I started a new job. I moved to a new country. I am going through the process of re-establishing myself within an academic community. Why do I tell you this? Because it has made me rethink the specifics of my beliefs around AI and technology in education. This is inherently a good thing, and if you are reading this, I encourage you to try and take a step back and get ‘the view from 30,000 feet’.

There are loads of technical reasons to do this: cost-benefit analysis, cognitive overload, and general success for your students, parents, staff, or whoever your stakeholders are at the moment. It’s also really good to remember that Ed Tech companies are just that, companies, and they can, and do, make every tool sound like the perfect solution.

The real reason I am recommending a step back is that we need to ensure the good teaching doesn’t get washed out while we implement some new technology. More specifically, as we are infusing AI into the curriculum, we pay attention to and take the opportunity to improve the standard of education as we go. I have been reminded of this, and I have been on the lookout for great teaching. You will find it learn about it, build on it, and recruit them to help you.

Bot of the Week

Yvon Chouinard Recycled Design Technologies Gem. This obviously isn’t for everyone, but it was a fun one with a great teacher at my new school. She is a Design Tech teacher and was giving her students the provocation, ‘How can we use recycled plastics effectively and as an improvement to the Olympic games to be hosted in Brisbane, Australia in 2023?’ The important piece of information here was how she implemented this as a ‘Socratic Sparring Gem’ with the Human-in-the-Loop mentality, having the students research and discuss after short ‘sparring’ sessions with the Gem. Give the Gem an idea for using recycled plastics and see where Yvon drives you.

AI Instruction & Teaching

In a recent conversation with an educational leader, I related how impressive new student-built simulators were for physics. I am definitely not a physics teacher, but watching how these simulations work and are developed will get anyone interested. This relates to AI Instruction in that the simulation itself is focused on the science and yet built by students through AI Co-Creation. Students use their own knowledge to build what used to be a computer simulation that was purchased or subscribed to for deeper understanding.

This article by Ben-Zion et al. explains the why and also gives an amazing step-by-step instruction manual for having students create these models. The extension of this is then challenging students to compete in creating modifications that would drive still deeper understandings. A note of reminder - all research points to success with high-end tools like this relies on teacher demonstrations followed by student-supported builds. Have fun!

Ben-Zion, Yossi, et al. “Leveraging AI for Rapid Generation of Physics Simulations in Education: Building Your Own Virtual Lab.” The Physics Teacher, vol. 63, no. 6, Sept. 2025, pp. 424–27, https://doi.org/10.1119/5.0252343.

AI Trick

A very simple trick but, one that has two parts that can immediately improve your outcomes. Regardless of the fact that some people may argue that ‘prompt engineering isn’t a skill’, there are definitely ways to get the results you want faster. The first thing to do is to write your prompt considering all of the angles. I recently moved away from my own prompt acronym R.O.B.U.S.T. to the much easier to remember R.O.D.E.S. Either of these methods will get you the results you are looking for much quicker. However, adding to your PROMPT the question of, ‘Did I forget to add anything to make this prompt better?’ makes the bot look at what you wrote and improve the PROMPT for you. You can also always ask it to, ‘Write this prompt better for me.’ command. Both achieve the same thing - improved results.

AI Research I’m Reading

Empowering Learners for the Age of AI: An AI Literacy Framework for Primary and Secondary Education

The European Commission and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) (2025). Code.org stepped out to take a lead on not only how important it is to the future of education that students gain AI and information literacy, but they also funded research to support these ideals.

Their findings create a sense of urgency that is necessary, as their research revealed that “55% of Gen Z are learning about AI through Social Media” and another “35% are learning from News/Media”. Slightly paying attention to the political environment in the U.S. right now and what transpires on Social Media should have us worried about what students are learning.

New studies are coming out every day that are furthering this sense of urgency, as we have a moment where those of us who were around when Google first provided its ‘Search’ came out and we didn’t move fast enough to teach, realize that it takes time to learn to apply technologies effectively as well as successfully.

“A foundational understanding of AI supports educators in making their own decisions about when and how to use AI based on the students and content they know best. Without this support, learners may uncritically accept AI-generated content, adopt habits that compromise academic integrity, or neglect skills like critical thinking and empathetic judgment. They may also overlook the opportunities AI offers to enhance their own learning experiences and introduce new skills. Making AI literacy an educational priority ensures that students know how to evaluate, question, and apply AI responsibly in their academic lives, and thrive in contexts beyond the classroom”

In the end, I believe educators want to ensure that students are getting the instruction that they need. We need to make sure this time, we don’t just say, ‘Google it,’ but that we ask students to investigate inside AI, spar with it, bounce ideas off it, and judge the responses before making their own decision. We want them to be informed. There is good teaching out there already that can guide how this happens rather than just sharing a good tool.

Empowering Learners for the Age of AI An AI Literacy Framework for Primary and Secondary Education With Support From REVIEW DRAFT (May 2025). https://ailiteracyframework.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/AILitFramework_ReviewDraft.pdf.

AI Technology Tool

Gemini users, if you haven’t tried Canvas, you should. To be clear, I currently pay for and us ChatGPT, Gemini Pro, and Claude. While I do feel Claude’s style of asking me questions to improve my work is the most powerful, I find when I am fast prototyping something Gemini’s Canvas hits it out of the park.

Simply load notes from a meeting, a thinking document you created or even an assignment and create a quick application that can be shared. What makes me excited about this tool is that it is so fast that I can stay in my ‘creative flow’. After it produces the code and a preview that is functional it asks questions for improvement. This allows me to ‘tune’ what I want to achieve. I find that this act of super fast iterations helps me refine my own thinking and gets to something that is either what I was looking for or very close.

Lastly, if you work in the Google Ecosystem you can ask it to build the final application with code that will allow you to deploy your application inside a Google Site with simple embed coding. It makes application building easy enough that you can put the task to students to see them build their own applications and share.

BONUS:

Here is my Gemini Canvas Studio: Student Web App Creator and Google Site Embedder. Have fun creating!

AI Literacy or Digital Citizenship

I recently was introduced to an amazing resource found at the UniSC Artificial Intelligence for Students website. It is exciting to see a university fully embracing the integration of AI into their curriculum. They openly provide the ‘do’s and don’ts’, they proived what AI is and how it should be used along with some easy steps for improving results through prompting. This is the approach I believe, or hope, we will all reach soon so that students get the skills they need to be effective for the jobs they will be working in tomorrow.

Book Review

I am a huge R.F. Kuang fan, and Babel: An Arcane History did not disappoint. It is, of course, beautifully written with Kuang’s continued prowess in developing characters. Robin, an orphan from Canton, is brought to England by Professor Lowell to attend Oxford’s Royal Academy of Translation. A mysterious beginning leads to a spellbinding tale of colonialism, power struggles, opium, and magic. The side note of interest is the manner of teaching and exploration that are related as Robin harnesses his own skills.

In recent days I have seen a real uptick in the number of teachers creating. They are coming and asking questions that clearly demonstrate they are going beyond the prompt to get something done. This is EXCITING! It means these teachers are moving beyond the basic stages of AI use and are now looking at how they can leverage it with their expertise. This is where I believe the magic will happen.

An example is, David. He is and always has been an excellent PE Teacher. What does this next level look like for him? He has several games that his students play that directly demonstrate the skills, reactions, and movements that he has been teaching as essential to all athletes. The tough part has always been effectively assessing students in an efficient method with evidence beyond ‘I saw it’.

Together we built some Gems that now effectively monitor several of the elements he is looking to assess and it catches students performing these skills. He uses video that is captured via the cameras used to stream events and uses the Gems to assess the students. This allows him to be more engaged during the lesson with the students, and he can assess them more thoroughly.

There were some challenges. Initially, the AI wouldn’t pick up every athlete as the numbers on their jerseys weren’t always visible. We also had to do quite a bit of testing to ensure accuracy. We found that by requiring the AI to identify the moment in the video it was using to assess, we could go back and validate the findings. With a little more tooling and refinement, and actually putting colored bibs on the athletes, we were able to get it to be accurate. Now David is engaged with the students, and can share his professional feedback on the fly and leave the assessment for later. ALL students got a high level of feedback from the AI that was unbiased to individual performance and David is getting more enjoyment out of his teaching as he gets to be present with the students rather than being on the fringe, assessing.

Lastly, Did you notice that your Google Suite icons changed? Over 100 different updates and upgrades were announced at Google’s IO this week. Here is the list and loads of videos to show you. The most helpful for us as Educators? Ask anything now in Google Search - see the video of myself that took 30 seconds to create:

Bot of the Week

Johnny on the Spot Tech Helper

A big ‘unwritten’ part of my job is to provide technical help to teachers. Sometimes it can be

very time-consuming, but necessary. I created this Gem to help teachers get help with anything on your computer. Just describe the issue you are having and what type of computer you are using, or what your goal is, and it will provide instructions on how to fix it, a video link if possible, and then how you can avoid this issue in the future. Enjoy!

AI Instruction & Teaching

This past week, I had the pleasure of speaking at an AppsEdu session in Bangkok titled "Empowering the Future-Ready Classroom with Google AI." These are amazing sessions and a great chance to connect with creative individuals.

I got to see Sethi de Clercq do some demos of the newest Google Classroom updates related to the Google Classroom AVS button to add a Screencast, Audio, or Video file to the Stream - My friend John shared this image with it broken down well. Now work with multimedia in Google Classroom with ease! While it looks like Sethi hasn’t released these demos on his channel yet, I highly recommend subscribing to his channel, FlippedClassroom Tutorials, for some great stuff. Below is one of my favorites on creating Audio Lessons.

AI Research I’m Reading

While I am clearly a proponent of AI in education, I am very aware and cautious about speaking to actual gains in student performance, as this is definitely a mixed bag. Recent research conducted by Hamsa Bastani on 1,000 students in Turkey has again shone a light on the realities of AI in education as they relate to Math instruction.

With a control group having no access to GPT, a group with full access, and a group that had GPT Tutor for help, she looked at assignment performances and assessment performances. The initial findings were amazing on the assignments as the students with full access to GPT completed 48% more accurately and the GPT Tutor were at 127% more accurate than the control group. (NOTE: the Tutor does not provide answers, only hints and suggestions. However, when unassisted assessment time came, the full access group diminished by 17% to the control, and the Tutor group balanced.

‘Student performance in the GPT Tutor arm was statistically indistinguishable from that of the control arm, and the point estimate was smaller by an order of magnitude (0.004).’ ~Bastani

There are lots of reasons these outcomes could have happened but looking at the transfer of information for students to be able to accurately recall unassisted is still challenging. Based on this research, AI clearly helps during the instructional phase, yet when it comes to unassisted performance we need to be cautious about our expectations.

Bastani, Hamsa, et al. “Generative AI without Guardrails Can Harm Learning: Evidence from High School Mathematics.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 122, no. 26, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, June 2025, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2422633122. Accessed 22 May 2026.

AI Technology Tool

Whether you are a student or a teacher, factile is an amazingly fun and simple tool for studying. It functions like the game of Jeopardy, and with a free account, you can set up 3 full games to help get yourself ready for exams. Then you can share your games with friends and join their Factile. So get your friends together and build some awesome study sessions using this fun tool.

AI Literacy or Digital Citizenship

The Tech Habit Challenge! Last week was Digital Well-Being Week. If you are like me, you are always behind on this kind of cool stuff. I did dig into the resources. We all know that teaching students, and ourselves, how to have good technological habits is necessary. However, getting the time to create something that is engaging and effective takes time. Last week, CommonSense Media put out a set of lessons that will get the job done for anyone. There are lessons here to drop into Advisory or even class. They are short and easy. If nothing else, just having students respond to these two questions:

Personal Reflections on Tech Use:

1. When discussing tech use, what emotion came up most strongly for me (curiosity, pride, discomfort, etc.)? Why might I have felt that way?

1. What are some things I realized about my own tech habits during this conversation?

Book Review

Remain by Nicholas Sparks and M. Night Shyamalan

This is an amazing collaboration. We get the light-hearted connection story along with the chilling work of Shyamalan. There is of course, a ghost in this story of Tate who has come back home to Cape Cod to help design his best friend’s new home. However, while staying at a local house, he meets a guest. This is where the story goes a bit sideways, as this guest is caught between the afterlife and the real world. Tate, and Wren become acquainted and begin providing each other the things that their lives are missing.

Originally, I was more than a bit skeptical about phone bans. My feeling is that this is the most powerful tool humans carry with them, and we are actively trying to get students to avoid using this tool. However, I also realize that the distractions that come with phones clearly have a negative impact on the classroom.

What I am thinking now, is that we need to approach this from a behavior management perspective. This approach that required three groups of people to be on the same page.

1. TEACHERS: This means teachers must be models. We needed to make sure teachers would be willing to adhere to the rules, so they modeled the behaviors we wanted to see in our students. This meant negotiating with them about when they could be on their phones. Obviously, leaving space for emergencies and the like, but getting them to agree that the overall benefit would be to our entire community.

2. PARENTS: Meeting with them to have honest discussions about what they want to see and how they can apply similar rules at home. The discussions were about having places and times that are ‘phone-free’ like at the table for meals, and at family events. We also discussed that devices shouldn’t go into bedrooms and that real alarm clocks might need to be purchased or physically waking your child was an option. Others wanted stricter rules. The issue we pointed out was that the importance of being able to enforce these rules was paramount. Rules that are unenforced create bigger problems. So starting small was the key with this group.

3. STUDENTS: We had to explain that we don’t want to take phones away, that isn’t a problem teachers want. We just want focus, and attention during class. We created spaces in the school and designated times where phone use was allowed. Lunches were off limits, but there were a couple of breaks in the day and a few locations that were allowed.

Bot of the Week

Extending Your Knowledge of Anything!

This is one that takes any topic, maybe you want to learn about 3D Printing, or more about the book ‘A Thousand Splendid Suns’ or whatever and takes you on a deep dive. It asks you questions and takes you on an inquiry-based adventure to learn. It is a research-backed by Hattie’s Visible Thinking Protocol and the Right Question Institute’s QRT Process.

