ChatEDU: AI in Education

A hundred teens drafted an “AI bill of rights” that lets accused students appeal. Two Connecticut students on why they also barred teachers from AI grading and so much more.

First Up
Matt and Liz open on Muse from Meta, a new agent shaped like a Labubu with a Tamagotchi-style keycharm version on the way. It is outpacing early ChatGPT mobile on downloads and daily users, and Matt gave it his personal email to audit what he is subscribed to.
Muse: https://tinyurl.com/5c4mexxv 

The Rundown
Notebook Learns to Tutor
The New Gemini Notebook Update Is Turning AI Into a Personal Tutor: https://tinyurl.com/587s527v 
The Paradox of the Worried West
Americans Fear AI Will Make the World Worse, Love It Anyway: https://tinyurl.com/422p2kb4 
When Robots Get Arms
When AI Gets Arms, "Just Say No" Stops Being a Safety System: https://tinyurl.com/ytubb37a 
A Warning on Kids and AI
Ex-Google Safety Chief Warns AI Could Harm Children More Than Social Media Did: https://tinyurl.com/2w6rduau 
Firestorm at Dartmouth
Dartmouth's Provost Quietly Used AI in His Published Work. It's Touched Off a Campus Firestorm.: https://tinyurl.com/55vbs5t4 
The Overhang (Ethan Mollick): https://tinyurl.com/2urrvcjw 
Generative UI Simulations
Enabling Teachers to Create Learning Interactives with Generative UI: https://tinyurl.com/474dby4j 

Beneath the Surface
Bena Mejia Romero and Anthony Darbilli represented Connecticut in Boston, where a hundred teens, two per state, drafted the Student First Act. They walk through their own AI use cases and the bill from Boston which includes an amendment requiring evidence and an appeal before a student is accused of AI misuse, rationale on why teachers were barred from grading with AI, and the parent section they both pushed back on.
The Student First Act: https://tinyurl.com/ypfxzrxz 

Bright Byte
The Gates Foundation's 2026 Goalkeepers Report casts AI as either a global equalizer or a widener of existing gaps, backed by a billion dollar commitment and a 12 to 18 month window to steer deployment toward equity.
2026 Goalkeepers Report: AI, Equity, and the Choice We Can't Delay: https://tinyurl.com/y337m8kw 

Announcements
Purchase Learning They'll Love - Dr. Elizabeth Radday on Amazon: https://tinyurl.com/22t9hz77
Check out our middle / high school Student AI Literacy course: www.skills21.org/ai/learnai
Explore Skills21’s FREE social media literacy curriculum: https://www.skills21.org/social
Address Screen Time concerns: skills21.org/ai/screenshift
Read From Panic to Proof: A Data-Driven Approach to Screen Time (ASCD Educational Leadership): https://tinyurl.com/4pwdu68

Sponsor
The National Center for Next Generation Manufacturing: Bridging Education and Industry to Build Tomorrow’s Technical Workforce -https://www.nextgenmfg.org

In this ChatEDU Check-In: Blue Books Won't Fix It, Liz explores the shift back toward paper blue books for exams and how international test results challenge the idea that technology is the main driver of declining student achievement. Higher education institutions are increasingly returning to analog blue books for in-person exams to counter generative AI cheating. Meanwhile, recent PISA results demonstrate that high-performing nations maintain top student achievement while operating heavily digitized schools, suggesting classroom technology is not the root cause of recent score drops.

Key Takeaways:
Higher education institutions are returning to analog blue books for in-person exams to prevent AI cheating, leading to steep increases in paper exam booklet sales.

PISA test results show top-performing countries like Singapore and Estonia maintain high achievement while heavily utilizing classroom technology.

The decline in U.S. reading scores post-2022 does not align with the timeline of 1-to-1 device adoption, pointing to other factors such as chronic absenteeism.

Liz’s Two Cents: Returning to analog blue books and banning classroom technology misplaces the blame for academic declines and may hinder long-term academic recovery. Schools must build intentional curricula that protect student thinking rather than simply removing technology under the assumption that it will automatically improve student outcomes.

Articles:
What The PISA Results Really Show Us About Technology And Curriculum
https://tinyurl.com/bdddn8nj
Blue Books Are Back. Is That a Good Thing?
https://tinyurl.com/yc4n4pu7

In this ChatEDU Check-In: AI Email Bias, Liz explores how AI language models may generate less professional and structurally weaker outputs when prompted with female-coded language. This research reveals how subtle differences in communication styles can lead to unintended gender biases in AI-assisted writing. Understanding these dynamics is essential for educational leaders guiding staff and students in the equitable use of AI tools.

Key Takeaways:
Female-coded language patterns, such as hedging phrases and expressive adjectives, lead AI models to generate less formal workplace communications.

OpenAI noted the study tested older systems, but other major AI developers provided no feedback or comments on the findings.

The rise of voice-based AI interaction will cause natural speech patterns to directly influence model outputs, shifting bias mitigation responsibilities to developers.

Liz’s Two Cents: As AI integration expands across schools, district leaders must recognize that algorithmic bias extends beyond explicit data inputs to subtle communication patterns. Relying blindly on AI for professional correspondence or administrative drafting could unintentionally perpetuate gender disparities in tone and authority. Educational leaders must champion critical AI literacy, training staff to evaluate and refine AI outputs to maintain equity and professional integrity.

