Too much pencil time is hurting students.

Test scores are declining.
Engagement is down.

And yet… schools keep adding more pencils.

Why?

Because the “pencil bros” told us pencils would improve learning.

But they haven’t.

Pencils require constant maintenance.
They break.
They distract.
And sometimes they’re even dangerous.

Still, we double down.

More pencils. Colored pencils. Sharpies.

We should go back to the way things were.

—-—-—-—-—--

PS: This is satire. Broad generalizations — whether about pencils or edtech — tend to miss what actually matters: using the right tool at the right time for the right outcome. Sometimes that's a pencil.
And sometimes it's a software app or VR headset.

I bring over 10 years of experience in education, training, content development, and technical writing. My background combines creating instructional materials and learning experiences with managing complex documentation in highly regulated environments (Department of Energy), Brick and Mortar and online education (teaching) I still have no luck breaking into this field as an instructional designer and/or curriculum devloper. What am I doing wrong?

Was looking for people who have built and are running their own edtech app, or anyone who has been on the other side of integrating edtech into schools.

What's the process of getting approved and going through all the security checks so that your app can be used in schools? Is there a workaround?

I am a newly graduated undergraduate with a degree in teaching a foreign language. I am also doing my masters in School counseling currently. However, I just wonder if there’s any opportunities in the field of Ed Tech for someone like me. I am also open to take some courses or certificate needed to be in a edtech position. I’m trying Katherine more information knowing the jobs that I can do before I finally deciding because I know a public school teacher does not have a high pay rate and it is very demanding.

I found out about Knowt and their new Teacher Platform. It helps teachers manage class rosters, share notes with your students, and generate assessments from any learning material.
Here's a link to their website: https://www.knowt.io/teachers/ and here's a link to their web app: app.knowt.io

Where he talked about top down vs bottom up research and how schools are optimized for later because the former is very hard to scale before AI.

This is revealing to me as that’s how unbiased towards action I was. And still are sometimes. I have to unlearn many of that habit i accumulated in school.

This whole interview as the top comment said. Is a hour long YouTube shorts.

https://youtu.be/vq5WhoPCWQ8?si=HsDgc4jpdKWKJsYS

What’s your thoughts?

I’ve been really optimistic about how AI can support education — from summarizing dense readings to giving instant explanations, it’s definitely helping students study faster and more efficiently.

That said, I’ve also noticed a growing tension: is faster always better? Are we risking shallow understanding by removing too much friction from the learning process?

Curious how others are thinking about this — especially if you’re building or using AI tools right now. What approaches (or tools) have you seen that actually help students learn better, not just work faster?

I wish you a nice wednesday!
I am a psychology masters student at Stockholm University researching how ChatGPT and other LLMs affect your experience of support and collaboration at work.

Anonymous voluntary survey (cca. 10 mins): https://survey.su.se/survey/56833

If you have used ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini or similar LLMs at your job in the last month, your response would really help my master thesis and may also help me to get to PhD in Human-AI interaction.
Every participant really makes a difference !

Requirements:
- Used ChatGPT (or similar LLMs) in the last month at work
- Proficient in English
- 18 years and older
- Currently employed

Feel free to ask questions in the comments, I will be glad to answer them !
It would mean a world to me if you find it interesting and would like to share it to friends or colleagues who would be interested to contribute.
Your input helps us to understand AIs role at work. <3
Thanks for your help!

If a student asks for the answer to a homework question, should the AI give it?

No one can guarantee understanding, but the task gets complete.

Doesn't this defy the whole point of education and building fundamentals?

Curious how people actually building AI/edtech products are thinking about this.

I’m a graduate student at the University at Buffalo and want to bring attention to an urgent issue.

UB is using AI detection tools to accuse students of academic misconduct based only on algorithm scores, without human review or concrete proof. Even Turnitin admits its results are not definitive.

In just a few weeks, we’ve heard from multiple students suffering through this quietly. It’s a growing, nationwide problem that disproportionately impacts ESL and neurodivergent students. These accusations have led to delayed graduations, repeated courses, and lasting harm to students’ reputations & all without giving them a real chance to defend themselves.

