to offer its thoughts on the reading.

Find game changers - Gaskell suggested keeping it simple, focusing on “The whole concept of, ‘Wow, that's something fairly simple, straightforward, and very intuitive that that teachers can get interested in,’” he said. He highlighted "game changers" that can excite educators about AI, focusing on practical and intuitive applications. He then shared personal examples of using Google Gemini to:

• Convert a handwritten list of calendar dates from a Post-it note into Google Calendar events
• Create a calendar event from a screenshot of a confirmation text message (such as for a service appointment)

He also advocated for using NotebookLM for PD, noting its ability to create conversational voices and the new beta mode allowing interaction with them.

Start by getting personal - “I think everyone's aware that we have sort of a gap between student adoption of AI tools and then teacher adoption of it at the classroom level,” said Ady. “But we are seeing some shifts in terms of being more open to trying AI tools instructionally and not just personally.”

To help teachers who are reluctant to adopt AI tools, she suggested:

• Remind them about the tools they already use in their personal lives, such as GPS.
• Encourage using AI as a "thought partner," whether with a chatbot or a colleague.
• Highlight how AI can save time, such as by communicating with families.
• Embed AI tool usage directly into PD, allowing them to experience AI as learners.

Encourage play - "What we're learning is the importance of play,” said Winters. “I think we, as teachers, don't do enough of it in our classrooms, but also we don't play enough as adults. And when we talk about a tool that rewards creativity and curiosity like AI does, especially generative AI, we really gotta jump in and play once in a while with it."

Winters also discussed Utah's statewide AI training initiative, and emphasized how AI can boost productivity for teachers by:

• Speeding up actions: Using AI for tasks such as writing emails, creating formative assessments, and drafting rubrics, with human editing and revision.
• Fostering creativity: Exploring new possibilities within the classroom system that were previously unknown.
• Enhancing accessibility: Supporting traditionally underserved populations, such as students with disabilities, multilingual learners, and gifted and talented students.

He also suggested focusing on "tool types" rather than specific AI tools due to varied district resources and safety guidelines. He categorizes these as:

• Constitutionalized chatbots: AI with added rules for student functionality.
• RAG (Retrieval Augmented Generative) databases: Tools that draw from a knowledge base.
• Multimodal AI: Tools that produce various content types such as images and text, or even videos.

Looking ahead - The participants were asked for a bold prediction about AI.

"I don't know if this is a bold prediction, but I think it's a must do,” said Kersznowski. “AI is here. I think if it didn't settle in last year, this past year, I think everybody has started to realize it's here to stay, and it's not going away, and it's nothing we can continue to fear."

Winters added: “Ken Robinson, one of my favorite educational theorists, says that PD should be viewed not as an expense, but as an investment. And I think when we talk about artificial intelligence or anything that's associated with personalized learning, we need professional development consistently for teachers across the country to help build that capacity and around the globe as well.”

• Tech & Learning webinars

The beloved children’s show is made by the nonprofit Sesame Workshop and launched in 1969. Sesame Street’s future was recently uncertain when the streaming service Max announced it wouldn’t renew its contract with the show last December. Netflix, however, has stepped in to save Sesame Street, with a deal that will see new episodes debuting on Netflix as well as PBS and PBS Kids.

In anticipation of the show coming to Netflix, I thought it would be a good time to examine its educational impact. To that end, I spoke with Marie-Louise Mares, a communications professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Steven Holiday, an advertising professor at the University of Alabama. Both have studied the impact of Sesame Street on children and their education and provide a closer look at the science of Sesame Street.

The Science of Sesame Street: How The Show Teaches Kids

Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit that produces Sesame Street and other shows, built educational science into Sesame Street’s DNA.

“Right from the word 'go,' they involved educational scientists,” Mares says. “There's always been both formative research, where the writers and educational psychologists and so on are kind of generating scripts and plans, and are doing this kind of rapid cycle pre-testing.”

The show’s creators have also done summative research to evaluate the effectiveness of the show, and in so doing, better understand how children learn overall. That includes assessing and thinking about aspects such as the length of segments and presenting the same lesson in varied ways.

“It's considered really effective, in part because they're willing to tweak it and alter it based on the sort of feedback they're getting from the kids and evaluations of the kids,” Mares says.

Using Advertising Strategies to "Sell" Kids Kids Learning

Holiday has researched how Sesame Street uses Madison Avenue sales techniques to “sell” learning to children. Sesame Street has a magazine format and features commercial-like segments that teach kids about reading or math. This is by design, Holiday says, noting that the show’s original creators knew that commercial breaks actually help sustain interest.

“They hired somebody who was from the advertising world and said, ‘Hey, make these actual commercials that are structured like commercials that are going to sell something to kids. Let's sell them letters and numbers,'” he says.

Good educators often take this type of advertising approach naturally, and Holiday’s research found that Joan Ganz Cooney, a co-creator of Sesame Street, believed Madison Avenue sales people had actually stolen many of their best sales techniques from effective teachers.

Whatever the origins, Holiday believes using advertising strategies to educate children could be better harnessed overall, including from app developers.

The Educational Impact of Sesame Street

Watching Sesame Street has repeatedly been associated with positive outcomes in children and for such things as early school readiness.

In 2013, Mares was the lead author on a meta-analysis of 24 studies conducted with 10,000 children in 15 countries. This study found that watching Sesame Street was associated with significant positive learning outcomes, including literacy and numeracy, learning about the world, health and safety knowledge, social reasoning, and attitudes toward out-groups. Overall, Mares research suggests that children who were scoring in the 50th percentile on tests before viewing the show could be predicted to score in the 60th percentile after viewing it.

The positive gains associated with watching Sesame Street that Mares observed were similar to other interventions, including nutrition programs and pre-K classes.

“[The effect sizes] are kind of on the upper end of small by some metrics,” Mares says. “But when you compare them to other kind of attempts to intervene in cognitive learning outcomes or emotional outcomes with kids in similar countries, it's along the lines of many of those other interventions, and those other interventions are often much more difficult to have reach and scale, because they're often in-person, and evolve giving money, giving food, etc, having preschools, and so on.”

Other research has found similarly positive effects.

Getting The Most Out of Sesame Street and Other Educational Shows

To maximize the educational impact of watching Sesame Street, both Holiday and Mares say the best thing a parent or caretaker can do is watch the show with their child, though they acknowledge that isn’t always possible.

Even just listening in and talking about the concepts with your child later can help, Mares says. She adds that in her research with parents of young kids, they often tell her that shows such as Sesame Street or Daniel Tiger are most helpful when they reflect back on it as similar situations occur in real life.

"Daniel Tiger often has these kinds of lessons about how to handle reading or washing your hands after you've used the potty, or whatever it may be,” Mares says. So if a child is getting upset, a parent might ask them what Daniel does, and remind them to “take a deep breath and count to four.”

Holiday says parents should make sure to ask their kids questions about the show, ideally as they’re watching it but also later.

“The parental co-viewing and communication, where you're there with them, and you see the content and you have them think through the content, will amplify that learning,” he says.

The Sesame Learning Channel, available exclusively through Discovery Education, offers ready-to-use early childhood resources for educators, including to support whole-child success in foundational math skills, language and literacy skills, and health and wellbeing, with lesson plans, embedded educator support tips, micro-PL videos, family supports, and more.

• AI-Assisted Characters Help Students Learn From TV, According to Harvard-Led Research
• Gamification: Pros and Some Cons, According to Research

This is a huge resource of journals, books, images, primary sources, and more. Crucially, it's all available mostly for free and uses dynamic search functionality to help you find what's needed.

The idea here is to offer teachers and students a greater depth to research and projects thanks to the primary sources available. This represents a fantastic way for students to learn how to discover their own path and cite for work, all of which should lead to more original end results.

This guide aims to explain all you need to know about JSTOR for your class.

What is JSTOR?

JSTOR is a website that houses an expanse of primary sources for use in projects, essays, papers, and beyond.

This repository houses all these useful documents and images in a well-arranged fashion, much like a library. This allows for deep dive searching to find just what's needed, and with all the proper references for citation, too.

While this can be a useful place to visit in search of a specific paper or essay, it's also possible to browse using categories like collections in order to discover new avenues of potential learning.

Nearly all the journals featured are peer-reviewed. Although there are items that are far older than today's standard of peer reviews, which is worth keeping in mind.

How does JSTOR work?

JSTOR offers access to older archived materials, and as such, is well-arranged for easy search access. You can login and have features such as saving items, or you can dive right into the search bar to hunt down what you're after, without being a member.

Use the basic search or access the advanced version to search with more specifics in mind. These include narrowing to certain article types, languages, publication dates, ISBN number, and more.

You can also use a journal filter to narrow down the search for specific areas, such as Art & Art History, for example -- where the number of titles in that section are shown in brackets.

What are the best JSTOR features?

JSTOR uses advanced and simple search options to make everything highly accessible to everyone. While the advanced version can be helpful for students and teachers seeking specific journals, the simpler version is a great way for younger students to start using the service.

The platform also offers a section aimed at educators with resources to help enhance teaching. These include a resource library, webinars on specific areas, real-world teaching tools, reports about faculty, lesson plans, video recordings, and more.

It also has a community that educators can join to share and learn with others, all aimed at helping boost student engagement.

At time of publishing there are more than 100,000 ebooks, 2,800 top scholarly journals, over 50,000 open research reports, 2+ million images, and more than 2 million primary sources.

The service also offers DfR, Data for Research, which is a text-mining program for text analysis and digital humanities research.

How much does JSTOR cost?

JSTOR is a not-for-profit that offers content totally free up to 100 articles per month with no adverts. You don't need to sign up with any personal details to get accessing everything right away, however, if you plan on using it extensively, you need to create a personal account, which is limited to 100 articles per month. More information is available here.

JSTOR best tips and tricks

Group up
Have students work in groups to seek specific papers and quotes you have directed them toward, so they understand how to use the search.

Use the resources
Take the lesson plans, images, real-world teaching materials, and more, and integrate it all into your teaching plans for richer lessons.

Keep up
Join the community and see the developments and new ways to engage students as and when they develop, with you as a part of it all.

• New Teacher Starter Kit
• Best Tools for Teachers

“I’ve been punching above my weight my whole life—not because I wanted to prove anyone wrong, but because I refused to ever leave the ring.”

“Pomp and Circumstance” is in the air as talented young graduates prepare for the next phase in their journey. But not all kids will be celebrating. Some suffer the pain and agony of intense struggle. They are the disadvantaged, at-risk children, following a predictable doomed path of decline where others have opportunity….

In the 1960s, a study was conducted in which teachers were informed that some of their students were "intellectually gifted." These randomly selected students showed significantly higher gains in IQ scores compared to classmates. The rub? They weren’t gifted. The teachers were told a fable and increased their standards, which the kids rose to meet. This showed how positive expectations impact student performance, a phenomenon known as The Pygmalion Effect.

Similarly, a longitudinal study tracked the Kids of Kauai, during which multiple high-risk factors such as poverty and family instability lead to expectations of doom and failure. Yet, a large number–one-third!–demonstrated remarkable resilience, developing into competent and well-adjusted adults.

The stories are all around us. We see people who are supposed to fail, but time and again don’t. Why? What made the difference? Why are we not paying more attention to what works when it’s staring us in the face?

A Tale of Two Struggles

Let’s take a closer look at two people who certainly had good reasons to fail, and yet . . . .

The son of a single mother had been evaluated by the school psychologist, and was flagged for failure. Her report was uncompromising. Here is a summary:

His childhood was a constant uphill battle; below-average intelligence and depressed verbal scores made learning and communicating a struggle. Socially, he was lost, marked by significantly depressed social awareness and interactions, which often led to hostility and poor impulse control when frustration mounted…

Imagine being the parent receiving this news? Kicking a horse when it’s down?

Here is the story of another child who faced similar struggles in her academic years, in her own words:

I felt useless when I couldn’t succeed. Like, why even try? I felt blindsided by all that went wrong. People taught me to see the positives to succeed. There were cheer coaches who pushed me through. Mrs. Fleming taught me for 2 years and she helped me believe. I struggled in her class, didn’t want to try and felt it was pointless.

I have found this past year what she has taught me doesn’t just help me with school skills but teaches me life skills like never giving up on yourself, even when you’re at your breaking point. I learned if you push through, you won’t have any regrets.

I ask educators to make predictions of these children, and those predictions are stark. People think poorly of difficult children such as these, and how likely failure looms. We are quick to imagine these children will struggle into adulthood.

Over the years, however, my research and stories keep reinforcing the same theme: more children overcome failure than we expect, and we are always surprised. We shouldn’t be! What’s more, studying these children, and how and why they overcame, such as the Kids of Kauai, provides strategies to help countless others lost in a fog.

The ingredients to success?

1. 1. Non-parental mentors
2. A strong affiliation with a group purpose larger than themselves
3. Most of all, resilience

What makes resilience so empowering is that it can be learned–it doesn’t have to be instinctive.

Stacking Small Wins

You might be surprised to learn that one of the children from above was me. This gives me the opportunity to empower children. As a non-parental mentor, I see a light where one wasn’t present. Providing this kind of hope to at-risk students gives them a chance, and they start to find success, one small win after another.

Small wins are powerful, incremental, and time-tested. It works. Showing children this path is energizing, and seeing students step into it creates the inspiration to want to keep going.

The other child from above is my daughter. She called me one afternoon on FaceTime, when she was in fifth grade. It was one of the first times I saw the stark reality of her struggle. There had been other times, sure, but patient adults worked with us to manage her challenges. This time seemed different…

Dani had so many characteristics that matched mine. This is likely what made it more difficult for me to accept that she would face the same struggle, the torture, that I had endured. I wanted to cradle her in my arms and make it all better.

The next few years featured similar scenes. Calls from the school. Emails from teachers. Another day in 8th grade she got into a fight in the school cafeteria, which resulted in her removal from the cheerleading team. Then, one day the school called to report that she had been bullied by girls from the team, saying she no longer belonged in the group, since she was off the team. It was kicking a horse when she was down.

The surreal truth was hearing her say, every day, “I hate school,” from fifth through tenth grade. It was painful to hear because I knew how she felt. She tried out for a competitive cheer team, made the highest level, and was quickly demoted to a mediocre level. She would come out of practice, crying and anxious.

It’s hard to pinpoint the transformation. A high school teacher reached out to tell me she had more than she thought in her. As her grades surged, she was also showing incremental success at her new, more family-oriented cheer gym. My little girl made the highest level team and around the same time, I began to notice she wasn't saying the dreaded quote, “I hate school….”

One small win after another. That’s what fertilizes a slight edge, which becomes impressive gains. Captain of her cheer team, cum laude academics, and she got accepted to her reach-school.

Not every step is a success, it’s a jagged line, and she has a keener understanding about staying in the ring, rather than striking gold.

