Explore the alarming decline of critical thinking in K-12 education and its repercussions for higher learning. Personal teaching experiences reveal a troubling connection between student engagement and social media distractions. Dive into the dangers of mob mentality, where mass hysteria stifles open discourse and spreads misinformation. The importance of fostering critical thinking in classrooms is emphasized, calling for educators to promote inquiry and dialogue to combat these challenges. It's a rallying cry for reinvigorating thoughtful discussion in our educational system.

In this encore of the 4th episode in the series on AI in education, my guest, Matt Miller and I discuss the issues we need to consider as well as some very practical ideas for using ChatGPT and other really cool AI in our classes. Matt has been digging deep into this subject and brings so much wisdom and insight into our conversation. Matt shares some great resources to explore in the links below. And he also plays a fun version of The 5-Minute Game Show called “ChatGPT, Google or Me?” I’d like to thank my awesome guest Matt Miller and my fauxmercial helpers including my award-winning Voice Actor friend, Eli Schiff as the announcer and Jakey Schiff, Yossie and Tuvia Frankel. This is a great time to buy any burned-out or otherwise deserving teacher friend or colleague some Overthrowing Education Swag. Or buy some for yourself. You totally deserve it!   Links and Resources: ChatGPT, Chatbots and Artificial Intelligence in Education Tons of great resources and classes: DitchThatTextbook.com Get on Matt’s email list to get all kinds of amazing resources: DitchThatTextbook.com/join Classroom videos to use in class TODAY:  Teachflix This project provides you with research-based teaching practices you can use in class tomorrow to save time AND teach better: EfficienTEACH.com

This encore episode is a favorite of mine, but maybe I'm just partial. Here is the description from the original version: Is it possible that Robots/AI will replace teachers someday? II first examined this question in an episode in early 2020. My guests said no, but my son, 14 at the time, predicted much of what we are seeing now with the explosion of growth in Artificial Intelligence. So, I brought my son, now almost 18,  back on the show to give his reflections on his past predictions and update us again. Is it inevitable that teachers will become obsolete? What can we do to make sure that we, as real live educators, are irreplaceable?  What do you think? What do your students think? Let me know on the platform formerly known as Twitter @overthrowinged.  I want to thank Tuvia for indulging me and coming back on with his updated reflections, and a special shout out to the amazing voice over artist Eli Schiff for playing the male teacher and Robo-Helper on the fauxmercial. I also want to thank all the teachers who originally let me know what tasks they dread that they would love to outsource to a robot which were reflected in Robo-Helper  Make someone’s day with cool Overthrowing Education swag!  

This encore episode is the second part of my early exploration of AI in education. Here is the description of this episode from January, 2023: If you haven’t yet listened to the first in this AI in Education series, episode 89, you might want to do that first. It’s not essential but it does give some background that feeds this episode’s discussion. In that episode, I mention some excellent essays by super prolific author and culture writer Stephen Marche. And now Stephen is my special guest on the show today. He is a font of information and a lot of fun to talk with. Among many other aspects, we discussed some great things we can do with AI in our lessons, along with other potential benefits. Additionally, we addressed how AI will affect homework, tests, and essays in many subjects. We also get into the scary potential for increasing inequity in the education system. And I asked a really important question on many educators’ minds – Can AI write lesson plans for us? Speaking of AI writing things for us, I decided to see what would happen when I asked ChatGPT to write my fauxmercial. And I really did give it the first and second prompt that were described in today’s fauxmercial, and those really were the responses it gave me. The rest of it I wrote and performed along with Yossie Frankel as the announcer, Tuvia Frankel as the first AI response and Robin Glickstein as the second AI response. After sort of co-writing with ChatGPT, I was really happy to co-write The 5-Minute Game Show with an actual person – Eve Hirschman. It was a lot more fun. Spoiler: Stephen aced his game show. I believe that educators everywhere should be hearing what Stephen has to say, so please share this episode with every educator you know. @stephenmarche on the platform formerly known as Twitter Find Stephen’s essays, novels, non-fiction books, appearances and more at www.stephenmarche.com  

