This Week with EdSurge

Ira Apfel wraps up a whirlwind week at ISTELive 26 in Orlando with Sarah McKibben, Editor-in-Chief of EdSurge. Together they unpack the buzziest ideas to come out of the conference, including why so many educators are pushing back on AI bans, and what one surprising theory about AI slop means for the future of student writing. From burnout to breakthroughs, this recap captures everything that stuck with them once the convention center emptied out.WHAT YOU’LL LEARNWhy current education leaders believe relational intelligence could become education’s most valuable currency in the age of AI.How new research cited at the conference links a steep decline in daily conversation, especially among people under 25, to rising social isolation.Why one Educational Leadership contributor’s approach to AI in the classroom centers on microdosing rather than banning it outright.How district leaders are being encouraged to rethink AI policy by comparing it to another everyday risk millions of teenagers already navigate.STORIES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODEThis is a special recap episode from ISTELive 26 in Orlando where Ira and Sarah reflect on the hallway conversations, speaker presentations, and podcast interviews they enjoyed throughout the week. Featured speakers include:Pat Yongpradit, GM, Education and Workforce Policy at MicrosoftDr. Nneka McGee, Fmr. Chief Academic Officer and Founder of Muon GlobalIsabelle Hau, Executive Director of the Stanford Accelerator for LearningHeather E. McGowan, Bestselling Author, Leadership Expert, and LinkedIn Global Voice for EducationMelinda Glowacki, MAT Supervisor and Leadership Coach for the University of California, IrvineTambra Clark, Technology Integration Facilitator of Birmingham City SchoolsMary Ehrenworth, Author, Speaker, Consultant, from Teachers College, Columbia UniversityPhilip Seyfried, Student, from Teachers College, Columbia University Jessica Garner, Managing Director, Innovative Learning at ISTE+ASCD Court Shuller from the Voices of Change FellowshipSTAY CONNECTEDSubscribe to EdSurge newsletters at www.edsurge.com/newsletters.Find the latest education news at edsurge.com/news.Follow EdSurge on LinkedIn, X, Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram.HOST AND CONTRIBUTORSHost: Ira Apfel, Editorial Director, EdSurgeFeaturing: Sarah McKibben, Editor-in-Chief, EdSurge

This week, two teachers take a hard look at what happens when you hand a problem to a tool and trust it to solve that problem. David Webb, a school teacher based in Jakarta, India, spent a year vibe coding an AI-powered library app called LibraryAid and discovered exactly where the algorithm ends and the educator begins. Then, California high school teacher Gabe Nitro makes a counterintuitive argument: the phone pouches sweeping his district may be swallowing the very instructional time they were designed to protect.WHAT YOU’LL LEARNDavid Webb built LibraryAid, a personalized book recommendation app, using vibe coding techniques with no prior computer science background, and the tool now tracks approximately 30 factors, including student interests, reading history, and classroom topics, to generate personalized reading recommendations.One student reading two grade levels below placement made three times the average reading progress after the app matched him to a book series he loved, demonstrating both the power and the limits of algorithmic recommendation.A study from the National Bureau of Economic Research found that Yondr pouches had no statistically significant impact on standardized test scores for high schoolers in English, a finding that surprised even teachers who had adopted the pouches.Gabe Nitro argues that phone pouches consume up to 49 minutes of instructional time per school day in enforcement alone, and that the real distraction problem simply shifts to Chromebooks once phones are sealed away.STORIES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE1. Vibe Coding Sparked a Love of Reading in My Classroom by David Webb2. I’m a Teacher, and I’m Against Phone Pouches by Gabe NitroSTAY CONNECTEDSubscribe to EdSurge newsletters at www.edsurge.com/newsletters Find the latest education news at edsurge.com/news.Follow EdSurge on LinkedIn, X, Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram.HOST AND CONTRIBUTORSHost: Ira Apfel, Editorial Director, EdSurgeContributors:David Webb, International school teacher, Jakarta; creator of LibraryAidGabe Nitro, High school teacher, California