Helping One Struggling Child At A Time

I’m far from a perfect father, but I got to share my story with Dani, and then celebrate her successes when it seemed like too many failures impacted her well-being and belief in herself. She stopped saying, “I hate school,” and the struggling little girl became a resilient young woman.

What was happening around her was the belief she internalized, that she could build on her small wins until one day she was a proud graduate and made it to her dream school, Penn State.

A beacon of hope was all she needed. When she started to hear from those like her teacher and coaches about how to believe, her very own non-parental mentors penetrated the shell of doom in which so many drown. That barrier broke down, little by little, until she became a resilient young woman. Like her dad, far from perfect, but she is hopeful and unrelenting.

More kids should benefit from the challenges we’ve overcome. Let’s start teaching them, one struggling child at a time.

• Best Free Social-Emotional Learning Sites and Apps
• Lifelong Learning: Modeling for Students and Faculty

What do in-person AI labs look like and how are they being used? Following is a glimpse at what the AI action is like at four institutions: Pace University, Foothill College, Sacred Heart University, and Bryant University.

How Do Institutions Describe Their AI Lab?

AI lab descriptions can lean explanatory or conversational.

Pace (New York City) and Bryant (R.I.) take the explanatory route:

• Bryant's AI lab main page describes the lab as “a hub for students and faculty to collaborate and explore the potential of AI in business. This dynamic space serves as a showcase for Bryant’s data-driven and innovative culture and promotes the Data Science and Information Systems programs to prospective students and corporate partners.”
• The top of Pace’s page notes, “Students, faculty, and staff come together to research and learn about artificial intelligence—from machine learning and natural language processing to powerful prompts for generative AI.”

Foothill College (of the Foothill-De Anza Community College District in Calif.) and Sacred Heart (Conn.) use the more conversational approach:

• “Welcome to the Foothill College Artificial Intelligence (AI) Lab – The AI lab is where we explore and learn about Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and Robotics.”
• “Immerse yourself in the latest AI technology and the chance to collaborate on useful, new applications in our state-of-the-art facility,” beckons Sacred Heart’s AI Lab page. The lab “offers the cutting-edge tools needed to tackle new and arising challenges in our modern world.”

What Needs Do AI Labs Meet?

Pace’s lab, according to an associate dean in a March 2024 announcement, allows the university to “consolidate, strengthen and extend the existing AI initiatives and create exciting new ones in education and research-leveraging partnerships within and outside the university.”

Bryant’s “why” involves allowing students and faculty to collaborate and explore what AI can do in business, plus showcasing how the university has a data-driven culture as well as promoting its data science and information systems programs to prospective students and corporate partners.

Sacred Heart describes its lab as a collaboration to address issues in the world and “collectively drive the contemporary run into digital revolution.” In the process, students learn “how to manage a project and bring a project to completion,” says Bob McCloud, a computer science professor. “In AI, the most important thing we teach them is, what is good data, what is reliable data, and how to structure data so you can use in AI process.”

Foothill, meanwhile, is one of dozens of community colleges collaborating with the American Association of Community Colleges, Dell Technologies and Intel to grow the AI Incubator Network and Intel’s AI for Workforce programs.

Who Can Use AI Labs?

These labs are typically billed as open to all faculty, students and staff. Pace calls it “the central hub of AI for the Pace community, offering training and opportunities to learn, grow and collaborate.”

Internal (students in related courses, the esports club team at Sacred Heart, the student-run Google Developer Group at Pace, for example) and external (like the New York tech community at Pace, invited to network with students) groups are more targeted AI lab users.

What Equipment Do AI Labs Have?

Students and other visitors at Pace bring laptops and connect to the high-performance computing (HPC) and Nvidia GPUs in the lab, says spokesperson Sean Coughlin. Additionally, three Alienware workstations are available. In the same building, the separate Robotics Lab offers hands-on training using a Clearpath Humanoid robot, a mobile manipulator and Clearpath Jackal devices used in computer vision education and research. Plus, Coughlin says, “the lab sports a Shadow Robot Hand.” Ph.D. students conduct AI research, using the robots for experiments and to develop models.

Bryant’s AI lab has a dedicated space for robots and includes two humanoids (Pepper and NAOv6), two vehicle robots, and robotic arms. It houses five collaborative GPU workstations with chips manufactured by NVIDIA, plus movable whiteboards (for more workspace and as privacy partitions) and large-screen monitors. “The AI Lab is designed for students to experiment with machine learning and its applications in robotics,” says Chen Zhang, an associate professor of information system analytics.

Forty Alienware computers with advanced processing capabilities and 24 separate workstations that can access three dedicated servers for student and faculty research are found in Sacred Heart’s lab, which also has object recognition equipment and eye trackers.

What Are Some Ways AI Labs Are Used?

Foothill’s AI lab has supported the college’s Tools for Transition and Work program supporting neurodivergent individuals. Four students in a winter 2023 pilot program spent their academic quarter building autonomous robots and learning engineering and coding skills. The number of participants has since grown to at least nine. Meanwhile, staff and faculty provide AI exhibits and demos at college events, including those for youth from local organizations.

Sacred Heart’s lab has helped the local community, too. In one project, professors and students studied how to improve a municipal tree planting program between the town and homeowners, explains McCloud. The study identified the best tree types and providers for various circumstances.

In another project, Sacred Heart students, professors, athletes and coaches looked at the correlation between time played and performance. The work involved monitoring training, statistics, sleep minutes and game minutes to predict optimal training levels.

“It seems as if some players are playing too many minutes for optimum performance,” says McCloud. “The idea of AI is to be able to look at reliable data and learn from it and then keep learning.”

And in an ongoing study, convolutional neural networks are being used to show how fraud can be detected in painting attribution.

Pace students’ experiential opportunities have included the AI Internship Experience Program. Using the lab, student teams developed AI models that could classify and generate images of butterflies, flowers and Minecraft-inspired visuals. Also, faculty developed a module for a Design Faculty Global Network course, covering equity-centered AI design. About 15 Pace students took the online course, taught by professors from Columbia, Finland, Portugal and the U.S.

Bryant data analytics students have used the AI lab to research a project involving AAA travel booking data and how it can predict whether and why some people cancel their trips. Corporate partners can use the AI lab for meetings, presentations and research, with the hope that students with expertise in AI, machine learning, analytics and robotics could participate, plus serve as a recruitment pool.

When students have opportunities to work with AI, they’re not only building technical skills but also becoming skilled in project management and bringing new information to the world.

“Students learn how to define scope, they learn how to say what they’re going to do in a project at the beginning,” says McCloud. “We focus on constructing or importing accurate, reliable data sets and then figuring out how to use those data sets to increase knowledge.”

“During the swap-outs, it was clear how excited students were to get their hands on the new technology,” DeMedeiros said. “Many of them shared how much they were looking forward to using faster, more reliable devices for learning. It may seem like a simple equipment upgrade, but you could see the impact immediately—students were more engaged, more motivated, and genuinely energized by having modern tools to support their education.”

Innovation doesn’t have to mean over-the-top wizardry in the classroom to make a serious difference in the daily lives of students.

“Technology is not a magic solution, but when it’s aligned with purpose, equity, and support, it becomes a powerful catalyst for progress,” DeMedeiros says. “The work we do behind the scenes matters because it enables everything else in the school system to function better.”

DeMedeiros was recently recognized for his work with an Innovative Leader Award for Innovative Senior Technology Manager at the Tech & Learning New England Regional Leadership Summit.

DeMedeiros shares three ways technology managers can help the lives of busy educators and administrators, plus offers tips for those making edtech purchasing decisions.

Inspiring Tech-Supported Initiatives at Work

An ambitious five-part innovation initiative — including a network infrastructure overhaul, security enhancements, student device management, teacher-students classroom management, and parent-community engagement — was a blend of both long-overdue innovation and real-time necessity, says DeMedeiros.

“On one hand, the district was due for a systemic tech upgrade to meet the evolving demands of education,” he says. “The pace of change in digital learning, data systems, and infrastructure made it clear that staying status quo was no longer an option.”

In many school districts, technology departments traditionally operate in a constant state of triage, reacting to outages, fixing devices, and putting out daily fires.

“It often felt like working in an emergency room—high-pressure, reactive, and focused only on the next crisis,” DeMedeiros says. “While that kept us running in the short term, it wasn’t sustainable, and it kept us from becoming a truly strategic asset to the district.”

With the support and vision of edtech influencer and Assistant Superintendent of Technology and Learning, Dr. Matthew X. Joseph (above left, with DeMedeiros), DeMedeiros began shifting toward what he calls an “operating room” approach—in which preparation, precision, and proactive planning are the standard.

“In this model, every tool has its place, every team member understands their role, and the focus is on long-term outcomes rather than simply surviving the next issue,” he says. “This change in mindset has been the real driver behind our tech-supported transformation.”

Part of this effort included improving outreach and inclusion within the local area. Engaged parents and communities create stronger, more supportive learning ecosystems. Tech can help smooth this path of connectivity.

“If communication systems are clunky or inconsistent, families feel disconnected and uninformed—especially in emergencies, school closures, or when interventions are needed,” DeMedeiros says. “A refined system ensures transparency, improves trust, and can directly impact student attendance, behavior, and performance by bringing families more meaningfully into the fold.”

3 Ways Tech Managers Can Improve Busy Lives of Staff

DeMedeiros offers this advice for tech managers who want to better empower their team.

1. Streamline Tools and Training – Too many platforms can overwhelm staff. Consolidating tools into integrated systems (such as using Google Workspace, ClassLink, or ParentSquare) helps reduce friction and makes day-to-day tasks simpler.
2. Provide Responsive Support – Whether it’s fast troubleshooting or proactive professional development, timely tech support keeps educators focused on teaching, not tech glitches.
3. Use Automation for Admin Tasks – Automating repetitive processes such as attendance reporting, communication alerts, or device check-ins, gives time back to staff for more impactful work.

Dollars and Sense

In an uncertain financial environment, balancing need versus want is a challenge when schools have tight budgets. Offering objective, factual analysis can help stakeholders see those funds responsibly put to work.

“Data analysis has been instrumental in helping us prioritize spending,” says DeMedeiros. “We use data to demonstrate ROI — whether in terms of improved attendance from communication platforms or reduced tech downtime due to preventative maintenance. It’s not just about cost, but value. We also take advantage of E-Rate, grants, and public-private partnerships to extend our budget as far as possible.”

Putting off enhancements in a perceived attempt to be fiscally frugal has downsides. Delaying infrastructure upgrades increases risk—both in terms of cybersecurity and operational inefficiency, warns DeMedeiros.

“Outdated systems can lead to data breaches, frequent downtime problems, or even safety issues if communication tools fail,” he says. “More than that, it sends a message to staff and students that we’re not investing in their success. Tech is foundational now, not optional.”

3 Considerations for Decision Makers when Choosing New Edtech

When it comes to making buying decisions, DeMedeiros says school leaders need to consider:

1. Scalability and Compatibility – Tech must scale across schools and integrate with existing infrastructure. Avoid silos; choose platforms that play well with others.
2. User Experience and Training Requirements – Even the most powerful tool is ineffective if it’s not user-friendly. Factor in the learning curve and the availability of training and vendor support.
3. Long-Term Sustainability – Always evaluate total cost of ownership. Consider licensing models, maintenance, and the vendor's roadmap for updates and support.

Tools They Use

• Cisco
• Verkada
• Chromebooks
• GoogleWorkspace
• ClassLink
• ParentSquare

The company says its free resources are used by 5 million students every month. It offers a wealth of information, including slides for teachers and how-to guides for students.

This covers a range of services from proofreading and editing to plagiarism checks and citation generation. The idea being that students should be able to get to a top-grade paper by enhancing their efforts using this service.

This guide aims to explain all you need to know about Scribbr in your class.

What is Scribbr?

Scribbr is a paper-writing aid, backed by real people as well as AI resources, that aims to help students write the best possible papers they can manage. It also represents a helpful resources for teachers to use when grading, and to help students write their papers.

The service is built to cover a few main services, which include: proofreading and editing, plagiarism and AI content checking, citation generation, paraphrasing, and more.

It offers more than 300 helpful articles, at time of publishing, that touch on topics that can assist students, including academic writing, plagiarism, citing sources, and more.

The system works with a variety of papers, from essays and theses to PhD dissertations and research proposals. The idea being that this should help get it perfect before handing in to be read and assessed.

How does Scribbr work?

Scribbr comprises several different tools with the human-powered ones in the more premium offering as well as some more AI-powered services in the free tools. If you opt for the paid submission, then your paper can receive the human checks, which generally get turned around in a 24-hour period, although it can take as long as a week, depending on how long your paper is.

While the human checks are well-suited to proofreading, editing, spelling, grammar, and citations, the AI tools can work well for these, too. Although its the citation generator that works very well. This allows you to have your essay formatted with citations in a few clicks, and even lets you select the output style, including MLA, APA, Chicago, Harvard, and others.

The plagiarism detector is a useful tool for teachers as it uses advanced dynamic databases to work out any attempts at plagiarism as well as AI detection being possible.

What are the best Scribbr features?

Scribbr uses a plaigarism checker that's powered by Turnitin as a way to offer excellent accuracy. Thanks to this being used in multiple libraries and databases, it has wide-reaching access to materials so the results are generally very accurate and reliable.

The use of AI tools also allows for use by those who aren't able to pay for the human touches, or are limited on time. These can also be a useful second line of defense, perhaps running a paper through these first before sending in for a human edit to ensure total perfection -- or as close as you can get in real life.

The multilingual offerings of this service are also worth noting as this might be primarily aimed at English writers and speakers but goes beyond. You can take a look at the many editors working with Scribbr to see the varied language speakers available.

Customer support is also excellent, which can be seen from the Trustpilot page alone, where all concerns are addressed and all issues are mended by the attentive team.

The Summarizer tool is really helpful when researching as it can make ingestion of large and complex bodies of information far quicker and more easy.

How much does Scribbr cost?

Scribbr offers a selection of free resources as well as its paid-for premium services that are charged for depending on the paper.

The rates for papers are $19.95 for a small document up to 7,500 words, $29.95 for a medium document up to 50,000 words, and $39.95 for a large document of more than 50,000 words.

Scribbr best tips and tricks

Start with AI
Use the free tools first including AI and then submit if you want a two-layer approach to catch any possible mistakes.

Mark with AI checks
Use the AI checker to ensure students aren't cheating and show them how it works so they realize AI can't be used as a shortcut.

Use the Summarizer
Have the Summarizer tool condense papers when researching to cover more ground if working through lots of learning material.

• New Teacher Starter Kit
• Best Tools for Teachers

I recently tried using Scite as an AI-powered research assistant for the work I do both as an educator and journalist.

Overall, I’m impressed with Scite’s ability to quickly find and summarize research papers from a diverse range of academic disciplines. It does this quicker than other AI research tools I’ve used, and has an easy-to-use interface. The only downside is that it requires a $12 per month subscription, and like all AI tools, won’t immediately find all the best sources on a given topic.

