#pedagogy — Public Fediverse posts

https://ergosphere.blog/posts/the-machines-are-fine/

"[Frank Herbert] has a character observe: 'What do such machines really do? They increase the number of things we can do without thinking. Things we do without thinking; there's the real danger.' Herbert was writing science fiction. I'm writing about my office. The distance between those two things has gotten uncomfortably small."

This post by ergosphere.blog gets at what bothers me about LLMs.

#LLM #AI #programming #pedagogy #learning

https://ergosphere.blog/posts/the-machines-are-fine/

"[Frank Herbert] has a character observe: 'What do such machines really do? They increase the number of things we can do without thinking. Things we do without thinking; there's the real danger.' Herbert was writing science fiction. I'm writing about my office. The distance between those two things has gotten uncomfortably small."

This post by ergosphere.blog gets at what bothers me about LLMs.

#LLM #AI #programming #pedagogy #learning

Too many events still use child-based pedagogical instead of adult-centered andragogical modalities. Concentrate on the latter.

https://www.conferencesthatwork.com/index.php/learning/2015/06/three-key-kinds-of-learning-at-events-part-2

#meetings #events #EventDesign #learning #andragogy #pedagogy #eventprofs

Too many events still use child-based pedagogical instead of adult-centered andragogical modalities. Concentrate on the latter.

https://www.conferencesthatwork.com/index.php/learning/2015/06/three-key-kinds-of-learning-at-events-part-2

#meetings #events #EventDesign #learning #andragogy #pedagogy #eventprofs

'Stanford’s “The Evidence Base on AI in K-12” reviewed over 800 academic papers and found exactly 20 that produced strong causal evidence. Twenty. Out of 800...The hot take that AI will transform education is running about 780 papers ahead of the evidence'

#pedagogy #polycrisis #education #genAI

https://medium.com/@jasonsattler/heres-what-we-know-about-ai-and-education-it-s-not-good-672340aa728f

'Stanford’s “The Evidence Base on AI in K-12” reviewed over 800 academic papers and found exactly 20 that produced strong causal evidence. Twenty. Out of 800...The hot take that AI will transform education is running about 780 papers ahead of the evidence'

#pedagogy #polycrisis #education #genAI

https://medium.com/@jasonsattler/heres-what-we-know-about-ai-and-education-it-s-not-good-672340aa728f

Poll: Please boot for reach

Premised on the notion of evidence based policy and practice, if we accept that substantive critical reviews have found that research demonstrates EdTech to be of very limited benefit in secondary education (and often somewhat detrimental), do educators and departments of education have a duty to structure curricula and approved materials to exclude use of EdTech outside of explicitly CompSci oriented subject matter?

#technology #pedagogy #teachingAndLearning #lifeSkills

Poll: Please boot for reach

Premised on the notion of evidence based policy and practice, if we accept that substantive critical reviews have found that research demonstrates EdTech to be of very limited benefit in secondary education (and often somewhat detrimental), do educators and departments of education have a duty to structure curricula and approved materials to exclude use of EdTech outside of explicitly CompSci oriented subject matter?

#technology #pedagogy #teachingAndLearning #lifeSkills

I don't know that I subscribe to the idea that handwritten notes are somehow more cognitively substantive than typing but it's nice to see someone articulating the idea with some conviction

'when writing by hand, one is continually solving a series of small problems having to do with the spacing of words...through coordinated movements not just of the fingers but of the whole arm. All of that has to be integrated in real time with whatever is happening on a more abstract level in the brain’s processing of ideas and imagery'

#writing #pedagogy #criticalTheory

https://nealstephenson.substack.com/p/writing-by-hand-is-good-for-your

I don't know that I subscribe to the idea that handwritten notes are somehow more cognitively substantive than typing but it's nice to see someone articulating the idea with some conviction

'when writing by hand, one is continually solving a series of small problems having to do with the spacing of words...through coordinated movements not just of the fingers but of the whole arm. All of that has to be integrated in real time with whatever is happening on a more abstract level in the brain’s processing of ideas and imagery'

#writing #pedagogy #criticalTheory

https://nealstephenson.substack.com/p/writing-by-hand-is-good-for-your

Notre Dame News: Researcher shows how AI can personalize learning for homeschooling families. “The tool’s workflow enabled participants to brainstorm, create and refine stories for their children’s ethics education and to craft curriculums that incorporated family heritage and cultural norms alongside age-appropriate educational standards.”

