Is the goal to complete the task… or to grow stronger? In this episode, I reflect on Rick Wormeli’s article “With A.I., Let’s Keep Students’ Learning Paramount” and what it means for educators navigating AI in classrooms. I also share updates on Common Sense Media’s free ChatGPT course, Google Classroom’s new “Grade All” feature, the CoSpaces rebrand to Delightex, and a TED Talk that might change how you view success. Vacuum metaphors, forklifts, and academic cosplay—press play!
#EduDuctTape Episode 121
0:00:00 INTRO
0:04:01 Soapbox Moment: The Forklift, the Roomba, and the Real Work of Learning
- “With A.I., Let’s Keep Students’ Learning Paramount - AMLE” by Rick Wormeli - https://www.amle.org/with-a-i-lets-keep-students-learning-paramount
- Dave Stuart, Jr. - https://davestuartjr.com
0:23:11 CommonSense Media Course: ChatGPT Foundations for K-12 Educators
- ChatGPT Foundations for K–12 Educators - https://www.commonsense.org/education/training/chatgpt-k12-foundations
0:24:32 Bulk Grading in Google Classroom
- “Introducing the ability to ‘grade all’ in Google Classroom” - https://workspaceupdates.googleblog.com/2025/01/grade-all-in-google-classroom.html
0:26:25 CoSpaces becomes Delightex
- “What's new? March 2025” - https://www.delightex.com/whats-new/whats-new-march-2025
0:29:37 TED Talk: How to Raise Successful Kids—Without Over-Parenting
- “How to Raise Successful Kids -- Without Over-Parenting | Julie Lythcott-Haims | TED” - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CyElHdaqkjo
Subscribe to Jake’s Email newsletter - https://birdsend.page/forms/5574/2YbAYVg4V8
Share your Voice on Speakpipe - https://www.speakpipe.com/EduDuctTape
Join the Conversation on Bluesky - #EduDuctTape
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Jake (00:00):
On this episode of the Educational Duct Tape Podcast, we
(00:02):
ask what's the real goal of learningand how does AI help or hurt it?
I share my thoughts on a powerful articleby Rick Wormeli plus updates on a free
ChatGPT course, a handy Google classroomgrading feature, a major CoSpaces
rebrand and an insightful TED Talk.
For educators and parents, we talkforklifts, Roombas, bonsai trees.
(00:26):
And real learning.
Let's get into it.
Welcome.
Welcome in everyone.
Welcome in.
Educators, thank youso much for being here.
Thank you so much for everythingyou do for students, and thank
you for joining us today for theEducational Duct Tape Podcast.
(00:48):
Your spot to hear about some educationaltechnology news, some education news,
some ideas for using technology to solveproblems in the classroom, which is
what Educational Duct Tape really means.
Using technology as a tool to solve.
Problems.
And also, uh, hopefully for somegiggles and smiles, you're also
here for as well as you listen.
Um, I feel like I just word saladedthat a little bit, like Yoda.
(01:11):
I apologize if that didn't make any sense.
I think, I think you get the picture.
Uh, this is episode 121 of the show.
Currently the cadence of the showis the odd numbered episodes.
I have what we call a soapboxmoment here on the show.
So that's today, um, followed by acouple of educational technology and
just general education news items.
And then in the even numbered episode,so next week and last week, in episode
(01:34):
120 and next week in episode 122,uh, we have no soapbox moment, but
we do have an interview with someawesome educator and then again.
Three or four education oreducational technology news items.
So again, today we've got a soapboxmoment that I'm really excited about,
and then some education updates thatI'm excited to share with you too.
And then hopefully you'll subscribein whatever podcast app you're in, or
(01:55):
YouTube, if that's where you're at, sothat you can make sure that you hear next
week's episode when I have, my good friendBryon Carpenter from, fresh Air at five.
You've probably heard him on the showbefore or on social media or maybe
you already listen to his podcast,on to talk about EdTech tools for
having students create visuals.
Bryon has some great ideashe shares and we have a great
conversation, a lot of fun.
(02:15):
So subscribe so that you don't miss it.
Uh, I also wanna note before we getinto it that I have, transitioned my
social media usage and communicationover completely to Bluesky.
my account is still there on thatone other platform, but I'm not
interacting or posting there.
I do check my notifications, sofeel free to reach out there.
but the main one I'm leaning into is.
Bluesky.
(02:36):
So if you have things to share from theepisode, please do, connect with me there.
although I do have stuff goingup on TikTok and Instagram reels
and things like that, but Blueskyis my major communication place.
one good way to keep up with my contentand my ideas, and the new that I share
here too, is also my newsletter, whichyou could subscribe to on my site.
JakeMiller.net.
(02:56):
I'll try to remember to putthat in the show notes too so
that you could subscribe there.
Uh, one thing you'll want to betuning into there is that at some
point in time I do hope to be sharingsome summer learning opportunities
that I'm hoping to make available.
We'll see if I pull that off or not.
but I'm hoping to do some online courses.
We'll see if I can make that happen.
If I do, uh, the newsletter willbe where you'll hear about that, so
make sure you're subscribed for that.
(03:17):
I should also note when talking aboutsummer, I do have one thing in Ohio,
but I don't have anything else, that I'mplanning on traveling to and speaking at
and doing training at, or presenting at,or consulting at or anything like that.
so I am open to that if you have anyneed, for somebody to come tell cheesy
jokes and talk about education and ai and.
Student motivation andpersonalized learning.
(03:37):
I have one awesome one in Columbusin early June that I'm excited about.
A couple other localthings, through my day job.
but I'm, I'm available.
Feel free to reach out.
Let's dive into our soapbox moment now.
(04:01):
You may have heard me mentionour family Roomba before Mr.
Belvedere, our robot vacuum.
He's kind of the best.
I'm a little obsessed with him.
My kids know that I sayhe's my favorite child.
Joking, of course.
But yeah, every few days I makea little production of picking up
stray socks and dog toys, puttingchairs on tables, that kind of stuff.
(04:22):
You know, making sure the floor is ready.
For optimal vacuuming performance.
Then a few hours later, I checked a littledust bin and marvel at how much dirt Mr.
Belvedere has collected.
Good job, Mr. Belvedere.
And inevitably I tell mywife with great pride.
I I vacuumed the bedrooms today.
It's become a little inside joke.
(04:44):
I say it with a smirk.
She rolls her eyes and we bothknow I did not vacuum anything.
Mr. Belvedere did.
But the goal was never for meto do the vacuuming, was it?
The goal was clean floors, so itdoesn't really matter who did the work.
As long as the house is clean, we're good.
Now, this reminds me of a story I heardrecently in a presentation by educator
(05:06):
and writer Dave Stuart Jr. He shared ananecdote, one he'd heard from someone
else about learning and effort, and heshared this metaphor that, I'm gonna
paraphrase slightly, but it stuck withme, so I'd like to share it with you.
He said something like, let'ssay I want to get really buff.
So I go to the gym and I bring a forklift.