Therefore, whether you’re a student or academic using this, you’ll likely still have to do additional digging and searching for sources the old-fashioned way. This isn’t always a bad thing. In fact, one of the things I love about Scite is it encourages you through the research process by eliminating some of the barriers or difficulties around getting started. In other words, it is the type of AI tool that me and many other educators are always talking about wanting: one that facilitates rather than replaces thinking.

Here’s a closer look at everything Scite does well and where there is room for improvement.

What Is Scite and How Does It Work?

Scite works like a beefed-up AI-powered academic search engine.

I asked it “Can you summarize research on the use of AI chatbots as tutors in education?” With a minute or two, it provided an accurate overview of the current research into this topic with citations linking to the latest studies.

The summary noted that “AI chatbots are increasingly recognized for their ability to engage students in a personalized manner,” and shared the researchers making this claim and their evidence for it. Then it summarized some of the concerns researchers have.

Scite noted that “Despite the promising advantages, there is also critical discourse surrounding the implementation of AI chatbots in education," and that some researchers "caution about the hype surrounding AI chatbots, suggesting that while they exhibit considerable potential, their actual effectiveness in replacing traditional pedagogical methods requires comprehensive evaluation.”

Scite also shows you how often a paper has been cited, and lets you quickly view this citation, so you can tell if it was cited in a positive or negative way.

What Does Scite Do Well?

The Scite features described in the previous section are a really welcome resource for someone conducting a deep dive into any academic topic. This quick snapshot of the overall consensus around a topic is a wonderful place to start research. I would definitely recommend it for this purpose to students and fellow instructors.

The ability to quickly assess how often the paper has been cited, and in what context, gives you an almost instant sense of how the paper is viewed by other experts in the same field, which is so important given how one paper can sometimes find results that are seemingly amazing but can be so out of whack with other findings on the topic that it strains credibility.

Of course, there are some caveats. Scite does not have access to every academic paper, so students, in particular, need to be reminded not to begin and end their research with Scite.

Scite is not the only helpful AI research tool available, but it provides a quicker and more concise overview of research than others I’ve used, including STORM and OpenAI’s deep research tools. Both STORM and OpenAI’s research tend to provide longer and more in-depth overviews about any topic and write something based upon that topic for you. This might be preferable in some settings, but for me, the shorter overviews Scite provides are more useful and do what I want: help me find relevant research while leaving the actual writing to me or my students.

What Are Scite’s Limitations

Scite is a great tool, but it should not be your only research tool.

On some topics I investigated, I found several important studies that Scite missed or deemphasized. The tool also has a tendency to move toward centrist views on every issue. This is probably for the best overall, but doing that potentially risks overlooking some important minority viewpoints. And all summaries, even human-written ones, by their nature can gloss over nuance, particularly in discussions of complex topics, which most academic inquiries tend to examine.

So if I were to get approval from my university’s security and IT team to recommend this tool, I’d definitely remind students of these concerns. I'd also stress that while Scite can be helpful to use, it doesn’t replace conducting additional research on their own.

How Much Does Scite Cost?

Scite costs $12 per month for individual users. Additionally, it offers institutional subscriptions for companies and universities, but those are custom and based upon the number of licenses needed and other factors.

Bottom Line: Is Scite a Good Tool For Teaching?

Overall, Scite is a helpful and engaging research tool that can likely benefit educators, academics, and students. It requires a monthly submission but seems worth it to those who regularly conduct research.

Ultimately, I found Scite to be one of the best AI research assistant tools around.

• Recognizing When Not To Use AI
• 10 Free AI Trainings and Certifications for Educators

Despite these efforts, inappropriate AI use has increased among my undergraduate students instead of decreasing. I’ve noticed what I believe is AI writing not just in formal assignments, but in discussion board posts and, perhaps most disturbing of all, in written responses to classmates and to me.

I’m not alone. Reliable data is still lacking on how prevalent AI writing is in education, but in casual conversations with colleagues, most have reported similar upticks, with several estimating that more than 50% of writing submissions are now AI-generated.

Recently, I attempted to fight fire with fire, and asked ChatGPT how I could prevent students from using it and other similar tools to write their work for them. ChatGPT responded with a range of suggestions. Some were standard but helpful, others were standard and I think ineffective, while there were also a few tips I haven’t considered implementing.

Here’s a closer look at ChatGPT’s advice for educators such as me who are, ironically, tired of reading and grading papers written by ChatGPT.

Asking ChatGPT How To Limit Student Cheating

For this experiment, I used GP4-4o model, which I get access to through my subscription to ChatGPT Plus.

I started with the following prompt:

Hi, I'm a college writing and English professor. My freshman writing students are frequently using ChatGPT and similar AI tools to write their papers and their online discussion board posts. What can I do to prevent them?

ChatGPT provided a series of suggestions. I then asked it to share an example of an AI-resistant assignment and look at one of my assignments, and followed up with other requests. The advice ChatGPT provided on preventing ChatGPT fell broadly into the following categories.

1. Make Prompts Personal and Specific

What ChatGPT advised: Ask students to connect readings or themes to personal experiences, class discussions, or campus/local events. Use hyper-local or course-specific references: “Refer to our in-class debate on March 5th” or “Discuss your experience attending the campus event on X.”

My take: This is really good advice. I teach online, so it’s not always applicable for me, but overall the principle is sound. Focus on assignments that require information that is not available on the web. This way, even an AI equipped with web-browsing capability can’t come up with satisfactory answers.

However, when ChatGPT provided examples of writing assignments it felt were AI resistant, ChatGPT didn’t quite follow its own advice. For instance, one assignment asked a student to include a personal reflection on what writing the assignment was like. In my experience, those types of questions are easy for AI to duplicate.

2. Require Process Documentation

What ChatGPT advised: Have students submit brainstorming notes, outlines, rough drafts, peer reviews, and reflections. Ask for screenshots of revision history if using Google Docs. Include a short oral presentation or in-class writing follow-up.

My take: This is sound advice. I’ve resisted implementing these types of documentation requirements in my own classes because it's a cumbersome process for me and feels like an annoying extra step for those students who are not using AI to do their work. However, it seems increasingly necessary, and if structured properly, can help reinforce lessons around outlining and the overall writing process.

3. Use Multimodal or Interactive Assignments

What ChatGPT advised: [Use] podcasts, infographics, video essays, or collaborative wikis to make AI generation harder and student voice more visible.

My take: This is great advice and can make assignments more interesting and fun for students in general. For writing class this is a bit more challenging because my job is to teach students to write, not necessarily to create podcasts or audio content. However, I'm always looking for new and engaging ways to convey writing concepts, and this could do that with the added bonus of limiting the impact of AI.

4. Integrate AI Use Transparently

What ChatGPT advised: Instead of banning AI entirely, consider teaching responsible use: Scaffold AI literacy. Give students assignments that require them to experiment with AI tools and reflect on their usefulness and limits. Example: “Use ChatGPT to generate a rough draft of an introduction, then revise it critically. Highlight your changes and explain your reasoning.”

My take: I like this advice in theory, and teaching AI literacy and appropriate AI use cases is something I support. However, in my experience, it doesn’t work quite as smoothly as this suggestion makes it seem. My AI-approved assignments are just as likely to be AI overused as non-AI-based assignments. Once students are using AI to generate a rough draft, many also use AI to generate their reflection on the assignment, in my experience.

In this vein, ChatGPT did suggest an interesting assignment in which you have students read AI-generated work and student-generated work and guess which was which. The hope is that they will see why the AI-generated work is lacking. I like this suggestion even though the "encourage specific types of AI use," has not been an effective strategy for me.

5. Use In-Class Writing to Anchor Authentic Work

What ChatGPT advised: Require timed, low-stakes in-class writing assignments or reflections. Use in-class work to build parts of a longer paper. This creates a clear benchmark for each student's natural voice and fluency.

My take: I like this advice. Though it is hard to implement in the online classes I currently teach, I used to devote a good deal of time to in-class writing when I taught in person for other reasons. Working with students as they write, rather than criticizing them afterward, is a good pedagogical policy overall, I think. Here, it has the added benefit of allowing you to help cut back on AI use.

Overall Takeaways

Like many instructors these days, I spend a lot of time grading ChatGPT-produced work supposedly from students. I generally have a lot of complaints with these assignments, but in this instance, I think ChatGPT earned an A.

The advice it provided was a quick and accurate summary of what most instructors who have thought about these issues would advise, and gave me some food for thought on how I can change my approach to decrease AI use. For example, I will likely spend more time focused on activities such as in-class or synchronous writing and documentation.

The best AI counterstrategy, however, seems to me to be hyperlocalized assignments that require offline reporting or research. If this can be realized, it appears to be the most direct way to beat the machines without making things harder for us instructors or unnecessarily laborious for students.

Even ChatGPT agrees that’s a win-win.

• Optimizing Teacher PD with AI
• Recognizing When Not To Use AI

“Agricultural education really was STEM before STEM was an ubiquitous icon for all things science, technology, engineering, and math,” Stump says. “FFA was formed in 1928, and all of it has been about really building the science, business, and technology skills within the next generation of those who are going to be producers, either in the form of a farmer or rancher, that are going to be the veterinarians, the chemists, and the food safety experts that are ensuring that this country can continue to provide the world's most abundant, safest, and most economical food supply across the globe.”

Stump, a former classroom agricultural educator, is passionate about how integrating farming education into existing STEM and CTE curricula can help build engaging lessons that not only help students understand the importance of STEM concepts and the real-world applications but also expose them to important career opportunities in the agricultural industry.

Farming-Related STEM and CTE Resources

FFA is a school-based leadership organization with chapters in all 50 states, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The organization works with educators throughout the country, looking to incorporate farming and agricultural lessons, and provides additional tools for teachers via its website.

“We have a whole educator resources section,” Stump says. “If teachers want to take biology and really make it practical for students, if they want to take chemistry and make it practical, we have a wide variety of quick resources to kind of integrate AG as the application.”

He adds, “Over the past two years we released a full suite of resources on sustainability in agriculture that walks through all of the practices that farmers and ranchers and everybody across the food value chain are taking and implementing to ensure that we have the smallest carbon footprint that we can have and actually be a part of the solution.”

One example of this is how large-scale farming can sometimes create carbon sinks, a system in which carbon dioxide is removed from the atmosphere, Stump says. “The Midwest, with all the corn growing in the summer, actually pulls in a lot of carbon out of the atmosphere. How do we do that better?”

Answering this question, “Is one of the solutions we're continuing to work forward and connect students to,” he says.

Farming Education and Career Opportunities

Stump says some schools have large outdoor farms that act as living labs for students in various science classes. Even schools that don’t have those resources can still get students outside and working with plants.

Back when he was working as a teacher, Stump says he would take his students outside to the school farm with the biology teacher. “We would actually section off a certain area, and our job was to specify all of the life forms that were in that space, both plant and insect, and really try and identify what the healthiness of that ecosystem is,” he says. These types of activities truly become a way of bringing that learning to life in a way that sparks innovation, he adds.

Many students who move from these farming-centered classes go into providing innovation in the industry. For example, one recent FFA alum is developing a company that has designed an early warning system for blight by using a plant’s natural ability to change color when it becomes distressed, Stump explains.

The FFA maintains a resource of more than 300 career opportunities related to agriculture. These include science and biology roles as well as production roles and engineering and design roles related to equipment that supports the industry.

AI and Agriculture

Beyond chemistry and biology, data science and AI are also playing an increasing role in agriculture and agricultural education. The FFA is working with many schools to integrate precision farming into the curricula, which uses smart sensors, data science, and AI.

Recently, the organization partnered with Microsoft to bring FarmBeats, a precision agricultural program, to more than 185 middle and high schools. The program provides schools with a curriculum and kits that include a ready-to-use agricultural sensor system.

“Schools get basically a small motherboard that connects to sensor systems,” Stump says. These monitor plant environments for temperature, moisture, sunlight, and more. The info is then stored on the cloud, and AI is used to interpret that data and suggest ways to facilitate better growing environments.

“It's exciting to introduce students to that kind of technology, because we know that as they continue moving forward, most jobs are going to have an AI component to it,” Stump says. "The earlier we can start equipping them and getting them to be AI aware and AI competent, it will equip them to be better in the marketplace as future employees, inventors, and/or entrepreneurs."

Stump adds, “We've got to get more students thinking about how to solve these big problems in the world by using tech and AI, and leaning into the STEM components, because that's where a lot of solutions are going to come from.”

• Design Principles for Outdoor Teaching
• Using the U.S. National Parks to Support STEM Learning
• Best Free Earth Day Lessons and Activities

What should elementary educators do?

North Carolina is one state encouraging school districts to start career awareness activities with students in grade 5. A 2024 report found 64 districts had planned career fairs that welcomed nearly 250,000 fifth-graders in 2023-24, compared to 61 the year prior and 50 the year before that. More than 200,000 fifth-graders across the state had been exposed to some form of career and technical education (CTE) in 2023-24.

Cumberland County Schools, based in Fayetteville, is one district answering the call. Inviting grade 5 classes to the established annual CTE Career Pathway Fair meant potentially 4,000 additional individuals at the event, which had until this year just allowed middle and high schoolers to engage with local employers, educational institutions, and agencies to get a look at potential career paths.

Building A CTE Foundation

The 86-school district won a state grant a few years ago to fund a new position focused on expanding career exploration and exposure to the lower grades, says Chip Lucas, executive director of CCS Career and Technical Education. Initially that meant pushing in to the 50 elementary schools—helping with their own career fairs and bringing career exploration manipulatives to classrooms, for example.

Additional grants brought two more middle-grades career development coordinators into the fold, which has created opportunities for fifth-grade field trips to see the district’s career pathways programs in action.

The state support for earlier career exploration also allowed Cumberland administrators to purchase MajorClarity by Paper, their career development platform, for fifth graders rather than just older grades.

“We want students to start exploring early, but how can they do that? Career assessments and inventories, so they can decide their interests before they explore [careers],” says Lucas.

Every middle schooler also must have a Career Development Plan to be promoted to high school.

Meanwhile, district business partners expressed a need to reach students earlier, says Lucas. “We said, ‘Why don’t we just take on the big elephant and invite the fifth-graders to our career fair?”

Planning the Big(ger) Event

This April, nearly 3,000 students in grades 5 to 12 spent time at the 2025 CTE Career Pathway Fair at the county’s agri-expo center, participating in hands-on demos and one-on-one conversations with professionals representing the healthcare, public safety, agriculture, business, education, engineering, and technology industries, plus the trades. One popular high-tech display was the Beta Box mobile technology lab, where kids could fly drones and experiment with coding software, according to Lucas.

