The crisis of students being unable to read is a measurable, generational collapse in literacy that extends from elementary students lacking phonics to high schoolers who cannot comprehend complex texts. 40% of fourth graders cannot read proficiently, and 32% of twelfth graders scored below Basic on the 2024 NAEP reading assessment, the lowest level since the test began in 1992. Key factors contributing to this decline include: Neurological Impact of Technology: The mere presence of smartphones reduces working memory and fluid intelligence, while reading on screens suppresses comprehension-related neural activity compared to paper reading. Reliance on AI: Early use of … [Read more...]
Predicting the Challenges of AI Use in Schools (And How to Avoid Them)
Todays article comes to us from Spark Learning. What role should AI be allowed to play for teachers and students? Is it ok for teachers but not for students? https://www.esparklearning.com/blog/predicting-the-challenges-of-ai-use-in-schools-and-how-to-avoid-them/ One of the most surprising things about artificial intelligence is just how quickly it has progressed. That’s also one of the reasons some are still wary about using it, particularly in school settings. When it’s changing so quickly, how can we predict what the challenges of AI use will be? How do we make sure to prepare for those challenges, so that our students don’t wind up suffering the consequences? There’s no way to … [Read more...]
Are schools really for child care rather than education? ChatGPT answers the question
Have you used any of the "AI" chat programs to pose questions and see how it answers? We posed the question in the title of this article to one and here's what it said: That's a thought-provoking question, and it touches on a bigger debate about the purpose of public schools. At their core, schools are primarily meant for education—to provide students with the academic knowledge and skills needed to succeed in life and contribute to society. In theory, schools are places where children learn subjects like math, science, language arts, history, and more, which help them develop intellectually, socially, and emotionally. But over time, the role of schools has evolved to encompass more than … [Read more...]
AI Agents Will Shape Every Aspect Of Education In 2025
From an article at Forbes Artificial Intelligence has been at the forefront of educational technology and innovation discussions these past two years and will likely continue to be so for the foreseeable future. To discern what may be coming in 2025, I asked several education innovators who had shaped stories in 2024 for their takes on what they see as being just over the horizon. One theme that stood out was the rise of AI Agents. The Rise Of AI Agents In this context, the sense of “agent” is the difference between using a tool to accomplish something yourself and asking someone to do something for you. Imagine that you are trying to solve a mathematics program. The tool approach … [Read more...]
Deepfake teachers & technology: the future of K-12 public education?
Ready to glimpse the future of K-12 public education? Put your walking shoes on and check your skepticism at the door and enter the looking glass with me... The future of K-12 public education is...Deepfake teachers. First what the heck is "deepfake"? Definition: "an image or recording that has been convincingly altered and manipulated to misrepresent someone as doing or saying something that was not actually done or said" "Deepfake (a portmanteau of "deep learning" and "fake") is a technique for human image synthesis based on artificial intelligence(A.I). It is used to combine and superimpose (Photoshop/Edit) existing images and videos onto source images or videos using a … [Read more...]
The Way We Learn Today Is Just Wrong – True or False?
From a blog at the Huffington Post - Do you agree? The way we learn today is just wrong. Learning needs to be less like memorization, and more like… Angry Birds. Half of school dropouts name boredom as the No. 1 reason they left. How do we get our kids to want to learn? The blog is about why the future of education will be about flipping our current model on its head and about how key exponential technologies like AI, VR and gamification are going to drive a revolution in education. From A's to Angry Birds In the traditional education system, you start at an "A." And every time you get something wrong, your score gets lower and lower. In the gaming world, it's just … [Read more...]