(05:26):
I load a bunch of weights onto it,and then use the forklift to raise and
lower the weights over and over again.
And I sat there and theaudience on the edge of my seat
waiting for him to saythe important thing.
I was waiting for him to say.
The problem is the goalwasn't to lift the weights.
The goal was to get stronger.
(05:49):
I think Stuart was beingintentional there and letting
us fill in the blanks ourselves.
But that's the key point, isn't it?
The goal wasn't to lift theweights, and this is where Mr.
Belvedere, my little Roomba buddy thatI just told you about, comes back in.
If the goal was for me to burn caloriesor build muscle, or experience the joy of
(06:09):
vacuuming, I guess, then outsourcing itto Mr. Belvedere would've been a problem.
Because I couldn't have done those thingsif Mr. Belvedere did the vacuuming.
But if the goal is a cleancarpet, no problem at all.
Pick up the socks, press start andlet Mr. Belvedere do his thing.
The goal is a clean carpetand that achieves it.
Which brings us to what Stuartwas actually talking about, ai.
(06:35):
And this all reminds me of anamazing article that I read
recently by Rick Wormeli.
I read it twice actually.
The article is titled, with AI Let'sKeep Students Learning Paramount.
I'll be honest, while I lovedthe article, I really did.
There was one paragraphthat totally stumped me.
I read it.
I reread it.
(06:55):
I read it really slowly.
I read it while squinting my eyes, andI just could not figure out what he
was trying to say in this paragraph.
So I did what any 21st century educatorwith a digital assistant would do, right?
I opened up ChatGPT, I pasted it in and Isaid, what's Wormeli trying to say here?
(07:15):
And guess what?
It helped.
It broke it down, explained it to me.
I asked it a few clarifying questions.
It answered them clearly,and then I got it.
I understood that paragraph and how itconnected to the rest of the article.
My goal was understanding andI achieved it just like Mr.
(07:36):
Belvedere gives me clean carpets.
The AI in that situation helped me cleanup my comprehension of that article.
And it's important to note thatthe alternative to pasting that
paragraph into chatGPT, would'vebeen for me to just accept not
understanding the paragraph at all.
Going like, oh, well, whatever.
I'm just not gonna understand this.
(07:56):
Not paste it in a Belvedere.
'cause some people think thatmaybe that's cheating or something.
Don't paste it in and thenI don't understand it.
In that case, it's a no-brainer.
I should seek that AI help right now.
If I ask chatGPT to summarizethe entire article for me,
that would've been different.
I think I would've missedthe nuance in the article.
(08:17):
I would've missed thewrestle with the ideas.
I would've missed the learning, and Iwould've missed the little jokes that
Wormeli tends to put into his work.
But more importantly, I would've missedthe opportunity to think really deeply
about how AI is used in classrooms.
Because when I read that article,my goal wasn't to read the article.
(08:40):
It was to learn and to think aboutAI integration, and ultimately
to sharpen my ability and myskills to support educators.
Within this new educational landscapethat has AI in it, my goal was
to get better at supporting them.
The goal wasn't the completionof a task reading an article.
(09:00):
The goal was to get better at something,to get better at supporting educators.
The goal wasn't task completion.
The goal was growth.
My goal was mastery,not just checking a box.
So this is the part that I can'tstop thinking about in all the
discussions about AI as well asin this article from Wormeli.
(09:20):
And honestly, it's whereI feel the most fired up
in my 14 years in the classroom full-time,I did what most teachers do much of my
grading was based on whether students turnsomething in or not and when we do that,
we shouldn't be surprised when they figureout the easiest way to turn something in.
After all, we've made that the goal.
(09:40):
If the goal is to turn somethingin, they're gonna find an
easy way to turn something in.
They're aspiring to turn something in,regardless of whether that means copying
from a classmate, recycling an oldproject, or asking AI to do the work.
Some students will look forthe path of least resistance
to completion of the task.
(10:01):
It's cause and effect folks.
But when we center growth, when we centerlearning, when we say the goal isn't to
lift the weights, it's to get stronger.
When we say the goal isn't toread the article, it's to get
better at supporting educators.
That changes everything.
(10:21):
Students are likely to approach the workdifferently when they know it's meant
to build them, not just check a box.
Now, I wish I could say that I madethis shift in my own classroom and I
didn't, but now I'm in the position tohelp others, including you, make that
shift to help educators rethink whatthey measure, how they motivate learners,
(10:45):
and why they assign what they assign.
Along this line of thinking, one of themost compelling ideas in Wormeli's article
is this concept of academic cosplay.
Now, cosplay, if you're unfamiliar,is shirt for costume play.
It's when fans dress up as charactersfrom anime or comics or games or movies.
(11:06):
But Wormeli is not talking about showingup to class dressed like Miss Frizzle.
Or Mr. Feeney, or Mrs. Krabapple orProfessor Dumbledore, he's talking
about students and teachers too,going through the motions of learning
without actually doing the thinking.
He's talking about dressing up aslearners and thinkers with minimal
(11:28):
learning and thinking taking place.
And this isn't just true whenwe use AI to do tasks for us.
This happens all the times in classrooms.
Honestly, guilty is charged
a lot of what I did as a student,and even more embarrassingly, a lot
of what I had my students do wasacademic cosplay, and this was before
(11:49):
AI in 1996 when I was in high school.
I earned extra credit in history classby finding articles about historical
events online and rewriting themin my own words, academic cosplay.
In 2005.
As a math teacher, I'm certainthat students were copying homework
from each other, academic cosplay.
(12:09):
In 2011, my science studentsprobably swapped review sheets
and filled in the answers cosplay.
In 2013, my STEM students clicked remix onscratch projects, changed a few features,
so it looked different and turned themin as their own academic cosplay in 2021.
My CAD students, computer aided design,they had classmates build SketchUp
(12:32):
models for them, and they submittedscreenshots as if they'd done the work.
Still academic cosplay.
The pattern here is clear and it's one.
Wormeli has been spotlighting foryears, especially in his book.
Fair isn't always equal when we makethe goal, the completion of a task,
turning in the homework, submittingthe project, checking the box.
(12:55):
We shouldn't be surprised when studentsfind the fastest path to that goal.
And this isn't just anecdotal researchon performance oriented goals.
One thing that I'm really fascinatedabout is performance and mastery oriented
goals and research on performanceoriented goals tells us the same thing.
If the goal is performance, completinga task, getting a grade so on, some
(13:20):
students will pursue it by any meansnecessary, even if that means cutting
corners, copying or outsourcingthe thinking to AI altogether.
If the goal is just to wear thecostume, some kids will wear the
costume and if that's the goalthat we put in front of them.
We can't be shocked when studentscome to school dressed as learners.
(13:44):
But if the goal is to learn the math,to understand the science, to design the
game, to think like a civil engineer.
Well then it's a littledifferent, isn't it?
Is the goal to lift theweights or to get stronger?
So mastery oriented goals likegetting stronger are when we're
(14:07):
getting better at something seekingmastery of something, right?