Notre Dame News: Researcher shows how AI can personalize learning for homeschooling families. “The tool’s workflow enabled participants to brainstorm, create and refine stories for their children’s ethics education and to craft curriculums that incorporated family heritage and cultural norms alongside age-appropriate educational standards.”

How the widely-promoted "vocabulary gap" ideology came to dominate English education
#language #edchat #pedagogy
#linguistics #race #class #ngram

How the "word gap" ideology conquered English education
#language #edchat #pedagogy
#linguistics #race #class #ngram

How the "word gap" ideology conquered English education
#language #edchat #pedagogy
#linguistics #race #class #ngram

Generative artificial intelligence can serve as a collaborative tool to enhance students' understanding of the writing process, rather than acting as a fully automated replacement for original thought.
#ComputerScience #ArtificialIntelligence #EducationalPsychology #Pedagogy #sflorg
https://www.sflorg.com/2026/07/ai07122601.html

Generative artificial intelligence can serve as a collaborative tool to enhance students' understanding of the writing process, rather than acting as a fully automated replacement for original thought.
#ComputerScience #ArtificialIntelligence #EducationalPsychology #Pedagogy #sflorg
https://www.sflorg.com/2026/07/ai07122601.html

'New York City principals have been ordered to pause purchases of any new education technology software as the nation’s largest school system continues to wrestle with an AI policy amid a growing backlash'

#edTech #technology #pedagogy #ai #genAI

https://gothamist.com/news/all-education-tech-purchases-on-pause-as-nyc-schools-wrestle-with-ai

'New York City principals have been ordered to pause purchases of any new education technology software as the nation’s largest school system continues to wrestle with an AI policy amid a growing backlash'

#edTech #technology #pedagogy #ai #genAI

https://gothamist.com/news/all-education-tech-purchases-on-pause-as-nyc-schools-wrestle-with-ai

Gothamist: Education tech purchases on pause as NYC schools wrestle with AI. “New York City principals have been ordered to pause purchases of any new education technology software as the nation’s largest school system continues to wrestle with an AI policy amid a growing backlash.”

Gothamist: Education tech purchases on pause as NYC schools wrestle with AI. “New York City principals have been ordered to pause purchases of any new education technology software as the nation’s largest school system continues to wrestle with an AI policy amid a growing backlash.”

The Conversation: Digital poverty is holding university students back. “When a student can’t submit their essay because the household’s only device is being used by three siblings for school, or because their mobile data ran out mid-lecture, they are experiencing digital poverty. Digital poverty describes a cluster of overlapping disadvantages: lack of access to devices, unreliable or […]

The Conversation: Digital poverty is holding university students back. “When a student can’t submit their essay because the household’s only device is being used by three siblings for school, or because their mobile data ran out mid-lecture, they are experiencing digital poverty. Digital poverty describes a cluster of overlapping disadvantages: lack of access to devices, unreliable or […]

SLUGGER Fiction is interested in publishing a non-fiction book that includes essays from punk educators.

"Our broad definition of a punk educator is (1) someone who identifies as a punk either through previous or current membership in a punk band, involved in the punk scene such as putting on DIY shows, avid show attendee, or simply a punk fan who has an affinity for its ideals, and (2) previous or current experience with teaching in K-12 education, college/university, academia, or otherwise interfaces with students in some other educational context such as an after school or community program.

This project is inspired by the vinyl record Critical Pedagogy: A Compilation of Teachers in Punk Bands (Six Weeks Records, 2000). The liner notes include short essays by band members featured on the album about how punk influences their role as educators.

We’re casting a wide net, please reach out via email if you are interested in learning more. Don’t hesitate to pitch a wild idea for an essay."

[email protected]
https://sluggerfiction.com/

#sluggerfiction #education #pedagogy #punk #punkrock

SLUGGER Fiction is interested in publishing a non-fiction book that includes essays from punk educators.

"Our broad definition of a punk educator is (1) someone who identifies as a punk either through previous or current membership in a punk band, involved in the punk scene such as putting on DIY shows, avid show attendee, or simply a punk fan who has an affinity for its ideals, and (2) previous or current experience with teaching in K-12 education, college/university, academia, or otherwise interfaces with students in some other educational context such as an after school or community program.

This project is inspired by the vinyl record Critical Pedagogy: A Compilation of Teachers in Punk Bands (Six Weeks Records, 2000). The liner notes include short essays by band members featured on the album about how punk influences their role as educators.