AI Instruction & Teaching

This is an ‘older’ article from Edutopia, ‘What Fact-Checkers Know About Media Literacy- and Students Should, Too.’ for considering AI, however, the truth and suggestions from within are even more important now. Deepfakes and AI-generated content have not only become super prevalent across the web, but it is also super easy to create now. Where it used to take a professional to create something that was truly a ‘fake’, now anyone who can prompt with some proficiency can create something that would trick others.

In a recent lesson to AP Research students, we looked at a set of images that I curated that included fakes and real ones. The students tried their hands at picking them out, but as a group, we all agreed that it is nearly impossible. I also showed them a news clip from the BBC where they are actively sharing debunked videos. This was powerful because most students in the class agreed that on social media, they are much more likely to question images and videos, but on news sites like the BBC, they rarely consider it an issue.

The above article shares how ‘What Fact-Checkers Know About Media Literacy—and Students Should, Too’. Inside are some great tips and lessons that are usable skills for anyone. The focus is on an old research habit of ‘lateral reading’. To avoid misinformation, bias, and outright fakes, fact-checkers read laterally to get the full story. In AP Research, they need to do the same. This is a great article to share with any and all departments, as this is a skill we all need today.

Terada, Youki. “What Fact-Checkers Know about Media Literacy—and Students Should, Too.” Edutopia, George Lucas Educational Foundation, 26 May 2022, www.edutopia.org/article/what-fact-checkers-know-about-media-literacy-and-students-should-too/. Accessed 6 Apr. 2026.

AI Research I’m Reading - Cognitive Offloading isn’t all bad.

If you are worried that artificial intelligence might short-circuit your students’ learning, a groundbreaking new study offers an incredibly exciting paradigm shift: treating generative AI as a “pedagogical partner” actually deepens student learning. Let me say that again, ‘AI as a pedagogical partner actually deepens student learning.’ This new research reveals a fascinating paradox where partnering with AI simultaneously triggers two powerful cognitive pathways.

• First, it activates “cognitive vigilance,” meaning students naturally step up to critically evaluate and scrutinize AI outputs, much like they would check the work of a human teammate.

• Second, it allows for “cognitive offloading,” where students strategically delegate routine or lower-level cognitive tasks to the AI.

For K-12 classrooms, this means we can shift our energy away from policing AI as a “cheating tool” and instead design collaborative activities that challenge students to think deeper, using AI as a true catalyst for transformative intellectual growth.

This isn’t just some small research sample to prove the benefits of AI. They conducted this work across, China, Europe, and the United States. The research also found that a student’s desire for efficiency is actually an asset; efficiency-driven students instinctively engage in “pragmatic risk management,” meaning they scrutinize AI answers more closely to avoid the time-wasting consequences of algorithmic errors. For K-12 educators, this proves that if we introduce AI as an intellectual partner rather than a simple answer-generator, we can safely leverage students’ desire for efficiency to elevate their critical evaluation skills and active learning to unprecedented levels.

Wang, Shaofeng, and Hao Zhang. “Pedagogical Partnerships with Generative AI in Higher Education: How Dual Cognitive Pathways Paradoxically Enable Transformative Learning.” International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education, vol. 23, no. 1, Springer Science and Business Media LLC, Mar. 2026, https://doi.org/10.1186/s41239-026-00585-x. Accessed 16 Apr. 2026.

AI Technology Tool

Whether you are a student or a teacher, factile is an amazingly fun and simple tool for studying. It functions like the game of Jeopardy, and with a free account, you can set up 3 full games to help get yourself ready for exams. Then you can share your games with friends and join their Factile. So get your friends together and build some awesome study sessions using this fun tool.

AI Literacy or Digital Citizenship

Stanford recognizes the importance of learning to use AI beyond just getting answers or having it write for you. Their new Understanding AI Literacy module will walk you through, using AI Tools, how you can better understand what it means to leverage AI for quality and productivity. It bases everything on the decisions one makes and how those decisions have a direct impact on the outcomes or performance of the AI.

Book Review

Theo of Golden by Allen Levi

Are you in need of a good story? This is the book. I loved this book. I will not say it is all good, but it is heart-warming and just a really good people book. What I really loved about this book is the characters within. A friend and I were talking about how this would be a fantastic TV show. Each week, you could have new characters. They are curious, they share their lives and their problems. The writing is such that you feel like you know these people. However, they are all brought together by a single man looking to do good. Theo. He is easily the most likeable character, and we follow his visit to lovely Golden. It is great!

If you are reading this, it is likely that you are already an AI user and might fall into the ‘Experienced User’ category. When I was a kid, I remember the GI Joe mantra of ‘Knowing is Half the Battle’. It would appear that this is the growing case for AI users. It is no secret that things are changing and growing at exponential rates. So fast that some have decided to avoid it altogether. It is clear that this is the new means for accessing information, answers, and solutions. Think about that, what if the person sitting next to you can get the job done quickly with minimal effort, while you have to go looking for the answers, put things together, and make sense of it all for yourself before you can even start the job. This is a gap that is widening as quickly as the versions of AI models improve. This issue is all about trying to understand that gap and mitigate that gap for yourself.

Bot of the Week

I am sharing my AI Stock Evaluator. I would never advise anyone to allow AI to buy and sell assets. However, many of the big banking and investment houses have been using AI for a long time to help crunch numbers and evaluate stocks. This bot does something very similar. I developed it based on investment measurement tools and trained it to also give recommendations. Simply prompt it with a stock you are interested in and see what it tells you about that stock.

AI Instruction & Teaching

The research article I am promoting is down a two sections from this, but there is just so much good information for teachers in this article that it NEEDS to be shared. Simmons School of Education & Human Development has released a robust research document on ‘How Artificial Intelligence in Education is Transforming Classrooms ‘with loads of deeper research embedded.

One especially helpful section (topics covered below) explains how to effectively implement AI in schools. If you open the attached article, each of the sections has a research doc attached that will further support you. Definitely worth reading.

• Needs assessment

• Professional development

• Infrastructure readiness

• Fostering inclusion and equity

• Partnerships and collaborations

• Curriculum integration

• Hands-on experience

• Ethical and privacy considerations

• Continuous learning and adaptation

• Parental involvement

“How Artificial Intelligence in Education Is Transforming Classrooms.” Southern Methodist University, 9 Jan. 2025, learningsciences.smu.edu/blog/artificial-intelligence-in-education#:~:text=AI%20enhances%20student%20engagement%20by,can%20improve%20their%20academic%20performance. Accessed 25 Mar. 2026.

AI Research I’m Reading

In a brand new report from Anthropic, they are sharing some of their deep statistics on usage, task completion, and a widening expertise gap. The scary thing here is that they are not only talking about jobs lost to AI, but they are talking about a knowledge gap that will turn into a success gap. This means that those who are learning as AI grows and gets more powerful are becoming much more fluent and, as a result, more successful. This has some obvious implications for places where AI isn’t widely accessible and for schools that have banned AI.

If you're struggling with the ‘should I or should I not’ use AI have a read of this powerful article. While it is clearly showing the rapid growth of Claude as of late, the story they tell holds true for all users of AI. We need to consider these findings and be well-informed as educators; we are making decisions that will have long-lasting effects on our students’ options in the future.

“Anthropic Economic Index Report: Learning Curves.” Anthropic.com, 2026, www.anthropic.com/research/economic-index-march-2026-report. Accessed 25 Mar. 2026.

AI Technology Tool

While I am clearly an AI advocate, there are some things about me that are still ‘old school’. I carry a notebook and a pen to take notes. I’ve tried the iPad and other devices, but when it comes down to it, I love having my notebook. However, getting those precious notes into a usable (and sometimes more readable) format is tricky. Now you can transform those written notes with Gemini’s Banana Pro. Simply take a photo or upload the notes doc and then ask it to make infographics, study guides, and more. Create some cool new graphics and resources for your students, or just share this amazing new feature with your students, and they will love you.

AI Literacy or Digital Citizenship

AI for Education is a group that has done extensive work creating information, units, and lessons on AI for educators. They have been part of developing frameworks and implementation strategies from the beginning. Their work is powerful and not aimed at selling anything rather, they are focused on providing information that is accurate and valuable to all. While they have developed loads of ‘turnkey’ lessons and units on integrating AI, this is a unit on the actual costs as they relate to the use of AI. It is becoming common knowledge that AI requires massive amounts of energy and resources that humans need. This is a very hot topic right now. Check out their work on AI’s Impact on the Environment.

Book Review

Human Still Required by Jeff Utecht

Picked up this book right before break, as it is focused on how schools can effectively implement AI and avoid some of the pitfalls - basically, it was a book for work. When I read these types of books, it isn’t for pleasure like most, but to gain something. It is hopefully new knowledge, a deeper understanding, or just hearing what others working in the same systems are doing. This was kind of that… It was interesting to see a book that was clearly and admittedly co-written by AI. The other thing that was clear was that Mr. Utecht has some really great ideas, experience, and recommendations that can help any technology leader or school dealing with how best to implement AI at their schools. While it reads very much like a manual, it is one that can help leaders feel more confident in decisions, and where they may not know what to do, Jeff’s suggestions can help provide alternative perspectives or support for making specific decisions. This is a book that can help tech leaders.

This is a special edition. I have been working on evaluating AI Research Tools as it seems like there are now loads of them flooding the market. This makes it nearly impossible to figure out which ones are worth the time to set up and which ones don’t really do anything more than Google’s Gemini Deep Research or ChatGPT’s Deep Resarch. As of Jan. 27th, 2026, here is what I found:

The Defaults: “The Project Manager” vs. “The Consultant”

While both tools perform similar tasks, their workflow philosophies differ significantly:

• Gemini Deep Research (The Project Manager):

  • Workflow: Before starting, Gemini presents you with a structured research plan. It outlines exactly what it intends to search for and asks for your approval or edits.

  • Control: This gives you higher control before the work begins. If the plan misses a key angle, you can fix it immediately.

  • Output: It generates highly structured, “academic-style” reports that are often cleaner and easier to skim.

• ChatGPT Deep Research (The Consultant):

  • Workflow: Instead of a plan, ChatGPT often starts by asking clarifying questions to narrow down your intent (e.g., “Are you focusing on the US market or global?”).

  • Adaptability: It tends to be more dynamic; if it finds a “rabbit hole” during research that seems relevant, it may pivot to explore it.

  • Output: The reports often feel more like a management consultant’s brief—dense with reasoning and synthesis, leveraging OpenAI’s o3 (reasoning) models to connect dots that Gemini might treat as separate facts.

The 10 Best AI Research Tools:

With over 20 years of work in schools as an Extended Essay Coordinator, and an AP Research teacher, I am constantly developing my own research skills with an aim to help students. This is not an exhaustive list; however, it is a list of tested AI Research Tools. Some things you should consider (besides pricing) when comparing features:

1. What is its Key Feature (they are purpose-built, so what’s its purpose)?

2. When to use the specific tool?

3. What are the limitations?

4. What is the BEST use for the tool?

5. What is its Main Output?

Tier 1: The “Gold Standard” (Highest Reliability)

These tools are best-in-class. They are the most stable, hallucinate the least, and provide unique value that is hard to replicate.

Scite AI

Why #1? It is the only tool that verifies, not just generation. In an era of AI hallucinations, a tool that tells you if a paper has been retracted or disproven is the highest-quality safety net you can have. It is essential for truth.Think of this as: A background check for science.

Scite (scite.ai) solves the problem of “Zombie Papers” bad research that keeps getting cited because nobody checks if it was debunked. It doesn’t just count how many times a paper was cited; it reads the sentence where it was cited to see if the new author agreed or disagreed.

• Key Feature: Smart Citations. It classifies citations into three buckets:

  • Supporting: The new paper replicates or agrees with the findings.

  • Mentioning: The new paper just references it.

  • Contrasting: The new paper disputes or disproves the findings.

• When to use it: You are doing a Quality Check. Before you base your entire thesis or presentation on a “landmark study,” run it through Scite to make sure it hasn’t been widely refuted in the last 5 years.

• Limitation: It is a verification tool, not a discovery tool. It is best used after you have found your papers (via Elicit or ResearchRabbit) to check their quality.

• Best Use: Systematic Reviews. Finding papers and automatically extracting specific details (e.g., “What was the sample size?”) into a table.

• Main Output: A “Concepts Matrix” (Excel-like table) comparing key data points across many papers.

Elicit

Why #2? It has the best reasoning engine. Unlike other chat tools that just summarize abstracts, Elicit can go into the full text of a PDF and extract precise data points (e.g., “Sample size,” “Dosage”) with incredibly high accuracy. It is a workhorse for serious research. Think of this as: An intern who reads 100 papers and fills out an Excel sheet for you.

Elicit uses Large Language Models (LLMs) to perform tasks that used to take weeks. It is less of a “search engine” and more of a “reasoning engine.” You don’t just search for keywords; you ask it to find data.

• Key Feature: Custom Columns. You can run a search and then add a column like “Dosage used,” “Demographics,” or “Funding Source.” Elicit will scan the full text of every paper and fill in that cell for you.

• When to use it: You are doing a rigorous Systematic Review. You need to map out the landscape of a topic (e.g., “What are the varying success rates of intervention X across different countries?”).

• Limitation: It is strictly grounded in the papers it finds. It won’t “hallucinate” an answer, but if the data isn’t in the abstract/paper, the cell remains empty.

• Best Use: Conducting deep literature reviews, explaining confusing papers, and extracting data from PDFs.

• Main Output: A “Matrix” (table) comparing multiple papers or a simplified explanation of a complex PDF.

Perplexity

Why #3? The best user experience and versatility. While it is a generalist tool, its “Pro” mode (which accesses GPT-4o, Claude 3, etc.), combined with live web access, makes it the single most useful tool for starting any project. It replaces Google for 90% of queries. Think of this as Google, but it answers you instead of giving you links.

Perplexity is a general-purpose “answer engine.” While it has an “Academic” focus mode, it is broader than pure science. It excels at scanning the entire web (news, blogs, and journals) to give you a synthesized answer with footnotes.