Those yield different resultsthan performance oriented
goals, like lifting the weights.
The goal is not completing the worksheet.
The goal is learning.
Now, I don't want to be unrealistic here.
Okay.
Kids are kids.
(14:27):
Teenagers are teenagers and growingup today in the age of cell phones and
Snapchat and TikTok and viral memes, thatcreates challenges that can't, uh, be
overcome, let's say, by simply changingthe orientation of the goals and the tasks
that we put in front of our learners.
That alone can't remedy what ourworld is like for kids nowadays, but
(14:53):
it's a step in the right direction.
Because when learners allow AI to do thethinking for them, it changes everything.
It changes the trajectoryof their learning.
It shifts how they grow, how theylearn, how they see themselves,
and how they think about ai.
(15:14):
Now, uh, I'm gonna take alittle unplanned tangent here.
So the Wormeli article shareda quote that really hit me.
Hold on, lemme find it.
Here it's, so this quote, it mademe deeply process the fact that the
use of AI to outsource thinking.
(15:35):
It doesn't just hurt the students,it hurts the educators too.
So Belvedere pointed this out byquoting college instructor and writer
Eric Ofgang's piece called Five ThingsAbout Using AI for Writing that I
wish Enthusiasts would remember.
I haven't read the whole article yet.
I've read these quotes.
Quotes are great.
I should probably go readthe whole article now.
(15:55):
But Ofgang said, I regularly have theunsettling experience of suspecting
human generated writing was actuallymachine written until it happens to you.
It can be difficult to fully grasp howunsettling and demoralizing it is to come
across AI generated work in your classes.
When you suspect a paper is AI generatedbut can't prove it, you have to spend time
(16:20):
grading inauthentic work and pretendingthis feedback matters to the student.
AI submissions can also infect awhole batch of papers making you
wonder unfairly about ones thatwere actually generated by humans.
It's a new kind of stress that justwasn't a part of the job a year ago.
(16:40):
Ooh huh.
That's, that's tough.
That's not just about academicintegrity or academic honesty
or pedagogy or learning.
That's about emotional exhaustion.
This is what it feels like to bea teacher doing the work, reading,
student writing, offering thoughtfulfeedback on that writing and
(17:04):
realizing this might not even be real.
And if it's not real, does anyof that feedback even matter?
Wow, that's not justfrustrating, that's demoralizing.
It's draining, and it undermines one ofthe most meaningful parts of teaching.
The relationship that happensthrough feedback within the learning
(17:29):
journey that good teachers areriding on alongside their students.
So Wormeli also pointed out howOfgang discussed the importance
of writing as a tool for thinkingand a tool for communication, which
is something that Adam Sparks andI discussed in a previous episode.
Writing isn't just a way to show learning.
It is learning.
(17:50):
It's how we make sense of the worldand how we connect to one another.
And that matters,especially in middle school.
Now that came up 'cause this articlewas an AMLE, the Association of
Middle Level Educators, I think it is.
So he is talking about what happenswhen AI impacts middle school learning
and he dives into some brain science.
(18:11):
Now let me, let me point out here, someof the brain science in the article
kind of made my eyes glaze over.
I'm sorry, Mr. Wormeli,if you're hearing this.
Excuse me.
I'm sorry.
Um, that's actually where I neededto paste a paragraph in the chat.
GPT.
'cause I was like, what?
What is he saying here?
What's this brain science telling me?
Um, but there was one line in particularthat I want to zero in on that he shared.
(18:34):
He said, in fact, middle school studentsare unusually open to learning challenges
and creativity, functionally cravingrobust active engagement with the world.
And yes, with topics we teachin middle school, that's it.
That's like an invitation.
(18:55):
They crave challenge cognitively.
Creatively.
Their brains crave it even when theydon't show it because they're kids.
Even when they roll their eyes,even middle schoolers brains
crave challenging thinking.
Now, some of you are raising your handand saying, not the middle schoolers.
(19:16):
I teach and I get it.
The apathy struggle is real.
Most of my classroom yearswere with eighth graders.
I know apathy runs rampant in thoseclassrooms, and in some cases, no matter
how much we do, it is nearly impossibleto motivate a subset of our students.
Hopefully it's just a smallhandful, but if we don't try.
(19:40):
It's inevitable that they'lloutsource their thinking to ai,
uh, along with other things, right?
And the shift that needs tohappen is focusing on growth and
learning, focusing on mastery.
And as I mentioned earlier, masteryoriented goals, giving our learners
some autonomy and some choice, andhelping them see that we're trying
(20:04):
to help them get stronger, notjust lift the weights up and down.
But before I wrap up some real talk,if you read the article, which I
recommend you do, 'cause Wormelidoes a fantastic job in it, you'll
likely agree with me on this point.
Some of Wormeli's suggestions feela little utopian, like when he says
(20:24):
that teachers should grade everythingthemselves rather than using ai or
when he says that teachers should notrely on AI to draft feedback or plan
lessons or support differentiation.
Sure.
In a perfect world, listen,I agree with him in the terms
of impact and best practices.
Yes, quality teacher generatedfeedback and design are better than
(20:48):
having it done by ai, but in practice.
Teachers are overwhelmed and havefinite amounts of time to do their work.
And if the alternative is not doing someof those things at all or doing less of
them because there's no time or capacity,then yeah, AI might be the better move.
(21:08):
So while I agree, a little utopian there,because in the end it all comes back
to the goal, what's the actual goal?
For our learners, if it's just aboutsubmitting something, any something ai,
it's like a perfect forklift, right?
But if the goal is to think deeply orbuild skills or get smarter or grow
(21:31):
stronger or get better at something,that's work the student needs to
do, and that's the spot the Wormeliand I most certainly agree on there.
And the same is true forwhat the teachers are doing.
What's the actual goal?
Sometimes it's essential for usto do the work, and other times I
think it's okay for AI to help, butwe have to think about that first.
(21:54):
What's the actual goal?
Back to that idea ofacademic cosplay earlier.
Is AI letting us dress up asan educator or is it helping
us be an even better educator?
Is AI letting our studentsdress up as learners, or is it
helping them learn more deeply?
(22:14):
I think sometimes it does one andsometimes it does the other, and
we have to think about it eachand every time we lean on it.
Just like having Mr. Belvedere domy vacuuming, sometimes it helps
accomplish more and do better, butjust like having a forklift lift the
weights, sometimes it robs us of theactual growth that was the goal, so.
(22:35):
What's the actual goal?
Before we jump into today's edition ofEdTech and Education News and updates,
a quick reminder if something in today'ssegment makes you go, Ooh, I need to
try that, or, eh, not for me, or, yeah,but I've got a better option for that.
(22:55):
I don't mean to mockyou with those voices.
I really am interested.
If you have one of those threethoughts, just let me know.
I'd love to hear your insights post onBluesky using #EduDuctTape or leave a
message at speakpipe.com/eduDuctTape.
You might just hearyour voice in the show.
So first up, AI isn't going away as wejust talked about, so let's lean in.