We’re casting a wide net, please reach out via email if you are interested in learning more. Don’t hesitate to pitch a wild idea for an essay."

[email protected]
https://sluggerfiction.com/

#sluggerfiction #education #pedagogy #punk #punkrock

https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Peeragogy_Handbook

#learning #pedagogy

Peeragogy is a word for a techniques that self-motivated learners can use to connect with each other and develop stronger communities and collaborations. This book picks up where the Wikipedia Peer Learning and Peer Production articles leave off.

https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Peeragogy_Handbook

#learning #pedagogy

Peeragogy is a word for a techniques that self-motivated learners can use to connect with each other and develop stronger communities and collaborations. This book picks up where the Wikipedia Peer Learning and Peer Production articles leave off.

New #blog post: How to Improve at Anything
A recent exchange between famous martial artists #Jesse Enkamp and #Bas Rutten reminded me of my tenure meeting as a high school English teacher, and reinforced a core belief about #pedagogy, #learning, and #writing.

https://aarubin.wordpress.com/2026/06/25/how-to-improve-at-anything/

New #blog post: How to Improve at Anything
A recent exchange between famous martial artists #Jesse Enkamp and #Bas Rutten reminded me of my tenure meeting as a high school English teacher, and reinforced a core belief about #pedagogy, #learning, and #writing.

https://aarubin.wordpress.com/2026/06/25/how-to-improve-at-anything/

Unis are going back to in-person exams. But some students are finding new ways to cheat https://theconversation.com/unis-are-going-back-to-in-person-exams-but-some-students-are-finding-new-ways-to-cheat-285801 #education #pedagogy #AI #science #STEM

Unis are going back to in-person exams. But some students are finding new ways to cheat https://theconversation.com/unis-are-going-back-to-in-person-exams-but-some-students-are-finding-new-ways-to-cheat-285801 #education #pedagogy #AI #science #STEM

Local News Matters: Cal State faculty push to prevent AI tools from replacing them as schools experiment. “THE NATION’S LARGEST public four-year university may soon be barred from replacing faculty with generative AI as a bill backed by a union of professors comes nearer to reaching the governor’s desk.”

Local News Matters: Cal State faculty push to prevent AI tools from replacing them as schools experiment. “THE NATION’S LARGEST public four-year university may soon be barred from replacing faculty with generative AI as a bill backed by a union of professors comes nearer to reaching the governor’s desk.”

Harvard Graduate School of Education: Black Teacher Archive Launches Revamped Website. “The Black Teacher Archive (BTA) announced the launch of a new website featuring a number of new ways to share and highlight its growing collection in the classroom and beyond.”

Harvard Graduate School of Education: Black Teacher Archive Launches Revamped Website. “The Black Teacher Archive (BTA) announced the launch of a new website featuring a number of new ways to share and highlight its growing collection in the classroom and beyond.”

AI in higher education is going to get worse before it gets better

This internal blog post at Manchester is largely about our new AI in Teaching and Learning policy but I wanted to share this section which is more broadly true:

AI in assessment is a classic example of a wicked problem. There are only better or worse options, involving trade offs. If we imagine that a classification system is going to resolve the problem so that we can return to the status quo ex ante, we are failing to look at the sheer scale of the technological challenges which are still emerging. From coding agents through to the rapid growth of wearable computing, from AI companions through to AI labs ‘enshittifying’ their models, the emerging challenges are even more consequential than the ones we’ve faced since the launch of OpenAI’s ChatGPT in November 2022. If we can’t solve these problems, we can at least make sure we are moving in the right direction. Initiating a deeper conversation about what AI means for teaching and learning is a necessary condition for that forward movement. Nearly two years ago The Russell Group principles called for “Engagement and dialogue between academic staff and students” in order to “establish a shared understanding of the appropriate use of generative AI tools”. It was essential that “this dialogue is regular and ongoing will be vital given the pace at which generative AI is evolving”.

https://blogs.manchester.ac.uk/itl/2026/06/19/building-a-working-consensus-on-ai-in-teaching-and-learning/

AI in higher education is going to get worse before it gets better

This internal blog post at Manchester is largely about our new AI in Teaching and Learning policy but I wanted to share this section which is more broadly true:

AI in assessment is a classic example of a wicked problem. There are only better or worse options, involving trade offs. If we imagine that a classification system is going to resolve the problem so that we can return to the status quo ex ante, we are failing to look at the sheer scale of the technological challenges which are still emerging. From coding agents through to the rapid growth of wearable computing, from AI companions through to AI labs ‘enshittifying’ their models, the emerging challenges are even more consequential than the ones we’ve faced since the launch of OpenAI’s ChatGPT in November 2022. If we can’t solve these problems, we can at least make sure we are moving in the right direction. Initiating a deeper conversation about what AI means for teaching and learning is a necessary condition for that forward movement. Nearly two years ago The Russell Group principles called for “Engagement and dialogue between academic staff and students” in order to “establish a shared understanding of the appropriate use of generative AI tools”. It was essential that “this dialogue is regular and ongoing will be vital given the pace at which generative AI is evolving”.

https://blogs.manchester.ac.uk/itl/2026/06/19/building-a-working-consensus-on-ai-in-teaching-and-learning/

Aaaand the NYT coverage∶

#Trump Breaks Up #Education Dept, Prompting Worries Over #CivilRights

#SpecialEducation programs & the Civil Rights office will be moved out of the Education Department, the most aggressive move yet by the Trump administration to dismantle the agency.

#law #Trump #idiocracy #education #IndividualizedEducation #LearningDifferences #IEDs #pedagogy #LearningModalities#legislation #Congress #SeparationOfPowers #ExecutiveOverreach
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/16/us/politics/education-department-civil-rights-trump.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share

Aaaand the NYT coverage∶

#Trump Breaks Up #Education Dept, Prompting Worries Over #CivilRights

#SpecialEducation programs & the Civil Rights office will be moved out of the Education Department, the most aggressive move yet by the Trump administration to dismantle the agency.

#law #Trump #idiocracy #education #IndividualizedEducation #LearningDifferences #IEDs #pedagogy #LearningModalities#legislation #Congress #SeparationOfPowers #ExecutiveOverreach
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/16/us/politics/education-department-civil-rights-trump.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share

AP coverage∶

Trump’s administration is further dismantling the Department of Education, moving oversight of special education and civil rights to other agencies.

https://apnews.com/article/trump-civil-rights-special-education-3483478a51ea8001fcc70e8a77d08d9a

#law #Trump #idiocracy #education #SpecialEducation #IndividualizedEducation #LearningDifferences #IEDs #pedagogy #LearningModalities #CivilRights #legislation #Congress #SeparationOfPowers #ExecutiveOverreach

AP coverage∶

Trump’s administration is further dismantling the Department of Education, moving oversight of special education and civil rights to other agencies.

https://apnews.com/article/trump-civil-rights-special-education-3483478a51ea8001fcc70e8a77d08d9a

#law #Trump #idiocracy #education #SpecialEducation #IndividualizedEducation #LearningDifferences #IEDs #pedagogy #LearningModalities #CivilRights #legislation #Congress #SeparationOfPowers #ExecutiveOverreach

Maybe the only thing sadder than being faced with AI in the workplace is being faced with AI while still in school. :(

https://bsky.app/profile/jeffsharlet.bsky.social/post/3mog5n2uhjs2r

#AI #Education #Pedagogy

Maybe the only thing sadder than being faced with AI in the workplace is being faced with AI while still in school. :(

https://bsky.app/profile/jeffsharlet.bsky.social/post/3mog5n2uhjs2r

#AI #Education #Pedagogy

Chatbots vs inline automation and their respective implications for students

In Generative AI for Academics I drew the distinction between conversational agents and templated responses. In the former you interact in natural language with a chatbot through a dialogue, whereas in the latter you select buttons to enact pre-defined transformations to text. This is how I talked about it in a webinar a couple of years ago:

https://youtu.be/GTjd9eLd9cw?si=bGt1KVk2CXKVpQv1&t=2859

Kim et al draw a similar distinction: “Two interaction techniques currently dominate: dialogue (e.g., OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini) and predictive text completion (e.g., GitHub Copilot)”. I’d suggest that inline automation as found in Microsoft Copilot 365 or Gemini in Google Docs is a development of predictive text completion, in the sense that a user can complete a transformation of text by pushing a button. In both cases the system produces content with the difference being how this production happens: with chatbots it happens through dialogue and with inline automation it happens through pressing a button. If you’re a confident writer who uses chatbots in a purely dialogical way, it’s easy to forget how much chatbot use can be geared towards the production of content. I’d say it’s better educationally in the sense that some articulation is necessary to produce anything from a chatbot. But it’s still outsourcing a task to the machine in a radical way.