Two educators are reckoning with who is really in charge: technology or the teacher. First, a teacher notices her students are quietly forming their professional knowledge on TikTok and decides to lean in rather than fight it. Then a high school engineering teacher builds an AI grading tool so efficient that it sent feedback to students without him ever reading it, and confronts what that actually means for his role in the classroom. Together, they raise urgent questions about judgment, accountability, and what teaching is really for.What You'll LearnPre-service teachers are forming their professional knowledge partly through TikTok and social media reels, including content from former teachers who left the profession, raising questions about how teacher prep programs should respond.Evi Wusk argues that the information gleaned from social media is already shaping how future teachers think, so the more productive move is to help them engage with it critically rather than dismiss or ignore it.Steven Swanson built a fully automated AI grading tool that sent feedback directly to students without his review, and after a student thanked him for words he never wrote, he rebuilt the tool to put himself back in the loop.Swanson describes specific assignment types where AI grading adds value versus where it falls short, including the risk of missing opportunities to learn who students actually are as people.Stories Mentioned in This EpisodeWhat TikTok Is Teaching Future Teachers That We Aren't by Evi WuskI Built an AI Grading Tool. Then a Student Thanked Me for Words I Didn't Write. by Steven SwansonUpcoming EventISTE+ASCD Live '26 in Orlando, FloridaStay ConnectedSubscribe to EdSurge newsletters at edsurge.comLatest education news at edsurge.com/newsFollow EdSurge on LinkedIn, X, Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, YouTubeHost & ContributorsHost: Ira Apfel, Editorial Director, EdSurgeGuests:Evi Wusk, Ed.D., teacher educator and author of What TikTok Is Teaching Future Teachers That We Aren'tSteven Swanson, high school engineering teacher and author of I Built an AI Grading Tool. Then a Student Thanked Me for Words I Didn't Write.

Schools are racing to write AI policies, but what if the policy is not the first step? This week, we hear from Aleta Margolis, founder and president of the Center for Inspired Teaching, who argues that real progress starts with a conversation, not a rule. Then EdSurge editor-in-chief Sarah McKibben brings it home with what AI actually looks like at her kitchen table, with two middle schoolers navigating it in real time.What You'll LearnA new RAND American Youth Panel survey found that only about one in three students say their school has a school-wide AI policy, and Aleta Margolis of the Center for Inspired Teaching explains why co-creating guidelines with students leads to better outcomes than top-down rule-making.A recent NPR and Ipsos poll found that 54 percent of teachers say AI is making it harder for students to learn critical thinking skills, and nearly three in four believe its impact on education will exceed that of the internet or computers.Sarah McKibben describes the mix of productive and concerning AI use she sees with her own children, including a student using an AI humanizer app to avoid plagiarism detection when submitting AI-written essays.Both guests converge on the idea of productive struggle: the concern is not AI itself but whether students are learning to think with it rather than bypassing the thinking entirely.Stories Mentioned in This EpisodeWhat to Do About AI: Begin by Talking About It by Aleta MargolisNPR / Ipsos Poll: Teachers on AI and Critical ThinkingRAND American Youth Panel: Select FindingsUpcoming EventISTE+ASCD Live '26 in Orlando, FloridaStay ConnectedSubscribe to EdSurge newsletters at edsurge.comLatest education news at edsurge.com/newsFollow EdSurge:LinkedInXFacebookTikTokInstagramYouTubeHost & ContributorsHosted by Ira Apfel, Editorial Director, EdSurgeFeaturingAleta Margolis, Founder and President, Center for Inspired TeachingSarah McKibben, Editor-in-Chief, EdSurgeStay informed, stay curious.

Schools have been quietly chipping away at recess for nearly a decade, and a sweeping new report from the American Academy of Pediatrics says it is time to stop. Meanwhile, the federal government has issued a formal advisory on screen time and children, raising urgent questions about how schools, parents, and tech companies should respond. This week, EdSurge reporters Lauren Coffey and Nadia Tamez-Robledo bring both stories together around a single urgent question: what does it look like when kids get less real-world experience and more pressure?What You'll LearnThe American Academy of Pediatrics updated its recess guidelines for the first time since 2013, expanding its recommendations to include middle and high school students.One Massachusetts high school cut chronic absenteeism from 35 percent to 23 percent in a single year after introducing movement breaks, suggesting that belonging and physical activity can drive school attendance in meaningful ways.The screen time advisory issued by HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy calls for bell-to-bell phone bans, warning labels on apps, and the elimination of recommendation algorithms for children, but researchers caution that the evidence linking screen time to negative outcomes is correlation, not proven cause and effect.Experts warn that broad phone and screen restrictions could inadvertently affect students with IEPs and disabilities who rely on assistive devices, a tension the advisory acknowledges but does not fully resolve.Stories Mentioned in This EpisodeRecess Took a Break in Some Schools. A Push Is On to Bring It Back by Lauren CoffeySurgeon General Advisory Wants Kids to Live Beyond the Confines of Screens by Nadia Tamez-RobledoStay ConnectedSubscribe to EdSurge newsletters at edsurge.comLatest education news at edsurge.com/newsFollow EdSurge:LinkedInXFacebookTikTokInstagramHost & ContributorsHosted byIra Apfel, Editorial Director, EdSurgeFeaturingLauren Coffey, Reporter, EdSurgeNadia Tamez-Robledo, Reporter, EdSurgeStay informed, stay curious.