(23:16):
Common Sense Media.
Yep.
The same folks who we usually turn toto decide if that Adam Sandler movie is
really okay for our 11-year-old CommonSense Media is stepping up their ed tech
game with a free course titled ChatGPTFoundations for K through 12 educators.
It looks like a beginner friendlycourse that you may want to share
(23:37):
with the AI newbies in your school.
So my impression is that it won't beintimidating or overwhelming and will
break down what AI and generativetools like Chat GPT actually are.
It says it covers things likehow chat GPT thinks well.
Thinks in air quotes, because it'snot actually thinking, but I digress.
(23:58):
Real teaching use cases to helpyou work smarter, not harder.
And third, how to use AI tools safelyand purposefully in school settings.
Seems like a really solid optionto build confidence and fill in
those early knowledge gaps with ai.
So I would consider recommendingit to the folks around you.
I have not taken the course, but if youhave, or if a colleague of yours tries
(24:21):
it out, I'd love to hear your take.
Should we be recommendingthis to our colleagues?
Uh, let me know.
On Bluesky with #EduDuctTape orat SpeakPipe.com/EduDuctTape.
Next up, bulk grading just got real.
Okay.
This one's been out for a couplemonths, but if you missed the
(24:41):
memo or just didn't notice it yet,you'll want to check this out.
So Google Classroom added somethingthat I've been waiting for since
back when Lil Nas X was toppingthe charts with Old Town Road.
A new grade all feature in the gradebook, in Google Classroom and yep,
it's exactly what it sounds like.
And just as easy as it sounds,you can now assign the same
(25:04):
grade to every student at once.
So if you're grading something quick andbinary, like either yes or no, like maybe
an exit ticket or a warmup or a, did youactually turn this in kind of assignment.
You no longer have to clickthrough every single student
submission, just head to grade book.
Click the three dot menu on an assignmentand choose grade all from there.
(25:25):
You can punch in a bulk grade like zeros,one hundreds, whatever, uh, override
any existing grades if you want to,and even return them all automatically.
Now, earlier in this episode, I mentionedthat grading based on completion.
Isn't what I'd consider a best practice.
So keep that little nugget in mindwhen you go to use this, but still
this can definitely save time.
(25:47):
For example, if you're assessingwhether students have mastered a skill
and all but two have nailed it, thislets you give most students full
credit in one go, and they just tweakthose few who need a different score.
Efficiency for the win for sure.
No, it's not gonna change your life,I don't think it is at least, but it
might buy you a few extra minutes maybeto do the wordle or take a bathroom
(26:08):
break, or maybe just take a deep breath.
Let me know how you're using that.
Bonus time on Bluesky with #EduDuctTape.
Or drop me a message atspeakpipe.com/eduDucTtape.
I am genuinely curious if you'vesaved a few minutes with us,
how are you using those minutes?
Next up, a tool that's familiar tomany of you just got a fresh new
(26:30):
name and some fun new features too.
So if you've ever looked into givingstudents a chance to create their own VR
or AR experiences you've likely heard of.
CoSpaces, a platform where kids canbuild 3D worlds and program interactions
within them using block-based code.
And if you've haven't heard of it, well,it's probably the biggest name in virtual
(26:53):
and augmented reality for schools.
but here's the catch.
You just heard of it inTime to Learn Its new name.
You learned about CoSpaces and nowit's no longer called CoSpaces.
It just got rebranded as Delightex.
The name change comes with a freshlook, but it looks like there's more
going on than just a logo Update.
A recent blog post highlights a bunchof new features worth knowing about.
(27:17):
First up.
The gallery.
So they've revamped it so it's easierto explore student created projects.
You can now filter them by subject orgrade level or coding language or even
the type of project, and teachers canalso tag their projects, which makes
finding some inspiration or even yourown work, uh, a whole lot easier.
Next, they made login simpler.
(27:38):
Uh, so Delightex nowworks with ClassLink SSO.
That means single sign-on.
So if your district uses ClassLink, students and teachers
can get into Delightex.
Again, formally CoSpaces withjust one click, no juggling
usernames, no forgotten passwords.
Just click and go.
One of the flashier updatesis Skybox AI integration.
I had not heard of Skybox ai.
(28:00):
Uh, it's a partnership with a tool calledBlockade Labs that lets you, or more
importantly, your learners generate 360degree environments from text prompts.
That is wild.
So a student could type something like.
Alien planet with floating islandsand boom, instant immersive backdrop.
AI is over here, blowing my mind again.
(28:21):
It's crazy.
Uh, and then there's the Objaverse.
There are over 43,000 objects.
Get it objects, Objaverse,stretch on that name there.
Anyway, students can search and dragmodels straight into their projects.
We're talking cartoon characters,cars, a dancing cat, whatever
fuels the creativity for them.
(28:42):
It's free for everyone right now, butwill eventually be a pro only feature.
And finally, speaking of proonly features, there's the
teacher's collections option.
This lets you organize projectsinto folders, share and edit things
collaboratively, and even accessa version history perfect for
co-planning or updating older projectswithout starting from scratch.
(29:04):
So while I haven't used CoSpaces,and I don't currently use
Delightex, I know some of you do.
Or maybe you've got a colleaguewho does, or a colleague who's been
looking for a creative way to mixcoding and 3D design and storytelling.
Does that sound awesome?
Anyhow, if that's you or your colleagueor if your students are already
creating this space, I'd love to hearyour thoughts on the new features.
(29:24):
Um, are they as awesome as they sound?
Which ones have you tried?
Which one's your favorite?
Let me know over on Bluesky with#EduDuctTape, or send me a quick
message at speakpipe.com/EduDuctTape.
And finally, today's non ed tech nuggetis not new, but it hit me like it was.
So I stumbled across a TED Talkrecently that I had somehow missed,
(29:48):
and honestly, it should be requiredviewing for all educators and parents.
It's called How to Raise SuccessfulKids Without Over Parenting and
it's by Julie Lythcott-Haims.
I apologize if I pronouncedher last name right.
I don't think they say it atthe beginning of the Ted Talk.
Anyhow, Julie is a former dean of freshmenat Stanford, so she's seen firsthand
what happens when kids arrive at college,overly managed and under prepared.
(30:12):
And in this talk, she calls outthe culture of micromanagement and
overachievement and tying success tothings like grades and test scores.
And she makes a. Beautifulcase for stepping back and
showing kids unconditional love.
Instead, there's one linethat completely floored me.
I realized that my kidsaren't bonsai trees.
(30:35):
They're wild flowers ofunknown genus and species.
I mean, come on.
That metaphor alone is worth the watch.
Uh, Julie mixes warmth and insightand humor so well, and while the talk
is aimed at parents, it resonatesdeeply with educators, especially
those of us trying to balance rigor,care, and autonomy in the classroom.
(30:56):
If you've already seenit what stuck with you?
And if you haven't I, I dorecommend carving out that 15
minutes or so to give it a watch.
Then tell me what was your favorite quote?
Head over to Bluesky using #EduDuctTape.