Forecasting a bigger event for up to 4,000 students with the addition of fifth grade began prior to holiday break, when Lucas’ team surveyed elementary principals to gauge interest, and ultimately opened the invitation to all, including any school that originally planned to stick with their own career exploration fair. In the end, nearly 1,600 fifth-graders attended.

The first hour after the ribbon-cutting was exclusively for these youngest students, who got some extra motivation and direction with a scavenger hunt challenge. Among the 10 activities:

• Shake hands with a professional.
• Find a career that uses teamwork.
• Talk to someone who works with technology.
• Ask someone about their favorite part of the job.

Lucas got handshake requests and saw how seriously students took the activity. He also had students take note of his clothing: While he was wearing a CTE t-shirt for the event, he had a jacket on hand that day for more professional moments, such as the ribbon-cutting.

Middle school students (also scavenger hunters) had the fair to themselves for the next two hours, and then vendors got a lunch break before spending the final 90 minutes with high schoolers.

“Typically, we’d be over and done by lunch hour,” Lucas says, adding that the longer day was necessary to accommodate the extra students. “We needed to balance the numbers.”

Reflecting and Evolving

Vendor feedback on the fair included praise for the youngest attendees. “They thought they had the best questions,” Lucas says. “It was very, very energetic with all those children in there. I think they set the tone for a really energetic day.”

A survey of principals confirmed the positive experience, and they’ve gotten save-the-date notices for 2026.

The planning for that may involve suggesting to vendors that they stagger tabletop freebies. “In some sense, [the fifth-graders] did wipe out all their swag,” Lucas says. And perhaps high school attendees need more opportunities for one-on-one talks with employers, or separate specific events for that.

Career development coordinators will push into elementary classrooms next year for focused career exploration. And on the high school side, apprenticeship programs and workforce development efforts will get more attention. As Lucas says, “It’s all part of the career development continuum, and we’re working that from both ends.”

• Using Technology To Teach CTE To Incarcerated Students
• KnoPro: How to Use It to Support CTE

With the huge wealth of code teaching tools out there specifically designed for education, the main problem is finding the right one for your needs as an educator and for the students that are going to learn.

This guide has compiled only the very best tools to teach coding so you can pick the ideal one for your specific needs. That includes coding with gaming, coding with music, coding in AR and VR, coding with physical gadgets and plenty more.

Crucially, there are a mix of paid and free options in this list, and most work using a browser -- so these should be widely accessible.

Best tools to teach coding

Best to teach coding overall

Kodable

Kodable is a superb example of combining gaming and coding into a fun and engaging platform that's great for a wide age and ability range. The idea here is to not only teach coding -- from K+ -- but also to cement that learning through the games that encourage practice.

While the front of this is cartoon character-filled fun, behind the scenes students are learning JavaScript that can be used in a future coding career. The ability to build games also makes this a really empowering experience for students who want to learn but also create.

Teachers have a helpful dashboard with lots of information on student progress, which allows them to intervene when needed, but also to control difficulty levels.

With plenty of free resources, as well as premium plans, this offers something for everyone and is a really great way to get started with coding.

READ: Kodable guide

Best real-world coding

OctoStudio

OctoStudio is a free coding app that combines coding and smartphones. Created by MIT Media Lab, this uses a phone's audio and video recording smarts to build media using real-world recordings that can then be manipulated using the coding style.

Usefully, this allows kids to get creative on their own devices while also learning code passively as they use it to make their creations. This works using Scratch-based coding, so it's useful in the real world. Students can make shaking the phone activate a sound or turn on a light, for example.

Thanks to 20 languages coverage, easy-to-use menus, and the ability to share simply, this is a really great way to teach and have students learn.

READ: OctoStudio guide

Best for computer science

CodeHS

The CodeHS offering is designed specifically for schools and fits into the curriculum requirements, making it ideal for computer science teachers and students. Aimed at high school students, this offers far more complex learning.

The platform offers a suite of teaching tools that cover more than 100 classes. This uses a sandbox with output window so students can see how their code works, directly.

Usefully, this teaches a range of coding languages including JavaScript, Python, C++, and HTML. Teachers can monitor student progress, or lack thereof, so interventions are possible at the right moment. Tutors, on the paid version, are a useful addition to help students get support while using this platform.

READ: CodeHS guide

Best for fantasy gaming

Ozaria

Learning with Ozaria is more like playing a full-on fantasy game, and as such, means the practicing and cementing of skills is near effortless for students.

Despite this being a proper game, with its own universe and rich character stories, this also fits in with the curriculum to help teachers.

CodeCombat is the game being playing in this world, and through it, students learn Python and JavaScript from grade 3 right to 12 -- as individuals or in groups.

The teacher dashboard is there to monitor progress and even make assessments using a dedicated tool. Everything focuses on SEL to help build integrity while learning coding.

READ: Ozaria guide

Best creative

Elementari

Elementari works as a creative artistic project creation tool that also teaches coding at the same time. In this way it's a super effective way to offer coding to those kids who might prefer a more creative focus over the logical coding teaching many platforms feature.

Usefully, students can edit projects created by others, helping them spark ideas. Lots of media is available to pick from, including images, music, and illustrations. They then create a story using the coding back end to bring it all to life.

READ: Elementari guide

Best for beginners

Ready Maker

Ready Maker uses games and very simple coding-style controls to introduce coding to beginners and younger students. The drag-and-drop style interactions are super simple to learn, and since this is all about making games, it can offer a creative outlet.

This uses Unity code, so it's good for app stores publishing, yet starts super simple so it's easy to pick-up. Lots of helpful tutorials are available, and the Remix button allows students to work with something already created, so they can ease into it.

This also offers more complexity, and games that are made can be played too, with lots from which to pick.

READ: Ready Maker guide

Best for Apple

Swift Playgrounds

The Swift Playgrounds platform is designed to be fun and easy to get started with, and will teach code specifically for Apple devices.

This gamifies learning on iOS and Mac devices by which students can learn the Swift coding language from as young as age four. Students can create games with the platform and use previews to give any a try, while also seeing directly how the code affects end results.

Students can select code chunks or input directly if they know the language a bit more. Thanks to guidance and collecting gems, it creates a pathway that students feel progress along and can come back more often to get further.

READ: Swift Playgrounds guide

Best for AR and VR

CoSpaces Edu

CoSpaces Edu is a great way to teach coding skills along with animation for AR and VR creations. Working across many devices, this is widely accessible and works from grade three right up to 12.

This uses drag-and-drop style controls to let students manipulate objects that can then be coded to have actions in the 3D space. Students can build on desktop then experience it directly on a mobile device.

The layout makes for a great way to teach collaboratively by which groups work on creating their own virtual space and situation for others to play in and enjoy.

READ: CoSpaces Edu guide

Best for younger students

Tynker

Tynker is a fantastic option for younger students who are being welcomed into the world of coding. This uses fun cartoon characters, lots of colors, and games to immerse young users.

Aimed at age five and up, this uses block-based coding to teach the logic of code and coding lessons. This develops as students progress, and also teaches HTML, JavaScript, Python, and CSS coding at a more advanced level, so it can be useful for real-world scenarios.

Lots of community-created projects are available, and students can share theirs easily, making it great for collaboration and assessments.

READ: Tynker guide

Best for teachers

Blackbird

Blackbird is a good option for teachers new to coding who want to teach it. This tool, which is web-based and easily accessible, also features a training program for educators to learn the system and how best to teach coding with it's offerings.

This is aimed at middle schoolers and uses JavaScript as the coding language. That makes this specifically focused on getting kids jobs in coding. The Show Me option is a great way to help students, guiding them to the correct answers if unsure -- without the need for teacher intervention.

Thanks to a submissions section, this is built for classwork, allowing students to send coding to teachers for assessment and feedback.

READ: Blackbird guide

Best for curriculum

Codementum

The Codementum platform is a great way to teach coding in a curriculum-aligned way. This offers a tool that has a dashboard for teachers to monitor student progress and to assign future work, all in one place.

This is game-based, so students feel as if they're in a self-paced gaming experience while also learning Python and JavaScript coding options. Since this all works on ability levels, rather than ages, it will help progress students from their specific experience level.

Helpfully, this is broken down in courses that help make teaching easier. Thanks to AI and machine learning sections, this is very up to date and ideal for preparing students for the future job sector.

READ: Codementum guide

Best for robots

Sam Labs

The Sam Labs coding platform uses both software-based teaching as well as hardware. That makes this a great option for teaching how coding can have real-world effects and is ideal for more hands-on students that want to see things working as a result of their code.

Use the company's own blocks or others, such as LEGO, to have coding actions create affects. This is great for STEAM learning, allowing students to get creative by using the app and blocks with DC motors, LEDs, audio devices, buttons, and more.

This is superb for scaling up to add complexity and with lesson packs, activities, and guidance videos, it can be very easy to teach with even for those educators without much coding experience.

READ: Sam Labs guide

Best for fun

CodeMonkey

The CodeMonkey tool is a really fun way to teach coding to younger students and those who might otherwise be difficult to get engaged. This uses both block-based and text coding in a way that's ideal for scaffolding learning across ages and abilities.

Students have a monkey main character that they work with across levels for fun continuity through the hundreds of levels. They play while learning Python or CoffeeScript as they go through the various puzzles.

Lesson planning tools are in the paid version that can help make this ideal for educators to use.

READ: CodeMonkey guide

Best for teaching broadly

Code Academy

The Code Academy platform teaches coding but it goes further to cover web development, computer science, and plenty more related skills. This covers beginner basics and moves through to more complex lessons with Java, C#, HTML/CSS, Python, and others all covered here.

The free version is great for getting started but there are paid plans to offer far more depth to the learning available. Career path projects are a great way to learn with specific results, such as a data scientist, for example, which is a 78-lesson plan.

This uses quizzes, projects, and more to make the learning fun and engaging. This is also self-paced and self-contained for focused learning and minimal teacher interaction needed.

READ: Code Academy guide

Best screen-free

Kaibot

The Kaibot offering aims to teach the basics of coding while also being a screen-free experience. This uses a robot with wheels and cards with commands. Line up the cards and the robot will 'read' these and carry out actions.

This is simple to use, hands-on, and is aimed at K-3 and older. The app offers more complex interactions and learnings, if you want to use a screen. That should mean a very natural move from the physical into the software end of coding, ideal for beginners.

READ: Kaibot guide

Best free

Blockly Games

Blockly Games is a fantastic free coding creation that teaches block-based coding basics as well as more complex ideas.

This no-frills offering uses puzzles and games to teach block- and Java-style text coding options. The idea is to offer logic and computational thinking to kids so they can naturally progress into more complex styles of coding.

Students can make their own games for a fun and empowering learning journey.

READ: Blockly Games guide

Best collaborative coding

Pencil Code

Pencil Code is all about visual and collaborative learning with this using CoffeeScript -- a pro level language -- to guide students into real-world coding that's genuinely useful. This extends to Java, HTML and CSS for a really comprehensive coding experience.

This is designed so students can work with each other, collaboratively, on projects -- as they may need too when working in this way later in life. They can code with music, drawings, games, and more.

This offers complex coding if needed and uses a creative space to help learners explore and grow naturally.

READ: Pencil Code guide

I’ve heard many similar stories from friends and colleagues in various roles within education. Because we tend to have less work in the summer, we think we will accomplish more, but it almost never seems to work out that way.

After seeing this pattern play out in both myself and others for a few years, I came to the realization that summer is fundamentally a terrible time to be productive for many of us. A lot of reasons are to blame for this: if you live in a climate with cold weather, it’s one of the few times of year when it’s nice to be outside; if we have kids, they are often off from school; our friends are more likely to want to do things; and we're more likely to plan vacations in the summer.

In addition, in contrast to our expectations, sometimes the structure of the semester and school year actually helps us stay focused on goals rather than hindering us.

This realization, that summer is not a good time to work, has helped me to be more forgiving of myself come late August when it’s time to take stock of what I “achieved” over the summer. Counterintuitively, this has allowed me to be more productive over the past few summers because I’ve been "less ambitious."

Here is a look at some of my small and attainable goals for this summer and the thinking involved. These are all based on the idea that by setting small, achievable goals, I can accomplish more with less stress and that summer is inherently about having fun not work.

Also, on a personal level, I have a busy summer planned with my family, so I am keeping my goals short and sweet.

1. Read A Book That Helps Me As a Writing Instructor

One of the things I love about teaching at Western Connecticut State University’s MFA program is the opportunity I have to mentor students in a variety of writing genres. From my specialties in journalism and creative nonfiction to poetry, screenwriting, and science fiction and fantasy, I pride myself in having a genuine interest and decent knowledge.

Currently, however, I feel like my understanding of the current memoir marketplace could use an update. So, this summer, my goal is to read one recent memoir. This is a good goal because it helps me as a professor, is specific, doable, and perhaps most important, is fun. Plus, I like reading in the summer, and this is an excuse to dig into something new.

Obviously, for you, this can translate as tackling one book that you believe will help build your specific teaching skills.

2. Write a Chapter in New Book

I am working on a new nonfiction book that I’m really excited about. I’d like to think that this summer I’m going to complete a quarter of the book, but past experience has taught me better. So I’m keeping my goals much more limited, and planning on completing one chapter.

This is not as insignificant as it sounds, as in my experience, the first chapter is the hardest, and just getting the ball rolling can sometimes get momentum going. In a perfect world, I’d be able to devote every hour I spent teaching this semester to work on my book this summer, but that’s not how reality works.

Ultimately, if on September 1, I have a strong first chapter of which I am proud, I will be happy. Of course, that first chapter could inspire a second chapter, but I’m not holding myself to anything beyond the first one. I believe this is a good goal because it's specific and doable.

For you, this might entail simply completing the first step of a long-term project, be that coming up with an outline, developing a mission statement, setting a schedule, etc.

3. Participate in One In-Person Professional Development Event

I like to spend at least one summer day engaged in some form of professional development. The WCSU MFA program I teach in hosts a week-long summer residency at the Highlights Foundation Retreat Center in Pennsylvania.

Spending time around other writers, be they fellow faculty or students, and sitting on various workshops and readings, always leaves me really inspired and with new nuggets of writing wisdom to employ myself and share with my students. I won’t be able to attend for multiple nights this year, but it’s only a two-hour drive for me, so I’m hoping to make a day trip of it.

In the past, I’ve taken an all-or-nothing approach to this type of activity. If I can’t go for a few days, I’ll skip it, but that’s not the plan this year.

If for some reason, I can’t make this event, I’m going to look for another day-long conference to attend and help recharge my writing and educational battery. This is an important goal because it will let me devote a little more time to thinking about teaching while having a great time connecting with other writers.

For you, this could be a one-day PD event, either in-person or online. Or maybe it's as simple as getting together with a few teaching colleagues to brainstorm, collaborate, or even just commiserate. Bonding is building, right?