Three-quarters of school districts now have AI guidelines, up sharply from just a year ago, yet 82 percent of teachers say they have never received formal guidance on how to use AI in their work. EdSurge reporter Lauren Coffey breaks down the 2026 CoSN State of Ed Tech report and what it reveals about AI adoption, cybersecurity gaps, and edtech vetting inside K-12 districts. Then host Ira Apfel talks with Joseph South, chief innovation officer at ISTE+ASCD, about why teachers say they feel unprepared to bring AI into their classrooms and what it would take to change that.What You'll LearnWhy AI adoption in K-12 districts jumped from 54 percent in 2025 to 75 percent this year, and why most prefer local flexibility over state or federal mandates.Why cybersecurity remains many districts' top concern even as two-thirds lack the staff and budget to address it, and what the Canvas ransomware attack reveals about the real cost of that gap.What the Gallup and Walton Family Foundation data actually shows about the teacher guidance crisis: 82 percent of teachers have received no formal AI guidance, 34 percent have received no guidance at all, and 69 percent have received no guidance specifically on using AI for one-on-one instruction or tutoring.How districts in Long Beach, Gwinnett County, and Fairfax County are building transparency-first AI frameworks, and what the Lighthouse Schools model offers as a replicable path for districts that want to move without waiting for policy from above.Stories Mentioned in This EpisodeCoSN U.S. State of EdTech 2026 Report with coverage by Lauren CoffeyTeachers Say Lack of AI Guidance Is a Major Problem from Education Week featuring Joseph South, Chief Innovation Officer, ISTE+ASCDStay ConnectedSubscribe to EdSurge newsletters at edsurge.com/newslettersGet the latest education news at edsurge.com/newsFollow EdSurgeLinkedInXFacebookTikTokInstagramYouTubeHost and ContributorsHosted by Ira Apfel: Editorial Director, JournalismFeaturingLauren Coffey: Reporter, EdSurge (public policy, early childhood education, K-12 technology)Joseph South: Chief Innovation Officer, ISTE+ASCDStay informed, stay curious.

As industries evolve and the skills gap widens, the question remains: How can we better connect education to employment? In this episode of The Idea Spark, host Carl Hooker welcomes Jennifer Wilkerson, VP of Innovations and Advancements at NCCER (National Center for Construction Education and Research), and Andy Dunaway, Product Manager, Career Connected Learning at Pearson. Together, they explore how credentialing, industry alignment, and strong partnerships help students move from the classroom to meaningful careers. Using construction as a lens, this conversation highlights scalable strategies for building career-ready pathways across CTE programs and beyond. This week's episode of The Idea Spark is brought to you by Pearson, NCCER, and the EdSurge Solutions Studio team.

Carl Hooker brings us a live podcast from the ISTE+ASCD conference in San Antonio, Texas. He connects with conference attendees, friends old and new, asking each to share a problem they're working to solve in their corner of the education world — or, as Carl puts it: “Tell me your idea spark." In this episode, Carl sits down with Heather Brantley, Events and Community Specialist at Curipod. Listen to find out how Curipod replaces an expected AI bot with a human! This episode of The Idea Spark is brought to you by EdSurge Solutions Studio.

Carl Hooker brings us a live podcast from the ISTE+ASCD conference in San Antonio, Texas. He connects with conference attendees, friends old and new, asking each to share a problem they're working to solve in their corner of the education world — or, as Carl puts it: “Tell me your idea spark." Carl sits down with Lexi Daly, Learning Innovation Coordinator and Reading Teacher at Trinity Episcopal School in New Orleans. Find out how this self-proclaimed non-coder creates her own mini-games using AI. This episode of The Idea Spark is brought to you by EdSurge Solutions Studio.

Carl Hooker brings us a live podcast from the ISTE+ASCD conference in San Antonio, Texas. He connects with conference attendees, friends old and new, asking each to share a problem they're working to solve in their corner of the education world — or, as Carl puts it: “Tell me your idea spark." Carl sits down with Victoria Andrews. She’s Partner, Professional Learning at Getting Smart. In this role, Victoria is focusing on closing the gap in AI media literacy. This episode of The Idea Spark is brought to you by EdSurge Solutions Studio.