The approach developed by Kim et al tries for a third approach which “motivates users to reflect on their text with LLM-generated summaries, questions, and advice on writing (which we refer to as LLM views), helping them discover opportunities for improvement or elaboration”. They offer a useful definition of two stages involved in this process (my emphasis):

Revision means critically examining and evaluating, which we refer to as reflection, and identifying any opportunities for improvement or further development, which we refer to as discovery, and then making the appropriate changes. This can occur at any stage of the writing journey

https://hai-gen.github.io/2024/papers/9904-Kim.pdf

The purpose of their interface is to offer perspectives on the text which scaffold reflection and discovery while avoiding the language model merely producing text directly for the user. They identified three outgrowths in their pilot of the project which are educationally relevant: (1) discovering underdeveloped ideas, (2) catering to their audience, and (3) identifying opportunities to improve clarity.

If we’re going to be using inline automation with students, this suggests how we can do it in a pedagogically responsible way. The purpose is to offer perspectives, taking advantage of how the model is embedded in the office software, rather than predictive text completion. Copilot offers these perspectives which present themselves for educational use. The problem is that (1) they are integrated seamlessly into an interface which is built around inline automation (2) they are not fine tuned for the specific domain so their advice can often be questionable.

But they are nonetheless there, which offers pedagogical opportunities. The key I think is to encourage students to gravitate towards dialogue (using the prompt windows where they are available) and perspectives (using the reflection tools built in) while discouraging them from using the push-button forms of automation. Where these are used, they need to be engaged with thoughtfully: to reflect on why you are selecting this button and to review the consequences of pressing it. The challenge is introducing moments of friction and reflection into software which is fundamentally designed to be frictionless, but it’s not insurmountable I think. Engaging with it educationally in this way though presupposes a lot of critical AI literacy in general and familiarity with Copilot 365 in particular.

💁🏻‍♀️ TIL: 🏀🧮 Researchers at the University of #Copenhagen worked with over 300 Danish students aged 11–13, combining fraction lessons with #basketball drills in weekly hour-long workshops.

Students shot hoops while calculating #fractions and scored 15% higher on tests than peers who didn’t, with a 5% bump in other #math too. Lead researcher Jacob Wienecke says the method opens math up for #kids who don’t usually connect with it, without losing the #fun.

👉 https://www.popsci.com/science/basketball-better-at-math/

#education #denmark #middleschool #learning #science #research #pedagogy #sports

💁🏻‍♀️ TIL: 🏀🧮 Researchers at the University of #Copenhagen worked with over 300 Danish students aged 11–13, combining fraction lessons with #basketball drills in weekly hour-long workshops.

Students shot hoops while calculating #fractions and scored 15% higher on tests than peers who didn’t, with a 5% bump in other #math too. Lead researcher Jacob Wienecke says the method opens math up for #kids who don’t usually connect with it, without losing the #fun.

👉 https://www.popsci.com/science/basketball-better-at-math/

#education #denmark #middleschool #learning #science #research #pedagogy #sports

A quotation from Henry Commager

We are shocked when we see educators, timid before criticism and confused about first principles, betray their trust. And we wonder what can be that "philosophy of education" which believes that young people can be trained to the duties of citizenship by wrapping their minds in cotton wool.

Henry Steele Commager (1902-1998) American historian, writer, activist
Essay (1947-09), “Who Is Loyal to America?” sec. 1, Harper’s Magazine, Vol. 195, No. 1168

More about this quote: wist.info/commager-henry-steel…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #henrycommager #censorship #citizenship #controversy #education #highereducation #intellectualfreedom #intimidation #pedagogy #timidity #university

A quotation from Henry Commager

We are shocked when we see educators, timid before criticism and confused about first principles, betray their trust. And we wonder what can be that "philosophy of education" which believes that young people can be trained to the duties of citizenship by wrapping their minds in cotton wool.

Henry Steele Commager (1902-1998) American historian, writer, activist
Essay (1947-09), “Who Is Loyal to America?” sec. 1, Harper’s Magazine, Vol. 195, No. 1168

More about this quote: wist.info/commager-henry-steel…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #henrycommager #censorship #citizenship #controversy #education #highereducation #intellectualfreedom #intimidation #pedagogy #timidity #university

How is metacognitive laziness with AI mediated by groups?

