Innovating Education with SchoolAI
New Tools, BlueSky, and a Growing Community
Big changes are happening! I will no longer be posting on Twitter, as it’s no longer a supportive space for educators and school librarians. From now on, you can find me on BlueSky at @elissamalespina.bsky.social. If you’re a school librarian, be sure to follow and post using the hashtag #TLSky. To help you get started, I’ve created a School Librarian Starter Pack, which I update regularly as more librarians and organizations join the platform.
Thank you for being part of this community and for continuing to support my work. I look forward to connecting with you on BlueSky and building an even stronger network of educators and librarians. If you have any suggestions, feedback, or would like to share your own insights, feel free to reach out to me on BlueSky or reply to this newsletter. Let’s continue the conversation!
In today’s newsletter, I’m thrilled to feature a write-up of SchoolAI from my friend and now Content & Training Manager for SchoolAI, Nicholas Provenzano. Nick, also known as @TheNerdyTeacher, is one of the EdTech gurus I’ve admired and learned from over the years. You can follow him on all socials or check out his work at TheNerdyTeacher.com.
Dive into this week’s tools, resources, and insights—let’s keep innovating and supporting our learning communities!
NotebookLM Generated Conversation About This Week’s Newsletter
AI Tool of the Week: SchoolAI
SchoolAI is an innovative platform designed to enhance the educational experience for students, teachers, and school leaders. By leveraging AI technology, SchoolAI offers personalized and interactive tools that support teaching and learning. Teachers can create engaging Spaces—interactive, text-based activities—that simulate real-world scenarios or historical events, allowing students to explore concepts in depth. The platform also provides data-driven insights, enabling educators to tailor instruction to individual student needs. SchoolAI fosters collaboration and inclusivity, ensuring all learners have access to high-quality education resources.
Free Version
SchoolAI offers a free version that includes access to its basic teaching and learning tools. With the free version, users can:
Explore and create interactive Spaces to enhance classroom activities.
Utilize AI-driven insights to support personalized learning.
Visit the Discover page for a quick overview of SchoolAI’s features and potential applications in education.
Overview video: SchoolAI Overview
Spaces Overview: Using SchoolAI Spaces for Teachers
For Librarians
Librarians can use SchoolAI to transform the library into a dynamic learning hub. Here are three applications:
Interactive Book Discussions: Use Spaces to create interactive discussions with authors or characters, enhancing student engagement with literature.
Research Support: Provide students with AI-driven tools to guide them through complex research projects, offering tailored resources and summaries.
Library Workshops: Host workshops using SchoolAI’s interactive tools to teach digital literacy and research skills, helping students become proficient in navigating information.
For Teachers
Teachers can integrate SchoolAI into their classrooms to enrich the learning experience. Here are three potential applications:
Customized Learning Paths: Use data-driven insights to create personalized learning paths, addressing each student's unique needs with tools like the Text-Leveler Tool and Rubric Generator.
Historical Roleplay: Design Spaces for students to interact with historical figures, deepening their understanding of historical events, or explore pre-created Spaces to enhance lessons.
Engaging Projects: Use the Project-Based Activity Assistant to craft projects tailored to your students by uploading student data and prompting the assistant to create tasks that play to their strengths.
SchoolAI empowers educators and librarians to elevate teaching and learning through interactive, AI-driven tools. Explore its free version today to unlock the potential of personalized education!
AI Ethics Corner: The Pursuit of Smarter AI
As AI companies, including OpenAI, push the boundaries of what machine intelligence can achieve, a critical challenge is emerging: current methods for training AI models may be hitting their limitations. This shift has sparked a race among developers to explore new paths toward smarter, more efficient AI systems, such as focusing on smaller, more specialized models or alternative training methods.
However, this raises profound ethical questions. How can we ensure transparency and accountability in these new approaches? Will the pursuit of innovation come at the cost of equitable access or the responsible use of data? As these methodologies evolve, educators and librarians must stay informed to guide students in critically engaging with these advancements.
Implications for Education
These shifts in AI development may affect the tools we rely on, from adaptive learning systems to research assistants. Educators should consider how changing AI capabilities could impact the quality and accessibility of these resources.
Call to Action
Here are some questions to ponder or discuss with your students and colleagues:
How can we ensure fairness and equity in AI as training methods evolve?
What should be the role of educators in advocating for ethical AI practices in schools and libraries?
For those who want to dive deeper, check out the full article from Reuters on this topic here.
Classroom Activity: Encourage students to research current developments in AI and hold a debate on the trade-offs between innovation and ethical considerations. This can help them think critically about the implications of these advancements on society.
AI Reading List
This week’s curated articles dive into the evolving role of AI in education, exploring its practical applications, ethical challenges, and the importance of literacy in an AI-driven world.
1. The AI Assessment Scale in Action: Examples from K-12 and Higher Education Across the World
This article by Leon Furze explores the practical applications of the AI Assessment Scale, a tool designed to evaluate the integration of AI in educational contexts. Through real-world examples from K-12 and higher education globally, it highlights how schools and universities are using the scale to measure effectiveness, address ethical concerns, and enhance learning outcomes.
Read the full article here.
2. Federal Toolkit Targets Safe, Ethical AI Use in Classrooms
The U.S. Department of Education has released Empowering Education Leaders: A Toolkit for Safe, Ethical, and Equitable AI Integration, aiming to guide educators in the responsible adoption of AI technologies. This toolkit builds upon previous reports and offers strategies for implementing AI in ways that promote transparency, allow opt-out options for AI-enabled applications, and ensure equitable access for all students.
Read the full article here.
3. AI Literacy as a Soft Skill
In this article, Mike Kentz emphasizes the importance of AI literacy as a crucial soft skill in today's workforce. He argues that understanding and effectively interacting with AI technologies are becoming essential competencies across various industries.
Read the full article here.
4. Synthetic Sycophants: Why 'Yes-Bots' Are a Problem for Education
Leon Furze examines the issue of AI assistants exhibiting "synthetic sycophancy"—the tendency to agree with users' statements, even when they are incorrect. He discusses how this behavior can reinforce misconceptions in educational settings and advocates for technical and cultural solutions to address this challenge.
Read the full article here.
Thank you for joining me for this week’s newsletter! As we navigate the ever-changing landscape of AI and education, I hope these resources inspire new ideas and spark meaningful conversations. Don’t forget to connect with me on BlueSky and explore the incredible possibilities we can achieve together as educators and librarians. Until next week—keep innovating and supporting your learning communities!