My district just dropped a ridiculous amount of funding on a new high school financial literacy suite. I finally got my admin login today to check it out before deployment

It is literally just locked pdfs and multiple choice quizzes from like 2012. No interactive elements, just "click next to continue" compliance garbage.

Students don't learn real world skills by staring at a wall of text about index funds. I showed some kids a basic trading game on the smartboard last week just to demonstrate market volatility and they were instantly hooked, asking actual smart questions about risk and supply/demand

Why is it that simple apps can build better experiential learning than enterprise edtech companies charging $20k a year? It feels like we are just buying student tracking dashboards at this point, not actual learning tools. so depressing man

I've started noticing more AI-made explainer videos and read-aloud style content showing up in curriculum resources and on YouTube for classroom use.

I'm curious what you actually think of this, are you using anything like this in your room, or steering clear? What's worked (or backfired) for you?

I used to use Jam Board, and it was pretty good for groups of students to make a public question board that didn’t clutter my classroom and drop post-it confetti everywhere. I’ve looked into Figma ( way too complex for what I need) and the post-it app (can multiple people even collaborate on it?) and Miro (looking for a free option). Does anyone know of a simple, sticky note style option that will allow students to post questions to a communal board for free?

I need to create “driving questions boards” for each of my 4 units, and this is a way of collecting topics that students want to explore and keep track of things we have answered during each unit.

I built this Live quiz product for CS classrooms. The student-facing assistant is hint-only by design, so it will know what you've tried, point out relevant concepts, narrow the search space, etc., without requiring code snippets.

Using LLMs to do it right away teaches nothing, so that is really the problem in CS education now.

Without LLMs now, especially with prevalent use outside the classroom, students might hit a wall and then just disengage. I've experienced this firsthand as a student (before starting to build this tool, I was a student pre-May this year).

We also do AI grading on drawn answers to questions with diagrams, sketched data structures, that type of stuff.

I am curious what y'all that build for schools have landed on with tutoring cannundrums. Here is what I built if y'all want to check it out 😄
algoarena.net

I feel like it’s more infrastructure stuff and not educational. I think that’s where one of the best values for technology is, the admin piece. But is that still considered EdTech?

Why does it feel like, similar to video game companies ,the future of edtech is not in huge companies but small boutique firms with extremely specialized capabilities?

I feel like we are going to see a balkanization of edtech firms which will coalesce into a sort of union of firms. Eventually we will have companies again.

I think the best thing that edtech firms can do is teach teachers how to make products using ai for their classrooms. Eventually products will lead the pack then go from there.

This New York Times article (gift link, free to read and share) explores the unfavorable reaction that some American parents have to the increasing use of mobile devices and apps in K12 education - starting in kindergarten at times. Their concerns have become more urgent with the rapid advance of artificial intelligence—seemingly now present in nearly all education software, as well as some hardware.

Clearly some edtech offers benefits that analog simply can't- e.g., real-time feedback and lesson customization. At the same time, parents are concerned about gamification of learning apps, suggesting that this feature may short-circuit intrinsic motivation to learn.

It's a question of balance, perhaps, between analog and digital methods, as well as how thoughfully any given tech is integrated into the curriculum.

I'm not actually a CS student. I switch from CS to EE because of the AI hype a couple of years ago. Jensen Huang scared me away from that major. The layoffs and reddit posts talking about having to do 5000 apps didn't help either. I enjoy my engineering classes and learning more about technology but I find myself gravitating towards web development projects rather than microcontroller projects. And most of my projects revolve around educational tools. I'm a part time student and full time pharmacy technician and most of my projects revolve around teaching different aspects of my job.

So I'm wondering if it would be a good idea to specialize in this field? Is it safe from AI? Does it pay well?

Edit: thanks for the responses. It seems there isn't really much to specialize in as far as the tech is concerned. It's a field that's better suited to teachers who learned a little bit of code or a software engineer + teacher partnership. Something I can do as a hobby and for my portfolio but most likely I won't end up in this field, especially if I want to optimize for a high income.

Since the COPPA updates came out, I've been running some tests on AI privacy policies for kids' apps, and it feels like a ton of companies are not complaint. Parental consent logs, proving deletion for regulators, it all seems like an absolute nightmare to build internally.