4. Prioritize Fun and Relaxation

It might be cliché, but there’s an old truism that people rarely look back on their life and wish they spent more time working. This summer I’m reminding myself of that and making sure to not stress about being productive and prioritizing doing things away from teaching and writing while the weather is nice.

Okay, I know this goal could use some more specifics, and I thought about adding something such as spending two hours outside a day when it's nice, or swimming twice per week. But, for me at least, those types of activities come very naturally when work isn't getting in the way. So thinking of this as making an effort not to let work overtake summer is all I need.

The other goals stated previously would be nice to accomplish, but are not 100 percent required. On the other hand, this goal is a must. There will be plenty of time to handle those work projects, teaching improvement goals, etc., when the semester kicks off again in the fall, but there won't be any summer left to enjoy.

So I'm making sure to soak as much of summer in as I can. You should, too!

• Best Summer Learning Apps & Sites
• 4 Learning Tips From A Cognitive Scientist Turned TikTok Star

Enter Google Vids: A game-changing tool that puts AI-powered video creation into your hands, no filmmaking experience required.

Google Vids is part of the ever-expanding Google Workspace, and it's designed to help you transform written content into compelling video narratives. Whether you're flipping your classroom, promoting PD, or providing a visual version of text, Google Vids makes it simple.

Google Vids: From Article to Video

Let’s start with a real-world example of a Vid that I created after writing Navigate AI with New Risk Assessments from Common Sense Media for Tech & Learning. I wanted to share that piece in a way that was accessible and visually engaging for busy educators who may prefer video over text.

Using Google Vids, I created this short 2-minute video version of the article that highlights the key points with narration, visuals, and music. No need for complicated software or video editing skills. It took minutes, not hours. This is what the future of educational communication looks like. Wondering how you can use it in your practice? Here are some ideas.

7 Ways to Use Google Vids in Education

Here are some ways educators can start using Google Vids:

1. Create A Template For Student Videos
   Build a Google Vids template that students can copy and customize. The Google Vids interface looks just like Slides, so adapting to the interface should be easy and students will love seeing their work as polished videos.
2. Promote Workshops And Professional Learning Opportunities
   Instead of sending a static flyer or email, create a short promo video highlighting what educators will learn, who it’s for, and how to register. This adds excitement, increases engagement, and makes your PD stand out.
3. Communicate With Families
   Turn text-heavy newsletters into videos that walk families through updates, field trips, or tech tutorials.
4. Blended And Flipped Learning Made Easy
   Create explainer videos for key concepts that students can access anytime, anywhere, perfect for asynchronous learning.
5. Turn A Student's Writing Assignment Into A Google Vid
   Bring written work to life by helping students transform their essays, narratives, or opinion pieces into visual presentations. This deepens their understanding of audience and purpose and enhances their communication skills and pride in authorship.
6. Showcase Portfolios
   Students or educators can create videos of digital portfolios or capstone projects, making reflections and achievements more powerful. A QR code can be added to the portfolio or project that links to the video.
7. Repurpose Existing Content
   Already have a blog post, article, or newsletter? Turn it into a video to expand its reach and make it more accessible to different audiences.

Get Started with Google Vids Today

You don’t need to figure this all out on your own. Here are three easy ways to learn how to use Google Vids like a pro:

• Easy Video Creation for Teaching and Learning (Google Skillshop): Provides an educator-focused training designed to help you bring lessons to life with video.
• Google Cloud Skills Boost: Offers a self-paced course to walk you through the ins and outs of Google Vids with hands-on practice.
• Google Help Center for Vids: Access detailed articles and how-tos for specific tasks or troubleshooting.

Currently, Google Vids is now generally available on all Business and Enterprise Workspace plans; see plans and pricing for organizations. Vids is not currently available to consumers.

Videos have a maximum of 10 minutes, and currently can only be created and edited via desktop, although finished videos can be viewed on any device.

Google Vids empowers educators to communicate ideas with clarity, creativity, and confidence. Whether teaching, leading professional learning, or driving education transformation, this intuitive, collaborative platform makes it easy to turn your writing into compelling visual stories.

• Navigate AI with New Risk Assessments from Common Sense Media
• Google’s NotebookLM: An Innovative Educator’s New Best Friend (and Podcasting Powerhouse!)

It is with great sadness that we announce the passing, on June 1, 2025, of Tech & Learning contributor and former website editor, Gwen Solomon.

In the early days of the Internet, Gwen started the Well Connected Educator website, one of the first online resources to help teachers share ideas and explore innovative ways of using technology to help their students learn and thrive.

A few years later, Gwen joined the Tech & Learning team, merging the Well Connected Educator with the newly launched techlearning.com.

"We had just started techlearning.com, with searchable software reviews and other features designed to tap into the early capabilities of the Internet, and Gwen’s Well Connected Educator site was a wonderful complement,” says Judy Salpeter, former editor of Tech & Learning. “She and I became co-directors of the merged site and had a good time together exploring the potential of the new technology. She had great energy and a lot of enthusiasm and eventually she stepped into the role of director of the whole site."

Gwen managed techlearning.com for several years, as well as editing custom web sites, writing ebooks and whitepapers, and directing webinars for Tech & Learning, and went on to serve as a contributing writer, most recently focusing on a popular Grant column for the publication.

“Gwen was such a trailblazer,” continues Salpeter. “She came to us with several years of experience in the burgeoning world of edtech and a reputation as somebody who understood the ways in which technology could transform teaching and learning. She added a lot to the T&L team.”

A pioneer in the edtech world, Gwen was the founding director of New York City’s School of the Future, which opened in 1990, ten years after Tech & Learning (first published under the name Classroom Computer News) launched.

Gwen served as a senior analyst in the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Educational Technology during the Clinton administration, where she played a major role in the development of the first National Edtech Plan. Over the course of her career, she wrote or co-authored eight books on educational technology as well as numerous magazine articles.

Former colleagues and friends in the edtech world remember Gwen as a very professional and well-respected connector, innovator, teacher and leader, someone who was bright and resilient, with a positive spirit and multifaceted talent.

In her retirement years, she worked on developing her photography skills. She was featured in several art shows and won awards for her photographs, including her “Backstories” series, in which she photographed interesting New Yorkers from the back, isolating them from their surroundings in a way that left viewers to consider clues about their lives and personalities.

She was a devoted wife and partner to Stan Solomon, who predeceased her; the proud mother of Deborah Solomon, economics editor at the New York Times and former news editor at the Wall Street Journal; and an engaged, loving and fun grandmother to her two grandsons.

As her family wrote in her obituary. “Anyone who knew Gwen knew her as a warm, engaging person, but also someone with incredible strength and resolve. She was a fighter to the end, always looking for ways to prolong her life. She had a huge network of friends that she loved, and cherished her weekly lunches, going to the theater and the symphony, going on walks with coffee as the destination and attending her book clubs. … She will be sorely missed by everyone whose life she touched.”

“As one of the founding members of the Tech & Learning community, Gwen helped launch a mission that we still continue today: to champion the good work of our educators,” says Tech & Learning Brand & Content Director, Christine Weiser. “Gwen passionately continued that mission throughout her life, and she will be missed.”

While you can easily hop onto a search engine to begin hunting down what you want to read, this tool uses AI to make that search more relevant. It is able to learn from your searches and reading to better make recommendations and refine searches to suit what you might want to read.

This is primarily aimed at academics working in a certain field or students studying something very specialized. But it can be used by anyone who takes an interest in a specific subject, including teachers looking for research the latest developments in a field.

This guide aims to explain all you need to know about ResearchRabbit and how it could help you.

What is ResearchRabbit?

ResearchRabbit is described as the Spotify of papers. That means this is adaptive and will learn from how you search to better make recommendations and offer bespoke search result in future.

This is more than just a search engine in that it uses AI to learn from the papers you pick as relevant before serving up more in that area that may be of interest.

One reason this is a powerful new way to research is that it can be very up to date in making recommendations. So you may discover literature that you didn't even know existed, or find something for which you were even looking. The end result should be an expanded knowledge in your field that comes naturally and easily.

How does ResearchRabbit work?

ResearchRabbit initially has you add some papers to your project, finding a few that are relevant to that particular effort.

You are then presented with a network of papers that link to your starting point. These are presented using a helpful graphic visualization that makes everything very clear. Papers are linked via lines, and you can see which area might be more relevant before diving deeper into that pool of options, essentially.

Add any relevant papers to your project based on with what you are presented. This should then offer more results that are relevant to your new selection in your project folder.

If you save your project, once you're finished compiling papers, you can be contacted in future by ResearchRabbit with any new papers it may find that are relevant to your interests, keeping you up to date as research is released.

What are the best ResearchRabbit features?

ResearchRabbit offers its unique Network View, which shows papers in a connected mass, with publication dates along the side. This allows you to drag and move relevant research so you can see which papers move with it. For example, you might want one side of an argument on one side of the page with papers for the opposition on the other side. This will then pull other related papers in the relevant direction, leaving you with the balanced options in the middle. And that's just one of many ways to use this.

This also works with authors, allowing you to view that network or dive deeper into their other works -- or to step across into linked work from other authors involved in that paper.

Usefully, you can share your project collections. This can make for a great way for teachers to share a selection of materials with a class, or for co-workers to share with one another easily.

The fact you get sent updates when relevant papers are released is a powerful part of this tool's appeal. It's like having a research assistant that leaves new literature in your inbox ready for you as and when it becomes available, all to review at your leisure.

It offers a community element through which you can comment on papers and collaborate on projects to research together. This adds another layer to how discovery can happen to better help your chances of finding relevant literature that you might otherwise have missed.

How much does ResearchRabbit cost?

ResearchRabbit is a free to use AI service. Its makers are clear to say that this costs nothing now and will remain that way as it plans to offer this to researchers for free in the future also.

ResearchRabbit best tips and tricks

Collaborate
Work as a class on a project to find the most relevant papers.

Teach in bulk
Collate papers in one place and share that with students for them to read, along with updates for them to use as needed.

Use alerts to teach
Take new updates as a place to dive into fresh research and topics in a timely and up-to-date way.

• New Teacher Starter Kit
• Best Tools for Teachers

“Strategic communication isn't just about broadcasting—it's about building trust and driving engagement across all stakeholders,” Runey says. “These efforts foster pride, transparency, and collaboration—ensuring that our programs not only serve students but also reflect and uplift the values of the greater DR community.”

For his work within his district, Runey was recently recognized with an Innovative Leader Award for Innovative Superintendent at the Tech & Learning New England Regional Leadership Summit.

“Every interaction is a chance to listen, connect, and advocate for what’s best for students,” Runey says. “I can gather real-time insights from staff and observe how students engage with tech to choose tools and infrastructure which will truly support learning. Strong leadership is rooted in authentic relationships, and I strive to model that daily.”

Runey shares how he helped transform his district with passion and innovation, offering five tips for superintendents to use tech to serve their district

They Have Spirit, Yes They Do!

Unlike the stereotypical tucked-away superintendent, Runey shows up for his students, even if hidden beneath a falcon mascot costume. The prize for a recent district-wide contest to see which school could show the most “Green & Gold” pride was to host an assembly to paint Runey’s hair green and gold.

“Leadership also means being approachable, having a sense of humor, and celebrating what makes school memorable for kids,” says Runey. “Being deeply embedded in the community isn’t just a job requirement—it’s a key part of how I lead. Whether dressed as our falcon mascot, attending the Fireworks Festival, school concerts, or chatting with families at the local craft fair, I see these interactions as opportunities to gather feedback and understand the pulse of the district.”

This presence raises the spirits of students and staff, and also keeps Runey in touch with how best to serve his community using tech.

“Recent initiatives like our alumni data outreach via Google Forms and the digitization of yearbooks have not only helped us reconnect with graduates but also celebrate our shared history while reinforcing a sense of belonging,” he says. “We’re also using innovative tools—like our Apptegy-powered project website for the potential Dighton Elementary School project—to keep residents informed and engaged in shaping the future of our district alongside the MSBA.”

Runey believes bringing more voices to the table can perpetuate a positive narrative about the district to build long-term support for their mission.

For example: “One of the goals of our new adult continuing education program through the Career and Technical Education (CTE) department is to bring alumni and community members back into our schools to see firsthand the powerful, modern learning experiences happening across our buildings,” he says.

Visitors are impressed by grant-driven, cutting-edge technology additions to the CTE program.

“Our students are getting that relevant experience that will put them in a position to be more marketable to college and post-secondary programs,” Runey says. “But it also makes them very well-prepared to just go directly into the workforce if that's what they choose.”

Dighton-Rehoboth also embeds PD time into the district calendar, and offers DREAM Seminars to ensure it is not a top-down mandate but features events designed to empower staff by offering voice and choice in learning, opportunities to lead sessions, and to dive deep into topics. Administrators are equipped with a dashboard for real-time data analysis and OPTIC to strengthen instructional calibration.

Safety First

Establishing a strong sense of security for the school community allows space for the good work of learning to flourish.

“When I began as superintendent, 80% of our schools had no security camera coverage. Today, every one of our buildings is equipped with modern surveillance systems—an essential step in ensuring the safety of our students and staff,” Runey says. “This transformation not only deters potential threats but also gives families peace of mind, knowing that we are proactively safeguarding our learning environments.”

The district also uses a real-time communication platform that connects staff, school leaders, and first responders.

“Safety isn't just a checkbox for us—it’s a foundational promise,” Runey says. “CrisisGo allows us to coordinate emergency responses more effectively, whether it’s a drill or a real incident, and ensures that all stakeholders have access to accurate, timely information. This level of responsiveness builds trust with families and reinforces our commitment to student well-being.”

Another arm of that concept is making sure every student feels valued and heard.

“Equity must be intentional,” Runey says. “Access for students in special education though the use of tech is one of my top priorities. Through our DRiving Toward 2030 strategic plan, we empower learners by integrating tools such as Lexia, ST Math, and Wonders—platforms that offer adaptive features tailored to individual needs.”

The district also implemented speech-to-text software and interactive digital platforms that help students with disabilities engage more fully in the curriculum.

“I view technology as a powerful tool for equity—one that removes barriers, ignites engagement and confidence, and ensures all students have the resources they need to succeed, regardless of ability,” Runey says. “Backed by targeted grants and evidence-based practices, we are shaping a more inclusive future where technology isn’t just a resource, but a lifeline that empowers every student to thrive.”

5 Tips For Superintendents To Use Tech To Serve Your District

Runey shares advice that any superintendent can follow to get the most out of education technology.

