ChatEDU – The AI & Education Podcast

In this ChatEDU Check-In: Security Breaches and Digital Cheating on the New SAT, Matt explores the sophisticated methods students and bad actors are using to compromise the integrity of the digital SAT. The transition to a computer based format has introduced technical vulnerabilities that go beyond traditional cheating methods.

Key Takeaways:
Specialized hardware, such as video capture devices disguised as peripherals, and "sandbox" software allow students to bypass the security of the Bluebook testing platform.
International websites are leaking authentic test questions from the College Board's active bank, facilitating large scale cheating across different time zones.
The practice of allowing students to use their own laptops is a primary security vulnerability that hardware based exploits can easily target.

Matt’s Two Cents: While the shift to digital was marketed as a definitive solution to paper based security flaws, the BYOD model has proven to be the Achilles' heel of the entire scheme. By allowing students to use personal devices, the College Board has moved the battlefield to a technical arena where hardware exploits are nearly impossible to fully neutralize.

Article Link: https://tinyurl.com/5n6vbydc

Sponsored by: Eduaide.Ai Eduaide is an AI-powered workspace designed for real classroom planning with practical tools like grade-level evaluators and classroom-ready graphic organizers. Take advantage of our special offer: 50 percent off an Eduaide subscription with code: ChatEDU at https://www.eduaide.ai/.

In this ChatEDU Check-In: Meta Ties Bonuses and Performance Reviews to AI Usage, Matt explores the shift toward performance metrics that prioritize AI integration in the corporate world. Meta has introduced a new system to track how employees leverage automated tools to drive efficiency and impact.

Key Takeaways:
Meta launched Checkpoint, a performance tracker that analyzes over 200 data points, including AI generated code volume and error rates, to inform manager reviews.
New bonus structures offer up to 300 percent multipliers for top performers who demonstrate high impact through aggressive AI adoption.
The company is flattening its organizational structure, using AI to allow single contributors to manage projects that previously required entire teams.

Matt’s Two Cents: The aggressive move to tie employee survival and financial success to AI acumen highlights a massive structural gap between corporate expectations and the current state of education. As industry leaders hard-wire these tools into the workforce, schools and universities face the daunting task of evolving fast enough to ensure graduates are not obsolete before their first performance review.

Article Link: https://tinyurl.com/jnysczhd

Sponsored by: Eduaide.Ai Eduaide is an AI-powered workspace designed for real classroom planning, offering tools like grade-level evaluators and classroom-ready graphic organizers. Take advantage of our special offer: 50 percent off an Eduaide subscription with code: ChatEDU at https://www.eduaide.ai.

In this episode of ChatEDU (AI Literacy is the Floor, Judgment is the Ceiling), Matt and Liz examine whether judgment tops AI literacy, touch on AI-packed Super Bowl ads, a satirical AI book, and “OpenClaw,” then dive into the news.

The Rundown

Time Studios and Darren Aronofsky have launched "On This Day," a high-fidelity AI-animated series bringing 1776 to life for the semi-quincentennial.

India has become Google’s largest AI test bed, shifting to a decentralized, teacher-driven model for 247 million students.

Google Classroom is adding built-in recording tools for multimedia feedback and student oral or code submissions.

Matt and Liz highlight NotebookLM’s “pencil” for custom slides and infographics as Gemini tests ChatGPT chat imports.

Unsealed court docs show Google plans to leverage its 80% school hardware share to lock in lifelong users.

The duo explores Genie 3, where descriptive "gamer language" is used to define physics, friction, and even the perspective of the poison in Hamlet.

The “Godfather of AI” backs Alpha School’s model: two hours of AI-driven mastery in the morning, freeing afternoons for workshops.

A University of Adelaide study finds AI tutors can spot math anxiety through typing, deletion, and hesitation patterns.

Matt and Liz argue the humanities are future-proof and showcase a Gem that analyzes student chats for the 4 C’s.

Why markets shed $300 billion in a week: fears that AI “vibe coding” could replace giants like Salesforce and Adobe.

NWEA has released a comprehensive directory of tools for formative assessment, from Kahoot to Edpuzzle, posing a challenge for future "vibe coders."

EdSafe warns schools about AI companions’ “artificial intimacy” and urges removing empathy-mimicking features from edtech bots.

Beneath the Surface

Matt and Liz examine the “AI Paradox”: if AI handles entry-level work, how do leaders build judgment? They argue students need digital maturity, not just how to use AI, but when and why.

Bright Byte

NASA’s JPL used Claude to plan the first AI-driven Mars rover route, cutting Perseverance’s planning time in half across a 500,000-variable simulation with minimal human tweaks.