Or drop me a message atSpeakpipe.com/EduDuctTape.
I really would love to hear your take.
Okay.
That is it for this round of EdTechand education news and updates.
(31:18):
Got thoughts on any of today's topics oron today's soapbox episode, is there a
tool you're using differently or somethingyou'd add in to what I shared today, or
something I should have included, or analternative that you think is a better
option, or do you have some takeaways fromtoday's soapbox moment you want to share?
Hit me up on social media again.
I prefer #EduDuctTape on Blueskyor on the SpeakPipe page.
(31:41):
I love hearing how you're usingthese updates and your thoughts
from the soapbox moment as well.
Thank you for tuning in.
Thank you for being here today.
Thank you for everything that youdo for your learners, and I will
see you kind of, I mean, I'll be inyour eardrums about a week from now.
I hope you're here.
Bye.
(32:44):
But here's the catch.
If you just heard of it from.
But here's the catch.
You just heard of it just in Time
On this episode of the Educational Duct Tape Podcast, we
(00:02):
ask what's the real goal of learningand how does AI help or hurt it?
I share my thoughts on a powerful articleby Rick Wormeli plus updates on a free
ChatGPT course, a handy Google classroomgrading feature, a major CoSpaces
rebrand and an insightful TED Talk.
For educators and parents, we talkforklifts, Roombas, bonsai trees.
(00:26):
And real learning.
Let's get into it.
Welcome.
Welcome in everyone.
Welcome in.
Educators, thank youso much for being here.
Thank you so much for everythingyou do for students, and thank
you for joining us today for theEducational Duct Tape Podcast.
(00:48):
Your spot to hear about some educationaltechnology news, some education news,
some ideas for using technology to solveproblems in the classroom, which is
what Educational Duct Tape really means.
Using technology as a tool to solve.
Problems.
And also, uh, hopefully for somegiggles and smiles, you're also
here for as well as you listen.
Um, I feel like I just word saladedthat a little bit, like Yoda.
(01:11):
I apologize if that didn't make any sense.
I think, I think you get the picture.
Uh, this is episode 121 of the show.
Currently the cadence of the showis the odd numbered episodes.
I have what we call a soapboxmoment here on the show.
So that's today, um, followed by acouple of educational technology and
just general education news items.
And then in the even numbered episode,so next week and last week, in episode
(01:34):
120 and next week in episode 122,uh, we have no soapbox moment, but
we do have an interview with someawesome educator and then again.
Three or four education oreducational technology news items.
So again, today we've got a soapboxmoment that I'm really excited about,
and then some education updates thatI'm excited to share with you too.
And then hopefully you'll subscribein whatever podcast app you're in, or
(01:55):
YouTube, if that's where you're at, sothat you can make sure that you hear next
week's episode when I have, my good friendBryon Carpenter from, fresh Air at five.
You've probably heard him on the showbefore or on social media or maybe
you already listen to his podcast,on to talk about EdTech tools for
having students create visuals.
Bryon has some great ideashe shares and we have a great
conversation, a lot of fun.
(02:15):
So subscribe so that you don't miss it.
Uh, I also wanna note before we getinto it that I have, transitioned my
social media usage and communicationover completely to Bluesky.
my account is still there on thatone other platform, but I'm not
interacting or posting there.
I do check my notifications, sofeel free to reach out there.
but the main one I'm leaning into is.
Bluesky.
(02:36):
So if you have things to share from theepisode, please do, connect with me there.
although I do have stuff goingup on TikTok and Instagram reels
and things like that, but Blueskyis my major communication place.
one good way to keep up with my contentand my ideas, and the new that I share
here too, is also my newsletter, whichyou could subscribe to on my site.
JakeMiller.net.
(02:56):
I'll try to remember to putthat in the show notes too so
that you could subscribe there.
Uh, one thing you'll want to betuning into there is that at some
point in time I do hope to be sharingsome summer learning opportunities
that I'm hoping to make available.
We'll see if I pull that off or not.
but I'm hoping to do some online courses.
We'll see if I can make that happen.
If I do, uh, the newsletter willbe where you'll hear about that, so
make sure you're subscribed for that.
(03:17):
I should also note when talking aboutsummer, I do have one thing in Ohio,
but I don't have anything else, that I'mplanning on traveling to and speaking at
and doing training at, or presenting at,or consulting at or anything like that.
so I am open to that if you have anyneed, for somebody to come tell cheesy
jokes and talk about education and ai and.
Student motivation andpersonalized learning.
(03:37):
I have one awesome one in Columbusin early June that I'm excited about.
A couple other localthings, through my day job.
but I'm, I'm available.
Feel free to reach out.
Let's dive into our soapbox moment now.
(04:01):
You may have heard me mentionour family Roomba before Mr.
Belvedere, our robot vacuum.
He's kind of the best.
I'm a little obsessed with him.
My kids know that I sayhe's my favorite child.
Joking, of course.
But yeah, every few days I makea little production of picking up
stray socks and dog toys, puttingchairs on tables, that kind of stuff.
(04:22):
You know, making sure the floor is ready.
For optimal vacuuming performance.
Then a few hours later, I checked a littledust bin and marvel at how much dirt Mr.
Belvedere has collected.
Good job, Mr. Belvedere.
And inevitably I tell mywife with great pride.
I I vacuumed the bedrooms today.
It's become a little inside joke.
(04:44):
I say it with a smirk.
She rolls her eyes and we bothknow I did not vacuum anything.
Mr. Belvedere did.
But the goal was never for meto do the vacuuming, was it?
The goal was clean floors, so itdoesn't really matter who did the work.
As long as the house is clean, we're good.
Now, this reminds me of a story I heardrecently in a presentation by educator
(05:06):
and writer Dave Stuart Jr. He shared ananecdote, one he'd heard from someone
else about learning and effort, and heshared this metaphor that, I'm gonna
paraphrase slightly, but it stuck withme, so I'd like to share it with you.
He said something like, let'ssay I want to get really buff.
So I go to the gym and I bring a forklift.
(05:26):
I load a bunch of weights onto it,and then use the forklift to raise and
lower the weights over and over again.
And I sat there and theaudience on the edge of my seat
waiting for him to saythe important thing.
I was waiting for him to say.
The problem is the goalwasn't to lift the weights.
The goal was to get stronger.
(05:49):
I think Stuart was beingintentional there and letting
us fill in the blanks ourselves.
But that's the key point, isn't it?
The goal wasn't to lift theweights, and this is where Mr.
Belvedere, my little Roomba buddy thatI just told you about, comes back in.
If the goal was for me to burn caloriesor build muscle, or experience the joy of
(06:09):
vacuuming, I guess, then outsourcing itto Mr. Belvedere would've been a problem.
Because I couldn't have done those thingsif Mr. Belvedere did the vacuuming.
But if the goal is a cleancarpet, no problem at all.
Pick up the socks, press start andlet Mr. Belvedere do his thing.
The goal is a clean carpetand that achieves it.