1. Lead with Purpose - Avoid tech for tech’s sake, from infrastructure upgrades to instructional tools. Tech should support your district’s goals to empower educators, facilitate learning, and shape a future-ready community.
2. Cultivate a Culture of Empowered Learning - Invest in PD that not only trains staff on tools, but cultivates innovation and leadership. Runey’s district offers DREAM Seminars or embedded PD days to explore, share, and implement tech-enhanced instructional practices that foster engagement and success.
3. Advance Equity Through Strategic Investment - Prioritize adaptive and assistive technologies (such as ST Math, Lexia, or Wonders) that support differentiated learning. Use grants and strategic funding to close gaps in access, especially for special education students and underrepresented groups.
4. Leverage Data to Empower Smarter Decisions - Use technology to gather, visualize, and act on meaningful data—from attendance and engagement metrics to learning progress and fiscal dashboards. Encourage district and school leaders to analyze trends and ignite improvement efforts through responsive interventions, resource allocation, and transparent reporting.
5. Use Tech to Strengthen Transparent, Two-Way Communication - From mass notification tools to community apps and interactive websites, technology can empower families to engage with schools in real-time. Leverage platforms such as Apptegy or social media to tell your story, highlight student achievement, and provide clarity during times of uncertainty.

Tools They Use

• Apptegy
• TouchViews
• iPad and Apple TV Combinations
• z-Space VR laptops
• OPTIC
• Lexia
• ST Math
• Wonders
• CNC Machine
• CrisisGo

• Innovative Leader Award

Introduced in a 1950 paper by computing pioneer Alan Turing, the “Turing test” or what he called the “imitation game,” is a classic test of machine intelligence in which a judge interacts with a human and an AI or machine, and tries to assess which one is human.

“Turing opens the paper with the question, 'Can machines think?' And then he says this is an unanswerable question, let's focus on an easier question, a practical question,” says Cameron Jones, a postdoc in the Language and Cognition Lab at UC San Diego. Jones adds, Turing goes on to suggest, “that if a machine can imitate a human on any topic, if it can produce behavior that's indistinguishable from a human, we shouldn't have any grounds for saying that the human is intelligent, but the machine isn't.”

Although Jones notes there is some debate over how serious Turing was, the test has become a commonly cited benchmark of machine intelligence.

GPT-4.5 and The Turing Test

For their study, Jones and colleagues ran two separate experiments. First, they recruited 126 undergraduate participants through the psychology program at UC San Diego. They also recruited 158 paid participants from a study-participant platform called Prolific.

In these experiments, Jones and his collaborators tested multiple AI models. The research found that “when prompted to adopt a humanlike persona, GPT-4.5 was judged to be the human 73% of the time: significantly more often than interrogators selected the real human participant.”

Given the same prompt, LLaMa-3.1 was judged to be human 56% of the time, about the same as the humans they were compared to. Meanwhile, GPT-4o was thought to be human just 21% of the time.

The results of these two experiments have been published as a preprint study, so have not yet been peer reviewed. Nonetheless, Jones believes what his research has found has several implications for educators around the way we teach, test, and prepare students for the workforce.

Turing Test Results and Education

“The idea behind the Turing test is this kind of idea of indistinguishability. And so if models can produce behavior that's indistinguishable from human behavior, then we say that the models are as intelligent as people,” Jones says. “If people can't tell the difference between a human and a machine, then it's not clear that the human will have any marginal value at that task. So I think that's got to be a big worry in education: trying to think about what are the types of activities that will have a comparative advantage for humans in the future.”

He adds, “One thing that our results do suggest is that models have maybe already reached this stage for short conversations with strangers, and there might be quite a lot of jobs that have that component to them.”

What exactly these AI-proof jobs are is still a "million-dollar question." Broadly speaking, however, Jones says AI models still struggle with things such as hallucinations. Most also have a tendency to fail at their "jobs," for unexplained reasons, and that even a 5% fail rate can be a big problem in certain roles.

Most significantly AI models tend to fail at "long-horizon planning and use of context," he says. "An employee who has been at the company for three years has just picked up a lot of implicit knowledge about where things are and why things are done the way they're done."

He adds, "Manufacturing and maintaining a context window to include all of this information for an LLM can be very challenging. This means that tasks which take a person longer than a few hours are often too complex for models, because they either lack sufficient context or their errors compound, or their context window gets too bloated."

So until AI programs gain long-term memory and/or institutional knowledge, and can integrate all that consistently into tasks, humans still will be needed.

Evaluations Going Forward

The inability to distinguish between human and machine creations on school assignments is already an issue many teachers are familiar with and battling. Jones’ research highlights that this cheating risk is real. In addition, it raises questions about how we evaluate students.

In that vein, Jones says educators will need to start asking themselves questions such as, “What's the evaluation for? What is it that you're trying to learn if you're evaluating people on things that you can't distinguish between humans and models?”

These are questions that educators have been grappling with and debating since ChatGPT was released, but this type of research highlights the need for addressing them as AI continues to improve.

• AI Starter Kit for Teachers
• AI In Education Executive Order: What You Need To Know

Read more about the Tech & Learning EdExec Summit here.

Tech & Learning's EdExec Summit is a premier three-day networking conference designed for senior executives from companies serving the K-12 education sector. It offers a unique opportunity to connect, collaborate, and gain insights, all in a stunning setting.

To celebrate the innovative companies attending, we're hosting a special Awards Ceremony on August 18th. During this ceremony, we'll recognize both the winners and nominees of the CODiE Awards, alongside recipients of Tech & Learning’s own Awards of Excellence.

As part of this partnership, all CODiE Awards nominees will receive a $200 discount to attend the Tech & Learning EdExec Summit, which includes access to the full conference, as well as all meals and networking opportunities. Read more about this partnership discount here.

About the CODiE Awards

Since 1986, the CODiE Awards have honored the most innovative edtech products, platforms, and services that are transforming teaching and learning in a digital world.

Each entry is evaluated through a rigorous, two-round review process conducted by expert judges—including educators, administrators, instructional designers, product leaders, analysts, investors, and press.

Finalists and winners gain industry-wide recognition, trusted third-party validation, and powerful exposure to education decision-makers and influencers.

With 45+ education-focused award categories spanning curriculum and instruction, student engagement, administrative solutions, emerging technologies such as AI in education, etc. the CODiE Awards shine a spotlight on the tools reshaping the future of learning.

Learn more, nominate, or apply to judge at codieawards.com.

About the EdExec Summit

Now in its third year, Tech & Learning’s EdExec Summit brings together senior executives from K-12 industry companies and school district leaders for a three-day networking conference in a beautiful setting. The 2025 Summit will delve deep into the current state of the education market, feature increased participation from district administrators sharing their feedback and insights, and offer more opportunities for interaction and networking. Find the working agenda here.

The intimacy, deep connections, and partnerships that industry executives can forge at this event, coupled with a curated agenda that includes meaningful time for collaboration, are unlike any other conference for education business executives.

Don't miss this chance to meet other innovative leaders in the education industry, contribute your voice to this important conversation, and leave with actionable takeaways you can implement to ensure your business continues to thrive. Register HERE today.

This month's new offerings include a wireless microphone, security software, a cool new interactive display, Bluetooth speaker and more.

Eleven Engineering | Valerie Mk2

The Valerie Mk2 SKAA Wireless Microphone is ideal for the stage, studio, PA systems, and more. It features: 12-hour battery life; mute/unmute all speakers with the touch of a button; vocal presets custom-made for live and studio use; adjustable preamp gain via fader control; compatibility with any SKAA speaker or receiver; 25-meter indoor range; and 19 ms latency.

Lenovo | ThinkShield Solutions

ThinkShield Solutions are new security offerings tailored to protect small and medium-sized businesses, schools, and other organizations with limited IT resources facing significant risks. ThinkShield Solutions safeguard assets and helps prevent costly breaches, reputational damage from ransomware and malware threats, as well as minimize downtime. Its multi-layered security approach reduces a target’s attack surface, while automated protection with AI-powered solutions boost IT and security teams’ efficiency.

Optoma | Creative Touch 3-Series Interactive Displays

With Google’s Enterprise Device Licensing Agreement (EDLA) Certification and added functionality, the new 3-Series empowers educators to deliver dynamic content by providing tools that streamline management and elevate engagement. The advanced capabilities of the new 3-Series simplify planning and workflow through wireless collaboration, screen sharing, and innovative meeting solutions in both corporate and educational environments alike.

Planar | DirectLight Essential Series

The Planar DirectLight Essential Series is a line of fine pixel pitch LED video walls that deliver top quality visual performance for budget-conscious indoor applications. Designed with COB (Chip-on-Board) technology, these displays offer higher pixel density and increased durability compared to traditional LED designs. The result is improved brightness, deeper blacks and a high contrast ratio—perfect for high-traffic indoor environments with abundant ambient light.

Renaissance| Core Publisher Experience

Core Publisher Experience connects assessment with core curriculum to deliver personalized, data-driven instruction for every learner. Powered by Renaissance Next, teachers can easily navigate through core curriculum content in sync with state standards and relevant assessment data from Renaissance’s Star Assessments.

Telycam | Vision+ 4KZ

Packing an array of features into a compact form factor at an affordable price, the Vision+ 4KZ professional box camera delivers the quality of Telycam's PTZ cameras for use cases that don't require remote pan and tilt. The Vision+ 4KZ combines a 1/1.8-inch, nine-megapixel CMOS sensor with cutting-edge image processing to capture lifelike 4K/60fps video. 20x optical zoom enables crystal-clear close-ups at long distances, while its advanced focusing algorithm provides rapid, accurate auto-focus even while zooming.

Tribit | StormBox Lava

The StormBox Lava is a rugged, high-performance Bluetooth speaker designed for adventure and booming sound. Its key features include: 80W Booming Sound, with dual woofers and tweeters for crystal-clear audio; 43Hz Ultra-Deep Bass for pulse-pounding lows; and IP67 rating, making it waterproof, dustproof, and adventure-ready.

Edia | AI-Powered MTSS Platform

Edia is launching the first AI-Powered MTSS platform that systematically analyzes hundreds of data points—attendance, behavior incidents, academic performance, and more—to pinpoint student needs and provide actionable interventions. Edia's AI-Powered MTSS platform enables K-12 school districts to deliver personalized support for every student with unified student profiles, an evidence-based library, automated intervention workflows, and much more.

• Edtech Show & Tell

In addition, modifying lessons to include new technological advancement provides the chance to review our lessons, and incorporate different ways that students can approach gaining content knowledge, experience learning concepts through active and experiential learning activities, and gain mastery in varied subject areas.

In this article, we revisit four popular Tech & Learning lesson plans and provide guidance on how to modify aspects of the teaching and learning activities to take advantage of AI.

Revisiting Canva Lesson Plan

AI functionalities within Canva’s Magic Studio can be used in the Canva Lesson Plan under Guided Instruction where the teacher creates the lesson video walking students through the different types of biodiversity.

For example, instead of searching for images that represent ecosystem diversity, genetic diversity, and species diversity, the AI-powered text-to-video or text-to-image tool can be used. As the teacher planning the lesson, you can type in what you are looking for, and then a video or image will be produced using the AI functionalities within Canva’s Magic Studio.

You can also use the AI-powered magic resize and background generator to ensure that the visuals match the learning content.

Revisiting Blooket Lesson Plan

In the Blooket Lesson Plan under the Guided Practice section of this lesson, you may want students to engage with specific content on Blooket.

By taking advantage of the collaboration between Khanmingo and Blooket, you can use the AI-powered question creator to align questions to specific content of the lesson, as opposed to using the existing pre-made question sets within Blooket. This would also provide the chance to differentiate instruction, and have different gamified question sets available to students depending on where they are with the content and support they may need.

The Khanmingo and Blooket AI functionalities have two access pathways; from the dashboard in Khanmingo and from the Question Set Creator tool in Blooket.

Revisiting IXL Lesson Plan

For the IXL Lesson Plan, consider trying out the IXL’s new Spark Studio.

In the lesson under Individual Skill Development, you can create specific materials in the Spark Studio using the AI-powered teacher workspace. In this way, you can provide more specificity and targeted activities that can help your students develop specific skills.

In addition, you can click one button and your lessons, learning activities, and other created content can be translated into a foreign language. This could be helpful for students and their parents whose first language is not English. And with the AI functionality, it can all be done with a click of a button.

Revisiting Powtoon Lesson

In the first part of the Powtoon Lesson Plan under Content Instruction, you can use the new AI Avatars features to deliver the lesson. You would still personalize the content that the Avatar shares and can use the templates provided and customize the text and concepts you would like included. The AI will create a video based on what you provide that can serve as the instruction for your students.

For students, as they create their characters, they could use the Imagine Script-AI tool. They will still need to have their own ideas to put into the AI, which would take their initial idea and help them flesh it out and further develop.

I hope the ideas shared can help you get started with revisiting your lesson plans to take advantage of new and added AI functionalities to the edtech tools you and your students have enjoyed using for teaching and learning. Remember, AI is not always perfect and it is important to check the outputs to ensure accuracy and that the content you share with students is representative of the learning goals.

As you prepare, here are other related articles that may be useful:

• Explaining AI Use in the Classroom to Families
• AI Lesson Plan Tips
• ChatGPT Lesson Plan
• Developing AI Pedagogical Practices
• 10 Free AI Trainings and Certifications for Educators

Too often, library media specialists are underutilized and underappreciated. A misconception they are merely babysitters or simply play a role in the entertainment side of literacy leaves a lot of quality tech expertise and opportunity for student success on the table.

“We are trained to work with teachers across subject areas and grade levels, full classes or individual students. If you have a big project that involves research, we want to jump in. I want administrators to support the work we are doing. Whether you're a principal or a tech coach or department head, involve your library media specialist in your department meetings and curriculum planning, because they have a wealth of knowledge about not only research, but technology and how to best integrate it.”

Collins was recently recognized for her work with an Innovative Leader Award for Library Media Specialist Award at the Tech & Learning New England Regional Leadership Summit.

Collins shares how tech plays a role for Library Media Specialists, offering tips for administrators and educators to make the most of the role’s expertise to benefit their students.

Truth is the Treasure

The current climate and flood of misinformation on social and in media makes becoming a good digital citizen more important than ever.

“I cover cybersecurity, online safety, and being a responsible user of technology integrating ISTE’s digital citizenship lessons, but take it a step beyond,” says Collins. “Right now, my students are creating a digital footprint map—a mind map of their most visited websites, favorite apps, and social media use. This helps them become more aware of their activity online.”

Once students have a handle on how they are interacting with media, Collins shifts to the quality of that media.

“I teach news and media literacy, using the News Literacy Project’s checkology Curriculum,” she says. “We cover things like free speech, the seven standards of journalism, and how to be smart in evaluating information. I teach them about algorithms and to be aware of things like filter bubbles and information pollution, as well as the importance of digital verification when doing research online.”

With political sensitivity on high alert, some of these areas can pose a tricky tightrope to walk for educators.

“It’s a bipartisan topic, it crosses political lines,” Collins says. “One of the lessons I do is all about understanding bias. We all carry biases. It’s simply about determining whether a piece of information that they’re looking at online is factual. Who’s the author? How do we determine how credible this is? What’s their experience level? Your Uncle Charlie might be your favorite uncle and he might know all there is to know about fishing. However, if he doesn’t know anything about physics and your question has to do with physics, then even though you love him, you need to go beyond Uncle Charlie.”