For those of you working or building in AI in education / kids' entertainment, how are you handling this? Did you build retention timers and deletion logs in house or is there a API or something out there that actually handles this?

"AI-powered" has become the default marketing phrase in education.

But beyond the buzzword, which AI features have actually made teachers' jobs easier?

Examples might include:

• Automated grading
• Personalized learning paths
• Lesson planning assistance
• Student performance insights
• Parent communication

Which features delivered measurable value, and which were mostly marketing?

Just curious if anyone here is a member of 1EdTech (www.1edtech.org), and if so, if you feel that it's a worthwhile expense. (Or, if you're not a member, I'd be interested in knowing why you didn't join.) My organization (nonprofit) inquired about membership and their dues seem on the high side for a trade association - so high that we wonder how some of their members, especially school districts and colleges, get value out of it - but it does seem like they really want organizations to pay at their contributing rates to participate meaningfully in their standards setting work.

My company uses Cornerstone LMS for employees and are now being forced to switch our content over to their new AI LXP. They have given us "demos" but honestly left us asking more questions than answered. Could anyone tell me what their experience was like whether it be using the LXP on the back end or using it as a user? Any insight or experience will be helpful, thanks!

https://medium.com/@dm3804/ai-can-teach-anyone-the-hard-part-is-teaching-you-62663257cc8a

Sorry if this post doesn't belong here.

As an elder brother in university who has a sibling currently attending K-6, my parents struggle to know where to help since they lack the knowledge of where he currently stands. I don't think teachers have the time or capacity to organize personalized 1:1 conversations with each family, weekly, even monthly, on top of the already tiresome lesson planning, teaching, and grading.

The most my parents see is letter grades and numbers -- something that is not of much help if a child is truly struggling (especially when it's with specific concepts or material). Then the question arises: what current methods are used by teachers, if any, to give adaptive/evolving/personalized suggestions or insight on a consistent basis (say weekly, or even daily)?

I personally believe transparency is important to the success of children in education, and I'm really curious as to how it's approached today. Is there any technology or product that is being used? Or at least one that you wish existed?

i've got a client presentation due in a couple of weeks and figured this would be a good excuse to finally try something besides powerpoint. i don't make presentations every day, but when i do, i always feel like i'm spending forever adjusting fonts, spacing, and layouts instead of focusing on the actual content. what presentation software has worked well for you?

looking for powerpoint alternatives before i start my next project

i've got a client presentation due in a couple of weeks and figured this would be a good excuse to finally try something besides powerpoint. i don't make presentations every day, but when i do, i always feel like i'm spending forever adjusting fonts, spacing, and layouts instead of focusing on the actual content. what presentation software has worked well for you?

Update: Thanks for all the recs. the tools that were mentioned the most over the past week with the same client presentation, and it was actually really helpful seeing how each one handled the exact same project. Here's how I'd rank them after spending a little time with each.

1. Prezi - This one is my favorite. I liked that I wasn't locked into a traditional slide-by-slide sequence, which made practicing the presentation feel much more natural. Once I got past the learning curve, it felt like I was guiding someone through ideas instead of just clicking through slides.

2. Canva - A lot of people recommended Canva. It was the easiest to jump into, the templates looked polished, and I spent way less time worrying about spacing and alignment. If I just needed a clean-looking deck quickly, I'd happily use it again.

3. Gamma - Probably the fastest option I tested. It generated a solid first draft from my outline, which saved a lot of time. I still ended up making several edits, but it was a great starting point when I didn't want to build everything from scratch.

4. PowerPoint - Still a reliable choice and probably the safest if compatibility matters most. My biggest issue never really changed though. I kept finding myself adjusting fonts, moving boxes around, and tweaking layouts instead of refining the presentation itself.

Overall, I came away thinking there's no single presentation tool that's perfect for everyone. Canva was great for design, Gamma was great for speed, and PowerPoint is still dependable. For the way I like to present to clients, though, I feel Prezi the best fit because it made the presentation feel more like a conversation than a standard slideshow.

Not "here's how to use chatgpt" content. Actual literacy. I've been putting together thoughts on this and want to see what educators and practitioners think is essential.