Which brings us to what Stuartwas actually talking about, ai.
(06:35):
And this all reminds me of anamazing article that I read
recently by Rick Wormeli.
I read it twice actually.
The article is titled, with AI Let'sKeep Students Learning Paramount.
I'll be honest, while I lovedthe article, I really did.
There was one paragraphthat totally stumped me.
I read it.
I reread it.
(06:55):
I read it really slowly.
I read it while squinting my eyes, andI just could not figure out what he
was trying to say in this paragraph.
So I did what any 21st century educatorwith a digital assistant would do, right?
I opened up ChatGPT, I pasted it in and Isaid, what's Wormeli trying to say here?
(07:15):
And guess what?
It helped.
It broke it down, explained it to me.
I asked it a few clarifying questions.
It answered them clearly,and then I got it.
I understood that paragraph and how itconnected to the rest of the article.
My goal was understanding andI achieved it just like Mr.
(07:36):
Belvedere gives me clean carpets.
The AI in that situation helped me cleanup my comprehension of that article.
And it's important to note thatthe alternative to pasting that
paragraph into chatGPT, would'vebeen for me to just accept not
understanding the paragraph at all.
Going like, oh, well, whatever.
I'm just not gonna understand this.
(07:56):
Not paste it in a Belvedere.
'cause some people think thatmaybe that's cheating or something.
Don't paste it in and thenI don't understand it.
In that case, it's a no-brainer.
I should seek that AI help right now.
If I ask chatGPT to summarizethe entire article for me,
that would've been different.
I think I would've missedthe nuance in the article.
(08:17):
I would've missed thewrestle with the ideas.
I would've missed the learning, and Iwould've missed the little jokes that
Wormeli tends to put into his work.
But more importantly, I would've missedthe opportunity to think really deeply
about how AI is used in classrooms.
Because when I read that article,my goal wasn't to read the article.
(08:40):
It was to learn and to think aboutAI integration, and ultimately
to sharpen my ability and myskills to support educators.
Within this new educational landscapethat has AI in it, my goal was
to get better at supporting them.
The goal wasn't the completionof a task reading an article.
(09:00):
The goal was to get better at something,to get better at supporting educators.
The goal wasn't task completion.
The goal was growth.
My goal was mastery,not just checking a box.
So this is the part that I can'tstop thinking about in all the
discussions about AI as well asin this article from Wormeli.
(09:20):
And honestly, it's whereI feel the most fired up
in my 14 years in the classroom full-time,I did what most teachers do much of my
grading was based on whether students turnsomething in or not and when we do that,
we shouldn't be surprised when they figureout the easiest way to turn something in.
After all, we've made that the goal.
(09:40):
If the goal is to turn somethingin, they're gonna find an
easy way to turn something in.
They're aspiring to turn something in,regardless of whether that means copying
from a classmate, recycling an oldproject, or asking AI to do the work.
Some students will look forthe path of least resistance
to completion of the task.
(10:01):
It's cause and effect folks.
But when we center growth, when we centerlearning, when we say the goal isn't to
lift the weights, it's to get stronger.
When we say the goal isn't toread the article, it's to get
better at supporting educators.
That changes everything.
(10:21):
Students are likely to approach the workdifferently when they know it's meant
to build them, not just check a box.
Now, I wish I could say that I madethis shift in my own classroom and I
didn't, but now I'm in the position tohelp others, including you, make that
shift to help educators rethink whatthey measure, how they motivate learners,
(10:45):
and why they assign what they assign.
Along this line of thinking, one of themost compelling ideas in Wormeli's article
is this concept of academic cosplay.
Now, cosplay, if you're unfamiliar,is shirt for costume play.
It's when fans dress up as charactersfrom anime or comics or games or movies.
(11:06):
But Wormeli is not talking about showingup to class dressed like Miss Frizzle.
Or Mr. Feeney, or Mrs. Krabapple orProfessor Dumbledore, he's talking
about students and teachers too,going through the motions of learning
without actually doing the thinking.
He's talking about dressing up aslearners and thinkers with minimal
(11:28):
learning and thinking taking place.
And this isn't just true whenwe use AI to do tasks for us.
This happens all the times in classrooms.
Honestly, guilty is charged
a lot of what I did as a student,and even more embarrassingly, a lot
of what I had my students do wasacademic cosplay, and this was before
(11:49):
AI in 1996 when I was in high school.
I earned extra credit in history classby finding articles about historical
events online and rewriting themin my own words, academic cosplay.
In 2005.
As a math teacher, I'm certainthat students were copying homework
from each other, academic cosplay.
(12:09):
In 2011, my science studentsprobably swapped review sheets
and filled in the answers cosplay.
In 2013, my STEM students clicked remix onscratch projects, changed a few features,
so it looked different and turned themin as their own academic cosplay in 2021.
My CAD students, computer aided design,they had classmates build SketchUp
(12:32):
models for them, and they submittedscreenshots as if they'd done the work.
Still academic cosplay.
The pattern here is clear and it's one.
Wormeli has been spotlighting foryears, especially in his book.
Fair isn't always equal when we makethe goal, the completion of a task,
turning in the homework, submittingthe project, checking the box.
(12:55):
We shouldn't be surprised when studentsfind the fastest path to that goal.
And this isn't just anecdotal researchon performance oriented goals.
One thing that I'm really fascinatedabout is performance and mastery oriented
goals and research on performanceoriented goals tells us the same thing.
If the goal is performance, completinga task, getting a grade so on, some
(13:20):
students will pursue it by any meansnecessary, even if that means cutting
corners, copying or outsourcingthe thinking to AI altogether.
If the goal is just to wear thecostume, some kids will wear the
costume and if that's the goalthat we put in front of them.
We can't be shocked when studentscome to school dressed as learners.
(13:44):
But if the goal is to learn the math,to understand the science, to design the
game, to think like a civil engineer.
Well then it's a littledifferent, isn't it?
Is the goal to lift theweights or to get stronger?
So mastery oriented goals likegetting stronger are when we're
(14:07):
getting better at something seekingmastery of something, right?
Those yield different resultsthan performance oriented
goals, like lifting the weights.
The goal is not completing the worksheet.
The goal is learning.
Now, I don't want to be unrealistic here.
Okay.
Kids are kids.
(14:27):
Teenagers are teenagers and growingup today in the age of cell phones and
Snapchat and TikTok and viral memes, thatcreates challenges that can't, uh, be
overcome, let's say, by simply changingthe orientation of the goals and the tasks
that we put in front of our learners.
That alone can't remedy what ourworld is like for kids nowadays, but
(14:53):
it's a step in the right direction.
Because when learners allow AI to do thethinking for them, it changes everything.
It changes the trajectoryof their learning.
It shifts how they grow, how theylearn, how they see themselves,
and how they think about ai.
(15:14):
Now, uh, I'm gonna take alittle unplanned tangent here.
So the Wormeli article shareda quote that really hit me.
Hold on, lemme find it.
Here it's, so this quote, it mademe deeply process the fact that the
use of AI to outsource thinking.