• Key Feature: “Deep Research” Mode. This agent can perform dozens of searches in parallel to write a multi-page report on a topic (e.g., “Compare the economic impact of EVs in Norway vs. Sweden”).

• When to use it: You are in the early stages of research. You have a question like “What are the current challenges in solid-state battery manufacturing?” and want a quick, 2-paragraph summary with sources to get started.

• Limitation: It is not a specialized literature review tool. It might cite a news article alongside a journal paper, so you have to verify the “weight” of the sources yourself.

• Best Use: Getting immediate answers to broad questions, fact-checking, and finding initial sources to start a project.

• Main Output: A concise answer or “Deep Research” report with cited sources.

Tier 2: The “High Utility” (Great Daily Drivers)

These tools are excellent and reliable, but they are slightly more specialized or have slightly higher friction than the top 3.

Consensus

Why #4? It is essentially “Perplexity for Science.” It is fantastic at giving a quick “Yes/No” snapshot of the literature. It ranks below Elicit only because it is less capable of extracting complex custom data from full texts. Think of this as: “Google Scholar meets ChatGPT, but grounded in fact.”

Consensus is built to answer direct research questions. It doesn’t just list papers; it reads them for you and extracts the “claims.”

• Key Feature: The “Consensus Meter” analyzes the top papers and gives you a snapshot verdict (e.g., “70% of studies suggest ‘Yes’, 30% suggest ‘Possibly’”).

• When to use it: You have a specific hypothesis (e.g., “Is inquiry-based learning effective for high school math?”) and want to know the general academic agreement without reading 50 abstracts.

• Limitation: It is less effective for broad, exploratory topics (eg. Tell me about history”) and better for specific questions.

• Best Use: Asking specific questions (e.g., “Does X affect Y?”) and getting an evidence-based summary.

• Main Output: A synthesized summary of claims from multiple papers + “Consensus Meter.”

Scispace

Why #5? The best all-rounder for reading. It combines search, chat-with-PDF, and explanation features. It is ranked lower than Perplexity only because its UI can sometimes feel cluttered and its search results are strictly academic (which is good for purity, but limits broader context). Think of this as: A reading companion that explains difficult math and jargon.

SciSpace focuses on Literature Review and Reading. It has a massive repository of papers. When you open a PDF in SciSpace, an AI “Copilot” appears in the sidebar. You can highlight confusing text or math equations, and it will explain them to you in simple language.

• Key Feature: Literature Matrix. You can ask a question (e.g., “How does X affect Y?”), and it will create a table with columns for 10 different papers, comparing their “Methods,” “Results,” and “Conclusions” side-by-side.

• When to use it: You have found 20 PDFs and need to extract data from them without reading every single word. It is the best tool for synthesising what the literature says.

• Limitation: Its writing tools are decent but less specialized for “submission readiness” than PaperPal.

• Best Use: Conducting deep literature reviews, explaining confusing papers, and extracting data from PDFs.

• Main Output: A “Matrix” (table) comparing multiple papers or a simplified explanation of a complex PDF.

Tier 3: The “Specialized & Generative” (Context Dependent)

These tools are still good, but they either have a steeper learning curve or require more human supervision to ensure quality.

Paperpal

Why #6? Extremely high quality, but very narrow. It is excellent at what it does (fixing academic English), but you only use it at the very end of a project. It is a “unitasker,” whereas the tools above are multitaskers. Think of this as: A strict academic editor sitting inside Microsoft Word.

PaperPal is not a search engine; it is a writing tool. It is trained on millions of academic manuscripts, so unlike standard grammar checkers, it knows the difference between “good English” and “good Academic English.”

• Key Feature: “Make Academic” button. You can write a rough sentence like “We found that the stuff didn’t work well,” and it will rewrite it to “The results indicated that the methodology was ineffective.”

• When to use it: You have finished your research and are now writing the paper. You need to ensure your citations are formatted correctly, your tone is formal, and you won’t get rejected for language issues.

• Limitation: It won’t help you find new papers or explain concepts; it only improves what you have already written.

• Best Use: Visualizing how papers connect, finding “missed” sources, and tracking authors over time.

• Main Output: Interactive network maps (nodes and lines) showing citation relationships.

ResearchRabbit

Why #7? It is unparalleled for visualization, but the tool itself hasn’t updated its core AI “reasoning” as aggressively as the others. It is great for finding papers, but it won’t “read” them for you or answer questions about them as well as SciSpace or Elicit. Think of this as: A visual detective board for citations.

ResearchRabbit is not a search engine in the traditional sense. You start by feeding it one or two papers you like (”Seed Papers”), and it builds a visual spiderweb of everything related to them.

• Key Feature: Interactive Visualization. If you find a perfect paper from 1990, the Rabbit can instantly show you every paper that cited it in 2024, helping you trace the lineage of an idea.

• When to use it: You are doing a formal Literature Review. You need to ensure you haven’t missed a seminal paper. It is the best tool for “Snowballing” (finding papers via citations).

• Limitation: It doesn’t “read” or summarize the papers for you; it just helps you find them and organize them.

• Best Use: Visualizing how papers connect, finding “missed” sources, and tracking authors over time.

• Main Output: Interactive network maps (nodes and lines) showing citation relationships.

Jenni.ai

Why #8? It is a generative writing tool. No matter how good the AI is, generation always carries a higher risk of “fluff” or subtle inaccuracies than extraction/verification tools. It is great for writer’s block, but you have to watch it like a hawk. Think of this as: Google Docs with a brain.

Jenni AI is a text editor designed to help you produce content. Unlike ChatGPT, which gives you a block of text in a chat window, Jenni lives in your document. As you type, it looks at your context and suggests the next phrase or sentence.

• Key Feature: Cite-as-you-write. If you type a claim like “Climate change is accelerating due to industrial factors,” Jenni will pop up a suggestion to insert a real citation from its database to back that claim up immediately.

• When to use it: You are in the Drafting Phase. You have your outline, but you are staring at a blank page. You use Jenni to keep the momentum going (eg. Write the counter-argument to this paragraph”).

• Limitation: It is a generative tool. While better than standard ChatGPT, you must verify that the citations it suggests actually support the specific nuance of what you wrote.

• Best Use: Overcoming writer’s block. It autocompletes your sentences and suggests citations as you write.

• Main Output: A drafted essay or research paper with in-text citations included.

Bohrium

Why #9? This ranking is purely based on accessibility. For a Materials Scientist, this is #1. For 99% of other users, it is overkill. It is a heavy, complex industrial tool that requires scientific coding knowledge to fully utilize, making it “low utility” for the general researcher. Think of this as: A high-powered workspace for scientists.

Bohrium is significantly more complex than the other two. While it has a literature tool called “Science Navigator” (which competes with Consensus), the platform is designed for “AI for Science” (AI4S). It includes cloud environments to run Python code, molecular dynamics simulations, and heavy data analysis.

• Key Feature: Bohrium Notebooks & Science Navigator. You can search for a paper on a new material, and then immediately open a coding environment to simulate that material’s properties within the same platform.

• When to use it: You are working in “hard” sciences (Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Materials Science) and need to move from reading about a method to actually testing it computationally.

• Limitation: It has a steeper learning curve and is overkill if you just want to write a humanities essay.

• Best Use: A full "Hard Science" workflow: Literature review plus data analysis, coding, and simulation.

• Main Output: Deep literature search ("Science Navigator") + Cloud computing environments (Notebooks).

This is an article I write every year. ‘Set yourself a new year reading goal’, and so here I am again making a plea for everyone to set some new reading goals. It is challenging to set a goal for a year and achieve it. This is why so many people fail by February.

What can we do? I did some research on ways to ensure you achieve your goals, because the research clearly shows that achieving goals leads to achieving other goals. Creating Micro Goals is one way to avoid distractions and have success. Linked in the first image is a YouTube video from The Art of Improvement on ‘The Power of Micro Goals.’ The video does a great job of explaining how to set these micro goals so that you enhance your success rate. Then I just found out one of my favorite writing tools, QuillBot, has added a SMART Goal AI Tool. It helps break down ideas and big goals. Between the two, you are ready to set those goals and this time ACHIEVE your goals. Share it with your students as well because working on your goals together can make you and your students much more likely to achieve those goals. Have a great year!

Bot of the Week

Eric Curts strikes again! Using NotebookLM - and we all have access to this now - you can build your own Graphic Novels! This is amazing, if you look at no others here check out my favorite of William Wordsworth's Poems - I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud - it is AMAZING!! You can do this, give it a try or just check them out there are 25 novels here for you to explore and try to create.

AI Instruction & Teaching

From the Colorado Department of Education comes ‘10 Creative Ways to Teach Media Literacy,’ helping students understand how misleading online information can actually appear. They are providing 10 different lessons with examples and clear thinking focused on developing ALL of the skills students need today to be more informed information consumers. Through the lessons, they will build and design their own fake news to help understand how easily readers can be misled.

AI Trick

I am a terrible cook and too lazy to learn. That means I end up eating the same thing all the time. This is a cool trick to help people with planning different meals. Meal Planning PROMPT: "Based on these ingredients in my fridge (you can take a photo and upload it or list them), generate a weekly meal plan and shopping list." You will get some great dish ideas, and you can select one and ask it to then provide the recipe for easy cooking. PRO TIP: Tell it you are a bad cook and need the most simple instructions possible.

AI Technology Tool

Are you looking for a fun and interactive way to get students engaged and to check for understanding? Snorkl allows you to ask questions and creates interactions with students, so questions can literally have an interactive pen and voice to explain answers. Then, with AI it actually provides very high-quality feedback. As a teacher, you have a dashboard that shows you all your students and how they did with access to their individualized feedback. *NOTE: This gives you 20 free assignments, and then there is a charge.

AI Literacy & Digital Citizenship

How important is AI Literacy? A new standardized test is in development and will be the benchmark for the skills of the future. The framework is shared, and I shared it with teachers at a PD session yesterday. This is exciting to see, really thoughtful development of the skill set necessary for success in the future. Take a look at OECD information on what is coming soon.

Research I’m Reading

Setting Your Filters Up:

I’m not talking about air filters, although the last week or so we have needed them here in Bangkok; I am talking about your news or media filters. It seems like so much news is happening around the world, and much of it has been politicized. While sometimes it is easy to recognize the differences between rumors, lies, and reality, with today’s technology, it is much tougher. It used to be that we could just tell from the actual look, but now we need to update our filtering skills to better understand the issues. How bad is it? In an article in Science magazine, they reported:

“To understand how false news spreads, Vosoughi et al. used a data set of rumor cascades on Twitter from 2006 to 2017. About 126,000 rumors were spread by ∼3 million people. False news reached more people than the truth;”

3 simple tricks I use to filter information:

1. ALWAYS check the author - who are they and why are they writing?

2. WHERE is it published - does it appear in a reliable source?

3. OPINION or FACT - is it labeled or does it sound like an opinion vs fact?

Vosoughi, Soroush, et al. “The Spread of True and False News Online.” Science, vol. 359, no. 6380, American Associationfor the Advancement of Science (AAAS), Mar. 2018, pp. 1146–51, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aap9559. Accessed 19 Jan. 2026.

Book Review

The Book Censor’s Library by Bothayna Al-Essa

I could not put this book down. It had mystery, great characters, and an idea that has for years been in the news. Censoring books for various reasons is something that is very human and inherently has winners and losers. This book leans on the classics of 1984 and Fahrenheit 451 for fully believable scenarios. What makes this book different from those is the struggle our narrator has between his family, job, and what he has been taught. It is so believable and real feeling. I enjoyed this one!

AI Bot of the Week!

I don’t know about you, but this time of year I tend to get distracted easily, and I struggle to be as productive. Recent trainings showed me the Productivity Planner from Google Gemini. This is one powerful little bot! The coolest thing is asking it to create a work brief - it looks at my calendar and gives me a brief on what I am doing that day. This Gem allows me to schedule it so that it arrives at the same time each day which I am finding really helps me get focused and on task much quicker. Give it a try!

AI Instruction & Teaching

Ready to speed up your feedback to students? Say goodbye to your grading pile, and hello to Batch Feedback! *NOTE: This is a paid feature but it is WORTH IT!

Upload a folder of student work – essays, PDFs, even math photos – and return personalized, teacher-reviewed feedback to your whole class while learning is still fresh.

What I LOVE about this is that it gives consistent, rubric-driven feedback. I then get to take on the role of the ‘Human-in-the-Loop’. Where I read the assignments and the feedback, and edit them before returning the assignments to the students. I am finding that not only am I getting feedback to students quicker, but I now have more time to work one-on-one with the students, which is what I feel is most important.

With Batch Feedback, you can:

• Upload a set of student submissions (including math and science images!) and review them all at once.

• Quickly give personalized feedback across the whole class.

• Stay in control! Review and approve before sharing with students.

Try Batch Feedback

AI Trick

Earlier in this post, I mentioned I am out searching for a new job. Not because I have to, but because I feel ready for a change. I’ve heard of people asking about their horoscopes and getting some interesting stuff bac,k so I wrote into Gemini (remember it has privacy covered) my birthdate and that I was considering changing jobs. What I got back was encouraging and gave me some focus. It’s a fun trick. Ask if you should consider a new car, a major purchase, or even a new house. You will be surprised by the response.

AI Technology Tool

lluminate is an interesting AI Tool that was quietly released and is being tested by Google. As the AP Research teacher, I am also writing a paper with the class. However, some of the research is quite boring. I tried this little app and was amazed at how well it works. Simply drop in a research paper or idea and get it to generate a short podcast about the idea/paper. It hits the most pertinent ideas and provides insight into the direction of the research. Give Illuminate a try and see if you learn something new.