I’m quite taken with the concept of ‘metacognitive laziness‘ (even if I don’t like the term). It refers to a disposition to avoid difficulty, drawing on short-term assistance of AI in superficial ways rather than engaging in the metacognitive work prompted by challenges in learning. As I summarised it a few days ago:

The experience of difficulty activates metacognition. If the students cognitively outsource in increasingly habitual ways, it doesn’t just mean they lose the learning involved in what they are outsourcing. It means they lose their capacity to tolerate difficulty, as well to respond metacognitively to that difficulty. This points to the assumption which many educators have that there is something

How is this process mediated by group work? My sense is that it can be amplified by group dynamics or mitigated by them. The group can make it easier to sit with uncertainty by establishing that other people feel a similar anxiety in the face of uncertainty. But the group can also make it harder to sit with uncertainty if it’s defined by competitive dynamics or pluralistic ignorance.

Existing conceptualisations of how students engage with models are deeply individualised. The problem is not taking the individual as a unit of action, it’s remaining there in a way that stops us teasing out how these individual user-model dynamics are shaped by the social context in which students encounter task, enact them and talk about what they’ve done.

Hey @shriramk I really enjoyed https://cacm.acm.org/research-highlights/a-grounded-conceptual-model-for-ownership-types-in-rust/ that's some phenomenal work!

For everyone else: Shriram and colleagues take a problem: Why don't people understand the borrow checker, and run it down from "how might they understand it now (and how can we find the problems they really experience), how can we teach it to them, and how can we evaluate that work?"

It's both a huge amount of work, and an really, really good illustration of solving problems which are both important and non-trivial.

#security #education #rust #pedagogy #teaching #usability

Hey @shriramk I really enjoyed https://cacm.acm.org/research-highlights/a-grounded-conceptual-model-for-ownership-types-in-rust/ that's some phenomenal work!

For everyone else: Shriram and colleagues take a problem: Why don't people understand the borrow checker, and run it down from "how might they understand it now (and how can we find the problems they really experience), how can we teach it to them, and how can we evaluate that work?"

It's both a huge amount of work, and an really, really good illustration of solving problems which are both important and non-trivial.

#security #education #rust #pedagogy #teaching #usability

After (way too many) hours of research and writing, I'm proud to present a comprehensive ASCII art tutorial, including sections about art styles and presenting ASCII art online and on print form. Cheers!

https://arielmartinperez.com/pages/2026asciiarttutorial.html

#ASCII #ASCIIart #tutorial #arttutorial #textmode #textmodeart #pedagogy #artProcess #computerArts #retro #illustration

After (way too many) hours of research and writing, I'm proud to present a comprehensive ASCII art tutorial, including sections about art styles and presenting ASCII art online and on print form. Cheers!

https://arielmartinperez.com/pages/2026asciiarttutorial.html

#ASCII #ASCIIart #tutorial #arttutorial #textmode #textmodeart #pedagogy #artProcess #computerArts #retro #illustration

#AI #pedagogy

"Most K-12 teachers say AI's impact on education will eclipse the internet or computers

The effects of artificial intelligence on learning are still largely unclear. But a new NPR/Ipsos poll of K-12 teachers found that nearly 3-in-4 believe AI has bigger implications for education than past innovations like the internet or computers.

The nationally representative poll surveyed 545 respondents and paints a complex picture of teachers' views on AI: Many are using it to save time and improve their teaching materials, but a majority of teachers are worried AI is making it harder for students to learn to think for themselves."

https://www.npr.org/2026/06/05/nx-s1-5779757/school-ai-education-students-teachers-poll-critical-thinking

#AI #pedagogy

"Most K-12 teachers say AI's impact on education will eclipse the internet or computers

The effects of artificial intelligence on learning are still largely unclear. But a new NPR/Ipsos poll of K-12 teachers found that nearly 3-in-4 believe AI has bigger implications for education than past innovations like the internet or computers.

The nationally representative poll surveyed 545 respondents and paints a complex picture of teachers' views on AI: Many are using it to save time and improve their teaching materials, but a majority of teachers are worried AI is making it harder for students to learn to think for themselves."

https://www.npr.org/2026/06/05/nx-s1-5779757/school-ai-education-students-teachers-poll-critical-thinking

#AI #LLMs #pedagogy #archeology #paleogenetics #fossils #Denisovans #evolution

I like to listen to science lectures on the internet. Often I also enjoy the slides and/or video clips which accompany them. Lately I've noticed a disturbing trend. They are, with increasing frequency, appearing with visual images created by artificial intelligence. I recently watched a totally cogent lecture on the paleogenetic insights provided by the fossil popularly known as "Dragon Man". (FWIW, "he" turned out to be a woman.)