(15:35):
It doesn't just hurt the students,it hurts the educators too.
So Belvedere pointed this out byquoting college instructor and writer
Eric Ofgang's piece called Five ThingsAbout Using AI for Writing that I
wish Enthusiasts would remember.
I haven't read the whole article yet.
I've read these quotes.
Quotes are great.
I should probably go readthe whole article now.
(15:55):
But Ofgang said, I regularly have theunsettling experience of suspecting
human generated writing was actuallymachine written until it happens to you.
It can be difficult to fully grasp howunsettling and demoralizing it is to come
across AI generated work in your classes.
When you suspect a paper is AI generatedbut can't prove it, you have to spend time
(16:20):
grading inauthentic work and pretendingthis feedback matters to the student.
AI submissions can also infect awhole batch of papers making you
wonder unfairly about ones thatwere actually generated by humans.
It's a new kind of stress that justwasn't a part of the job a year ago.
(16:40):
Ooh huh.
That's, that's tough.
That's not just about academicintegrity or academic honesty
or pedagogy or learning.
That's about emotional exhaustion.
This is what it feels like to bea teacher doing the work, reading,
student writing, offering thoughtfulfeedback on that writing and
(17:04):
realizing this might not even be real.
And if it's not real, does anyof that feedback even matter?
Wow, that's not justfrustrating, that's demoralizing.
It's draining, and it undermines one ofthe most meaningful parts of teaching.
The relationship that happensthrough feedback within the learning
(17:29):
journey that good teachers areriding on alongside their students.
So Wormeli also pointed out howOfgang discussed the importance
of writing as a tool for thinkingand a tool for communication, which
is something that Adam Sparks andI discussed in a previous episode.
Writing isn't just a way to show learning.
It is learning.
(17:50):
It's how we make sense of the worldand how we connect to one another.
And that matters,especially in middle school.
Now that came up 'cause this articlewas an AMLE, the Association of
Middle Level Educators, I think it is.
So he is talking about what happenswhen AI impacts middle school learning
and he dives into some brain science.
(18:11):
Now let me, let me point out here, someof the brain science in the article
kind of made my eyes glaze over.
I'm sorry, Mr. Wormeli,if you're hearing this.
Excuse me.
I'm sorry.
Um, that's actually where I neededto paste a paragraph in the chat.
GPT.
'cause I was like, what?
What is he saying here?
What's this brain science telling me?
Um, but there was one line in particularthat I want to zero in on that he shared.
(18:34):
He said, in fact, middle school studentsare unusually open to learning challenges
and creativity, functionally cravingrobust active engagement with the world.
And yes, with topics we teachin middle school, that's it.
That's like an invitation.
(18:55):
They crave challenge cognitively.
Creatively.
Their brains crave it even when theydon't show it because they're kids.
Even when they roll their eyes,even middle schoolers brains
crave challenging thinking.
Now, some of you are raising your handand saying, not the middle schoolers.
(19:16):
I teach and I get it.
The apathy struggle is real.
Most of my classroom yearswere with eighth graders.
I know apathy runs rampant in thoseclassrooms, and in some cases, no matter
how much we do, it is nearly impossibleto motivate a subset of our students.
Hopefully it's just a smallhandful, but if we don't try.
(19:40):
It's inevitable that they'lloutsource their thinking to ai,
uh, along with other things, right?
And the shift that needs tohappen is focusing on growth and
learning, focusing on mastery.
And as I mentioned earlier, masteryoriented goals, giving our learners
some autonomy and some choice, andhelping them see that we're trying
(20:04):
to help them get stronger, notjust lift the weights up and down.
But before I wrap up some real talk,if you read the article, which I
recommend you do, 'cause Wormelidoes a fantastic job in it, you'll
likely agree with me on this point.
Some of Wormeli's suggestions feela little utopian, like when he says
(20:24):
that teachers should grade everythingthemselves rather than using ai or
when he says that teachers should notrely on AI to draft feedback or plan
lessons or support differentiation.
Sure.
In a perfect world, listen,I agree with him in the terms
of impact and best practices.
Yes, quality teacher generatedfeedback and design are better than
(20:48):
having it done by ai, but in practice.
Teachers are overwhelmed and havefinite amounts of time to do their work.
And if the alternative is not doing someof those things at all or doing less of
them because there's no time or capacity,then yeah, AI might be the better move.
(21:08):
So while I agree, a little utopian there,because in the end it all comes back
to the goal, what's the actual goal?
For our learners, if it's just aboutsubmitting something, any something ai,
it's like a perfect forklift, right?
But if the goal is to think deeply orbuild skills or get smarter or grow
(21:31):
stronger or get better at something,that's work the student needs to
do, and that's the spot the Wormeliand I most certainly agree on there.
And the same is true forwhat the teachers are doing.
What's the actual goal?
Sometimes it's essential for usto do the work, and other times I
think it's okay for AI to help, butwe have to think about that first.
(21:54):
What's the actual goal?
Back to that idea ofacademic cosplay earlier.
Is AI letting us dress up asan educator or is it helping
us be an even better educator?
Is AI letting our studentsdress up as learners, or is it
helping them learn more deeply?
(22:14):
I think sometimes it does one andsometimes it does the other, and
we have to think about it eachand every time we lean on it.
Just like having Mr. Belvedere domy vacuuming, sometimes it helps
accomplish more and do better, butjust like having a forklift lift the
weights, sometimes it robs us of theactual growth that was the goal, so.
(22:35):
What's the actual goal?
Before we jump into today's edition ofEdTech and Education News and updates,
a quick reminder if something in today'ssegment makes you go, Ooh, I need to
try that, or, eh, not for me, or, yeah,but I've got a better option for that.
(22:55):
I don't mean to mockyou with those voices.
I really am interested.
If you have one of those threethoughts, just let me know.
I'd love to hear your insights post onBluesky using #EduDuctTape or leave a
message at speakpipe.com/eduDuctTape.
You might just hearyour voice in the show.
So first up, AI isn't going away as wejust talked about, so let's lean in.
(23:16):
Common Sense Media.
Yep.
The same folks who we usually turn toto decide if that Adam Sandler movie is
really okay for our 11-year-old CommonSense Media is stepping up their ed tech
game with a free course titled ChatGPTFoundations for K through 12 educators.
It looks like a beginner friendlycourse that you may want to share
(23:37):
with the AI newbies in your school.
So my impression is that it won't beintimidating or overwhelming and will
break down what AI and generativetools like Chat GPT actually are.
It says it covers things likehow chat GPT thinks well.
Thinks in air quotes, because it'snot actually thinking, but I digress.
(23:58):
Real teaching use cases to helpyou work smarter, not harder.
And third, how to use AI tools safelyand purposefully in school settings.
Seems like a really solid optionto build confidence and fill in
those early knowledge gaps with ai.
So I would consider recommendingit to the folks around you.
I have not taken the course, but if youhave, or if a colleague of yours tries
(24:21):
it out, I'd love to hear your take.
