From the Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis

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Mike Tholfsen unveils Microsoft's game-changing education AI breakthroughs at ISTE 2025, starting with the landmark announcement that Copilot Chat is now FREE for students 13+, complete with enterprise data protection that schools can trust. Many educators have been waiting for tools that IT administrators can control while giving students the power to learn and explore responsibly.

Note from Vicki: This post includes a vocabulary section, as I have done for previous posts. The purpose is to define and share the vocabulary that we all need to know and use with valid sources of information that I have vetted (to keep us from using generative AI and perhaps getting the definitions wrong.)

The new Teach module in Microsoft 365 Copilot is what caught my attention most. Imagine creating standards-aligned lesson plans, rubrics, and assessments in minutes, pulling from standards across 35 countries and your own OneDrive resources.

But here's what excites me as a teacher: students can generate AI-powered study guides that generate personalized quizzes and flashcards in Copilot Notebooks, putting learning literally in their hands.

Mike also introduces the Learning Zone app for Copilot+ PCs, which brings AI lesson creation offline using Neural Processing Units (NPUs) – specialized chips that process AI tasks 10-100x more efficiently than traditional processors. Plus, with new unified LTI integration, these powerful tools now work seamlessly in Canvas, Schoology, and other learning management systems without requiring Microsoft Teams.

This isn't just another tech update – this is awesome. Other vendors will also be announcing things that will be providing 13+ AI access with “guardrails” to schools. It is our job to test them, but you can expect lots of conversation around this!

AI and Edtech Power Hour: Turbocharged Tools for Every Subject and Grade

On Monday, Mike will be one of the panelists along with Gabriel Carillo (Edtech Bites), Eric Curts (Ctrl+Alt+Achieve), Jaime Donally (ARVRinEDU), Alice Keeler, Dr. Rachelle Dene Poth, Victoria Thompson (and me.)

• Monday, June 10, 10-11 am





• HBGCC 303BC





• Max Capacity: 248





• Link: https://conference.iste.org/2025/program/search/detail_session.php?id=118112985#session_118112985

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AI, Edtech, and Technology Vocabulary Mentioned in This Show

AI Vocabulary

• Copilot Chat: Microsoft's free AI-powered chat assistant with GPT-4o capabilities, now available for students 13+ with enterprise data protection. Source: Microsoft Education





• Small Language Model (SLM): A compact AI model that runs directly on devices without internet, enabling offline AI capabilities. Source: Microsoft Azure Cloud Terms





• Neural Processing Unit (NPU): Specialized hardware that processes AI tasks 10-100x more efficiently than CPUs, using only 15-20 watts compared to 200+ watts for GPUs. Source: Mic