The lecture itself would have felt at home in any sufficiently advanced college class on the subject, presented in a generic college lecture hall, accompanied by slides projected on a screen behind the lecturer.

But to make it appeal to YouTube someone, perhaps the lecturer himself or perhaps not, embellished the otherwise totally sufficient lecture with AI in many of the slides. Whether the use of AI/LLM illustrations in pedagogy at all is a good idea is a debate worth having soon. In the meantime, let's consider what we can learn about the men (it's almost always men) who train LLMs for a living and their ability to brainwash us all with subtle propaganda.

For example, I just watched an AI/LLM repeatedly portray a Denisovan as having blond hair and blue eyes. This is most unlikely. There is no scientific basis, not even a little one. Which begs the question: Who trained the AI and what material did they choose to train it on? Were they consciously propagandizing the agenda of the #WhiteSupremacy or were they nothing more than culturally insensitive cubicle drones "just doing their job"? If the latter is true, it's society's (i.e our own) fault for not having socialized them better as they were growing up. If it's the former, they just showed us their hole card. Which begs an even more important question: What else are they attempting to inject our minds with?

Just wondering.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wAYXwvndT4o

#AI #LLMs #pedagogy #archeology #paleogenetics #fossils #Denisovans #evolution

I like to listen to science lectures on the internet. Often I also enjoy the slides and/or video clips which accompany them. Lately I've noticed a disturbing trend. They are, with increasing frequency, appearing with visual images created by artificial intelligence. I recently watched a totally cogent lecture on the paleogenetic insights provided by the fossil popularly known as "Dragon Man". (FWIW, "he" turned out to be a woman.)

The lecture itself would have felt at home in any sufficiently advanced college class on the subject, presented in a generic college lecture hall, accompanied by slides projected on a screen behind the lecturer.

But to make it appeal to YouTube someone, perhaps the lecturer himself or perhaps not, embellished the otherwise totally sufficient lecture with AI in many of the slides. Whether the use of AI/LLM illustrations in pedagogy at all is a good idea is a debate worth having soon. In the meantime, let's consider what we can learn about the men (it's almost always men) who train LLMs for a living and their ability to brainwash us all with subtle propaganda.

For example, I just watched an AI/LLM repeatedly portray a Denisovan as having blond hair and blue eyes. This is most unlikely. There is no scientific basis, not even a little one. Which begs the question: Who trained the AI and what material did they choose to train it on? Were they consciously propagandizing the agenda of the #WhiteSupremacy or were they nothing more than culturally insensitive cubicle drones "just doing their job"? If the latter is true, it's society's (i.e our own) fault for not having socialized them better as they were growing up. If it's the former, they just showed us their hole card. Which begs an even more important question: What else are they attempting to inject our minds with?

Just wondering.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wAYXwvndT4o

Mathematics Teaching 300 now available online https://atm.org.uk/Mathematics-Teaching-Journal-Archive/177735

A special edition celebrating 300 issues with a self-referential cover, like MT 150 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Droste_effect)

Design by me

Five free articles for non-members:

Understanding geometry proof what do students say to AI feedback? https://atm.org.uk/write/MediaUploads/Journals/MT300/06.pdf
Yuqian (Linda) Wang and Hanmin Song explore whether personalised AI feedback can support students’ understanding of geometry proof tasks.

An appreciation of Alison Parish (1951–2026) https://atm.org.uk/write/MediaUploads/Journals/MT300/07.pdf

Can pedagogy for problem solving promote equity in the classroom? https://atm.org.uk/write/MediaUploads/Journals/MT300/10.pdf
Laura King reflects on pedagogies to support equity in primary mathematics when teaching problem solving

Number a disinformation timeline https://atm.org.uk/write/MediaUploads/Journals/MT300/16.pdf
Micheál Ó Dúill traces history and cultures to argue for teaching zero to nine instead of one to ten.

If it hadn’t been for Dave… https://atm.org.uk/write/MediaUploads/Journals/MT300/18.pdf
Barbara Binns reflects on Dave Wilson (1947–2026) with contributions from Geoff Faux and Tony Brown.

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