Should we be recommendingthis to our colleagues?
Uh, let me know.
On Bluesky with #EduDuctTape orat SpeakPipe.com/EduDuctTape.
Next up, bulk grading just got real.
Okay.
This one's been out for a couplemonths, but if you missed the
(24:41):
memo or just didn't notice it yet,you'll want to check this out.
So Google Classroom added somethingthat I've been waiting for since
back when Lil Nas X was toppingthe charts with Old Town Road.
A new grade all feature in the gradebook, in Google Classroom and yep,
it's exactly what it sounds like.
And just as easy as it sounds,you can now assign the same
(25:04):
grade to every student at once.
So if you're grading something quick andbinary, like either yes or no, like maybe
an exit ticket or a warmup or a, did youactually turn this in kind of assignment.
You no longer have to clickthrough every single student
submission, just head to grade book.
Click the three dot menu on an assignmentand choose grade all from there.
(25:25):
You can punch in a bulk grade like zeros,one hundreds, whatever, uh, override
any existing grades if you want to,and even return them all automatically.
Now, earlier in this episode, I mentionedthat grading based on completion.
Isn't what I'd consider a best practice.
So keep that little nugget in mindwhen you go to use this, but still
this can definitely save time.
(25:47):
For example, if you're assessingwhether students have mastered a skill
and all but two have nailed it, thislets you give most students full
credit in one go, and they just tweakthose few who need a different score.
Efficiency for the win for sure.
No, it's not gonna change your life,I don't think it is at least, but it
might buy you a few extra minutes maybeto do the wordle or take a bathroom
(26:08):
break, or maybe just take a deep breath.
Let me know how you're using that.
Bonus time on Bluesky with #EduDuctTape.
Or drop me a message atspeakpipe.com/eduDucTtape.
I am genuinely curious if you'vesaved a few minutes with us,
how are you using those minutes?
Next up, a tool that's familiar tomany of you just got a fresh new
(26:30):
name and some fun new features too.
So if you've ever looked into givingstudents a chance to create their own VR
or AR experiences you've likely heard of.
CoSpaces, a platform where kids canbuild 3D worlds and program interactions
within them using block-based code.
And if you've haven't heard of it, well,it's probably the biggest name in virtual
(26:53):
and augmented reality for schools.
but here's the catch.
You just heard of it inTime to Learn Its new name.
You learned about CoSpaces and nowit's no longer called CoSpaces.
It just got rebranded as Delightex.
The name change comes with a freshlook, but it looks like there's more
going on than just a logo Update.
A recent blog post highlights a bunchof new features worth knowing about.
(27:17):
First up.
The gallery.
So they've revamped it so it's easierto explore student created projects.
You can now filter them by subject orgrade level or coding language or even
the type of project, and teachers canalso tag their projects, which makes
finding some inspiration or even yourown work, uh, a whole lot easier.
Next, they made login simpler.
(27:38):
Uh, so Delightex nowworks with ClassLink SSO.
That means single sign-on.
So if your district uses ClassLink, students and teachers
can get into Delightex.
Again, formally CoSpaces withjust one click, no juggling
usernames, no forgotten passwords.
Just click and go.
One of the flashier updatesis Skybox AI integration.
I had not heard of Skybox ai.
(28:00):
Uh, it's a partnership with a tool calledBlockade Labs that lets you, or more
importantly, your learners generate 360degree environments from text prompts.
That is wild.
So a student could type something like.
Alien planet with floating islandsand boom, instant immersive backdrop.
AI is over here, blowing my mind again.
(28:21):
It's crazy.
Uh, and then there's the Objaverse.
There are over 43,000 objects.
Get it objects, Objaverse,stretch on that name there.
Anyway, students can search and dragmodels straight into their projects.
We're talking cartoon characters,cars, a dancing cat, whatever
fuels the creativity for them.
(28:42):
It's free for everyone right now, butwill eventually be a pro only feature.
And finally, speaking of proonly features, there's the
teacher's collections option.
This lets you organize projectsinto folders, share and edit things
collaboratively, and even accessa version history perfect for
co-planning or updating older projectswithout starting from scratch.
(29:04):
So while I haven't used CoSpaces,and I don't currently use
Delightex, I know some of you do.
Or maybe you've got a colleaguewho does, or a colleague who's been
looking for a creative way to mixcoding and 3D design and storytelling.
Does that sound awesome?
Anyhow, if that's you or your colleagueor if your students are already
creating this space, I'd love to hearyour thoughts on the new features.
(29:24):
Um, are they as awesome as they sound?
Which ones have you tried?
Which one's your favorite?
Let me know over on Bluesky with#EduDuctTape, or send me a quick
message at speakpipe.com/EduDuctTape.
And finally, today's non ed tech nuggetis not new, but it hit me like it was.
So I stumbled across a TED Talkrecently that I had somehow missed,
(29:48):
and honestly, it should be requiredviewing for all educators and parents.
It's called How to Raise SuccessfulKids Without Over Parenting and
it's by Julie Lythcott-Haims.
I apologize if I pronouncedher last name right.
I don't think they say it atthe beginning of the Ted Talk.
Anyhow, Julie is a former dean of freshmenat Stanford, so she's seen firsthand
what happens when kids arrive at college,overly managed and under prepared.
(30:12):
And in this talk, she calls outthe culture of micromanagement and
overachievement and tying success tothings like grades and test scores.
And she makes a. Beautifulcase for stepping back and
showing kids unconditional love.
Instead, there's one linethat completely floored me.
I realized that my kidsaren't bonsai trees.
(30:35):
They're wild flowers ofunknown genus and species.
I mean, come on.
That metaphor alone is worth the watch.
Uh, Julie mixes warmth and insightand humor so well, and while the talk
is aimed at parents, it resonatesdeeply with educators, especially
those of us trying to balance rigor,care, and autonomy in the classroom.
(30:56):
If you've already seenit what stuck with you?
And if you haven't I, I dorecommend carving out that 15
minutes or so to give it a watch.
Then tell me what was your favorite quote?
Head over to Bluesky using #EduDuctTape.
Or drop me a message atSpeakpipe.com/EduDuctTape.
I really would love to hear your take.
Okay.
That is it for this round of EdTechand education news and updates.
(31:18):
Got thoughts on any of today's topics oron today's soapbox episode, is there a
tool you're using differently or somethingyou'd add in to what I shared today, or
something I should have included, or analternative that you think is a better
option, or do you have some takeaways fromtoday's soapbox moment you want to share?
Hit me up on social media again.
I prefer #EduDuctTape on Blueskyor on the SpeakPipe page.
(31:41):
I love hearing how you're usingthese updates and your thoughts
from the soapbox moment as well.
Thank you for tuning in.
Thank you for being here today.
Thank you for everything that youdo for your learners, and I will
see you kind of, I mean, I'll be inyour eardrums about a week from now.
I hope you're here.
Bye.
(32:44):
But here's the catch.
If you just heard of it from.
But here's the catch.
You just heard of it just in Time
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