As pandemic relief funds run out — which helped many students connect to the internet to keep up with their studies — there’s a danger that the “homework gap” could suddenly widen, argues Nicol Turner Lee, director of the Brookings Institution’s Center for Technology Innovation, in a new book.

The high cost of college is changing how high schoolers think about whether or not to go. A new book, “Rethinking College,” argues for changing the narrative around higher education to be more welcoming to gap years, apprenticeships and other alternatives to college at a time where a degree is so expensive that students worry about its value.

A student who was just a few classes shy of graduating from Morehouse College was excited to try its new online program designed for students trying to finish their degrees. It turned out to be a more challenging process than he expected. Here’s how he helped to improve the program for himself and future students.

A professor has been running an unusual experiment looking for signs of racial and gender bias in AI chatbots. And he has an idea for developing new guardrails that can check against such bias and remove it before it is shown to users. See show notes and links here: https://www.edsurge.com/news/2024-09-03-ai-chatbots-reflect-cultural-biases-can-they-become-tools-to-alleviate-them

Two instructors have created AI chatbot versions of themselves, enhancing student engagement in a Data Protection course. The discussion reveals mixed feelings about AI teaching assistants, highlighting their efficiency while raising concerns about privacy and human interaction. With a critical look at facial recognition technology and its ethical implications, the conversation explores a human-centric approach to data privacy. Emotional connections with AI tools and the potential disruption of traditional learning dynamics invite a balanced view of the future of education.

It’s still popular to prize students who have “grit,” who overcome tough odds to succeed. A book by Alissa Quart called “Bootstrapped: Liberating Ourselves from the American Dream,” looks at why this narrative is so hard to shake — and proposes more community-minded alternatives that could improve equity. This episode first ran in 2022, as the final installment of our Bootstraps series on who gets the best opportunities in American education. For more on the series, see: https://www.edsurge.com/research/guides/bootstraps-a-podcast-series

The Rhodes Scholarship was designed to forge a network of people who would go on to rule the world. So who gets this opportunity? And how is the oldest and best-known graduate scholarship dealing with the legacy of its founder, who used ruthless and racist practices to build the diamond empire that funded the effort? This originally ran in 2022, as part of our Bootstraps series on who gets what educational opportunities in America. Find show notes here:https://www.edsurge.com/news/2022-03-02-power-prestige-and-the-world-s-most-famous-scholarship

The SAT can feel very different to different students. While it can give any college applicant stress, some low-income and minority students see it as evidence that selective colleges don't want them. Can the rise of test-optional policies lead to a new, more equitable era of college admissions? | Guest reporter: Eric Hoover, of The Chronicle of Higher Education | This originally ran in late 2021 as part of our Bootstraps podcast series.

Explore the intense pressures of academic perfectionism and how it affects first-generation college students. Discover the emotional toll of maintaining high GPAs for scholarships amidst rising tuition costs. Delve into the flawed GPA system and its historical roots, advocating for personalized education. Reflect on the confusing grading differences between community colleges and elite universities. Finally, consider a shift from traditional metrics to mastery-based assessments, aiming for true understanding over mere numbers.

Delve into the history of 'gifted and talented' programs in schools, from Lewis Terman's legacy to the debate on equity. Explore the evolution of views on gifted children, from anti-social to valuable resources. Unpack the complexities of identifying and supporting gifted individuals, addressing disparities and the struggle for equal opportunities.