AI Literacy or Digital Citizenship

The EU is fast becoming a leader in the world of privacy and digital citizenship. They recently launched their ‘European Year of Digital Citizenship 2025’ program. They are providing resources, ideas, and methods of proactively controlling what is seen online and managing your privacy. There are too many resources to put here, including a really cool video to watch (45 sec). Check out what the EU is doing to help with Digital Citizenship

AI Research I’m Reading

This study by Ghimire and Edwards (2024) examines educators’ acceptance of generative AI tools such as ChatGPT and Bard through the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and Innovation Diffusion Theory (IDT), using survey data from 116 faculty at Utah State University. Findings show that perceived usefulness (r = 0.734, p < .001) is the strongest predictor of adoption, with perceived ease of use having a moderate but significant effect (r = 0.542, p < .001). Regression results confirm that usefulness (β = 0.678, p < 7.2×10⁻¹³) outweighs ease of use (β = 0.227, p = .026) in influencing acceptance.

The study highlights wide variation in educator familiarity with AI across disciplines, suggesting tailored strategies for innovators versus laggards. While the authors note limitations such as a single-institution sample, lack of survey validation, and rapidly shifting AI policies, the findings are significant: teacher adoption depends on reducing cognitive demands and demonstrating tangible instructional benefits. I am working on a paper on the teachers’ cognitive load in the fast paced technology (and AI specifically) adoption. This study provides strong empirical evidence that adoption frameworks must account for both usability and workload factors.

Ghimire, Aashish, and John Edwards. Generative AI Adoption in Classroom in Context of Technology Acceptance

Model (TAM) and the Innovation Diffusion Theory (IDT). Utah State University, 2024

Book Review

Forever and a Day by Anthony Horowitz

The French Riviera, a hipster spy, a murder, this can only be James Bond. Anthony Horowitz, who authored the Alex Rider Series and then wrote books under the name Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes writer and now under the name Ian Flemming, who writes James Bond. This does not disappoint. Why is Bond 007? What did he do to get into the Service? This is action from the start ,and we get to meet M and find out about who he is and what the role entails. This is an ‘origin story’ for James Bond, and some of the material came from original writings of Ian Flemming’s the original author of James Bond. He is on the hunt for another criminal. Get ready!

I am always seeking feedback and analytics on the work I do and publish. The AI Library is no different, and what I am finding is that very few people are interested in the AI Research I’m Reading. It’s not gone, I just moved it to the bottom. I guess I understand…

As a direct result, I am now adding what should be a bit more useful and exciting and that is the AI Bot of the Week! I will promote or share one I built with you here, with explanations and use cases.

First one is one for my Book Nerds! We love our books; however, getting solid reviews, and if you are in a school or a parent, you might want some reviews that have reading or age level suggestions. Here is my Optimized Book Review Bot. Simply type in the Book Title and the Author (EXAMPLE: In the Lives of Puppets by TJ Klune)

AI Instruction & Teaching

Google’s work with AI including Gemini and NotebookLM for education is just blowing up. If you weren’t aware for Education Workspace Gemini can be turned on and it provides the same great security and protection those of us in education have relied on for years.

Gemini inside the Workspace is safely available for age 13 and up. NotebookLM is also now available for students. If you take a look at the video above, it was created by NotebookLM for highlighting the quality of the Podcast feature. Take any finding/text inside your Notebook and quickly turn it into a video or podcast. Truly amazing.

AI Trick

Got a giant spreadsheet and need it to do a few things on its own? Try out the new =AI or =AI(“prompt”, [optional range]). Here are the full details from Google. This amazing little function can help generate feedback, create statements to be mail merged, summarize findings and so much more. While it is the first iteration of this type of function you can see where the possibilities are going.

AI Technology Tool

I’ve spoken about Brisk here before. It still is one of my favorite AI Tools. This one is built directly into Google, so anywhere you are working on Google Doc or Slides, this amazing tool can help you as a teacher or student. The best part is that most of the features are free when you install the Chrome Extension.

My favorite elements are the Feedback - Glows and Grows. This gives both positive feedback and some suggestions for improvement. Most people use a rubric to grade, and as such, you can build or measure against a rubric using the Create feature. There are also Boosts which can help you extend your learning. We are a PLC school, and with that, we try to go beyond the bar by extending student learning. Brisk helps develop these stretches of learning in students. Here is a slide deck I recently received for launching Brisk in your school or district. Good luck.

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/16jfXR5ybWu6uubopO9SGvtDIfL8VOH-I1BHRO9i_XXY/edit?usp=sharing

AI Literacy or Digital Citizenship

I loved this terminology, ‘Critical Ignoring’. CommonSense Media just released a new set of training materials to be used with students on how we can control some of the media we get throughout the day.

The approach is simple yet effective. You learn to shut down notifications, unsubscribe, and basically set yourself up so that you can ‘ignore’ all of the vast amounts of information that are constantly bombarding us on the internet and via our apps. This is an approach that will work for anyone, child or adult, who wants to claim back some of their attention for focused efforts. I highly recommend this as it has a full lesson, video, and even a worksheet to guide the learning.

AI Research I’m Reading

This study investigated whether an AI-supported professional development (PD) program could address the scalability and feedback challenges of traditional teacher training by using a randomized controlled trial with 52 middle school mathematics teachers across the United States. The researchers developed a virtual, interactive program that uses intelligent tutoring systems to provide just-in-time feedback on teachers' content and pedagogical content knowledge. The findings, based on an analysis of classroom artifacts, showed that teachers in the treatment group selected cognitively more demanding tasks and provided mathematically more coherent instruction than the control group. However, there was no significant difference in how the tasks were actually implemented in the classroom. While the study's small sample size and lack of a baseline instructional measure were noted limitations, the authors concluded that this AI-based program offers a promising prototype for a scalable and accessible PD model that can effectively improve teachers' instructional planning and the conceptual coherence of their lessons

Copur-Gencturk, Yasemin, et al. "Improving Teaching at Scale: Can AI Be Incorporated Into Professional Development to Create Interactive, Personalized Learning for Teachers?" American Educational Research Journal, vol. 61, no. 4, Aug. 2024, pp. 767–802.

Book Review

Butter by Asako Yuzuki

I love books that really challenge my thinking and, at the same time, challenge my ability to follow a story. Yuzuki masterfully accomplishes this in Butter. While we are following the difficult path that Rika, a journalist struggling to break her first big story in Tokyo, we also follow Manako, who writes a very popular food blog. The wrinkle is that Manako is sitting in a detention center, as she has been linked to the murders of previous loves. All this is going on at the same time, there is a massive butter shortage in Japan. When we hear Manako explain why butter is better than margarine, you will be captivated by the visual of melting butter on rice. This story has some adult themes, yet is a fun mystery.

I have written quite a bit now, and it should be no surprise that I am a proponent of schools embracing the use of AI and adapting teaching to incorporate this technology into administrative tasks, lesson building, and performance analysis. In my own research, I came across this meta-analysis, which includes 70+ resources that formed the decisive findings. Specifically, they found, that AI interventions—such as adaptive learning systems, intelligent tutoring, and AI-assisted feedback—tend to have a positive overall effect on learning outcomes.

The strongest benefits were found in contexts where AI tools were used to personalize learning, provide timely feedback, and support student engagement through interactive and adaptive technologies.

The study also notes that while AI can significantly improve performance, its effectiveness depends on thoughtful integration into teaching and learning practices. Factors such as subject area, age group, instructional design, and teacher involvement influence the extent of its impact. Importantly, the researchers emphasize that AI should be seen as a complement to, not a replacement for, human educators—its greatest power lies in enhancing personalization and efficiency while supporting teachers in delivering high-quality instruction.

Dong, Liu, et al. “Examining the Effect of Artificial Intelligence in Relation to Students’ Academic Achievement in Classroom: A Meta-Analysis.” Computers and Education Artificial Intelligence, Elsevier BV, Mar. 2025, pp. 100400–0, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.caeai.2025.100400. Accessed 12 Sept. 2025.

AI Instruction & Teaching

This week, Google blew my mind with several new updates that are game changers for education. Below, you will see I am recommending that you give the ‘Guided Learning’ a try to see how a tutor works. They also released this new partnership with OpenStax.

In an amazing move, the textbook provider OpenStax is now selecting books with Google inside NotebookLM for student use. Why is this a big deal? Once in NotebookLM, students can query the books for information, read chapters, get audio versions and summaries of information, and so much more. This takes the old textbook and makes it truly interactive. It also means teachers can build questionnaires, investigations, and selected readings from reliable sources without fear of the students getting distracted by being out on the open web looking for information. This is a big shift in the Textbook industry.

New Notebooks:

• Biology 2e Link

• Biology for AP Courses Link

• Psychology 2e Link

• Chemistry 2e Link

• Introduction to Business Link

• Principles of Management Link

AI Trick

An easy trick I have been using a lot lately is to analyze data on spreadsheets. I was noticing that when I upload a sheet to Chat or Gemini and ask for analysis, sometimes I see the hallucinations happen. Obviously, if I am analyzing data on a spreadshee,t I need accuracy. The trick is to take a screenshot and ask it to analyze it. I am not sure why technically this seems to work better, but try it out. It is quite amazing. You can actually take the screenshot above, which is temperature data from NOAA, and ask it questions about the results. It is awesome.

AI Technology Tool

Last week, I posted my own AI Personal AI Tutor Bot; this week, I am sharing Google Gemini’s Guided Learning support. Much like a tutor, this is built into Google Gemini. I like Gemini for schools because it promises to have the same levels of security for students as the existing Google Suite. With this feature, you can gradually learn by interacting with the bot. Rather than falling into the ‘just give me the answer’ trap, you learn which, in my opinion, is where we need to be focusing on the next stages of student learning. Try out this new feature in Google Gemini.

AI Literacy or Digital Citizenship

I have shared here before Google’s Be Internet Awesome guides for teaching students of various ages about digital citizenship and literacy. They are fantastic lessons and gamified to maintain engagement. Plus, they are just fun. This week, on top of the other releases, Google pushed out its Understanding AI Literacy Guide for grades 2-8.

While it says 2-8, I would argue that everyone should check it out. Again, it is fun and easy to work through as a means of learning what AI Literacy really is and how important understanding AI is for all of us. This is a downloadable set of activities that teach what AI is, Citizenship, and Responsible use. Loads of great stuff for everyone.

Book Review

Becoming the 0.1%: Thirty-four lessons from the diary of a Royal Marines Commando Recruit by Gareth Timmins

Periodically, I try to read something that will improve me. This book is it. I started reading and thought this would be the typical self-help book, but this reads more like a journal with life lessons mixed in for good measure. Timmins recounts his time training for the elite Royal Marines as an exceptionally difficult achievement. As he was learning to become a warrior, he noted in his diary the lessons around motivation, decency, and empowerment to make himself effective. He changed himself from someone who lacked direction to a disciplined individual who earned a doctorate in Psychology with his warrior training.

I follow James Clear, author of Atomic Habits and more. He sent out his 3-2-1 newsletter with this quote that really got me going.

"Live your life each day as you would climb a mountain. An occasional glance toward the summit keeps the goal in mind, but many beautiful scenes are to be observed from each new vantage point. Climb slowly, steadily, enjoying each passing moment; and the view from the summit will serve as a fitting climax for the journey."

Harold V. Melchert ~ The Toastmaster magazine (October 1965)

AI Research I’m Reading

The World Economic Forum reports that AI is expected to disrupt nearly every industry, altering nearly all the skill sets demanded from workers. In response, educators and policymakers are championing the new AI Literacy (AILit) Framework, a joint initiative by the European Commission, OECD, Code.org, and other experts. Rather than focusing solely on coding, the framework emphasizes four core domains—understanding AI’s role in everyday life, engaging critically with its outputs, collaborating creatively, and thinking ethically. The goal is to equip learners with the confidence and discernment needed to navigate an AI-saturated world.

The timing couldn’t be better. With generative AI making its way into every classroom (and beyond), education must extend the digital skills that we had been teaching as ‘Digital Skills’ to now include and be underpinned by - AI literacy. This should be considered essential, not optional. The AILit Framework aims to close the gap between fast-moving technological advances and slower-moving education systems by fostering critical thinking, creative collaboration with AI, and ethical reasoning from an early age. World Economic Forum+1

Milberg, Tanya. “Why AI Literacy Is Now a Core Competency in Education.” World Economic Forum, 22 May 2025, www.weforum.org/stories/2025/05/why-ai-literacy-is-now-a-core-competency-in-education/. Accessed 5 Sept. 2025.

AI Instruction & Teaching

If you are reading this you probably know I am a proponent of AI in education. While I support the implementation of AI and, more specifically, student use of AI for learning, I realize that teaching has become tougher. In my own class, AP Research AI can be a challenging element to deal with on the fly. My advice is that you must be ready to address the question of where AI can and cannot be used, and you should be thinking about what skills would benefit your students.

That said, it is also important to have some measure of review for examining student work. My new favorite teaching tool is Process Feedback. This is a simple Google Extension, and it is FREE!! It provides a way to look at student work and have a conversation about the PROCESS of writing. How long it took, how many edits, what was copy/pasted. It even provides a video of the version history, where you can see what the writer did and when. This is a powerful conversation starter to move away from accusing students of plagiarism and into answering the question of how the writing occurred. Sure, it will show you those giant copy/pastes when it may not be appropriate however, sharing this tool makes it valuable for everyone involved.

AI Trick

AI-aided analysis. This is a powerful trick. Let’s say you have a spreadsheet with loads of data. You can take a photo of the data and upload it to your AI Bot. Prompt it to analyze what you see and let the conversation begin. Literally, I put in a sheet and then prompted Gemini to: This is a massive data sheet. I need to analyze this can you help me? This began a conversation between me and Gemini about ways I could analyze the data, then manipulate it to show different perspectives, and finally create the chart you see. It was great for process learning.

AI Technology Tool

This week, I decided to share a GPT I built called My Personal Tutor. I cannot take full credit as I had a colleague helping me, Dr. Jonathan Eales. This little GPT is the perfect tool for students, teachers, or really anyone wanting to learn something. Basically, we trained it to help the user through the learning process WITHOUT giving the answers. The idea here is to provide a tutor for any student in any subject.

We really felt that providing guidance when using AI is important, as was shared by the MIT Media Lab titled, ‘Your Brain on ChatGPT’ which demonstrated how using AI without guidance can actually be detrimental to students.

“Project Overview ‹ Your Brain on ChatGPT – MIT Media Lab.” MIT Media Lab, 2025, www.media.mit.edu/projects/your-brain-on-chatgpt/overview/. Accessed 5 Sept. 2025.