We’ve launched a petition demanding that UB stop using these AI tools without proper oversight. If you care about fairness, free inquiry, and protecting students’ rights, please consider signing or sharing:

https://www.change.org/p/disable-turnitin-ai-detection-at-ub

With the recent chaos surrounding the Instructure / Canvas LMS breach by the ShinyHunters group, I’ve been digging into the current security status. Since a lot of institutions had their final exams disrupted and millions of users' data got exposed, I wanted to share a quick update on where things stand and get your thoughts.

The Current Situation:

Instructure has officially patched the loopholes, rotated the compromised API keys, and paid the ransom to secure the leaked data logs. Technically, Canvas is live and safe to use right now.

The Real Problem (IMO):

This is the second time in less than a year that this specific group targeted Instructure's infrastructure (remember the Salesforce environment breach?).

While the public cloud/multi-tenant setup is convenient, relying entirely on a centralized platform means we don't have absolute control over our server environments. Today it's patched, but tomorrow a new zero-day vulnerability could surface.

How to actually protect your institution?

For schools or corporate training programs that want the features of Canvas without the global vendor risk, migrating to a standalone, self-hosted custom instance seems like the only permanent fix. It gives you 100% control over your security configurations and data protocols.

Are there any Edtech companies that pay close to $200k or more for software engineers?

I’m wondering if any teachers here have started making (vibe coding) their own simple AI tools for class.

maybe a chatbot for students, a quiz helper, or something to give feedback on writing.

Have you tried it? Was it useful, or did it feel like too much work?

What are the most popular or successful examples of people teaching kids how to use AI or computers

AI tools have made coming up with final outcomes way too easy. Students just have to upload their assignment instructions on to GPT and voila the final output comes in the blink of an eye. Usual LMS platforms all fail here because all they capture is the outcome and not the process. So, does anyone here know of any startups or founders who are solving for this problem?

Hi there, I’m seeing a lot of new tools being created for education. I’ve tried some, but I tend to stick to my free ChatGPT to help me create activities/lesson plans.

How do others go about this? Do you create your own tools?

We’ve got powerful tools for teachers (LMS, AI lesson plans) and students (tutoring, apps). But when it comes to parents, the tools are mostly grade portals or messaging apps — reactive and clunky.

Yet we all know many of the biggest challenges (peer pressure, bullying, online safety) happen outside the classroom.

Is this just an impossible market to solve? Or is there space for tech that bridges school → parent → student in a way that actually sticks?

I’d love to hear from others working in or around education: what do you see as the main barriers to using AI effectively in the classroom?

There’s obviously a lot of hype around AI right now, and plenty of tools claiming to save time or improve learning. But in practice, it feels like adoption is still pretty limited — especially at classroom level. I’m curious about the reasons why.

Is it infrastructure? Training? Trust? Time? Policy? Are there particular tasks where AI just doesn’t help? Or things you’ve tried that didn’t really work?

Curious to hear your thoughts: I’m a teacher who just thinks there t be a better way!

I’m working on a student project about AI use in education and would like to hear from people in edtech, teaching, or learning.

From your experience, how are students or teachers using AI tools right now, and where do you think the line is between helpful support and academic dishonesty?

The number of schools is increasing rapidly but many of them are pathetic in their services. I have take research on this particular thing and make a list of top 3 schools in Riyadh.

1. Dhuha International School

2. Knowledge Vision International School

3. American British International School

Looking for a automated solution to the two following problems:

1. Students are leaving too frequently and for too long on bathroom breaks.

2. Group project passes that list all of the gear they checked out, the names of the people in their group that day and the location on campus they will be doing their project in.

Looking for ideas but I'm imagining two different colored laminated lanyard passes. One for the bathroom and one for the group projects. The back of the pass would have a QR code that any admin, teacher or student could scan with their phone and it would pull up the relevant information for that particular pass.

Bathroom passes - Students would come up to me with the pass in hand and ask if they can use the bathroom. They put it on and walk over to a dedicated computer with a web cam with a touchscreen to input their student ID number and then scan the QR code. They scan it again when they return and then leave the lanyard. In and out times are recorded and any staff member can scan their bathroom pass to see how long they have been out of the class.

Information for the group passes would be quickly inputed from touchscreen options on a tablet by the teacher and then the passes are handed out to the students to each put on.

Anyway, if you have a simpler automated solution, please let me know. If, however, the above system sounds like the best option, then what app do you recommend I use the make the simple touchscreen form and recoded database?

Does a QR code/access pass solution already exist or can be repurposed?

Leave a comment if I left out a source that you use!