Ed-Technical

In this short episode, Libby and Owen discuss OpenAI’s new model for advanced reasoning, o1. They talk about its new capabilities and strengths, and what they think about its significance for education after an initial play around. They talk through the benefits of ‘think aloud’ versus ‘think before you speak’ approaches in education, and how this relates to o1. Links:OpenAI’s announcement about o1Join 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

Craig Barton, Head of Education at Eedi and a math podcast host, joins Simon Woodhead, Director of Research at Eedi, to dive deep into educational misconceptions. They discuss how AI can enhance understanding and address errors in math education. Listeners will learn about the importance of identifying misconceptions using diagnostic questions and how AI integration can support teachers in overcoming real-world challenges. The conversation emphasizes both the potential and limitations of AI in enriching student learning experiences.

In this short, Libby and Owen discuss recent research from Anthropic looking at sycophancy – the tendency to agree with users – in large language models (LLMs), and key research from educational psychology about how important feedback is for learning. Libby and Owen connect the two papers and explore why sycophancy is especially a problem when it comes to using LLMs for educational purposes. Links:Anthropic paper on sycophancy in language models John Hattie and Helen Timberley’s paper, The Power of Feedback 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

The discussion starts with a humorous detour about a political figure's teaching legacy. Libby and Owen dive into the world of automated lesson planning tools like Khanmigo and Magic School, exploring their features and benefits. They explain the significance of structured lesson plans and how these tools differ from traditional resources. The challenges of balancing efficiency with personalized teaching emerge, along with the importance of reflective practices. Finally, there's a light-hearted look at memes related to their favorite figure, juxtaposing education with entertainment.

In this short, Libby and Owen discuss a recent paper that has generated interest and discussion called ‘Generative AI Can Harm Learning’. The paper presents the findings from a thought-provoking study of nearly 1,000 students in Turkey. The study tested the effects of giving students access to two different versions of GPT-4 while studying math: one was essentially ChatGPT and the other was a version of GPT-4 that had been tailored for tutoring with a thin prompt wrapper – so it didn’t just give students the answer. The main finding (that the title is based on) is that access to generic ChatGPT had a negative effect on students’ math test results, versus the control group who studied with no access to a chatbot. Not everyone agrees that the results justify the somewhat dramatic title, or that the title reflects the most interesting findings from the study. Listen in to see what Libby and Owen think. The ‘Generative AI Can Harm Learning’ paper can be found here.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

This episode, Owen and Libby speak to Carmen Strigel, Senior Director of Education Technology at RTI, a non-profit global research organisation. Carmen has been the driving force behind a number of successful EdTech products built and used in low resource settings. Carmen tells Owen and Libby about Tangerine, data collection software used in more than 60 countries, and Loquat, a machine learning tool that provides feedback to teachers on their classroom talk. This episode builds on earlier interviews this season about voice AI with Alyssa van Kamp from TeachFX and Peter Foltz from the Institute of Cognitive Science at the University of Colorado Boulder. Carmen tells Libby and Owen aboutvoice AI in low resource settings. They also explore how contextual factors, like different pedagogies and classroom settings, influence EdTech product design in low resource settings. Carmen and Owen connect over their shared passion for assessment - watch this space for the ‘Formative Assessment Fanboy’ t-shirts proposed in the episode. Links:Carmen Strigel’s biography and publicationsInformation about TangerineInformation about LoquatJoin 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

In our second short episode of the season, Owen and Libby chat about the recently released results of a US poll (conducted on behalf of Walton Family Foundation and Renaissance Philanthropy) looking at the views of teachers, parents, and students on AI chatbots. There were some surprising findings: more than 8 in 10 participants think technology in education has had a positive impact, and parents want to see AI chatbots used more in their child’s education. Listen in to hear more highlights from the poll. LinksReport on the results of the pollEdWeek article about the poll resultsJoin 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

Join Becky Allen, co-founder of Teacher Tapp, a survey tool that captures teachers' insights. She discusses how teachers are using AI tools for lesson planning and the surprising trends in technology adoption, especially in English and upper primary education. Becky tackles the 'lockstep problem' in teaching, emphasizing personalized learning while acknowledging the complexity of classroom dynamics. Her insights reveal how AI could revolutionize education, but also highlights that key social interactions in classrooms may stay unchanged.

In the second episode of season two Owen and Libby speak to Alyssa Van Camp, Head of Research at EdTech start-up TeachFX. TeachFX is an app for teachers that uses voice AI (a combination of automated speech recognition and natural language processing) to analyse classroom talk and then provide automated feedback to teachers. Owen and Libby talk to Alyssa about the challenges with transcribing and analysing classroom talk and how TeachFX is overcoming some of these issues. Alyssa also shares some interesting reflections about how TeachFX approaches data privacy, and navigates the tension between being a tool for teacher development while responding to the needs of administrators (who are often the purchasers of the tool). Links:Alyssa Van CampMore information about TeachFXA recent study by previous Ed-Technical guest Dora Demszky looking at the impact of TeachFX in classroomsJoin 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

In the first short episode of season two, Owen and Libby share their warm takes on two big releases from OpenAI and Google. They reflect on the OpenAI demo video of Sal Khan’s (Khan Academy’s founder) son using their latest model (GPT-4o) as a maths tutor, and Google’s paper describing how they trained and evaluated a fine-tuned version of Gemini for educational purposes. Share your takes on these announcements with us over social media or in the comments!Links:Google paper on LearnLM-TutorKey Excerpts and Owen’s Commentary on PaperGPT-4o (Omni) math tutoring demo on Khan AcademyJoin 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