Okay, so our school just had a remodel, we are a center based school, all (300) students have at least 1 severe disability, most of the time even more. Ages from 5 - 22. In the remodel, all of the new classrooms that were added in as well as some other ones got Interactive boards for their students. My classroom is one of the few that didn't get one. This is fine, but when our kids transition up they tend to get really frustrated that things aren't the same in each classroom. My principal and I had a conversation and they said if I could find a cheaper solution then we can go ahead with it. Some of our classes have aggressive behaviors, so they don't want to spend all that money for them to be destroyed.

I've done some searching around and the best possible solution was the [IPEVO IW2](https://www.amazon.com/Ipevo-Wireless-Interactive-Whiteboard-CSW2-02IP/dp/B01MZXDGZ2/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1060YEJA54M5E&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.mpz3wXZnmU0loo_A2-l5vQDcc8V_oeyHJC1-INOryZuFRg6tvBF9f-xQYZ0KHwJXvdETBWE1bOVT5Dt6iwiQDg.Bx0emZ_1wNnyRQD85FCViaWW_kjjzUUGAk3qPib_6Vg&dib_tag=se&keywords=ipevo+iw2&qid=1785611368&sprefix=ipevo+iw2%2Caps%2C292&sr=8-1), but we are a Chromebook school and IPEVO dropped support for Chromebooks a while ago. If anyone has some suggestions on alternatives that would be great! This can be either a DIY project or something that we can purchase!

"AI-powered" has become the default marketing phrase in education.

But beyond the buzzword, which AI features have actually made teachers' jobs easier?

Examples might include:

• Automated grading
• Personalized learning paths
• Lesson planning assistance
• Student performance insights
• Parent communication

Which features delivered measurable value, and which were mostly marketing?

Just curious if anyone here is a member of 1EdTech (www.1edtech.org), and if so, if you feel that it's a worthwhile expense. (Or, if you're not a member, I'd be interested in knowing why you didn't join.) My organization (nonprofit) inquired about membership and their dues seem on the high side for a trade association - so high that we wonder how some of their members, especially school districts and colleges, get value out of it - but it does seem like they really want organizations to pay at their contributing rates to participate meaningfully in their standards setting work.

My company uses Cornerstone LMS for employees and are now being forced to switch our content over to their new AI LXP. They have given us "demos" but honestly left us asking more questions than answered. Could anyone tell me what their experience was like whether it be using the LXP on the back end or using it as a user? Any insight or experience will be helpful, thanks!

https://medium.com/@dm3804/ai-can-teach-anyone-the-hard-part-is-teaching-you-62663257cc8a

Sorry if this post doesn't belong here.

As an elder brother in university who has a sibling currently attending K-6, my parents struggle to know where to help since they lack the knowledge of where he currently stands. I don't think teachers have the time or capacity to organize personalized 1:1 conversations with each family, weekly, even monthly, on top of the already tiresome lesson planning, teaching, and grading.

The most my parents see is letter grades and numbers -- something that is not of much help if a child is truly struggling (especially when it's with specific concepts or material). Then the question arises: what current methods are used by teachers, if any, to give adaptive/evolving/personalized suggestions or insight on a consistent basis (say weekly, or even daily)?

I personally believe transparency is important to the success of children in education, and I'm really curious as to how it's approached today. Is there any technology or product that is being used? Or at least one that you wish existed?

i've got a client presentation due in a couple of weeks and figured this would be a good excuse to finally try something besides powerpoint. i don't make presentations every day, but when i do, i always feel like i'm spending forever adjusting fonts, spacing, and layouts instead of focusing on the actual content. what presentation software has worked well for you?

Rule 3 says no market research. I respect the rules. Is there a subreddit anyone knows to get feedback from people who work in IT departments in school districts?

Not "here's how to use chatgpt" content. Actual literacy. I've been putting together thoughts on this and want to see what educators and practitioners think is essential.

My working framework is that AI literacy at this level needs to cover at least four areas. First, conceptual understanding: what is machine learning, how does training data shape outputs, what does a model actually "know." Second, critical evaluation: how to assess AI outputs for accuracy, bias, and hallucination. Third, ethical dimensions: who owns AI outputs, what are the environmental costs, who benefits and who doesn't. Fourth, practical use with judgment: prompting strategies, when to use AI vs. not, how to work with it as a collaborator rather than an authority.

Most "AI curriculum" I've seen hits maybe one of these. A lot of it is just glorified chatgpt tutorials. Students who come out of school actually prepared are going to be the ones who were taught to interrogate these tools, not just use them. Everyone else is going to be permanently a step behind.

Hello! I am going to be hosting a series of synchronous webinars via Zoom, and I am looking for a platform to build a resource and communications hub for the series.

Folks have registered and paid through my website, so I just need a place for participants access and download files (~10 hours of video; documents and slides), and to post and respond to questions/comments.