Collin’s debut book, Teaching News Literacy in the Age of AI: A Cross Curricular Approach, will be published by ISTE in August. Aimed at educators and library media specialists, the cross-disciplinary approach offers resources to help students navigate today’s news and media landscape as expert chroniclers, curators, and content creators.

“Be a Sherlock Holmes or an Enola Holmes, be a Spock,” she says. “It’s black and white, take your own biases and emotions out of it and just look at the facts. It’s vitally important. Truth is the treasure. I tell them they are the treasure hunters and their critical thinking skills are their treasure map.”

Project-Based Pizazz

“I'm a firm believer in project-based learning,” Collins says. “We do a lot of cross-curricular projects that involve research, creativity, and the use of technology in the creation process and the expression piece as well.”

Collins’ special projects include coding with poetry from Hour of Code and creating an ideal future sustainable home using 3D-design software through Ludenso Create. She also focuses on popular projects aimed at English language learners, such as a digital music creation with Soundation and drawing projects using Brush Ninja to create a meme, which allows students to communicate in a comfortable non-written form.

“They are still doing research, technology just allows them to get creative about how they're expressing their ideas, which is wonderful,” she says. “My annual session on how to use Sora to gain access to multiple different languages to read and hear their books in their own language as they're developing their English skills draws a full house.”

With much of the news and current events seeming dire and full of doom and gloom, Collins injects a dose of humor to ensure lessons resonate.

“I’ll have a little quiz on AI–there's hilarious things out there,” she says. “We look at images and I teach them the strategies of how to find the source and whether it's reliable or not. I’ll show a photo of the Pope in a puffer jacket, that's not real. So we learn things like reverse image searching to backtrack and find the original source of a photo. The Wayback Machine helps you check down a website where something came from originally. I remember when it was just a newspaper that was thrown on your porch. Now it's a lot harder with the internet, social media and speed with which the misinformation travels. So I let them play with the technology that the bad actors are using.”

AI offers the potential for an enormous effect on today’s world, yet Collins reminds students that it is just a tool, and one that can be used for good or bad.

“I will have students locate a historical photo and use Canva,” she says. “Students upload a historical photo. alter it and then we have a guessing game. What is different in this picture, which is real, which is not? It shows not tells, just how easy it is to use certain tools. Letting them use the tech is the best way I can think of to teach an awareness of what's going on right now in the world of AI.”

5 Tips to Make the Most of Your Library Media Specialist

Collins shares what you can do to ensure your media specialists are contributing all they can to your school.

1. Prioritize Collaboration and Communication. Schedule regular meetings to discuss school needs. Involve librarians in curriculum planning and showcase the library's resources, services and tech to students.
2. Advocate for the Librarian's Role. Promote the librarian’s role in curriculum and tech integration, share access to professional resources such as relevant professional organizations and conferences, and promote teacher-librarian partnerships.
3. Allocate Resources and Support. Ensure adequate funding for materials, tech, collaboration time, and PD. Publicly acknowledge librarians’ contributions.
4. Professional Development and Growth. Provide opportunities for librarians to enhance skills and knowledge, support research and innovative practices, and offer librarian-to-librarian mentorship and coaching from pros.
5. Data-Driven Decision-Making. Use library data to inform resource allocation and measure the positive impact of library programs and services on student outcomes.

The Tools They Use

• diffit.me
• Canva
• Brisk
• MagicSchool AI
• StretchAI
• Safari Montage
• Breakout EDU
• Adobe Express
• Brush Ninja
• Soundation
• Ludenso Create
• Hour of Code
• Checkology curriculum (News Literacy Project)
• ISTE Digital Citizenship curriculum
• Sora
• National Geographic
• Noodletools
• Code.org

Suddenly, edtech was thrust into the teaching spotlight. Teachers felt the urgency and stepped into it. I offered targeted learning opportunities on the fly that provided timely support, something I call “pop up PD.” Teachers learned because they had to.

Even now, PD continues to be evasive. Commonly, the teachers seeking it need it less than those avoiding it. Yet, there is a new approach that could encourage many, even the most resistant, to embrace opportunities to leverage PD to refine their craft.

Introducing AI tools to support educators offers spectacular access to resources and engagement not previously realized. With so many platforms available, it can be overwhelming. Drilling down to manageable learning opportunities and tools is a worthy pursuit through which all school leaders should guide teachers.

Getting Stared With AI PD

So where to begin? Consider that among the vast range of AI tools and resources to help teachers, the best are not necessarily the well-branded or cost-heavy options. Some schools have adopted AI tools such as Diffit or MagicSchool, both paid resources.

I do not contest AI investments. Rather, if there is a parallel source that is free or low-cost, teachers should be provided support to use these, especially in districts with fewer resources.

Khanmigo is an example of a decent free AI tool. It has many features that MagicSchool and Diffit offer, and the company is respected, so I suggest it as one educators and schools might explore. Gemini is another powerful AI, with Google Classroom and Drive integration, plus NotebookLM. The pioneer of AI, ChatGPT, continues to stay relevant, as does Meta from Facebook, and there are other freemium models, such as Perplexity and Claude.

I could write an article on every one of these AI tools; how and why each is beneficial. Teachers don’t have time to dissect the many AI tools, however, so our focus will be on Google’s NotebookLM because it has profound use for PD, and offers a wide array of teaching and learning benefits.

Opening Up NotebookLM

Someone tapping into NotebookLM can go in many directions. I thought describing how I used it to create a PD for a colleague would provide a seeable way.

To begin with, my colleague, an educational attorney, asked me to gather resources relevant to AI ethics and law in education, and then generate PD around these topics. Factors included bias, hallucinations, deep fakes, confidentiality, grading bias, underage access, and even the ethical implications of AI companionship.

I gathered numerous materials to upload to NotebookLM, which is as simple as attaching files and inserting links. Next, NotebookLM coordinated all of these references, and provided a relevant title: Artificial Intelligence, Schools and the Law.

The buzz everyone talks about with NotebookLM is the podcast feature, which allows you to create an audio file summarizing the sources into a cohesive format.

You start by selecting “Click to load the conversation” on the right:

The result is incredible and what’s even more fabulous is the ability to interact with the podcasters, who sound like real people, riffing with one another. You can ask them a question that’s deep in your sources and it will locate content, and use it to respond, often with intuitive appeal. This alone has many already excited about the PD potential.

It’s understandable this would create buzz for teaching, learning and PD. Yet there’s so much more to NotebookLM that can aid PD! For instance, there is a chatbox right in the center where it says, Start typing. Think of this just like any AI chatbot, yet it's searching deliberate information from your sources, indexed on the left.

And There's More…

In NotebookLM there are a series of options below the audio feature on the right that allow a user to generate a study guide, briefing doc, FAQ, and even a timeline. Once generated, these are robust and deliberately linked to the source documents. A spot is available to add your own notes manually. If you are starting from scratch, click the Discover tool on the upper left and ask what to find.

Still wondering if this is a worthwhile PD tool? How about the Mind Map below the Start typing prompt?

A linear illustration with clickable maps that delve into each subtopic is unveiled. You can scroll out or in to focus on various subtopics. Select the topic of interest, which feeds into the chatbot section, where you can engage the content directly and interactively.

Here is a great NotebookLM teacher-friendly instructional.

And even more good news: Since this article was prepared, Google has rolled out NotebookLM for iPhone and android. In initial testing, this new mobile version demonstrates the same robust options described here!

NotebookLM is not the only AI tool that will upgrade your PD. The reason I like it is because in my experience teaching AI to educators, it has been THE game-changer. Every teacher who discovers its usefulness is ecstatic. Why? Because it’s one robust tool, wrapped neatly together and works under the umbrella of Google.

Other AI PD Options

For now, I’m using NotebookLM for teaching, learning, and PD, but here are other platforms to consider.

• Khanmigo is a free teaching assistant from Khan Academy that helps teachers with tasks such as lesson planning, generating activities, creating rubrics, and differentiating instruction, ultimately aiming to save time and enhance teaching effectiveness.
• Brisk is a Chrome extension that acts as an AI-powered teaching assistant, helping educators streamline tasks such as generating lesson plans, providing feedback, differentiating content, and creating resources directly within their existing workflows to save time and enhance teaching effectiveness.
• SchoolAI offers tools such as personalized learning experiences for students and AI assistants for teachers to streamline tasks including lesson planning and feedback, aiming to enhance teaching and learning.
• Canva Magic Studio empowers teachers to generate designs, rewrite text, edit images, and create engaging content such as presentations and videos, streamlining creative tasks, and enhancing visual learning materials.
• Eduaide is a workspace created by teachers for teachers, designed to simplify tasks such as lesson planning, resource creation, and feedback, ultimately aiming to free up educators' time to focus on student growth.

Dozens more tools are available, and my goal was to give you a starting point. Feel free to contribute your own ideas, right here on my Bluesky feed!

• 9 Ways School Leaders Can Use AI
• AI Resources for District Leaders

AI makes it presence subtly felt in many other ways throughout my workday: from the AI summaries of the transcription software I use for interviews conducted as a journalist and various AI tools offering to rewrite my emails to how I seem to detect its influence in both positive and negative ways in students and others I communicate with online.

Much of this AI use is great and promises to do wonderful things such as offer personalized learning to more students and increase accessibility. Yet, as AI becomes more subtly and not-so subtly integrated into my daily work as a writer and educator, I recently found myself thinking about establishing boundaries with my AI use and better honing when using it is or is not an efficient use of time. I also spoke with two experts on this topic for their perspectives.

AI Shouldn’t Be Used to Replace Tasks That Force Us To Think

It’s easy to say we should never offload our thinking to AI but what that looks like in principle changes.

For example, I recently delivered a talk for the Bethel Connecticut Historical Society on how vodka distilling in the U.S. started in the town. It’s a subject I have written about in-depth and a story I shared with the History Channel show Food That Built America in 2023, but I’ve never presented on it in this manner. I’ve written before about how I hate putting together slideshows and struggle with these in general. The talk also came at a particularly busy time in the semester for me.

I thought AI would be the solution to this problem. However, several attempts at creating a helpful slideshow with various free AI tools failed. These created weak outlines, full of hallucinations, that were visually unappealing.

So reluctantly, I sat down and created my own slideshow, albeit with the help of a few AI-generated images that served the role normally occupied by stock photography. Two-and-a-half hours later, I was glad I did this, not because my presentation was particularly visually appealing -- it’s not -- but because creating it forced me to sit down and think about what I was going to talk about. It reminded me of details about this piece of history I had forgotten.

In other words, I learned when I was creating the slideshow. Had my initial prompts to AI been successful, I’m convinced I would not have given as effective a lecture. Now I’m more on guard for other instances in which AI might be the easy solution but not the best.

AI Shouldn't Replace Human Interaction

It may sound obvious that AI shouldn’t take the place of relationship building in education, but as the efficacy of personalized tutors increases, more of us will need to remind ourselves of this.

“Every child needs caring adults who are central to their life,” says Jeremy Roschelle, co-executive director of Learning Sciences Research at Digital Promise. “Don't use AI to replace the role of a caring adult. Having caring adults in your life is an important part of growing up.”

Educators should also remind students of the importance of peer relationships rather than interactions with AI characters, which are becoming increasingly common, particularly among young people.

“Another really important part of growing up is socialization with other people,” Roschelle says. “And AI-based things can be so nice to be with. They never have a grouchy moment or a down day. They never snap back at you. But as kids, as learners, you need to learn how to deal with people who aren't always so nice.”

Navigating What Productive AI Use Looks Like For Each of Us

As with many other areas of education, there are few one-size-fits-all solutions to when not to use AI. Adeel Khan, founder and CEO of MagicSchool AI, a tech tool that helps teachers support students, believes it is important that we all learn when AI is helpful and not.

“Sometimes I find myself using it, and I'm like, ‘I offloaded too much of my thinking to AI,’ and this isn't really what I think, but it was good enough for me to accept because I had to get something done,” Khan says. “Then I look back at it, and I'm like, 'I wish I didn’t do that, and I'm not going to do that again.'”

Khan adds that through trial and error, he found a sweet spot for when to use AI and when not to for himself, but others need to find the answer to when AI is productive or not on their own.

“Everyone's answer to that question is going to be a little different based on who they are, the task at hand, their purpose, and their own skills,” he says. “It's really important that people practice using it and make mistakes so they can calibrate how they can use AI really productively, and also understand how they should limit their usage of it.”

As educators, we should be asking these questions about our own AI use and encouraging our students to ask these types of questions as well.

• 9 Ways School Leaders Can Use AI
• Using Technology To Teach CTE To Incarcerated Students

The company says that the way math -- and algebra specifically -- is taught today is based on a concept developed by Leonardo of Pisa in 1202 as a way to help traders. This, it says, is now redundant thanks to all the digital tools that use spreadsheets to do that part of mathematical working.

This is where What If Math comes in, as a way to teach math using spreadsheets so students gain real-world math skills to eventually help them in the workplace. In the more short term, it provides them with the tools to explore questions that can help expand their knowledge of math, logic, science, and more.

This guide aims to explain all you need to know about What If Math to see how it could work in your class.

What is What If Math?

What If Math is website that uses spreadsheet-based teaching to help students learn math in a functional way that can be directly implemented with current digital tools.

This platform works with K-12 curriculum to help students learn math on a functional foundation using spreadsheets. These, the company says, are what it thinks of as laboratories. Within this space students can explore, try, and be challenged using the powerful tools that are already available.

Since this works with spreadsheets as the base, it's possible to do this kind of teaching using free options such as Google Sheets or Microsoft Excel to play with tablets, graphs, formulas, and visualizations.

The system works with various layer to help guide students into learning more.

How does What If Math work?

What If Math offers what it calls Labs. These are spreadsheet-based lessons with single experiment concepts that allow students to explore that question of what if?

Usefully, lessons are designed with timing in mind and are made to last the duration of a class period. That said, since these offer open-ended questions, there is the option for students to explore further and in more depth as they please.

Another area is Explorations. These are projects that set a problem task that students have to work through as collaborative groups. These involve real-world activities and can involve using spreadsheets, functional thinking, computer science, and data science.

In both instances, the lessons are designed for teachers to be taught to a class and shared with students to access as they need.

What are the best What If Math features?

What If Math offers a way for teachers to pick and chose what parts to use and offer as experiential learning for students. That can be the more individual-focused Lab materials or the more active and group-focused Explorations.

In both cases, since these are built to be taught in class, there are excellent timings to work through in a lesson, as well as to set further explorations outside of class.

Since the Labs are designed for use with real spreadsheets, these teach students valuable skills that can be used in science, business, math, and more.

Since this use of spreadsheets is a form of programming, this sets students up for coding in a way comes from a place of understanding and experience.

