EdTechnical

The discussion dives into the emotional bonds teens are forming with AI chatbots and the potential dangers involved. California's new regulations spark a debate about how to balance youth safety with access to beneficial technology. The hosts examine recent legislation aimed at chatbot safety and whether AI should be treated like medical devices. Concerns about privacy and the impact on human relationships are raised, alongside the challenges of designing educational AI that prioritizes safety without sacrificing performance.

In this episode of EdTechnical, Libby and Owen speak with Candice Odgers, a psychologist and researcher studying how online experiences influence children's mental health. They revisit the debate around social media and teen wellbeing, questioning the claims that social media use  has caused rising rates of depression and anxiety. Candice calls for a more careful reading of the evidence and cautions against rushing into restrictive policies that may have unintended consequences or divert attention from more effective interventions.Candice also shares early findings from her recent research into AI in education. She finds surprisingly limited use of AI among young people, and mixed perceptions around what counts as cheating, which shapes how these tools are received. Notably, she found no clear socioeconomic divide in AI engagement, raising questions about how these tools might be designed to support more equitable learning. They discuss the challenge of designing rigorous studies in this space and the need for thoughtful, evidence-informed approaches to both social media and AI.Links:Adaptlab - Adaptation, Development and Positive Transitions LabNYT Article: Panicking About Your Kids’ Phones? New Research Says Don’tBioCandice Odgers is the Associate Dean for Research and Faculty Development and Professor of Psychological Science at the University of California Irvine. She also co-directs the Child & Brain Development Program at the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research and the CERES Network funded by the Jacobs Foundation.Her team has been capturing the daily lives and health of adolescents using mobile phones and sensors over the past decade. More recently, she has been working to leverage digital technologies to better support the needs of children and adolescents as they come of age in an increasingly unequal and digital world.Join us on social media: BOLD (@BOLD_insights), Libby Hills (@Libbylhhills) and Owen Henkel (@owen_henkel) Listen to all episodes of Ed-Technical here: https://bold.expert/ed-technical Subscribe to BOLD’s newsletter: https://bold.expert/newsletter Stay up to date with all the latest research on child development and learning: https://bold.expert Credits: Sarah Myles for production support; Josie Hills for graphic design; Anabel Altenburg for content production.

Explore the challenges of AI detection in education as traditional tools struggle against clever student tactics. Learn how paraphrasing and translation thwart detection efforts, while false positives compromise accuracy. The hosts advocate for process-based assessments like keystroke tracking and oral exams, offering more reliable evaluations. They also examine institutional barriers to innovation and discuss the implications of students' motivations in using AI. This insightful conversation questions how we can enhance academic assessment in the digital age.

Dr. Jason Yeatman, a neuroscientist and associate professor at Stanford, dives into the fascinating world of how our brains learn to read. He explains how reading rewires the brain's visual cortex and discusses the creation of ROAR, a tool developed to identify literacy gaps in students. The conversation explores the interplay between AI and reading, addressing both its potential benefits and limitations. They reflect on the essential nature of literacy in an age dominated by technology and the challenges educators face in fostering deep comprehension.

Dylan Wiliam, Emeritus Professor at UCL Institute of Education, dives into the transformative intersection of formative assessment and AI in education. He reveals the reasons why formative assessment is underutilized despite its effectiveness. Wiliam discusses AI's potential to automate summative assessments while warning against its limitations in providing meaningful feedback. He advocates for live oral exams and portfolio assessments to enhance learning authenticity and reduce cheating, offering a fresh perspective on the evolving teacher-student dynamic.

In this short, Libby and Owen digest a recent MIT study attracting a lot of attention, ‘Your Brain on ChatGPT: Accumulation of Cognitive Debt When Using an AI Assistant for Essay Writing’. The study looked at how using tools like ChatGPT for writing essays affects people's brains and writing abilities compared to using search engines or just their own thinking. Is there a potential trade-off between making writing easier in the short term, but harming cognitive abilities and learning over time? This question is especially salient for students who are in the earlier stages of developing their essay writing skills. Link:Your Brain on ChatGPTJoin us on social media: BOLD (@BOLD_insights), Libby Hills (@Libbylhhills) and Owen Henkel (@owen_henkel) Listen to all episodes of Ed-Technical here: https://bold.expert/ed-technical Subscribe to BOLD’s newsletter: https://bold.expert/newsletter Stay up to date with all the latest research on child development and learning: https://bold.expert Credits: Sarah Myles for production support; Josie Hills for graphic design; Anabel Altenburg for content production.

Guests Amelia Kelly, CTO of Soapbox Labs and an innovator in voice technology, and Kristen Huff, Head of Measurement at Curriculum Associates with a wealth of experience in K-12 assessments, dive into the transformative potential of voice AI for literacy. They discuss how speech recognition can identify reading challenges early and personalize feedback for students. The conversation highlights practical implementation, addressing noisy classrooms, and the importance of building teacher trust in AI assessments while navigating ethical considerations.

Inge Molenaar, a Professor of Education & AI at Radboud University, shares insights on the critical role of self-regulated learning (SRL) in education. They discuss how AI can serve as a coaching tool rather than a crutch, enhancing students' ability to monitor their own learning. The conversation dives deep into the need for careful AI design, fostering independence, and ensuring technology supports, rather than diminishes, student autonomy. Inge also weighs in on navigating personal AI use for effective learning.

Reflections from recent EdTech conferences reveal significant shifts in US education. Key topics include the urgent need for AI literacy and the debate between transformation and efficiency in schools. The discussions highlight the chaotic landscape of educational funding and the challenges of incorporating innovative practices into traditional systems. Participants stress the disruptive potential of AI for education, emphasizing the importance of preparing both students and teachers for an AI-driven future.

Another live Ed-Technical episode! In this short, Owen does a deep dive on AI and discourse analysis (the study of how meaning is constructed through language) with three experts. The conversation explores the intersection between AI, particularly Large Language Models (LLMs), and the study of discourse. This is a topical conversation as LLM capabilities continue to evolve. LLMs have mastered sentence level communication. However we know less about their ability to be useful over the course of a full conversation and complex and interactive processes (like learning) that require deeper appreciation of context. Featuring:Pani Kendeu: Professor at the University of Minnesota, researching learning, cognition, and technology, and a former elementary school teacher. Alyssa Wise: Professor of Technology and Education at Vanderbilt University, directing the Live Learning Innovation Incubator which bridges technology with real-world classroom challenges.Art Graesser: Professor at the University of Memphis, co-founder of the Institute for Intelligent Systems and the Society for Text and Discourse. Join us on social media: BOLD (@BOLD_insights), Libby Hills (@Libbylhhills) and Owen Henkel (@owen_henkel) Listen to all episodes of Ed-Technical here: https://bold.expert/ed-technical Subscribe to BOLD’s newsletter: https://bold.expert/newsletter Stay up to date with all the latest research on child development and learning: https://bold.expert Credits: Sarah Myles for production support; Josie Hills for graphic design; Anabel Altenburg for content production.