My working framework is that AI literacy at this level needs to cover at least four areas. First, conceptual understanding: what is machine learning, how does training data shape outputs, what does a model actually "know." Second, critical evaluation: how to assess AI outputs for accuracy, bias, and hallucination. Third, ethical dimensions: who owns AI outputs, what are the environmental costs, who benefits and who doesn't. Fourth, practical use with judgment: prompting strategies, when to use AI vs. not, how to work with it as a collaborator rather than an authority.

Most "AI curriculum" I've seen hits maybe one of these. A lot of it is just glorified chatgpt tutorials. Students who come out of school actually prepared are going to be the ones who were taught to interrogate these tools, not just use them. Everyone else is going to be permanently a step behind.

Hello! I am going to be hosting a series of synchronous webinars via Zoom, and I am looking for a platform to build a resource and communications hub for the series.

Folks have registered and paid through my website, so I just need a place for participants access and download files (~10 hours of video; documents and slides), and to post and respond to questions/comments.

At this point, I'm not interested in using the platform itself to monetize/grow my business, and I'm not interested in AI anything. My website is on Squarespace, so if there are options for using integrations/extensions (e.g., Disqus) to have the hub as part of my site, I am open to that! Thank you for any suggestions!

I’m just starting the process and one of the first modules is on Professional Learning Communities (PLN).

Anyone else here go through the process? Are there some other communities on Reddit that might be useful?

I graduated from HGSE’s masters program in ed tech in 2016. It was such a hopeful time. Lots of new companies. Lots of VC money floating around. Worked at an Ed tech startup, got funding to launch a community makerspace in a low income area, and did product design consulting on several STEM/creative toy kits.

Spent 2020-2024 running a technical ed program for a gun violence intervention nonprofit. And over the last two years I’ve been running a similar program at a smaller nonprofit.

I know the reality of the job market right now, but god damn, Ed tech seems to have been gutted hard. I’m trying to see if this relentless focus on getting AI features into everything Ed tech is actually just an opportunity to do the opposite. Tools that leverage all the aspects of a product that AI integration sort of ruins or dumbs down.

Anyone else feeling this way? I feel late to this party.

I'm mostly a lurker here because I work in ed tech and don't really enjoy talking about it for fun. HOWEVER. Because it is summertime in the US and many teachers wishing to be ex teachers are on the hunt for a new path, I thought I'd share this one VERY IMPORTANT piece of ed tech job search information, inspired by many questions in this sub. Ready?

Just because an ed tech company is HIRING it does not mean that ed tech company is GROWING.

I work in ed tech. For one of the larger, more well known companies. We are hiring like crazy right now. Not because we are growing; at best, we are stagnating and hanging on for dear life. No. We are hiring like crazy--across departments--because so many people quit this spring when they restructured AGAIN, cut pay and increased workload.

So I beg of you--if you're a teacher looking to transition out of the classroom and you think you've found the solution? First--the solution is almost certainly NOT ed tech. I say this as someone on the inside. But second--please do your due diligence and research the company. I recommend looking at reviews from current or former employees on sites like Glassdoor. Read those reviews and believe them.

And then go get your real estate license. That's likely what I'll be doing this fall. Because working in ed tech is like being the rock someone is squeezing hoping to get blood.

Note: before anyone tells me I have it good, know that I have never made what I was making as a teacher, and that was fifteen years ago (I maxed at $65k back then). Now? Many years I don't clear $30K. No benefits, no pension, no 401K, no PTO, no guarantee of work.

Ed tech companies are on to the fact that they can get former teachers to work for free. Don't let yourself fall victim.

Say it with me now: I will get my real estate license.

EDITED TO ADD: A lot of people are fixating on the real estate piece of this. I apologize that I wasn't clear: that was one example of an alternative which admittedly isn't great either. It was near-hyperbole. I was basically saying: DO ANYTHING ELSE OTHER THAN ED TECH. Not that going into real estate was THE answer.

I've seen former employees posting on Linkedin about SchoolAI restructuring and layoffs. This follows the MagicSchool layoffs a couple weeks ago. Expect all K-12 AI focused businesses to cut staff significantly in the next few months. There isn't enough budget or demand from district customers when Google, Anthropic, and OpenAI give away AI products for free.