AI Literacy or Digital Citizenship

Over the summer, I saw my niece, a 12th grader, struggle with her friends and social media. Primarily, it was that they used Snapchat voraciously and included the tracking feature. It made me wonder why she wasn’t considering the data issues and threats that she and her friends were taking on by doing this. In an article from CyberPeace they give a really good explanation of what this tracking feature of Snapchat is capable of doing and what some pitfalls might be.

I really appreciated the approach in this article because it steps away from ‘right or wrong’ and approaches it from the privacy perspective. Tracking of any form impacts privacy. These types of tools, especially when related to social media, should come with instruction and support for users. It is a short article and worth reading.

“Snap Map and Child Tracking: Privacy Challenges in Data Protection Laws.” Cyberpeace.org, 2024, www.cyberpeace.org/resources/blogs/snap-map-and-child-tracking-privacy-challenges-in-data-protection-laws. Accessed 5 Sept. 2025.

Book Review

Architects of Memory by Karen Osborne

History shows us that on many occasions, groups of humans have indentured or forced others into work. That is the heart of this story, that is a sci-fi version of this history. Thus, there are those who are working to gain their freedom, yet so many obstacles stand in their way. At the same time, they are at war with an alien race, the Vai, who appear to be threatening human existence. All of this takes place in a very vivid environment. Osborne masterfully captures and shares the feelings that must take place as one struggles with relationships in a military style environment. Additionally, the action in this story is none stop whether it be a shocking attack that nearly destroys the ship or trying to find the ‘clean air’ to breath. This book is awesome.

You might have read some of the recent articles on Cell Phone Bans in schools. This falls in line with my recent multi-part series on Taking Back Your Focus. I am also a fan of Jonathan Haidt’s book The Anxious Generation. I even subscribe to his After Babel Substack. While I don’t completely disagree with the idea of a ban, I also wonder about the effectiveness. If the problem is too much time on your phone and it is ruining your ability to focus, then I would suggest we work on developing the skills to manage this issue, rather than take away the most powerful educational tool most of us carry in our pockets.

To accomplish this, one needs to make a concerted effort to reduce the distractions on your phone, computer, and any other devices, like a smart watch. For whatever reason, people seem to now be ok with a person checking their watch during a conversation now where that used to be a signal that you were bored with the conversation or wanted out of the conversation.

A quick search for, ‘techniques to improve focus in a digital age’ in our database Sooth.fyi produced a load of helpful articles. One that is very new from Harvard Publishing is, “Pay Attention to Focus”. In this article, they share some common ideas like ‘Avoiding Multitasking’ and the importance of movement for our brain health. The best one, though, is about removing distractions by setting up message blockers, silencing your phone, and blocking sounds. Again, these are all ideas that require a bit of effort on your part but are worth the focus gained.

AI Research I’m Reading

This is a draft of a collaboration between the European Commission, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), and Code.org
The report outlines a comprehensive vision for integrating AI literacy into K-12 education. It clarifies and defines AI literacy as a combination of technical knowledge, skills, and future-ready attitudes essential for navigating an AI-driven world. There is no shortage of AI frameworks out there right now. This framework emphasizes that understanding AI goes beyond just its technical aspects; it takes further steps to include societal implications, ethical considerations, and the human choices and biases that live within AI systems.

I like this report a lot because it takes broad strokes, serving as a guide for educators, policymakers, and learning designers, providing a structured approach to embed AI literacy. I appreciate that while they are focused on meeting the high levels of privacy and security required in the UK, which has been a leader in privacy, yet leaves room for individual approaches. It aims to create a shared understanding of what AI literacy entails and how it can be effectively integrated across various subjects. By addressing both the functional understanding of AI (how it works with data and probabilities) and its broader impact, the framework seeks to equip learners with the necessary competencies to thrive responsibly in an increasingly AI-influenced future. I expect that in the future we will see things generated out of this report as a basis. This is exciting work.

Here are the key details from the report:

Empowering Learners for the Age of AI an AI Literacy Framework for Primary and Secondary Education with Support from REVIEW DRAFT (May 2025). ailiteracyframework.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/AILitFramework_ReviewDraft.pdf. Accessed 26 May 2025.

AI Instruction & Teaching

I’ve made no secret about how much I do appreciate the work that Google does. Recently, they launched their Applied Digital Skills site. They have done an amazing job updating and putting together an amazing set of courses that teachers, students and parents can attend to learn various technology skills.

Included in this set is the Online Safety and Digital Well-Being course. This is one I have recommended on several occasions, as it helps people understand where the threats to their personal information live. Also, with the end of most school year’s upon us, some students may be wondering about their readiness to go to college. Google has an answer for that in their College Readiness course. These courses are very useful and easy to manage. I recommend any of these courses to get you started.

AI Trick

I am always impressed with how AI helps us with our coding and tech issues. Just today I was reminded about a trick that works so well, you must give it a try. Have you ever received an annoying ‘Error’ message, coding, or in an application? I was working today, and I got one of these cryptic messages. PROMPT: I got a strange error message back from this code. Can you give me the step by step to fix this? Here is the message: (PUT THE MESSAGE HERE). It is quite amazing how it will give you the step-by-step instructions, and it generally works.

AI Technology Tool

I’ve been really trying hard this year to improve my ability to speak Thai. It is a complicated language with 5 tones and loads of consonants and vowels. I wanted to create some old-fashioned flash cards and went looking for a good tool. I found Studyable.app. It is Freemium, so you can create up to 5 sets a day, which is plenty for me. I created a quick set of flashcards, then it gave me the option to look through them, test myself, and also chat with their own bot about how else I could speed up my learning of vocabulary. It also has an essay grader which gives you pointers for improving your work and as well as more help from their study bot on how to write well. This is an Ai Tool that will help you sharpen any academic skills. It is what I see for the future of AI Tutors in for students and schools.

AI Literacy or Digital Citizenship

I have hyped FlintK-12 AI before as an awesome tool for teachers to use with classes. Students, you can also use this as a fantastic study tool. Now, they have released a powerful new AI Literacy course. This is a great basic course that gives insights into what AI is, how it works, how you can leverage it, and how to use Flint. It is so easy to use that every teacher I share it with loves this tool. This is a drop-in FREE course for students that hits all of the basics and competencies students need to understand when working with AI. They are safe down to 13 years old. The teachers can control the resources that come out to students and keep them away from the web. It also means that teachers can focus on the study.

BONUS: If you have students taking the SAT or ACT, Flint also just announced training sessions for the upcoming exams. Here are the links to share with your students. Try it out, as this is also a great way to see how you can leverage Flint in your classes:

• SAT Reading and Writing Practice

• SAT Math Practice

• ACT English Practice

• ACT Science Practice

Book Review

The Naturals by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

This book jumped out at me as I was working through a list of books that we are buying for a new event next year, the Battle of the Books, where we will compete against other schools in Thailand. This is an exciting book, Cassie, the main character is pretty normal, she waits tables at her family’s restaurant, and life is really pretty predictable. With one exception, Cassie can read people. She inherently knows about a person through her amazing skills of observation and intuition, because of this she is recruited by the FBI. Cassie also has a bit of a back story about her mother that drives the story. It goes from this kind of story of a girl who might be a little bit different to WHOA - this book has some special characters. This book just builds and builds, so keep reading. It is a fun book, and it is a good book for everyone!

Last week, I talked about how distractions are something we have all been dealing with for several years now, and the research has now shown, specifically in a Harvard Medical Study, that technology can negatively ‘impact everything from sleep to creativity’ (Ruder). Basically, we are just figuring out how technology is negatively impacting us as humans. As I said, this can then result in stress when you need your focus, creativity, sleep, are any thinking skill, one realizes it has been negatively impacted.

What can you do? There are of course, a few easy ones, like limiting your time on screens or restricting yourself from your devices. While these are often cited as ways to overcome, they are much more difficult to put in place than we think. For example, all of your school work is on the computer, thus, homework and schoolwork are literally drawing you onto your computer. Applications to college and social interactions are drawing you onto your phones. It’s tough.

Here is a suggestion: look for the apps that can help you in this process. Take a look at my example for Gemini below. Think about theories like the Pomodoro help where you schedule breaks away from your work. PomoFocusis free and will help. Or go the other way and develop your ability to focus with apps like Forestwhere the longer you focus, the more trees they plant. The first step is acknowledging this is tough and doing something.

AI Research I’m Reading

One of my favorite researchers, consultants, and teachers is Eric Hudson. I met Eric through professional development and quickly learned to value his insights. He discussed a PD session where he is helping teachers work through teaching the skill of writing and embracing AI. Again, his insights are spot on and show that by changing our focus from the project to the process that we actually get to learn much more about our students.

He shared the graphic above which actually comes from Dr. Sarah Elaine Eaton. This comes from her book, Plagiarism in Higher Education: Tackling Tough Topics in Academic Integrity (2021). In my opinion, her outlook gives hope and points to several things that educators can focuson with AI as part of the equation. Specifically, how important attribution is and will be in the future.

Eric gives 5 Principles in his discussion on how AI has changed writing yet students still need to write. It is a quick read and just might validate your thinking.

Hudson, Eric. “AI and the Teaching of Writing.” Substack.com, Learning on Purpose, 27 Apr. 2025, erichudson.substack.com/p/ai-and-the-teaching-of-writing. Accessed 15 May 2025.

AI Instruction & Teaching

Last week, I was lucky enough to present at the Google for Education: AI Digital Transformation conference. It was really awesome to hear from others in the field on what issues everyone is navigating and what tools people are using.

I showed off my method of teaching research to students using Google Gemini’s DeepResearch with my research strategy. If you have yet to try this, you are in for a surprise. This is where I believe research is going to be in the future. No longer are we sifting through sites and trying to find related information. Our jobs as researchers will be to find the very best resources from the set and then gleaning the most important information from these sources. I used the above presentation to show the attendees, and it really is what I shared with my students. The students and teachers responded well to this implementation. We were excited to see how easily we found the information and moved to usage. Take a look and give me some feedback.

AI Trick

I was just reminded of a fun one that I have used several times now. This is a bit of a prompt writing assistant. PROMPT: I have been working with you for some time now. I want you to give me my strengths and weaknesses in prompt writing. What it returned was some nice things about how I provide context, and I am patient with it when seeking responses. One of the best suggestions it gave me to strengthen my prompting is to ‘explicitly stating the desired output format (e.g., a numbered list, a table, a paragraph with specific stylistic elements) can sometimes save time and reduce the need for adjustments later.’ It is pretty cool to see and learn how you can prompt better.

AI Technology Tool

Unfortunately, we can not just say, ‘I am going to focus on doing better’. You need a strategy for actually improving your focus. I would suggest you seek ways and tools to improve your ability to focus effectively. StayFocusd not only provides the ability to remove distractions from websites, it also allows you to track your time distracted and, in some cases, go ‘Nuclear’ and completely shut down all distractions. This tool will help ACTION improved focus.

AI Literacy or Digital Citizenship

Looking for a fun and good way to get kids (or yourself) to understand internet safety? Google has it covered. They developed a robust gaming system to not only convey the message of internet safety. This is something we should all be aware of, especially in the age of AI. It isn’t getting any safer, thus having the safety skills locked in your bag of tricks is important.

I shared this a while ago, and it is so good I am sharing again. I was at a Google Training and ‘Be Internet Awesome.” We took a look at this, and it is very engaging; it has been updated to include an Internet Safety Pledge that students sign. It is research-backed and supports students in being active on the internet. It is an easy and fun way to ensure students know about being safe on today’s web.

Book Review

Thunderhead by Neal Shusterman

After Neal Shusterman’s visit a couple of weeks ago, I left thinking, ‘I don’t remember everything he said about Thunderhead’. He mentioned it was one of the most popular titles he has, so I had to go back and reread. I am glad I did. This book has everything. It has strong characters that were in the Scythe however, we go deeper into their back stories. We also get to learn about ‘Lucifer Scythe’ and what his goal might be. The most interesting thing for me is the ever-present Thunderhead, or AI, that oversees all mankind. It is benevolent and rule-based. It doesn’t protect, nor does it harm. It makes me think about what the future of AI holds for us. Everyone is going to love this book!

Last week, I talked about how distractions are something we have all been dealing with for several years now, and unfortunately, as the research has now shown, Harvard Medical Study showed that technology can negatively ‘impact everything from sleep to creativity’ (Ruder). Basically, we are just figuring out how technology is negatively impacting us as humans. As I said, this can then result in stress when you need your focus, creativity, sleep, are any thinking skill, one realizes it has been negatively impacted.

What can you do? There are, of course, a few easy ones, like limiting your time on screens or restricting yourself from using your devices. While these are often cited as ways to overcome, they are much more difficult to put in place than we think. For example, all of your school work is on the computer, thus, homework and schoolwork are literally drawing you onto your computer. Applications to college and social interactions are drawing you onto your phones. It’s tough.

Here is a suggestion: look for the apps that can help you in this process. Take a look at my example for Gemini below. Think about theories like the Pomodoro method, which helps you schedule breaks away from your work. PomoFocus is free and will help. Or go the other way and develop your ability to focus with apps like Forest, where the longer you focus, the more trees they plant. The first step is acknowledging this is tough and doing something.

RUDER, DEBRA BRADLEY. “Screen Time and the Brain.” Harvard.edu, 19 June 2019, hms.harvard.edu/news/screen-time-brain. Accessed 2 May 2025.

AI Research I’m Reading

Keeping with the theme of TAKING BACK YOUR FOCUS, I thought, let’s keep myself focused by testing the Deep Research tool from Gemini on research. WHOA. I was blown away by what it returned in a relatively short time.

