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** Weekly Update
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A newsletter from The Hechinger Report
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In this week's edition: Artificial intelligence — AI — in many forms is transforming teaching and learning, for young children and students in college. Senior reporter Jill Barshay and three experts opine about AI's impact on education ([link removed]) . Plus, more than half of students nationwide can’t get into required courses they need, prolonging the time and cost of college ([link removed]) .
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[Credit: Allison Shelley for EDUimages]
** A researcher’s view on using AI to become a better writer
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Writing can be hard, equal parts heavy lifting and drudgery. No wonder so many students are turning to the time-saving allure of ChatGPT, which can crank out entire papers in seconds. It rescues them from procrastination jams and dreaded all-nighters, magically freeing up more time for other pursuits, like, say … doomscrolling.
Of course, no one learns to be a better writer when someone else (or some AI bot) is doing the work for them. The question is whether chatbots can morph into decent writing teachers or coaches that students actually want to consult to improve their writing, and not just use for shortcuts.
Maybe.
Jennifer Meyer, an assistant professor at the University of Vienna in Austria, has been studying how AI bots can be used to improve student writing for several years. In an interview, she explained why she is cautious about the ability of AI to make us better writers and is still testing how to use the new technology effectively.
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Early Bird Registration ends on September 12 for the largest gathering of early childhood educators in the world! Don’t miss your chance to access cutting-edge research and practical ideas ([link removed]) , and find inspiration through meaningful connections with a diverse community of peers at NAEYC’s Annual Conference.
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** Back to school with AI
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OPINION: As they face conflicting messages about AI, some advice for educators on how to use it responsibly sing AI to become a better writer ([link removed])
When used thoughtfully, AI becomes a catalyst — not a crutch — for developing the kinds of skills that matter most in today’s world.
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OPINION: AI can be a great equalizer, but it remains out of reach for millions of Americans; we cannot let that continue ([link removed]) [link removed]
The coming waves of technological change threaten to make the digital divide an unbridgeable economic chasm for our schools and communities.
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OPINION: Schools cannot teach AI literacy without a way to measure it ([link removed])
If we are going to build AI literacy into every level of learning, we must be able to answer this question.
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** Students can’t get into basic college courses, dragging out their time in school
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Ryan Arnoldy started community college with the goal of eventually transferring to a four-year university and getting a degree in chemical engineering.
Soon Arnoldy started running up against the same exasperating bottleneck faced by a majority of university and college students: Classes required for his major were often not taught during the semesters he needed them, or filled so quickly there were no seats left.
Colleges and universities manage to provide these required courses when their students need to take them only about 15 percent of the time, new research shows — a major reason fewer than half of students graduate on time, raising the amount it costs and time it takes to get degrees.
Now, with widespread layoffs and budget cuts on campuses, and as consumers are already increasingly questioning the value of a college education, the problem is expected to get worse.
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** Reading list
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A gender gap in STEM widened during the pandemic. Schools are trying to make up lost ground ([link removed])
While boys’ scores also suffered during Covid, they have recovered faster than girls, widening the gender gapWhile boys’ scores also suffered during Covid, they have recovered faster than girls, widening the gender gap
Lawsuit saves massive reading experiment ([link removed])
The Trump administration tried to kill the largest reading experiment ever funded by the U.S. Department of Education’s research arm — just months before the yearslong study was complete. The administration agreed to finish the research only after it was sued
Tracking Trump: His actions on education ([link removed])
The president is working to eliminate the Education Department and fighting ‘woke’ ideology in schools. A week-by-week look at what he’s done
Landmark free preschool program reaches too few kids ([link removed])
New Jersey has free, full-day preschool in its low-income districts. Why aren’t more families using it?
Nation’s Report Card at risk, researchers say ([link removed])
While the Trump administration has vowed to preserve NAEP, it has overseen major cuts to staff who work on it and the elimination of more than a dozen tests
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