Article:
AI may be making women's emails and job applications sound less professional
https://tinyurl.com/mr2b737k

Matt and Liz sort the AI doom cycle into what schools should say to parents now. Plus a principal's sub coverage tool, built inside Gemini Notebook.
First Up
Matt and Liz open on Tilly Norwood, the AI-generated actress built to evoke Scarlett Johansson, and play the Piers Morgan interview where she slips into Cantonese mid-answer. 
AI-Generated 'Actress' Tilly Norwood Starts Rambling in Cantonese During Piers Morgan Interview: ⁠https://tinyurl.com/34crpnjy⁠ 
The Rundown
It's the End of the World as We Know It
An OpenAI Agent Tried to Jailbreak Itself: ⁠https://tinyurl.com/3pzts7mf⁠ 
Microsoft Humanist Code of Conduct: ⁠https://tinyurl.com/y3jahspc⁠ 
One of AI's Fiercest Critics Says All the Doom Talk Is 'Meant to Distract Us': ⁠https://tinyurl.com/abd6j76t⁠ 
Andrew Yang Claims Escaped AI Agents Polluted the Web With Self-Replicating Code: ⁠https://tinyurl.com/3hp7tn2y⁠ 
Anthropic's New AI Threat Report is Absolutely Insane: ⁠https://tinyurl.com/yde56kss⁠ 
How the Terrorist Group Boko Haram Uses Frontier AI: ⁠https://tinyurl.com/58mbf4ap⁠ 
The Original Sin of AI: ⁠https://tinyurl.com/yuhakr7b⁠ 
Perplexity's AI search isn't a safer choice for kids than Google, our tests find: ⁠https://tinyurl.com/52sxfvj9⁠ 
Pacing, Not Pausing: What School Leaders Should Say to Parents This Week: ⁠https://tinyurl.com/5fs9nvfh⁠ 
Gemini Canvas Meets Classroom
Educators and students can now share Gemini Canvas creations directly to Google Classroom: ⁠https://tinyurl.com/f53n233m⁠ 
Critical Thinking in Utah
Utah district reports critical thinking boost amid AI deployment: ⁠https://tinyurl.com/2w94msf2⁠ 
What PISA Really Shows
What The PISA Results Really Show Us About Technology And Curriculum: ⁠https://tinyurl.com/4ytcntc4⁠ 
AI Research WebinarFlawed AI Education Research
Presumed Effective: Flawed Meta-analyses in GenAI and Education Research: ⁠https://tinyurl.com/4shc4xec⁠ 
West Virginia App Builders
Thunkable Education Pilot for West Virginia Students Builds Future-Ready AI, Entrepreneurship, and App Development Skills: ⁠https://tinyurl.com/3hzjtcs5⁠ 
From the ChatEDU Community
Leading With Intelligence: A School Leader's Guide to Thinking, Innovating, and Partnering with AI by Jara Wilson: ⁠https://tinyurl.com/24vts4n2⁠ 

Creator's Corner
Darron Vigliotti, principal of Eli Terry Junior Middle School in Plymouth, Connecticut, built a substitute coverage tool inside Gemini Notebook. He walks through teaching it the tiered logic of who gets pulled on which day, letting it write the Python, and running it at five in the morning.

Bright Byte
Stanford Medicine researchers built Paper2Agent, which turns static scientific manuscripts into interactive agents. The virtual authors answer questions about their own papers and can talk to each other to surface new findings.
Manuscripts-turned AI agents can now 'talk' to each other, make new discoveries: ⁠https://tinyurl.com/2z8ax3xu⁠ 

Announcements
Fall AI Conference: October 2, 2026: ⁠https://tinyurl.com/4k6x9scx⁠
Purchase Learning They'll Love - Dr. Elizabeth Radday on Amazon: ⁠https://tinyurl.com/22t9hz77⁠
Check out our middle / high school Student AI Literacy course: ⁠www.skills21.org/ai/learnai⁠
Explore Skills21’s FREE social media literacy curriculum: ⁠https://www.skills21.org/social⁠
Address Screen Time concerns: ⁠skills21.org/ai/screenshift⁠
Read From Panic to Proof: A Data-Driven Approach to Screen Time (ASCD Educational Leadership): ⁠https://tinyurl.com/4pwdu68⁠
Sponsor
The National Center for Next Generation Manufacturing: Your Gateway to Next Generation Advanced Manufacturing -⁠https://www.nextgenmfg.org⁠

In this ChatEDU Check-In: Parents Aren't Anti-Screen?, Matt explores how recent polling reveals parents favor balanced ed tech usage rather than complete bans. Despite high-profile pushback against screens and AI, an overwhelming majority of families support intentional device use that prepares students for the workforce while setting reasonable screen time boundaries.

Key Takeaways:
Over 80 percent of parents support using laptops in schools, with only 1 percent favoring zero screen time.

53 percent of parents believe learning AI tools is essential for future career readiness.

Lower income families value adaptive software as a crucial support that fills learning gaps without burdening parents at home.

Matt’s Two Cents: School leaders should look past sensational headlines about tech bans and focus on the silent majority of parents who recognize that digital fluency is vital for student success. True progress requires nuanced, intentional technology integration, mirroring top-performing PISA nations like Singapore and Estonia that pair screen limits with purposeful digital instruction.

Article:
Parents worry about ed tech. Most still see a place for it, polls suggest.
https://tinyurl.com/2wc22wbp