Honestly, I’ve never seen anything like it. Most new technologies have a small group of early adopters before others come on board more slowly; this feels more like a pell-mell stampede without any thought about separating hype from reality or consideration of the unknown negative side effects.

We need more writing on how being critical of AI in education is a minority viewpoint & paints you as a problem for the perceived intent to restrict progress or refuse "inevitability" argument. It becomes the fracture line making fundamental pts of convergence no longer possible among colleagues.

Have you read More Than Words by John Warner?

Yes! Actually John was kind enough to guest lecture in my critical tech series last term.

So much money has been poured into it that it can’t fail which is why it’s being shoved down our throats.

check out #alphaschool in texas to start, they have white papers and the kids are studying 2 hours a day with AI, playing the rest, their MAP scores are in the top 2%

There has been no independent assessment of the success of this approach, and given that tuition is roughly $40,000, it’s very likely there are other contributing factors to the students’ high scores. It’s certainly not sufficient evidence to counter the many known negatives around use of AI.

I didn’t look into the school she was referring to but I assumed that was the case. What a remarkable finding! Students who have every educational advantage will probably do ok.

2hourlearning.com

I began my career in ed tech in 1979. I have seen these same claims over and over and over again. They always fade away under rigorous independent scrutiny. I grant little credibility to the data the sponsoring company provides; show me truly independent research that properly measures results.

Yes, I’m also very hesitant of things where a track record proves disappointing. My comment is not meant as a Hail Mary to Ai in Education. Rather it’s to say, we cannot ignore that Edtech technologies are very present and will only keep growing. The cases that are working need to be studied.

Indeed, the SES factor is often raised against Alpha. Yet with jaw dropping results like kids studying 2 hours a day, playing the rest -- only to come out at the top of the nation for MAP scores, any parent or educator would be at a disadvantage to ignore learning from what they are doing right.

It’s not jaw dropping! It is obvious that much of the school day is an inefficient use of time. No one should be surprised that kids who come from privileged backgrounds & get quality instruction with low student/teacher ratios will do great. That’s not what AI will look like in our current system.

You are focusing to much on one platform. There are many others, Squirrel Ai, Khanmigo, MagicSchool Ai, Dubai is practicality Ai first as a nation. The point is, ignoring that Ai is here and being implanted at scale is only a detriment to the children and their future.

All of these are being built and launched before conducting even the most basic level of research on their effectiveness. I have seen countless examples of technology-based instruction products over the years, and 99% of them launch with great promises and then eventually disappear without a trace.

You are correct on many fronts, but the ones I’ve mentioned have millions of users — squirrel Ai has 24M —

Absolutely agree. I try to give students assignments that are meaningful and not easily AI-able but honestly I just need to have most things be paper and pencil now because it’s so omnipresent. Even Grammarly uses AI now so instead of pointing out errors, it basically just rewrites for you.

Or how about the advice to use AI errors as "teaching moments"? It's been suggested that homework be given w the understanding it will be completed the chatbot way & class should be dedicated to discussing what went wrong and that this mass of wasted time be referred to as "education."

I feel you. I have two kids in college and it is bad. But at least my own kids learned to write before AI. In my high school class, kids mostly only have access to paper, pencil, their brains and the collective wisdom of their peers (which is a lot actually).

its important to be vocal, but ai integration is already transforming how students learn globally, inclusively in our USA, kids will inevitably fall behind if they are not adapting, see #AlphaSchool in TX, Squirrel AI in China. Its about fighting for kids to have access to tools that work

Just to follow up. I’m not finding any fight for the right tools. Everything I’m seeing is just lazy with the attitude that “Oh well, I’ll just focus on the kids who want to learn.” That’s just creating a wider learning gap than already exists.

Agreed, when the tools are lazy they ruin the reputation for all others. There is already outstanding evidence that edtech tools being embraced on a wider scale, China's Squirrel AI has 24 Million children using very accessible technology and advancing at compelling rates. Integration is inevitable.

These tools are too new to have any evidence of long-term benefit. There is absolutely no need to rush AI into the hands of children before the impacts of their usage are clearly understood. The manufactured sense of urgency is being used to shut down critical consideration and discussion.

💯 And to suggest that this is actually for the benefit of children and not the people at the top of societal hierarchy (in every measurable way) is just ridiculous.

The American Federation of Teachers just announced the establishment of the National Academy for AI Instruction, a $23M initiative to train the nation’s educators in the practical & ethical application of AI in the classroom. This is a landmark partnership between labor & leading tech firms

"Edtech with Marina," please take your "inevitable" AI grift to LinkedIn where it will be better received. It might surprise you to know that there are some ppl who do not perceive "landmark partnership" btwn Big Tech and labor (education) as a positive for anyone but the billionaires hawking them.

The point of my post is to open your eyes, and be aware. Or do you prefer to stay ignorant

Those of us in education have to listen to EdTech hype on an almost daily basis. We are AWARE. We are also aware of the harms that EdTech ppl never talk about in their accelerationist pitches that mirror the larger AI lobbyist agendas.

They should be talked about and im listening I’m presenting on the Ai in Education for K-12 this Aug 6th at Mount Holyoke College What you say here will be heard My voice may be one , but these things compound

I think it is exceedingly ignorant to think that tech firms are going to have children’s wellbeing in mind when there are millions of dollars from school districts at stake.

You guys are right , these billionaires and tech companies are bogus and few can be trusted. But isn’t it better to be apart of the conversation than have them dictate and shape everything for you?

These are the same people and companies who told us the Metaverse would take over our lives, and who encouraged businesses and organizations to squander tens of billions of dollars preparing for it. The best outcomes in that situation were for those who stayed away from the conversation entirely.

They will anyway because most of our lawmakers have decided that they are “unregulated-able”. It’s naive to think that being part of the conversation is going to give teachers equal power in this relationship.

Leading tech firms are leading efforts to train us all in the “practical and ethical” use of AI in the classroom?! Please tell me more! They’ve been so responsive to ethical issues in the past 🙄

The urgency is not manufactured when you start engaging with the schools and systems integrating these technologies. Yes they are new, but while everyone waits for perfection, kids and schools will fall behind.

Kids in the U.S. are absolutely “falling behind” and it’s not because they aren’t using AI enough. Using AI judiciously is not something you can just shortcut your way through. You need to have some foundational knowledge and frankly literacy that you won’t find in most high school kids