Author: Reporter

by Jill Barshay, The Hechinger Report April 6, 2026 It’s easy to get swept up in the hype about artificial intelligence tutors. But the evidence so far suggests caution.  Some studies have found that chatbot tutors can backfire because students lean on them too heavily, get spoonfed solutions and fail to absorb the material. Even when AI tutors are designed not to give away answers, they haven’t consistently produced better results than learning the old-fashioned way without AI. Still, researchers who have produced these skeptical studies haven’t given up hope. Some are still experimenting, trying to build better AI tutors.…

As more higher education institutions adopt artificial intelligence tools, consumer protection advocates are asking colleges and universities to adopt a student bill of rights declaring that “students are not merely data points or test subjects for emerging technologies.” On Friday, the National Student Legal Defense Network unveiled the Student AI Bill of Rights as part of its Safeguarding Higher-Ed through AI Practices & Ethics (SHAPE AI) initiative. The group’s advisory committee is composed of institutional leaders, policy experts and consumer advocates.  “As artificial intelligence (AI) transforms the landscape of higher education—from recruitment and admissions to classroom instruction and wraparound support—students…

Last week, the University of Pennsylvania proposed new draft Guidelines on Open Expression that are a disturbing threat to free speech at a campus with a track record of suppressing dissent. The goal of suppressing all protests is apparent in these principles: “Actions taken beyond making one’s thoughts heard or read—particularly when such actions violate these Principles, Penn policy, or relevant law—do not constitute speech and expression protected by these Principles.” The presumption should be that all expressive acts—including the right to protest—are protected by principles of open expression. To claim that “actions” have no protections even when they do…

Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for The 74 Newsletter Kansas bill would drain funding that helps steer kids out of criminal justice system, advocates say The One Heart Project works with kids in the criminal justice system. The group provides counseling, mentorship and job training to help them develop social-emotional skills to create “healthy relationships that they need to navigate life successfully,” said the group’s founder and CEO, Steve Riach. They are pretty good at what they do. Riach said recidivism among kids before entering his programs typically hovers around 75%. But kids in…

This year marks the centennial anniversary of the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), arguably the premier professional organization for the early care and education workforce in America.  The national nonprofit plans to honor the occasion with an “intentional year of celebration, reflection and doing what we’ve always done — center the voices of educators,” said CEO Michelle Kang.  A century is a long time for any organization to exist. It is a long time — period. Thus, NAEYC’s centennial presents an opportunity for longtime early childhood educators and leaders to recognize the progress the field has…

Pipeline Velocity In Learning Tech: Vital CMO Metrics To Track It is common knowledge in business that pipeline size always looks good in board decks. That is because it includes big numbers, lots of opportunities, and a sense of momentum. However, there is a catch here. Pipeline size does not necessarily equal revenue. A bloated, slow-moving pipeline is one of the most expensive problems a learning tech company can face. It often leads to deals stalling. As a result, CAC creeps up, forecasts slip, and pressure builds higher over time. Yet, even though a bloated pipeline often results in decreased…

Much has been writ­ten late­ly about the cri­sis in Hol­ly­wood, which has left many appar­ent­ly sure-fire block­busters floun­der­ing, the­aters emp­ty, and pro­duc­tion jobs lost. There are many fac­tors in play — some of them, as few diag­noses fail to point out, struc­tur­al — but can we ignore the pos­si­bil­i­ty of fatigue, per­haps even bore­dom, with film itself? We’ve post­ed in recent years here on Open Cul­ture about the decay of cin­e­ma, the rise of “visu­al muzak” on Net­flix, why movies don’t feel real any­more, and why movies don’t even feel like movies any­more. Even if they’ve lim­it­ed their expo­sure to big-bud­get spec­ta­cles,…

By: Zach Varnell In August 2021, on the West Ridge of Mount Stuart in Washington State, Kimber Cross was running out of time, water, and altitude. Off-route in 97-degree heat, her heart rate had climbed to 180 beats per minute. Her climbing partner — a trained EMT and firefighter — pressed the SOS button on their GPS tracker. What followed was a 15-hour rescue involving two teams, 20 rappels, and an airlift. Kimber made a full recovery. And the experience never left her. Not because it was the worst moment of her climbing career, but because of what it revealed.…

This is the amount of the historic relief funds infused into the K-12 system during COVID-19, the last of which were spent in March. Education experts say it’s difficult to sum up how effective the massive influx was in helping schools and students recover. Many state and local education leaders point to specific projects that tie the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funds to improved academic performance, safer and healthier schools, student engagement, tighter community partnerships, and quicker student mental health and behavioral responses. But whether ESSER fully delivered return on investment is hard to measure, as research into…

Current pathway models are challenged by today’s rapidly shifting realities. The future is now. Paramount to that future is creating pathways and credentials—of value to industry and lifelong learning—that ensure learners can thrive in an ever-evolving world. We introduce Unbounded Pathways, an approach that synthesizes career readiness theories with contemporary approaches, future-forward pathways, and workforce ecosystem models. The word “unbounded” signals high-value career pathways that are flexible and adaptive to learner needs and the dynamic pace of an ever-changing world. Education Must Enable Economic Mobility The World Economic Forum predicts that AI will displace 92 million jobs and create 170…