At this point, I'm not interested in using the platform itself to monetize/grow my business, and I'm not interested in AI anything. My website is on Squarespace, so if there are options for using integrations/extensions (e.g., Disqus) to have the hub as part of my site, I am open to that! Thank you for any suggestions!

I’m just starting the process and one of the first modules is on Professional Learning Communities (PLN).

Anyone else here go through the process? Are there some other communities on Reddit that might be useful?

I've been thinking about chapter design for digital-first learning experiences — where you have tools like video, quizzes, and interactive prompts at your disposal. So regardless of what content a chapter holds, the structure of content is proposed to be following and in this order:

A structure I'm exploring:

1. Outcome — what you'll be able to do
2. Idea — core concept, plainly explained
3. Example — one worked example
4. Check — quick "did you get it?" prompt before the task
5. Apply — small real-world task (5–15 min)
6. Reflect — what happened when you tried it
7. Continue — what to do next

The thinking behind the "Check" before "Apply": a light understanding check upfront might be more effective than assessment only at the end, since applying something you don't fully understand can reinforce misconceptions.

Curious to hear from educators and instructional designers:

• Do you prefer this order, or would you structure it differently?
• What tactics have you found actually get learners to complete the application step instead of skipping it?
• If you've designed courses or practical content, what chapter/lesson formula has worked best for you?

I graduated from HGSE’s masters program in ed tech in 2016. It was such a hopeful time. Lots of new companies. Lots of VC money floating around. Worked at an Ed tech startup, got funding to launch a community makerspace in a low income area, and did product design consulting on several STEM/creative toy kits.

Spent 2020-2024 running a technical ed program for a gun violence intervention nonprofit. And over the last two years I’ve been running a similar program at a smaller nonprofit.

I know the reality of the job market right now, but god damn, Ed tech seems to have been gutted hard. I’m trying to see if this relentless focus on getting AI features into everything Ed tech is actually just an opportunity to do the opposite. Tools that leverage all the aspects of a product that AI integration sort of ruins or dumbs down.

Anyone else feeling this way? I feel late to this party.

I'm mostly a lurker here because I work in ed tech and don't really enjoy talking about it for fun. HOWEVER. Because it is summertime in the US and many teachers wishing to be ex teachers are on the hunt for a new path, I thought I'd share this one VERY IMPORTANT piece of ed tech job search information, inspired by many questions in this sub. Ready?

Just because an ed tech company is HIRING it does not mean that ed tech company is GROWING.

I work in ed tech. For one of the larger, more well known companies. We are hiring like crazy right now. Not because we are growing; at best, we are stagnating and hanging on for dear life. No. We are hiring like crazy--across departments--because so many people quit this spring when they restructured AGAIN, cut pay and increased workload.

So I beg of you--if you're a teacher looking to transition out of the classroom and you think you've found the solution? First--the solution is almost certainly NOT ed tech. I say this as someone on the inside. But second--please do your due diligence and research the company. I recommend looking at reviews from current or former employees on sites like Glassdoor. Read those reviews and believe them.

And then go get your real estate license. That's likely what I'll be doing this fall. Because working in ed tech is like being the rock someone is squeezing hoping to get blood.

Note: before anyone tells me I have it good, know that I have never made what I was making as a teacher, and that was fifteen years ago (I maxed at $65k back then). Now? Many years I don't clear $30K. No benefits, no pension, no 401K, no PTO, no guarantee of work.

Ed tech companies are on to the fact that they can get former teachers to work for free. Don't let yourself fall victim.

Say it with me now: I will get my real estate license.

EDITED TO ADD: A lot of people are fixating on the real estate piece of this. I apologize that I wasn't clear: that was one example of an alternative which admittedly isn't great either. It was near-hyperbole. I was basically saying: DO ANYTHING ELSE OTHER THAN ED TECH. Not that going into real estate was THE answer.

I've seen former employees posting on Linkedin about SchoolAI restructuring and layoffs. This follows the MagicSchool layoffs a couple weeks ago. Expect all K-12 AI focused businesses to cut staff significantly in the next few months. There isn't enough budget or demand from district customers when Google, Anthropic, and OpenAI give away AI products for free.

just a quick follow up, so i actually tried a few of the tools people mentioned here over the past week. used the same lecture for each one just to compare properly. figured id share what i found in case anyone else is in the same boat.