It returned a 20-page report with 40 sources cited, titled “Cultivating Focus in the Digital Classroom: The Potential of Artificial Intelligence”. It is an amazing read and covers a vast amount of information. Here is a summary of what it returned:

This document presents research on cultivating focus in the digital classroom, exploring the potential of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to address the challenges of maintaining attention among students. It begins by outlining the critical need for focus in learning and the difficulties posed by the pervasive use of technology. The research then delves into the complex relationship between technology and attention, moving beyond simplistic views to examine specific technologies and their varied impacts. It highlights how AI can be leveraged to strengthen attentional skills through personalized learning, cognitive training, intelligent focus assistants, and even AI-enhanced biofeedback. Furthermore, the document discusses the importance of ensuring AI tools are designed to promote deep, meaningful focus and active engagement, rather than just surface-level task completion. Ethical considerations, such as privacy, data security, algorithmic bias, and student autonomy, are emphasized as crucial factors in the responsible implementation of AI for focus enhancement. The research ultimately advocates for a human-centered approach, where AI acts as a supportive partner, empowering students to develop and internalize self-regulation skills for a more focused future.

• The research highlights the challenges of maintaining focus in an increasingly digital educational environment.

• It explores how AI can be used to personalize learning experiences and reduce distractions.

• Evidence-based cognitive training techniques are discussed as a foundation for AI-driven interventions.

• Ethical concerns surrounding privacy, bias, and student autonomy in AI implementation are raised.

• The research emphasizes the need for AI to foster deep focus and self-regulation skills, not just compliance.

AI Instruction & Teaching

For Instruction & Teaching this week, I want to shout out to educators in Michigan! At my school, we are in the processes of major planning for next year's AI implementation schoolwide. In the process, we have been conducting research into existing policies. When we found the work that the state of Michigan has done, it was amazing how well they have broken down the whole process. Change is always tough. Something I have focused on is Teacher Readiness for Implementation. I snapped a shot of what Michigan did regarding this issue.

Using this rubric to evaluate readiness, I plan to interview departments as a team. A large part of this process is providing teachers with a chance to voice concerns and excitement, and answer questions. I am really hoping to open up lines of communication now so that, as we start the new school year with a focus on training, teachers can track their personal progress.

There is way more to draw on from Michigan’s Virtual Education site. They have done an impressive job developing all aspects of implementing AI at your school. I recommend if you are involved in the AI implementation or process, or even a teacher doing the work, there is something valuable at this site.

“Teacher Guide to AI in Education.”, 2023, aitg.michiganvirtual.org/?_gl=1*14euzx8*_gcl_au*MTQwMTE4Mjc2NC4xNzMxNjE2MzUw*_ga*NTgyNDY4NTg2LjE3MjM0NzYyNTA.*_ga_VG58GV15BV*MTczNjc5OTc4MC40NC4xLjE3MzY4MDAwNTIuNTUuMC4w. Accessed 1 May 2025.

AI Trick

One way to TAKE BACK YOUR FOCUS is to purposely use AI technology to entertain yourself. Not just doomscrolling or aimlessly watching videos. Have you ever had your palm read? My wife showed me this one, and it was a blast. Take a photo of our palm and upload it to your preferred AI. Then PROMPT: You are an experienced and skilled practitioner in the ancient art of palm reading. Take a look at my palm in this picture and cover the basics. Then ask me follow-up questions to dig deeper into specific elements of my palm.

AI Technology Tool

Over the break, a release flashed up on my radar about Google Meet. I will be honest that I still use Zoom for a lot of my work. However, if you follow this blog, you would know I am a bit of a ‘Google’ fan. Now, I have a reason to use Google Meet. The AI element here is that it now takes notes for you. Google Meet has a feature called Take Notes for Me. It will take notes for you and transcribe the entire meeting. Where we used to have a person transcribe meeting notes or pay for an add-on AI tool to capture everything, Google now does it as part of our Workplace plan.

As a tie-in to the TAKE BACK YOUR FOCUS idea, here you can focus on the human in the meetings and let Google do the work for you. It is also a huge time saver to get the notes transcribed. Lastly, in my work, I have students or teachers who are English Language Learners. For them, I can then have Gemini do a translation to their language that is really very close. In this was,y we also focus on our friends!

AI Literacy or Digital Citizenship

Usually, I put a piece of research here or I find an AI literacy/Digital Citizenship item to discuss; however, this week, I am hyper-focused on ‘FOCUS’. I read this article and found it to be quite accurate and had some helpful information. It rates and explains 7 different apps the author tested for improving their focus (Pomofocus is one I recommended above and is in there!). She also explains what the benefits are and how it helped her improve her overall focus and subsequently improved her performance. It’s a quick read, and there are several apps you can check to see if they work for you.

While any of the apps above would be great, I always try to ‘practice what I preach’ and have adopted an app called ‘How We Feel’. It is a quick check-in and journal for me. I’ve really enjoyed how it stops me and makes me think about my current emotions. It has definitely helped me feel like I am TAKING BACK MY FOCUS. I think there are lots of options out there to help you monitor or improve your emotional state. All I am really suggesting is to try something that might help you focus on ‘YOU’.

Neagoe, Alexandra Denisa. “I’ve Tried 7 Focus Apps to Improve My Productivity. Here’s What I’ve Learned.” Medium, 29 Sept. 2020, adneagoe.medium.com/ive-tried-7-focus-apps-to-improve-my-productivity-here-s-what-i-ve-learned-e7239ca65c56. Accessed 2 May 2025.

Book Review

White Lights by Fyodor Dostoevsky

When we talk about TAKING BACK OUR FOCUS, an easy one is to actually move away from technology to read. That said, an easy way I use AI as a Librarian on a regular basis is asking it for recommendations. I often show students this process so they know this is possible by putting in just a few details. I would suggest creating a Google Gem or ChatGPT Bot so you can access this quickly.

PROMPT: I am a student and I love to read. A couple of my favorite books are (ENTER BOOK TITLES HERE). I consider myself a (ENTER EXCELLENT, GOOD, OK) reader. I am a picky reader, I would rather not read (ENTER ANYTHING YOU DO NOT WANT TO READ ABOUT HERE). I do have a favorite genre that is (ENTER FAVORITE GENRE). Can you recommend 10 books that would be a good fit for me?

I often get asked if I read all of the books I recommend. I only recommend books I have read. Sometimes I am not quite finished with the book, but I love it so much that I go ahead and recommend it. White Lights is one of those books. It is beautifully written, which is amazing as it is a translation from Russian. I am a bit of a Dostoevsky fan, having read Crime and Punishment and The Idiot. This book is a departure in that it is a romance story between two people who struggle to connect with others. The story reminds me of so many sitcoms we see today where people are not connecting or are quirky, yet find those they are meant to find. I am not through with this book yet, but it has me locked in. It’s a book for anyone willing to read classic literature.

It’s tough to stay focused when there are so many new things out every day in terms of new apps, games, information, and tools that are flooding our devices. Every morning I have emails telling me about a new AI tool I need to try or about a funny story I should read. We also have all the fun apps which have badges and notifications drawing our attention away from things we know we need to focus on to be successful. The trick is learning to manage those distractions while still being able to get our work done.

Getting focused to get the work done is part of the issue; we just don’t want to ‘get the work done’, but we also want it to be the highest possible quality we can offer. What I am suggesting is that we start trying to ‘prune’ away some of the distractions. For me, this meant I no longer use Instagram for my news, I use a real news source, the New York Times, and I turned off notifications. I also got rid of TikTok as I found myself ‘doom scrolling’ and spending way too much time watching videos. If I am honest, I do miss my videos of the Pandas Bao Li and Qing Bao at the Smithsonian National Zoo.

While we need to ensure we can focus, we can not ignore the improvements that have and are coming with AI. So, I set a time in the morning where I focus my energies on reading research on AI that I then try to report out to you in this blog. However, the feeling of satisfaction I am getting from getting my work done and doing a better job is much more valuable. It also gives me a great feeling of satisfaction. Give it a try, ‘prune away’ one of your socials and see what happens. Join me in ‘TAKING BACK MY FOCUS’!

AI Research I’m Reading

This article is from one of my favorite knowledge sharers, Ethan Mollick. The study explores the use of AI agents to measure human leadership skills, focusing on the correlation between leadership effectiveness in AI-led teams and human-led teams. The researchers conducted a large lab experiment where participants led AI agents in problem-solving tasks, comparing their performance in these tasks to their leadership effectiveness in randomly assigned human teams. The findings indicate a strong correlation between leadership skills demonstrated with AI agents and those demonstrated with human teams, suggesting that AI can effectively assess leadership potential.

Do I think we need to have AI start leading schools? Definitely not. Do I think we need to find ways to identify or evaluate people who are or want to be leaders? YES. All too often, whether it is the student who always raises their hand or educators who are bent on climbing the ladder, they end up getting attention as they are ‘the loudest voice in the room’. As most teachers will tell you, a student who wants to answer all the questions does not generally have all the answers. Applying this thinking to K-12 schools, this research offers insights into innovative ways to evaluate and develop leadership skills among students and staff. The AI-based assessment tool could provide a cost-effective, scalable, and standardized method for measuring leadership skills, potentially leading to more effective leadership training and selection. This approach may also help identify high-potential leaders who might be overlooked by traditional evaluation methods, promoting equity and diversity in leadership roles.

Weidmann, Ben, et al. “Measuring Human Leadership Skills with AI Agents.” SSRN Electronic Journal, 2025, https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.5207610. Accessed 10 Apr. 2025.

AI Instruction & Teaching

Translation is one of the best applications of AI for UDL (Universal Design for Learning). Working in an international school, I interact with people who are second language learners all the time. Most importantly, includes students. I’ve spoken about Google Gemini Gems before (ChatGPT calls these Bots). Basically, you build your instructions for a task you do all the time. This is one of those AI improvements that helps everyone.

I built a Gem that I use now with these instructions: PROMPT: You are a Librarian at an international school. You create and deliver instruction in English. I want you to take the resources I create or use and translate them into Thai, French, Mandarin, and Spanish. Please try to keep the formatting of the document. Here is the document I want translated (INSERT DOCUMENT LINK HERE). The Gem then outputs my resources (and for the most part, the formatting is maintained) in the various languages so that when I share the resources now I let the students grab the one that will make it easier for them to access/use to achieve the research task.

AI Trick

I am a librarian, which by nature means I like things inspired by books. The Lord of the Rings was a series that I came to later in life, and fell in love with the story. Then when the movie came out, I was blown away by the locations. Here is a fun AI Trick: PROMPT: Create a trip plan for me that would have me travel to the areas where they shot the movie The Lord of the Rings.

Here was the intro to the trip: ‘That sounds like an epic adventure! Visiting the filming locations for The Lord of the Rings in New Zealand would be an unforgettable experience. The movies were filmed in various stunning landscapes across the country, from lush forests to towering mountains, and from serene lakes to dramatic plains.

Here’s a trip plan for a journey that’ll take you to some of the most iconic locations from The Lord of the Rings:

Trip Duration: 10–14 Days

The following itinerary gives you a nice mix of film locations, natural beauty, and some additional sights to experience New Zealand's culture and charm.

It then goes into a day-by-day itinerary. Super fun and maybe, just maybe, I will make it happen. Try it for yourself with your own favorite movie.

AI Technology Tool

At my school, I have been pushing the message of ‘Take Back Your Focus’ with students and teachers to mitigate issues with distractions. Recently, I even found that I too was ‘doom-scrolling’ and struggling to get tasks done. I put together a 3-Part Series on this topic.

From these messages, I am suggesting one of my favorites, which I do use daily, is Box Breathing. We actually taught this to the Track and Field Team this year to help deal with the anxiety that comes with race preparation. ClassroomZen offers several options, including fun games, noise management, and typing practice, among others. The idea is that you find something that is easy to use and helps you either relax or take a break from your technology. Give yourself a break and visit the ClassroomZen - It's FREE!

AI Literacy or Digital Citizenship

Last week I shared MagicSchool’s AI Literacy resources. It seems like the education technology industry has realized that educators need resources to help teach our students how to manage, use, and protect themselves with AI. As proof of what I am seeing in the industry, this week, Google Classroom users will notice a notification highlighting their new AI Literacy Resources - Teaching Responsible Use of AI.

With Google’s release of Gemini 2.0 they announced that they are protecting data as they do for schools. As part of this development and launch, they also launched their teaching series on ‘Teaching Responsible Use of AI’ so that teachers and parents have a set of instructional tools to help when guiding students in the use of AI. I particularly appreciate the inclusion of information on the importance of Academic Integrity. This is one of the big issues many educators have struggled with in the recent rollouts of AI. Hopefully, just as we address copyright, we will now address AI. Personally, this Google version of AI Literacy is my favorite now as it seems to include all of the elements that educators and parents should be addressing with students. This a free resource for everyone.

Book Review

The Life Impossible by Matt Haig

I picked this one up because I loved Haig’s best-selling book The Midnight Library. While his writing is so easy to get into and flows right off the pages, it is the natural context that always feels good when I am reading one of Matt’s books. This book is no exception. What a wonderful premise: Grace, a math teacher who is retiring, gets notified that a friend has passed away. While she is sad and has fond memories of her friend, she is notified that her friend left her a house. It is a case of how big an impact we make in some people’s lives without even knowing. Then Grace learns that the house is on an island near Spain called Ibiza. It turns out that this island is better known for its parties and high-society people.

She has no idea why her friend would leave her such an amazing gift. It also turns out that her death might not have been all on the up and up. She may have been murdered, and there are some characters surrounding her who may have been bad actors. The characters in this book are fantastic, as is the storytelling. This is a book for advanced readers.

I follow on LinkedIn and on Substack as I find his perspective and work very engaging as well as accurate. Several of his articles impact the research that I read each week. This is one of them where he recommends we be very careful still about trusting AI Detectors and I AGREE. Schools are unique as the students we serve. I have said before, that I work in a private school overseas and so we are unique again. Just this week I dealt with another instance of suspected malpractice with AI by a student.