Announcements

Celebrate our 100th episode: ⁠skills21.org/chatedu100⁠

Learning They'll Love - Dr. Elizabeth Radday
ASCD: ⁠https://tinyurl.com/bde652nn⁠ 
Amazon: https://tinyurl.com/22t9hz77
Barnes and Noble: https://tinyurl.com/bdckf6zw

EdAdvance is offering a Middle and High School Student AI Literacy course — email [email protected] to bring it to your district. ​​⁠www.skills21.org/ai/learnai⁠ 

Skills21’s FREE social media literacy course. Check it out here - ⁠https://www.skills21.org/social-balance⁠

This episode is sponsored by The National Center for Next Generation Manufacturing. ⁠https://www.nextgenmfg.org⁠

Links

On This Day in 1776
https://tinyurl.com/bd45ufmf

India Scaling AI in Education
https://tinyurl.com/mr36r5ws

Record directly in Google Classroom
https://tinyurl.com/bdt9e4ta

Google adds Video Overviews
https://tinyurl.com/3bysbruw

Google Eases ChatGPT-to-Gemini Switch
https://tinyurl.com/3suv2ejm

Google Eyes Students as Future Users
https://tinyurl.com/24tbaehd

Prompting Smarter with Genie 3
https://tinyurl.com/48mmspcv

AI Pioneer Hails School’s AI Strategy
https://tinyurl.com/43ptthrp

AI That Reads Math Anxiety
https://tinyurl.com/mvjpszts

Why AI Makes the Liberal Arts Invaluable
https://tinyurl.com/3nsrcb2s

The SaaS-Pocalypse Has Begun.
https://tinyurl.com/mvmzarkb

75 Digital Tools for Formative Assessment
https://tinyurl.com/ye2yksc2

Entry-Level Jobs Need a Residency Model
https://tinyurl.com/mrdpcb2t

S.A.F.E. BY DESIGN
https://tinyurl.com/us6n2djs

AI Is Changing How We Build Judgment
https://tinyurl.com/2j7r5sbe

States Press On With AI School Rules
https://tinyurl.com/ytjk4fns

Teach Digital Maturity, Not Just Literacy
https://tinyurl.com/48hysc4v

Claude AI Takes the Wheel on Mars
https://tinyurl.com/murz85z4

In this ChatEDU Check-In: What U.S. schools can learn from how China is teaching students to work with AI, Matt explores What can US schools learn about AI education from their Chinese counterparts?. The episode examines the differences between China's centralized, infused approach to AI education and the fragmented landscape in the United States.

AI "infusion" over abstract literacy, focusing on collaborative use and human direction within core subjects.
Coordinated national strategy that aligns infrastructure, research, and workforce needs into a single operating system.
The pivotal role of U.S. states in establishing guardrails and designing large-scale implementation models suited to local values.

Matt’s Two Cents: The comparison isn’t about copying China’s system, but about recognizing the cost of moving slowly. When coordination is absent, momentum doesn’t disappear, it just fragments.

Article Link: https://tinyurl.com/38hss9va

Sponsored by: Eduaide.Ai Eduaide is an AI-powered workspace built by teachers, for teachers, featuring evaluators for grade-level appropriateness and classroom-ready graphic organizers. Take advantage of our special offer: 50% off an Eduaide subscription with checkout code ChatEDU at https://www.eduaide.ai.

Dartmouth College’s recently announced partnership with Anthropic has sparked a significant rift between the administration and faculty members involved in a historic class-action lawsuit. While the college aims to lead in institutional AI adoption, many professors view the collaboration with a company accused of mass copyright infringement as a fundamental breach of trust and shared governance.

Key Takeaways

Institutional Tension: The partnership with Anthropic positions Dartmouth as an early adopter of the Claude model, yet it has been met with fierce criticism from 130 faculty members whose books were allegedly used to train the AI without permission.

Litigation Context: Anthropic recently agreed to a landmark $1.5 billion settlement to resolve claims that it used pirated "shadow libraries" to train its models, an amount that a federal judge previously questioned as potentially insufficient given the scale of the infringement.

Governance Disputes: Faculty leaders argue that the administration failed to consult them until the decision was finalized, reducing their role to helping shape the public message rather than influencing the strategic direction of the partnership.

Technological Expansion: Beyond the controversy, Dartmouth continues to embed AI in campus life through initiatives like Evergreen, an AI wellness platform, and the exploration of developer tools like Claude Code that leverage vast datasets for agentic software generation.

The Bottom Line for Education

The Dartmouth case underscores the ethical dilemma schools face when the rapid pace of AI implementation clashes with the intellectual property rights of the very scholars who make up the institution. As colleges move to provide enterprise-level AI access, the tension between administrative efficiency and faculty trust will likely redefine how universities negotiate tech partnerships.

Article Link

https://tinyurl.com/yc2tn862

Sponsor

Eduaid.ai: AI Created For Teachers is an AI-powered teacher development platform built by teachers for teachers to help turn rough ideas into classroom-ready lessons. Visit eduaid.ai and use the discount code CHATEDU for 50 percent off.

Catch the ChatEDU every Friday with Matt Mervis and Dr. Elizabeth Reid and join us for Check-In episodes on Tuesdays and Thursdays.