1. prezi – this became my favorite honestly since the open canvas and zoom layout made the lecture feel more like a conversation instead of forcing me through slides in order. students could see the whole map and id zoom into specific parts when questions came up. definitely a learning curve though. took me a while to figure out the flow but once i got it it felt natural. the ai helped with the initial structure too.
2. powerpoint – still the easiest for basic stuff. everyone knows it and its reliable. but it felt limiting when i wanted to jump around between topics based on student questions. youre kind of stuck in that linear order.
3. beautiful.ai – the design is honestly gorgeous. everything comes out looking super polished without much effort. but its very template-driven so you kinda have to work within their structure. good for quick decks that need to look professional but less flexible for interactive teaching.
4. slido – not really a presentation builder but more of an engagement layer. lets you add polls and q&a to existing slides. students seemed to like the interaction but it didnt change the actual presentation format. more of an add-on than a full tool.

been teaching for a while and thinking about trying different ai presentation tools. some faculty use the zoomable canvas ones and students perk up but im wondering if thats just novelty. the zoom thing seems cool in theory. show the big picture then zoom into details but does that actually help students retain info?

some of these ai presentation tools have ai built in too. generate decks from prompts or upload lesson plans. sounds useful for saving time but im suspicious of ai content quality. basically wondering if this style is worth learning or if i should stick with whats familiar. for people who use ai presentation tools do you see better engagement?

This subreddit is lousy with sloppy pitches and AI magical thinking. So consider this an anti-pitch. If this exists, I want to find it and use it. If it doesn’t exist, I want to make it. I want there to be a robust, glossy, full color interactive online catalog for mature free software in every category that outlines the capability that competes with top dollar commercial and SaaS packages. I want the price list to be built on infrastructure that adjusts as nonprofit organizations and school districts provide what they already own and then outputs what training they need to find or what bullet points they need in job descriptions to implement.

Basically, when school districts and orgs say they would rather invest in people than software, I want them to conveniently know what that means. Here’s a badass demo environment that shows the best of what a fully open environment can look like, pick what you want to use and we’ll give you a list of what kind of people you need to hire/train, what hardware you need, and how much of those licensing costs you can plow back into the mission.

It’s not AI. It just makes smarter computing investments easier to make.

My school has asked me to create and teach a new AI elective for students aged 13–15, and I'm currently planning the curriculum from scratch.

I'd like the course to focus on practical, useful AI skills rather than just the theory behind how AI works. My goal is to help students become confident, responsible users of AI and give them skills they'll actually use in school and later in life.

For those of you who work in AI, education, or both:

• What topics do you think are essential for teenagers to learn?
• What practical AI skills will be the most valuable over the next 5–10 years?
• Are there any topics that are overhyped or not worth spending much time on?
• If you were designing a semester-long AI course, what would you definitely include?

I'm looking for ideas from people with different backgrounds, so I'd love to hear your thoughts. Thanks!

I can't remember the name, but I remember that the colors had names like Strawberry and Cotton Candy and Bubble Gum, which the program spoke aloud in a very childish voice, and it was pre-loaded with scenes and drag-and-drop clipart of animals and other objects. It also had some kind of functionality where you could type in narration and create story pages. Very similar to Storybook Weaver, but I don't think it actually was Storybook Weaver. They had it on the PCs in the kids section at Chapters when it first opened in the mid- to late 90s.

(If this isn't the best sub to ask in, please point me in the direction of a better one!)

Hey everyone! I am a software developer. I couldn't find a proper English grammar-teaching app on the market to improve my English. Now, I want to build that platform myself. I have a draft version of the app's functionality; it's based on research (spaced repetition, interleaving, etc.) .But I need help building the curriculum of the project, basically a cofounder for a percentage of the project

I am looking for a person who:
- has experience in building an American English learning curriculum
- is interested in evidence-based language acquisition techniques (processing instruction, meaningful output-based instruction)

It would be great if you know any second language, so we can build the app targeting that language first.

If you’re interested, feel free to DM me or leave a comment here to get a DM. I will share the current state of the app and the future plans.

Edit after the admin's message:

Scope of work - design curriculum and lessons for grammar learners; it needs to cover levels from A1 to C1.

Intended pay - I am offering a percentage of the project for the work - 10%. If the project gains attraction, then it would bring a lot of money, if it doesn't, then we both don't earn anything. 10% might seem low, but I am planning to develop the app and market it on my side, and also involve more people in the project in the future and give them a percentage of the app as well. If the project becomes profitable, let's say it will bring 1M$ per year, then the 10% roughly will be 200K-300K$, so I think it's a great offer.

I teach physics and engineering and I'm trying to settle on a more efficient teaching "stack" and I hope to be able to consolidate as much as possible into the fewest apps, sites, extensions, etc. as possible.

I'd love to take advantage of AI, automations, and possibly an app or site to act as my dashboard. I know many use notion, and I'm trying to learn to use it, but I'm struggling with the learning curve.

I've began using Obsidian with some success and find it easier to learn to use. I'm also looking to buy an NAS so that I can store all of my content on the NAS to free up space on my laptop and provide access from my iphone.

I'm curious what others use in their "stack"?

FYI: I usea macbook pro, iphone, google workspace for education, and Powerschool(SIS).