The teacher raised flag on the student’s work and said that when she took a look at the revision history - in our AI Usage Policy we mandate the use of Google Docs so that teachers can view the version history - the student had pasted several sections into the paper. This really raised concerns. The teacher reported that, yes this possibly could be the student’s work based on past writing samples but she was unsure. I was asked to do my best on in seeing if AI had been used. I have been tracking the accuracy of the AI Detectors from the start and I still find they are lacking. In this case of the 5 different tools I used - I got scores ranging from 98% AI written to 27% AI written. I will divulge that I used turnitin.com, Originality.ai, GPTZero.me, Copyleaks.com and Quillbot.com. For me this was inconclusive. When I shared this with the teacher she was actually relieved as it was clear some AI was used and decided to just have the conversation with the student. There will always be some form of cheating. In this new AI era, I think we need to get back to the way we used to do things, de-escalate and start by talking with the student. Gain understanding and then go on from there.

Davalos, Jackie, and Leon Yin. “Do AI Detectors Work? Students Face False Cheating Accusations.” Bloomberg.com, Bloomberg, 18 Oct. 2024, www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2024-10-18/do-ai-detectors-work-students-face-false-cheating-accusations?leadSource=uverify%20wall. Accessed 28 Mar. 2025.

AI Instruction & Teaching

Are you looking for pre tested prompts? My good friends, Cora and Dalton, at AlignmentEdu recently released their Alignment Education Prompt Library. A place where they are curating and aligning prompts to curriculum. They have created a searchable database of prompts that have been used and are making them available to all - for free?? You can also contribute to their database if you have had good luck prompting in some way.

This is a great way to get around the inability to Share Gems from Google. Its also a great way to share prompts that link things like IB outcomes. For example I have submitted one that I use with students conducting an Extended Essay for IB that helps them test their research questions for feasibility. Bascially we can share high quality prompts with other educators. Kudos to Cora and Dalton for sharing.

AI Trick

Playlist for the Day

Common tasks can become fun with AI. Today I used this PROMPT: It is a Friday and it is after lunch. I am having a great day and I am ready for the weekend. Create an awesome music Playlist for the Day. Get together with a group of friends and ask each person to do the same. Then make a master list for the end of the day soundtrack! BONUS PROMPT: Now create a cover image for this playlist. (NOTE: the image above is the result of my awesome playlist.

AI Technology Tool

I’ve been really trying hard this year to improve my ability to speak Thai. It is a complicated language with 5 tones and loads of consonants and vowels. I wanted to create some old fashioned flash cards and went looking for a good tool. I found Studyable.app. It is Freemium so you can create up to 5 sets a day, which is plenty for me. I created a quick set of flashcards, then, it gave me the option to look through them, test myself and also chat with their own bot about how else I could speed up my learning of vocabulary. It also has an essay grader which gives you pointers for improving your work, as well as more help from their study bot on how to write well. This is an AI tool that will help you sharpen your academic skills.

AI Literacy or Digital Citizenship

As the onslaught of Ai and tools continues to flood our feeds and everything we do, it is going to be important that we learn from the mistakes from our past. Primarily I am speaking of the issues that social media causes related to our ability to focus on our school work or work in general. This is a great article from the people at Psychology Today about how we can protect our ability to focus. My favorite shift they suggest is, ‘Think of your attention as a form of currency or “money” that you are constantly giving to others.’ (Barkacs, 2024) Protect your ability to focus on what is important.

Book Review

Revenge of the Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell

I love Malcolm Gladwell’s writing style. While his topics are controversial, I appreciate his ability to write scientific information and statistical data for everyone to comprehend. I also think his writing is entertaining. This book doesn’t disappoint and he goes deeper into the topics than before with more examples of the overstory. From Cheetahs, to the Opioid Crisis, to a ‘Smallville’ city with scary problems in Florida. This book reflects areas of our humanity where we might need to pause and think about what is happening. This book is for anyone who is curious about our humanity.

I am not going to act like I have completed reading this paper - its going to take me some time since it is 185 pages. That said, I am excited about this research in this paper titled, ‘Solving Real World Tasks with AI Agents’. This is a paper that in time will be seen as the ‘historical’ documentation of how we got to Ai Agents and how we can leverage Ai in this way.

The real reason this paper is here is because it shows how much we need to know, consider, and test before we get to a point where these agents are valuable. For example, right now the paper is reporting that the testing of agents right now tends to be in over simplified environments. Obviously, if we want to implement these types of agents we need to know they are going to work consistently. This means heavy testing. This is something akin to testing software where trying to get the volume of testing is a massive undertaking and with extremely thorough methods. Again in this paper they explain they actually built something just for testing, called WebArena.

It is good to know that people are begining the process of testing as building with AI has become so easy with natural language. There might be a bright future for those involved in testing systems.

Zhou, Shuyan. “Solving Real-World Tasks with AI Agents.” Figshare, Sept. 2024, https://doi.org/10.1184/R1/26798437.v1. Accessed 18 Mar. 2025.

AI Instruction & Teaching

This might be a bit controversial, however, I think that knowing how we can leverage Ai to improve our writing is a new form of literacy. I would never suggest students ‘just use Ai to write’. What would be interesting is to write what you want first. Include all of your research, your ideas, your thoughts along the way. Then go to Ai to as the Google Gemini Workspace suggestes, ‘Improve & Polish Your Writing’.

Students could ask Gemini to rephrase certain sections in a more playful or narrative style, perhaps even incorporating analogies or metaphors. Students could prompt Gemini to suggest more vivid vocabulary or explore different sentence structures to add rhythm and flow. It can even help experiment with various tones, from humorous to authoritative, allowing students to see how different stylistic choices impact the message. This collaborative exploration can break the monotony of solo writing, sparking creativity and helping students discover new and exciting ways to express themselves they might not have considered. Gemini becomes a tool for experimentation, making the writing process more interactive and less like a solitary task, ultimately leading to a more dynamic and enjoyable final piece.

AI Trick

Saw a really cool trick this week on a new site, Hindustan Times, where they suggest you upload a photo of yourself wearing something that you would call, ‘the style of clothing typical to you’. Than ask ChatGPT to analyze the style and give that style a name. Then ask it to make clothing suggestions for the future. If you aren’t comfortable loading a picture of yourself, take one of a room in your house you look and do the same thing. It’s super funny but I actually found it very accurate. Not sure if that says more about my very ‘ho hum’ business casual style. (I really thought I was a better dresser). ChatGPT made some suggestions that would definitely make me ‘cooler’. The picture at the top is a suggestion for me to be a hipper an cooler Librarian. Have fun!

Sharma, Shaurya. “Best AI Tips for 2025: 10 Cool Ways to Get the Most out of Generative AI.” Hindustan Times, 16 Dec. 2024, www.hindustantimes.com/technology/best-ai-tips-for-2025-10-cool-ways-to-get-the-most-out-of-generative-ai-101734339972789.html. Accessed 18 Mar. 2025.

AI Technology Tool

You’ve probably heard of ‘AI Agents’ at this point. They are just starting to emerge. These are Ai Tools that go beyond the prompt and response that we have all become used to. These are tools that do take the prompt and response, however, they go a step further by asking the AI to then take the results and go steps further. These are being hailed as the next big thing coming to tech. Think about being able to prompt your AI tool and then say, you want it to take the data it analyzed from Google Sheets and turn it into an infographic in Canva - the time is now. Make.com is a tool that will help you explore this new technology and provide ideas/templates to give it a try.

AI Literacy or Digital Citizenship

In looking for digital citizenship or literacy resources, it is becoming more and more clear that AI Literacy is the new term. MagicSchool is a site with loads of resources that I have shared before. Howeve,r this part of their site is solely focused on building/developing the literacy skills necessary to be effective citizens. There are resources here where students can get AI Literacy Certified as well as resources for educators to pull into their classes as well as parents for using with their children at home. The people at MagicSchool are educators and have developed some amazing tools.

Book Review

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

Last week I read a fun SciFi book, this week I went back to one I had read before, Brave New World. I read this the first time when I was in high school. Then I found it a bit confusing and somewhat overwhelming. Reading it the second time, I walk away scared. It is amazing how it builds the full meshing of society with technology that appears to be happening today. Everything we do, touch, and see is affected by technology. Reading this book, you might also be able to draw parallels to what is happening with countries and governments today. People and society are being controlled by technology in some ways that we never could have imagined. It is a book that was years ahead of itself and could be a cautionary tale that we should heed.

Watching the research develop around the integration of Ai into all things is very interesting. Finding articles that look at the integration or value to education is a bit tougher. That said, research articles are starting to come through at a much more consistent rate. This paper looks at the values of Ai to education and what the benefits and issues are at this time. Some of the biggest benefits this article found were:

• AI-driven personalized learning to individual student needs, ensuring more effective instruction while reducing the workload on teachers.

• Intelligent tutoring systems provide real-time feedback and adapt to student progress, supporting differentiated instruction.

• Automated grading and assessment free up valuable time for educators to focus on deeper engagement with students.

• Virtual classrooms and remote learning solutions make education more accessible, leveraging AI to create interactive and adaptive learning environments.

• Additionally, AI-powered data analysis helps educators identify learning trends, intervene early, and refine teaching strategies for improved outcomes.

A very important issue has been the creation and usage of AI detectors, such as Winston AI. These tools have become crucial to maintaining academic integrity, particularly in an era where AI-generated content is increasingly accessible to students. The researchers explored these tools and provided their findings here, which are much more successful than what I have seen in recent months. They found the tools were highly effective in detecting AI-assisted writing, helping educators differentiate between student-generated and machine-generated work. While AI is reshaping education in powerful ways, the key takeaway is that it should be leveraged to enhance—not replace—the role of educators in fostering critical thinking and meaningful learning experiences.

Vladimir Milićević, et al. “The Application of Artificial Intelligence in Education – the Current State and Trends.” International Journal of Cognitive Research in Science Engineering and Education, vol. 12, no. 2, Association for the Development of Science, Engineering and Education, Aug. 2024, pp. 259–72, https://doi.org/10.23947/2334-8496-2024-12-2-259-272. Accessed 7 Mar. 2025.

AI Instruction & Teaching

When MagicSchool.ai came out, I immediately fell in love with this amazing site. They continue to make huge gains as well as provide amazing content. It is the tools they offer for free that will blow your mind. They have all the tools a teacher would need, including their very own Chatbot (Raina) who has all the guardrails that make it safe for students.

I encourage everyone that is an educator to go through their certification so you can test the premium tools. That said, they are always updating and providing new content. I found their Ai Literacy Resources. This is a fantastically curated list of tools and instructional elements that you can use right away to upskill yourself, children, or students. They include a Prompt Course as well as a Prompt Assistant, certifications, and too much to list. Take a moment and visit MagicSchool.ai!

AI Trick

Well it’s been a bit of a tough week. We all have those times where there is so much to do and we just feel like we cannot get our heads above water. I am there. In true ‘techno guy’ form, I wrote into ChatGPT this PROMPT: Can you tell me something good about myself? I need a pick me up. It was just the thing I needed to put a smile on my face. But…. That wasn’t enough, as I said, it’s been a tough week. I then followed up with this PROMPT: How about something a bit more motivational? This was truly powerful. I immediately felt a bit better and was able to move on - give it a try, we all deserve a little compliment now and again.

AI Technology Tool

Last week I wrote about Elicit.com, an AI tool directed at finding actual resources for researchers. Just how fast are the Ai research tools expanding? Well by the end of last week, Perplexity launched an update to their research tool. Perplexity now has a full browsing type of interface which includes local weather, trending headlines, and their own Deep Research tool. This is ahead of what will be called ‘Comet’.

All this to say that researching is getting easier. Where we used to have to wade through different sites and fairly antiquated interfaces, we now can leverage Ai to conduct the most powerful searches. Perplexity’s new interface now provides an immediate answer plus resources as well as related topics. Additionally, you can direct search for images, videos, or even create a video right from the results page. It is a powerful tool. The continuous improvement of the Ai research tools will hopefully improve our ability to find information and ensure the quality of the information.

AI Literacy or Digital Citizenship

A new trend I am starting to see is universities putting out their own information and resources for students on AI tools they recommend for students. It is an interesting development as they begin to embrace the technology. This represents a specific attempt to hone students’ digital literacy skills and focusing attention on the evaluation of resources. Primarily what I am seeing is they are recommending tools for research and then for productivity. A great example is Tilburg University in the Netherlands, which put out their 22 Best Ai Tools for Students and Teachers. This makes it clearer for students on what to use. It is good to see universities giving guidance to incoming students.

This points to the usage of Perplexity from above this section. The use of Ai research tools is big business. It has become fairly well known that the standard Ai tools (ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, etc) are pretty poor at finding reliable resources. The tools dedicated to research are much better and have some excellent features. As educators, parents, or students, the more we can encourage the use of the right tool for the right job, the better the outcomes.

“The 22 Best AI Education Tools (Students & Teachers) in 2024.” Tilburg.ai, 31 Jan. 2024, tilburg.ai/2024/01/best-ai-education-tools/. Accessed 7 Mar. 2025.

Book Review

The Wild Robot Escapes by Peter Brown

Sometimes we just need a break from things, and when I reach that point I reach for a fun SciFi book. This time it was the sequel to The Wild Robots - the Wild Robot Escapes. Our robot friend Roz returns and this time is on a farm. They have to learn to be useful as well as be responsible for the animals on the milk farm. Roz does well with this and even becomes friends with all of the animals. Additionally, the farmer’s children befriend Roz and adventures ensue. This is a fun book for everyone. The light mood and storytelling set up by Peter Brown are exceptional and make this book just the little break I needed. Sometimes grabbing an easier book makes things all better. The idea here is to take a break from some of that serious reading you’ve been doing and read something that is FUN!

As a librarian in a high school I found this article, "Just the Facts: How Dialogues with AI Reduce Conspiracy Beliefs" to be very encouraging. The article explores the effectiveness of AI-driven interventions in countering conspiracy theories. Researchers conducted an experiment with 1,297 participants, engaging them in dialogues with GPT-4 to test different debunking strategies. The findings reveal that AI conversations significantly reduce conspiracy beliefs—by 17-20% on average—through the use of factual counterarguments. The effect remained robust across most conditions, except when the AI attempted persuasion without presenting evidence, which resulted in no measurable belief change. The study also found that reasoning-based tactics were the key drivers of persuasion, with participants citing the AI’s logical approach as the most influential factor.

