AI for Educators

OpenAI's always-on AI agents can now work around the clock. Here's what school leaders need to decide before they arrive in your district.This week's AI in education news: ChatGPT's new "dots" agents, the OpenAI model pulled over safety concerns, Meta's approval-first agent for small businesses, the America.gov AI assistant, the executive order directing federal agencies to say "Super Intelligence", Anthropic's leaked IPO prospectus, and Pope Leo XIV on AI risk. Each story comes with a practical action for principals, teachers and district leaders.Three actions for this week: build an agent register with an answer, draft, act rule, decide what student data never goes into shared AI workspaces, and put your AI vendors through a short risk and contract check.More at theaieducator.io

The UN launched a child-protection AI coalition this week, while Stanford's review shows schools have almost no US classroom evidence to go on.This week's episode covers the UN coalition and the White House access initiative, what NPR and Stanford found about the evidence base for AI in K-12, MIT's "illusion of learning" warning, England's Public First report on young people and AI, and what Massachusetts districts and the Microsoft/AFT privacy standard mean for your school's policies and contracts.

What should schools expect from the companies bringing AI into their classrooms?Microsoft President Brad Smith joins Dan Fitzpatrick to discuss the new AI Safety and Privacy Standard agreed with the American Federation of Teachers and its New York City affiliate, the UFT.Their conversation covers enforceable protections, school AI bans, teacher control, independent schools and whether the agreement could extend beyond the United States. Brad also addresses whether stronger safeguards could slow innovation.Dan then examines the latest PISA findings, the evidence behind Utah’s reported critical thinking gains, AI in special education advocacy and OpenAI’s Learning Lab. The episode closes with three practical actions to help schools check both the protections around their tools and what students are actually learning.Join The AI Educator Lab waitlist:https://lab.theaieducator.ioHelp shape an ongoing professional development journey and community, with no commitment required.Follow the podcast for your weekly roundup of AI news and research in education.

The two biggest school districts in America pulled students back from AI this week. In the same 72 hours, the AI labs handed teachers everything for free. Dan walks through the five stories that matter and what each one means for your school on Monday.NYC's one-year moratorium through eighth grade and the carve-outs nobody reported. LAUSD's district-wide restriction. The Royal Society finding that only 14% of teachers are confident with AI, with principals scoring lower than the teachers they lead. IBM's survey showing 77% of parents want input while 20% understand what's happening. OpenAI's 16-state privacy agreement, and why that matters more than the free access. And the Stanford review and Tennessee trial on what AI tutoring actually does.Plus three things to do this week: separate your staff and student policies, teach the thing before you police it, and redesign one task.The Educators' AI Guide 2027: theeducatorsaiguide.comBack to School AI Summit, 8-9 September: summit.aieducator.toolsYou can also watch on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@IamTheAIEducator

Our new book is out, so this episode is me walking through what's in it and why we made it.The Educators' AI Guide 2027 runs to 30 chapters from 28 educators across the world, edited with Heather Brown. I talk through the five issues I set out in the introduction: why the chatbot era is already old news, why we have to start designing for when AI enters the learning rather than whether it does, why assessment has run out of road, what serious AI governance looks like now, and what happens when teachers start building their own software.Along the way: Larisa Black's blunt test for any assessment, Samantha Armstrong on the difference between a shortcut and a tool, a preschool teacher in Türkiye who got 21 hours a month of documentation down to 90 minutes, Heather's chapter on AI companions, and Stuti Mehta's case for going haule haule.Get the book at theeducatorsaiguide.com