This episode was orginally recorded in November of 2022, just as we were hearing about ChatGPT and AI in education. Many of us were wondering what will happen to the way we teach and the way students learn. This is the first part of my exploration about AI in Education. My views on it, my concerns, my hopes have all changed many times over the last year and 1/2. It's interesting to go back and see how far we've come. Here is my original description of the episode: There has been an explosion of handwringing among educators and academics, and cheers from students about the strides and easy accessibility of Artificial Intelligence that will probably change the entire nature of how we educate. What can we expect? How do we adapt?  Can anything good come out of this? This is just the first in a series of examinations of this incredibly important topic that will certainly affect every aspect of education at least from middle school through higher education. On this episode it’s just me and AI. We even had fun playing The 5-Minute Game Show! Well, at least I did. I can’t speak for my friendly AI. I want to especially thank Tuvia Frankel for clueing me in to the importance of dealing with this issue right away, and for writing the fauxmercial! Resources and Links: Various great essays on AI by Stephen Marche in The Atlantic The End of High-School English by Daniel Herman in The Atlantic The Brilliance and Weirdness of ChatGPT by Kevin Roose in The New York Times

I've been taking a break from publishing new episodes since mid-August, and now I have a special announcement! 

My awesome guest on this encore episode is educator, author, and lovely, charming human being Lindsay Portnoy who joins me today to talk about why playing games, and playing in general are the best way to learn and how to incorporate games and play into any subject or grade. Lindsay has so many inspiring and wise approaches to education and we really geek out together on this favorite topic for both of us. As for the 5-Minute game show, Lindsay racks up lots of imaginary points as she slays it! Thank you so much to Lyndsay Portnoy and also to Yossie Frankel, the deep voice that joined me on the Edu-game-arama fauxmercial. Resources: www.lindsayportnoy.com  Game On? Brain On!   Designed to Learn The episode that Lindsay mentions that has the singing game show, featuring the amazing voice of Barbara Heller: Kevin Stoller: Why Kids Hate Math and How to Fix it. The episode with Micaela Blie’s hilarious story about the Oregon Trail game she played with her students: Jon Cassie: Game-Based Learning Batsheva’s workshop on Deeper Learning Games (and other workshops): https://www.newlensed.com/workshops

What is a fauxmerical? It's a commercial parody with fake educational products we wish were real. They come towards the beginning of every episode. What is an encore? It means I've played it before, in this case 12/22. What is 12/22? A year I was relieved was almost over, until experiencing 12/23, that is. This last year was so awful that I'm nostalgic about 2022. Go figure. Anyway, now, I really need to laugh. I hope you enjoys these as much as we enjoyed making them. Special thanks to all the voice artists who contributed to not only these fauxmercials, but all of them from the last 4 years.

Jump into the Overthrowing Education archives with me in this encore episode! On this episode, Zaynab Baalbaki joins me. She is a passionate educator who is truly working on and supporting others in overthrowing education and creating amazing and equitable learning spaces joins. She talks about an incredible public school, Escuela Verde, where she worked in and I also talk about Qualia: The School for Deeper Learning, another example of education at its best. We also discuss how more traditional schools and districts can start slowly to incorporate elements of both these and other transformative schools into their learning spaces. Don’t forget to listen to The 5-Minute Game Show at the end of the interview, not only because it’s fun, but also because we drop more good ideas and some cool facts about Wisconsin. Lastly, astute listeners will notice that the fauxmercial in this episode is related to the one from the previous episode. I had so much fun with Jake Miller from the last episode, I asked him to help me again with the fauxmercial for this episode. Special thanks to my guest Zaynab Baalbaki, and my terrific voice actors who joined me on today’s fauxmercial, Jake Miller who hosts the Educational Duct Tape podcast and Tuvia Frankel who is always a good sport. Links and Resources: Contact: zbaalbaki@gmail.com Twitter: @zbaalbaki Escuela Verde Qualia: The School for Deeper Learning  Teacher Powered | Ambassador Wisconsin Resource Center for Charter Schools | Charter School Consultant  Wisconsin Association for Environmental Education | JEDI Committee

Jump into the Overthrowing Education archives with me in this encore episode! In this episode, veteran educator and podcast host Charles Williams and I have a great conversation about the work we need to do to create true equity in education and the importance of challenging our current narratives. We also talk about problematic intrinsic biases that we all have and how to change them. Even though the topics we discuss are serious and important, along with all the practical ideas, we do get very silly (and not just on The 5-Minute Game Show, although he slays his food themed game show!). Special thanks to Charles and to my fauxmercial helpers Yossie Frankel and the wonderfully talented Linda Korn for writing and singing the original Paradigm Shifters jingle that I borrowed. Important Links and Resources: CW Consulting Service The Counter Narrative Podcast Inside the Principal's Office Podcast Twitter: @_cwconsulting School Rubric Team  Code Breaker