Select a link and you're immediately taken to the Google Sheets lesson plan with guidance on how to work through that task.

How much does What If Math cost?

What If Math is totally free to access and use with all the Labs and Explorations available online for teachers and students to access.

What If Math best tips and tricks

Teach yourself
Work through a Lab yourself as a way to understand how this works and is taught before taking that to the class.

Use the Introduction
A helpful introduction part of the site teaches how this works and is a great way to ease students into understanding.

Share openly
Compile the lessons on your shared drive so students can have access to the materials as and when they need, allowing them to explore freely.

• New Teacher Starter Kit
• Best Tools for Teachers

One promising solution to this challenge is the use of generative AI to transform educational practices and create more inclusive learning environments.

Understanding Cultural Gaps in Education

Cultural gaps in education refer to the differences in cultural backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives that can affect how students learn and interact with their peers and teachers. These gaps can manifest in various ways, including language barriers, differing educational values, and varying levels of familiarity with certain cultural norms.

Addressing these gaps is crucial for fostering an inclusive and supportive learning environment where all students can thrive. Some may prefer to refer to these gaps as opportunity gaps instead of cultural gaps. In some way, that is a better term, as gaps are often tied to socio-economic status as well as cultural foundations.

In the context of education, generative AI can be harnessed to bridge cultural gaps by providing personalized learning experiences, enhancing communication, and fostering cultural awareness.

1. Personalize Learning Experiences

One of the key advantages of generative AI is its ability to tailor educational content to the unique needs and backgrounds of individual students. By analyzing data on students' learning styles, preferences, and cultural backgrounds, AI algorithms can generate customized lesson plans, activities, and assessments that cater to diverse learning needs.

This personalization can help ensure that all students, regardless of their cultural backgrounds, receive an education that is both relevant and engaging. Providing links to foundational materials from a student’s background can be helpful in sharing new content.

2. Provide Language Support

Language barriers are a common challenge in culturally diverse classrooms. Generative AI can assist in overcoming these barriers by providing real-time translation and language support. AI-powered translation tools can help students understand instructions, participate in discussions, and access educational materials in their native languages.

Additionally, generative AI can create language-learning resources that are tailored to the specific needs of students, facilitating language acquisition and improving communication within the classroom. Look at the ability of productivity suites to be able to provide real time translation for students as well.

3. Enhance Communication and Collaboration

Effective communication and collaboration are essential for fostering an inclusive learning environment. Generative AI can play a pivotal role in enhancing these aspects by facilitating cross-cultural interactions and providing tools for collaborative learning.

AI-driven communication platforms can help bridge cultural gaps by enabling students and teachers to interact seamlessly, regardless of language or cultural differences. These platforms can include features such as automated translation, sentiment analysis, and personalized communication strategies, ensuring that messages are conveyed accurately and respectfully. By improving communication, generative AI can help create a more cohesive and inclusive classroom environment.

Collaborative learning is an effective way to promote cultural understanding and inclusivity. Generative AI can support collaborative learning by developing interactive and culturally relevant learning activities that encourage students to work together and share their perspectives. AI-powered tools can facilitate group projects, discussions, and peer-to-peer learning, helping students build meaningful connections and learn from each other's experiences. AI tools can also be instrumental in fostering cultural awareness and appreciation among students. By exposing students to diverse cultural content and perspectives, AI can help create a more inclusive and empathetic learning environment.

4. Create Culturally Relevant Content

Generative AI can generate culturally relevant educational content that reflects the diverse backgrounds of students. This content can include stories, examples, and activities that highlight different cultural traditions, values, and experiences. By incorporating diverse perspectives into the curriculum, educators can help students develop a deeper understanding of and respect for different cultures.

Virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) technologies, powered by generative AI, can provide immersive cultural experiences that bring learning to life. Students can explore virtual environments that simulate different cultural settings, participate in interactive cultural activities, and engage with virtual characters from diverse backgrounds. These experiences can help students develop cultural empathy and broaden their horizons, making them more open-minded and aware.

Challenges and Considerations

While the potential of generative AI for bridging cultural gaps in K12 classrooms is immense, it is important to address some potential challenges associated with its implementation.

The use of AI in education raises ethical and privacy concerns, particularly regarding the collection and use of student data. It is crucial to ensure that AI tools are designed and implemented in a way that protects students' privacy and complies with relevant data protection regulations.

Educators and policymakers must work together to develop guidelines and best practices for the ethical use of AI in education. Make sure your school’s data security policies align with the use of generative AI tools.

To maximize the benefits of generative AI, it is also important to ensure that all students have access to the necessary technology and resources. This includes addressing disparities in access to devices, internet connectivity, and digital literacy. Efforts must be made to provide equal access to every student so they can benefit from personalized and culturally inclusive learning experiences.

Generative AI holds great promise to bridge cultural or opportunity gaps within K-12 classrooms. By providing personalized learning experiences, enhancing communication and collaboration, and fostering cultural awareness, AI can help create more inclusive and supportive learning environments, transforming education.

• 9 Ways School Leaders Can Use AI
• AI Resources for District Leaders

The Education Essentials Kit is bundled with everything you need to get started.

xTool P2S: Getting Started

Although a device such as this could have a steep learning curve to get set up and started, I found setting up and making my first project with the xTool P2S for education very easy. I had everything I needed in terms of tools, directions, and video tutorials, making the process simple. I really appreciated the content that was specifically related to safety.

The unit I tested came with a comprehensive education bundle that includes a teacher’s guide, onboarding video curriculum, and a materials kit with templates and settings, ensuring quick success for both educators and students. Dual 16MP cameras provide a live preview and auto-focus, making material placement and setup intuitive, even for beginners.

I found the free xTool Creative Space (XCS) software (compatible with Windows, Mac, and mobile devices) very user-friendly. It offers a large library of learning resources in the “Software Learning Center” that helped me learn the program quickly. I enjoyed its user-friendly workflow and one-click operations for importing images, setting outlines, selecting material, and adjusting engraving/cutting parameters. I utilized both my own content as well as the editable content shared by their vibrant community of users on their “Design Find” website.

The “AImake” AI feature will also create designs for you from your prompts. Furthermore, the 5k+ member xTool for Education Facebook Group is a great place to learn, share, and get inspiration from all over the world.

xTool P2S: Key Features

• Safety features - Enclosed design, auto-locking lid, USB lockout key, emergency stop, AI fire detection, fire safety set, air purifier, and laser safety goggles.
• Curricular and support content.
• Powerful 55W CO2 laser with engraving speeds up to 600 mm/s.
• Working area - 26 x 14 inches, with the ability to expand for support of extra-long materials up to 118 inches with the optional passthrough, plus an optional rotational engraver for round objects such as drinkware.
• Curved surface engraving feature.
• Cutting capacity - hardwood (Walnut)–18mm, and acrylic– 20mm (approximate ¾”) in a single pass.
• Wifi and USB, plus compatible with Windows, MacOS, Android, and iOS

xTool P2S: Cost

The xTool P2 Education Essentials Kit as tested is typically priced around $6,439. It contains xTool P2S, SafetyPro AP2 Air Purifier, P2S & P2 Honeycomb Panel 2.0, Laser Safety Goggles, Fire Safety Set, Laser Material Education Package, xTool Care for P2S, and Educator guide.

Optional accessories such as the rotary attachment, riser base, or conveyor feeder can increase the total investment but add significant versatility. Visit the xTool website for more pricing and option information.

xTool P2S: Key Takeaways

The xTool P2S is a powerful, accurate, and versatile 55W CO2 desktop laser. It engraves and cuts a wide range of materials quickly and precisely, making it suitable for a variety of classroom projects. The bundled education guides, video curriculum, and easy-to-use software lowers the barrier to entry for teachers and students, even those new to laser-cutting technology.

I found the features that really set the P2S apart from the competition are the dual cameras, auto-focus, curved surface engraving, and robust safety feature set. Its fast operation and easy setup mean students can see their ideas come to life in a single class period, keeping them engaged and maximizing learning time. Furthermore, the large, expandable workspace with optional passthrough capability allows for both small and large projects, supporting creativity and real-world applications.

The xTool P2S is a highly capable, education-focused laser cutter that delivers speed, precision, and versatility, making it an excellent choice for schools and makerspaces seeking to empower student creativity and technical skills.

• Educator Edtech Reviews

Enter Maker Spaces Go Mobile.

“When we housed individual machines in schools, they operated in very much of a silo mentality due to the size of our district,” says Susie Simmons, Instructional Technology Coach at Bonny Eagle Schools in Maine. “Our vision with the mobile makerspace was to cut back on isolating components and increase our collaboration across the district. It empowered us to bring a larger number of pieces of equipment into a building at any given time when they need it, which helps make any projects move faster than if they were trying to accomplish it on one stationary machine.”

With the help of collaborator/partner and fellow instructional technology coach Stephen Avery, the program was thoroughly considered before launching.

“We really wanted to have kids interact with the technology and use it, rather than putting in the gatekeeper of an adult who is really the one using the tech and undermining the educational experience,” says Avery. “We worked it into not just CTE-style STEM courses, but for all students.”

Simmons was recently recognized with an Innovative Leader Award for Most Innovative Learning Spaces Award at the Tech & Learning New England Regional Leadership Summit.

Simmons and Avery discuss their impressive Maker Spaces Go Mobile project, offering six tips for districts wanting to connect such spaces with curriculum on a deeper level.

The Making of a Mobile Makerspace

As mentioned, the main focus of the project was to provide students with hands-on, creative opportunities.

“3D printing was still a big piece of the goal,” says Avery. “It was known technology and something we’d been doing for a while. Three years ago, we were also fortunate to add a set of GlowForges, one in each of our middle and high school buildings. GlowForge, a laser cutter and engraver, is very quick technology by comparison to 3D printing. It has great applications for design thinking, prototyping, and problem solving.”

Being able to spread need across the use of multiple machines also has clear benefits.

“Back in the day, a project could take several weeks and a few overnight hours of 3D printing,” says Simmons. “With our new system, the same project can be done within the course of a school day. It’s been really gratifying to work with teachers used to the old methods and now we just show up with a mass supply of pieces of equipment to get things done.”

The “mobile” element of a mobile maker lab space proved interesting.

“We actually moved a laser around a couple of times,” says Avery. “That particular machine was quite heavy and very prone to damage. In search of a more mobile solution, we selected two different types of lasers from a company called xTool. One is a bed-style diode laser called the S1.”

The team also purchased a small, portable engraving unit called the F1, ideal for speedy, small projects with students.

“While we were shooting for the moon, we added a Cricut Venture system,” says Avery. “This large-scale, industrial-sized and output-ready Cricut machine is capable of doing vinyl and other thin substrate work, to be able to cut and design for staff and student use.”

The bonus was should one elementary school need a project completed, without a hands-on piece of tech physically in the room, they could send files and jobs to be printed and delivered as a type of a processing center.

Cutting Class is Encouraged

One makerspace project featured students making physical currency in a social studies class to understand setting up their own little countries and the economy that goes with it. Other efforts have been more practical.

“One of my favorite projects was helping a student in special education with a physical limitation in art class,” says Avery. “The tech made a carving project to make linoleum stamps accessible, despite the student’s lack of physical control needed to manipulate the tools. We created digital designs and used the laser for the physical carving so that the student was able to fully participate. We continue to look for ways that we can support through meaningful opportunities to remove obstacles.”

The program has “earned its keep” further, making gifts for celebrations and staff presents, stencils for the facilities department, even manipulatives for a math class. It helps when it comes time for budget decision to justify expenses.

“We’ve been doing laser work during reading challenges or family engagement nights,” says Simmons. “Students design their own keychain or bookmark. Because of the speed at which we're able to produce those items, the kids walk away with their creation in their hand, which is awesome.”

Simmons notes that there’s even a plan for a major waste issue districts struggle with—recycling 3D printer scraps.

“We ended up buying a wood chipper off Amazon of all things,” says Avery. “We used it to break down our failed models, our scrap, and then melt it into sheets that we can actually cut with the laser to make new products.”

Money Matters

Like many districts, Bonny Eagle benefited from regional partnerships and grants.

“After receiving a grant from the Perloff Family Foundation in Maine, Bonny Eagle Schools expanded the existing 3D printing system across the district,” says Simmons, “The technology in those buildings was beginning to show its age. It no longer worked at the quality or speed we needed to support our programs.”

Located in Maine, the DoE Learning Through Technology Team at the state level offered a Teach with Tech grant. The duo decided to apply with the goal of supporting makerspace youth across K-12.

“We hoped to replace the aging 3D printing technology across the district and provide other methods of creation,” says Simmons. “Our larger vision was for the two of us currently on paper supporting grade 6 to 12 to support K to 12 instead.”

“We were very fortunate in our district to be able to have professionals support embedded professional development,” says Avery. “It's essentially a peer who can support-teach with the teachers. We created a train-the-trainer model and are actively brainstorming projects to avoid introducing technology as a toy. We want to identify it fits as part of the teaching strategy and instructional style to help further and deepen student learning. Those abilities are great for kids moving on into an engineering program, design thinking . . . but the creative problem-solving is really just a great overall life skill.”

6 Steps to Mobile Makerspace Success

Simmons and Avery share their tips for creating mobile makerspaces.

1. Make sure that you have people on staff invested in making it work. Find people on staff who can take the vision and make it happen, and support them doing so. It’s crucial.
2. Be the learner in the process. Without somebody to bounce ideas off and partner with, it’s a heavier lift and becomes really challenging.
3. FInd opportunities just to play, even if you don't have the technology yet. A lot of tools have free software with which you can experiment. The tech is often in libraries and community maker spaces. Be a student again and get some hands-on time to stretch your imagination.
4. Consider the infrastructure involved from a physical standpoint. If you are planning to do something such as this in a mobile setting, how are you going to transport it between schools? Bonny Eagle Schools has a district van and all of the equipment is on carts. Lean on your facilities department to move it safely.
5. Know that it's going to take some time. The duo is still working on building capacity within this district, so this program hasn’t been an overnight success. So be willing to be patient and don't expect it to show the fruits of your labor in year one. Trust the vision and support your staff in making it happen.
6. Don’t undersell the importance of collaboration. The coaches were begging for an opportunity to talk with colleagues and put their heads together in a room. Time is precious, but even an hour of time together to sit down and talk through ideas can be really invigorating and productive.

The Tools They Use

• Heavy duty utility carts for moving the equipment
• Bambu Lab A1 and A1 Mini 3D Printers
• 4-Color AMS Lite
• Cricut Venture Makerspace Educators School Bundle
• xTool F1 Portable Diode/Infrared Laser
• xTool S1 Enclosed Diode Laser Cutter
• TinkerCAD, AutoCAD
• Physical materials such as air handling, storage totes, replacement parts, and consumable materials such as filament, vinyl, and wood.

• Innovative Leader Award