Researchers have long believed that conspiracy theories are impervious to factual correction. Contrary to assumptions that AI’s success relies on neutrality, information overload, or manipulation, the study confirms that change in belief will take when, AI gives logical counterarguments and/or factual evidence. Thus confirming that like us, when AI is asked to include evidence to the conversation or debate conspiracies can be mitigating/misinformation.

Actionable Insights:

1. Use Personalized Counterarguments – Tailor responses to directly address the specific reasoning behind conspiracy beliefs rather than using generic debunking strategies.

2. Prioritize Factual Evidence – Ensure that debunking efforts focus on logical, evidence-based reasoning rather than simply attempting to persuade.

3. Encourage Open-Minded Thinking – Individuals who are more willing to engage in critical thinking are more receptive to fact-based corrections.

4. Avoid Overloading with Information – Concise explanations are just as effective as longer ones, so keeping responses brief and to the point can enhance engagement.

5. Frame Conversations as Cooperative – Presenting AI interactions as discussions rather than debates can reduce defensiveness and increase receptivity.

6. Do Not Rely Solely on AI Neutrality – The effectiveness of AI interventions does not depend on perceived objectivity but rather on the strength of the evidence provided.

7. Leverage AI for Scalable Misinformation Correction – AI tools can be used effectively to counteract conspiracy theories at scale by providing rapid, fact-based rebuttals tailored to individuals’ beliefs.

“OSF.” Osf.io, 2025, osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/h7n8u_v1. Accessed 20 Feb. 2025.

AI Instruction & Teaching

Digital Promise's AI literacy framework for K-12 education provides a roadmap for integrating artificial intelligence into classrooms in a meaningful and equitable way. The initiative focuses on five key strategies: establishing clear guidelines for AI adoption, embedding AI education across subjects, offering ongoing professional development for educators, designing engaging learning experiences, and fostering awareness of AI’s broader societal impact. By implementing these strategies, schools can ensure students develop critical thinking, creativity, and ethical awareness as they interact with AI technologies.

This work focuses on accessibility, equity, and responsible AI use, ensuring all students gain a deeper understanding of AI. I especially liked how it aims to leverage the role of teachers and provides them with professional learning opportunities to use AI in instruction. Also Digital Promise’s work seeks to create a bonded approach between school families, and communities to create a well-rounded approach to AI literacy. By embracing these strategies, schools can prepare students to navigate and contribute to an increasingly AI-driven world.

AI Trick

I will not advocate for the use of AI to make your investment decisions. However what is interesting is to have AI take a run at or show you different elements that could be helpful. Simply type: PROMPT: Show me 5 stock options from the S&P 500 that are set to make large gains in the next 6 months and explain how you came to this conclusion. Using the free verison of ChatGPT I was able to see stocks that are reporting gains right now and links to articles suggesting continued growth. It is a quick way to do some research - NOTE: Always check sources and be careful with your money.

AI Technology Tool

I’ve been meeting with all of my EE Students for next year and one of the tools I am showing them is Elicit.com. This is and has become one of the more powerful tools for research. You can put your research question into this tool and it gives you a brief response that it build from the papers it finds. Additionally, it gives you abstracts and the links to the actual papers used. One of my favorite features is one that Google Scholar uses and it is a count of how many times the paper was cited before as a true testament to the value of the paper to the research. Try Elicit.

AI Literacy or Digital Citizenship

This article details the concerns about AI-assisted cheating are and what some are attempting to do to mitigate the issue. Schools have been strugging with the challenge of maintaining integrity in environments where AI tools are readily available. For example, Scottish universities have reported over 400 instances of students employing AI to cheat on coursework in the past two years, highlighting the pervasive nature of this issue.

Research from Stanford University School of Education shows that the prevalence of cheating among U.S. high school and college students is nothing new. The study found that nearly 70% of U.S. high school and college students regularly engaged in cheating long before the emergence of generative AI. Other studies have shown similar results.

What is the ‘best answer’ right now? The experts would say we need to continue the development with implementation of detection tools. Scott Aaronson, a computer science professor at the University of Texas, has proposed digital watermarking techniques to identify AI-generated content, which could serve as a deterrent against plagiarism and misinformation. This article helps in showing that it isn’t going to be a single solution.

“LinkedIn.” Linkedin.com, 2025, www.linkedin.com/pulse/real-way-stop-cheating-ai-world-richard-culatta-fogxc/. Accessed 28 Feb. 2025.

Book Review

Margo’s Got Money Troubles by Rufi Thorpe

I picked up this book as it is one of the Tournament of Books titles. It has a great title and something many of us have experienced in our lives. However, this one is a very contemporary focused book. Our character, Margo, gets caught up in an affair with here college professor and subsequently becomes pregant. She struggles with what to do and how to afford the costs associated with raising a child. Her choice may not be the best option, but for her she feels it is the only option. As she decides to turn to unconventional methods of work, her income rises but it also raises the attention of the father. Further drama ensues and the father comes back into the picture. This book is not for everyone as it has some very adult themes and problems. This is one that you would want to be careful with and make sure it is appropriate for you.

I work at an international school and so we see language learners enter our school on a large scale. As our world gets smaller more and more people are landing in places where their native language isn’t spoken. I’ve had this experience myself and it is difficult. However, I see loads of potential for AI as a language tutor.

This research study explores the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in English Language Teaching (ELT), analyzing its applications, benefits, and potential threats. AI offers personalized feedback, interactive exercises, and increased accessibility, making language learning more efficient and engaging.

Concerns include the potential reduction of human teachers' roles, biased algorithms, privacy issues, and the need for quality control in AI platforms. The big one for me from the paper was the loss of human interaction. Language is a human thing and while AI appears to mimic it well, it is the ‘other’ elements of language, the tone, facial expressions, and general sense of interaction that are lost.

Actionable bullet points:

• Utilize AI tools for personalized learning: Implement AI platforms like ChatGPT, Coursera, Duolingo, Elsa, and Grammarly to provide customized feedback and practice exercises tailored to individual student needs and learning styles.

• Integrate AI for writing assistance: Encourage the use of AI-powered writing platforms and applications like Grammarly and ChatGPT to improve writing quality, detect errors, and enhance clarity.

• Leverage AI for listening and speaking development: Employ AI-based applications like ELSA Speak, Duolingo, and HelloTalk to provide interactive conversation practice, accent reduction, pronunciation improvement, and listening comprehension exercises.

• Promote AI-powered reading platforms: Introduce AI platforms like Readlang to enhance reading comprehension, vocabulary acquisition, and overall reading skills through features like text-to-speech technology, adaptive learning algorithms, and interactive exercises.

• Balance AI with human interaction: While maximizing the benefits of AI in ELT, ensure a balance by maintaining the essential role of human teachers in providing guidance, facilitating real-life conversation practice, and addressing individual student needs.

Rukiati, Enik, et al. AI on Learning English: Application, Benefit, and Threat Affiliation: Language, Communication, and Tourism Department. pdfs.semanticscholar.org/19f0/3f7d6555fb8a708ef96c05a97f09556bf5d0.pdf. Accessed 19 Feb. 2025.

AI Instruction & Teaching

I had the honor of presenting this at 21st Century Learning in Hong Kong last week. This was an amazing conference and focused on AI and Well Being. It also had a Library pre conference and then mixed into the conference.

My presentation was focused on leveraging AI to work through the process of developing strong questions. I have a formulaic model that I created. It works well in any setting where we are asking students to do some research or ask a quality question. In addition, I used a tool called MyMap.ai to build a mindmap to ensure students stretch their perspectives on a topic. This follows with a feasibility check that I developed to run the question against.

I tested this with the Extended Essay and it worked like a champion! The prompt is in the slide deck. I literally give them the prompt. That said I also created my own way of teaching them to write what I call a ROBUST Prompt. Check this out!

AI Trick

This week it isn’t a trick as much as just a funny (there is a trick hidden in there but I am not recommending it).

AI Technology Tool

I’ve been reviewing new research tools as a new group of Grade 11 IB students are starting their Extended Essay. I found Stanford’s Storm which is an AI Research tool that they have created that does a good job of putting information together. It is easy to use and it is obviously a reliable source of information. It gives you a Wikipedia style article, the sources it used, and makes suggestions for digging deeper into the topic. This is an awesome free tool!

AI Literacy or Digital Citizenship

One of the best sessions I went to last week was hosted by Mr. Nick Soentgerath, a Tech Coach or Integrator at Yokohama International School. His focus was on AI Policy for schools and he shared that they have the full system in place. If you are creating a policy or if you have one but are looking to update you need to take a look at what they are doing.

Highlights include a breakdown of HOW each stakeholder, students, teachers, admin, parents, should and can use AI in their work. I loved how this eliminates all of the mystery of what is ok and what isn’t. Another thing he shared is they are now asking teachers to actually put at the top of all their assignments and assessments what level of AI usage is acceptable further clarifying any questions. It is great stuff as it not only clarifies but also opens the doors for students and teachers to educate students on the application of AI.

Book Review

All the Colors of the Dark by Chris Whitaker

This book was recommended to me by my good friend Ms. Rojas who works in the Middle School. She is now on my list of GREAT READERS! The story follows Patch, an eye-patch-wearing boy who just cannot get a break. He comes from a broken home, he is poor and on his own and doing his best. He never shies away from a fight and in being chivalrous, he is befriended by a wealthy young lady. While our characters will take us through a murder/mystery the setting of the 1970’s and the Vietnam conflict plays a major role. Readers will have their hearts and minds challenged by this book. In the end, I wonder if this book shouldn’t be housed in the Romance section… It is a great book for young adults and adults.

This is a fairly technical paper, however, what the researchers are attempting to prove, and in my opinion do a very nice job, is how we could use AI agents to dramatically reduce the number of hallucinations we get in AI responses.

A dedicated fourth-level AI agent evaluates these KPIs, providing detailed assessments to ensure accurate quantification of changes in hallucination-related behaviors. This is after 2nd and 3rd-level AI agents have reviewed the findings and checked against the KPIs. It really means that the agents are literally evaluating the work that the previous one did to check for accuracy.

This research underscores the potential of structured, multi-agent AI systems in improving the accuracy and reliability of AI-generated content, offering valuable insights for educators integrating AI into their teaching practices.

Takeaways for Educators:

• Understanding AI Hallucinations: Recognize that AI models can generate plausible but false information, highlighting the need for critical evaluation of AI outputs in educational settings.

• Multi-Agent Collaboration: Implementing a system where multiple AI agents review and refine content can significantly reduce the occurrence of hallucinations, leading to more reliable AI-generated materials.

• Importance of Clear Communication: Utilizing frameworks like OVON ensures that AI agents communicate effectively, maintaining context and clarity throughout the content refinement process.

• Evaluation through KPIs: Employing specific metrics to assess the factual accuracy and clarity of AI-generated content can help in systematically identifying and mitigating hallucinations.

• Enhancing AI Trustworthiness: By adopting structured approaches to detect and address hallucinations, educators can increase trust in AI tools used for teaching and learning, ensuring that these tools provide accurate and reliable information.

Gosmar, Diego, and Deborah Dahl. HALLUCINATION MITIGATION USING AGENTIC AI NATURAL LANGUAGE-BASED FRAMEWORKS. 2025, arxiv.org/pdf/2501.13946. Accessed 3 Feb. 2025.

AI Instruction & Teaching

I read something about AI in education almost every day. As a technology coordinator and librarian, I feel I have a responsibility to do this. To that end, I try to identify trends and good/bad uses of AI in education. As to be expected, some great trends are floating to the top. This idea is really at the heart of why I started writing the AI Library.

In previous issues, I have provided actual lessons I have done with teachers and students. This week I want to direct you to the UNESCO AI Competency for Teachers and Students document.

The purpose of the UNESCO site is to provide educators with resources as well as some of the application of AI in education. A primary element are the frameworks provided. It focuses on four core competencies:

• A human-centered mindset: Encouraging students to understand and assert their agency in relation to AI.

• Ethics of AI: Teaching responsible use, ethics-by-design and safe practices.

• AI techniques and applications: Providing foundational AI knowledge and skills.

• AI system design: Fostering problem-solving, creativity, and design thinking.

At my current site, International School Bangkok (ISB) we are working on something specifically for us but these competencies are definitely behind the work we are doing to produce a guiding policy for the school and possibly by division. Keep an eye out for something soon that will give stronger guidance.

AI Trick

Our support services team was looking for a tool to procotor for students. One of the tougher accommodations we provide is reading for the student. With Speechify you can pop your text into the AI tool and get a natural voice to read it out. The other feature we need is the ability to speed up or slow down as well as the ability to download the file in MP3 format. Speechify has it all covered. Last big reason we like this one - its FREE!

AI Technology Tool

My new favorite new AI Tool is Lovable.dev. I feel like AI really gets my creative energy flowing. It has rejuvenated me and got me excited about technology in education. This program allows me to take an idea I have an following the Design Thinking protocols, I can rapid prototype. With this application you can create a prompt for your very own software. It will generate a prototype of the idea that you can actual test and see what it looks like when put together. This is an amazing tool to spur creativity or to help you get that ‘side hustle’ idea you have been sitting on to come to fruition.

AI Digital Citizenship

All too often we get caught up on the cool stuff. For example, many of us were excited to try out the new DeepSeek Ai that was getting all the news the last couple of weeks. And then we saw that they left user data vulnerable to hackers. It is times like this that we need to appreciate when organizations or in this cases governments attempt to help us in protecting ourselves. The EU is again out ahead of this protection with the release of their new EU Artificial Intelligence Act - there is a lot too it, however Chapter 1 gives everyone a better understanding of what the threats are and that while there are threats, AI literacy is important. Worth a look!

Book Review

When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi

This book made me think about my own skills of empathy. Written by a neuroscientist who has been diagnosed with cancer, this book will force you to think about how important family and friends are to living a good life. While that is a strong theme throughout the book my greatest takeaway from this is to stark reminder of how important every minute, every day, eand very week we are here on the planet. This book is written beautifully. The words flow and feel like Dr. Kalanithi considered every word that he wrote as important as every minute should be. Without giving too much away about this book, it is not for the faint of heart as it is an emotional journey.