This Week with EdSurge

EdSurge Podcast

This Week with EdSurge is the essential weekly podcast that takes you past the headlines and deep into the fascinating, fast-evolving world of education. Hosted by Ira Apfel alongside our talented team of EdSurge contributors, each episode cuts through the hype to explore the human stories shaping our schools—from the rise of artificial intelligence in the classroom to student well-being, shifting policies, and the future of teaching. Whether you are a classroom educator, a district leader, an edtech innovator, or simply a curious mind, this show delivers the rigorous, empathetic, and trusted journalism you need to understand where education is headed.

  1. 11h ago

    Can an Algorithm Replace a Teacher’s Instinct?

    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 LEARN David 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 EPISODE 1. Vibe Coding Sparked a Love of Reading in My Classroom by David Webb 2. I’m a Teacher, and I’m Against Phone Pouches by Gabe Nitro STAY CONNECTED Subscribe 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 CONTRIBUTORS Host: Ira Apfel, Editorial Director, EdSurge Contributors: David Webb, International school teacher, Jakarta; creator of LibraryAidGabe Nitro, High school teacher, California

    24 min

  2. Jun 24

    Is TikTok Now a Teacher Training Tool?

    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 Wusk I Built an AI Grading Tool. Then a Student Thanked Me for Words I Didn't Write. by Steven Swanson Upcoming EventISTE+ASCD Live '26 in Orlando, Florida Stay ConnectedSubscribe to EdSurge newsletters at edsurge.comLatest education news at edsurge.com/newsFollow EdSurge on LinkedIn, X, Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, YouTube Host & ContributorsHost: Ira Apfel, Editorial Director, EdSurge Guests: Evi Wusk, Ed.D., teacher educator and author of What TikTok Is Teaching Future Teachers That We Aren't Steven 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.

    25 min

  3. Jun 17

    Your Kids Know More About AI Than You Do

    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 Margolis NPR / Ipsos Poll: Teachers on AI and Critical Thinking RAND American Youth Panel: Select Findings Upcoming EventISTE+ASCD Live '26 in Orlando, Florida Stay ConnectedSubscribe to EdSurge newsletters at edsurge.com Latest education news at edsurge.com/news Follow EdSurge: LinkedIn X Facebook TikTok Instagram YouTube Host & ContributorsHosted by Ira Apfel, Editorial Director, EdSurge Featuring Aleta Margolis, Founder and President, Center for Inspired Teaching Sarah McKibben, Editor-in-Chief, EdSurge Stay informed, stay curious.

    23 min

  4. Jun 10

    Recess, Screens, and Absenteeism

    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 Coffey Surgeon General Advisory Wants Kids to Live Beyond the Confines of Screens by Nadia Tamez-Robledo Stay ConnectedSubscribe to EdSurge newsletters at edsurge.com Latest education news at edsurge.com/news Follow EdSurge:LinkedIn X Facebook TikTok Instagram Host & ContributorsHosted by Ira Apfel, Editorial Director, EdSurge Featuring Lauren Coffey, Reporter, EdSurge Nadia Tamez-Robledo, Reporter, EdSurge Stay informed, stay curious.

    19 min

  5. Jun 3

    AI Is in Schools. Teachers Are Not Ready.

    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 Coffey Teachers Say Lack of AI Guidance Is a Major Problem from Education Week featuring Joseph South, Chief Innovation Officer, ISTE+ASCD Stay ConnectedSubscribe to EdSurge newsletters at edsurge.com/newsletters Get the latest education news at edsurge.com/news Follow EdSurgeLinkedIn X Facebook TikTok Instagram YouTube Host and ContributorsHosted by Ira Apfel: Editorial Director, Journalism Featuring Lauren Coffey: Reporter, EdSurge (public policy, early childhood education, K-12 technology) Joseph South: Chief Innovation Officer, ISTE+ASCD Stay informed, stay curious.

    23 min
  6. How a Vacant School Building Became a Symbol of Loss, and Then Hope, for a Dying Small Town

    01/15/2025

    How a Vacant School Building Became a Symbol of Loss, and Then Hope, for a Dying Small Town

    When the only school in Donora, Pennsylvania, closed a few years ago, it hit the town’s residents hard. Now the building may be the town’s best hope, as a community college considers setting up in the former school. A University of Pittsburgh professor spent three years documenting life in this fading town for an unusual podcast series that ran late last year. Education was a key theme. On this week's EdSurge Podcast, we talk to the professor about her takeaways for the role of education in the many forgotten small towns around the U.S.

    54 min
  7. How AI Has Changed Student Cheating — And How to Respond

    01/07/2025

    How AI Has Changed Student Cheating — And How to Respond

    One long-time expert on preventing student cheating argues that understanding why students cheat is key to making adjustments in teaching to prevent cheating with AI. It's the argument of Tricia Bertram Gallant, a longtime expert in academic integrity who is director of the Academic Integrity Office at the University of California San Diego who co-wrote a new book, “The Opposite of Cheating: Teaching for Integrity in the Age of AI. See show notes at EdSurge.com: https://www.edsurge.com/news/2025-01-07-ai-has-changed-student-cheating-but-strategies-to-stop-it-remain-consistent

    58 min
  8. Inside the Push to Bring AI Literacy to Schools and Colleges (Encore Episode)

    12/10/2024

    Inside the Push to Bring AI Literacy to Schools and Colleges (Encore Episode)

    There’s a growing push to add AI literacy as a subject in schools and colleges. But what exactly is AI literacy, and can educators promote curiosity about the subject amid their own concerns, and in some cases fear, around ChatGPT and other generative AI? This episode originally ran in January 2024, and was the most-listened-to episode of the year.

    56 min
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4.8
out of 5
96 Ratings

About

This Week with EdSurge is the essential weekly podcast that takes you past the headlines and deep into the fascinating, fast-evolving world of education. Hosted by Ira Apfel alongside our talented team of EdSurge contributors, each episode cuts through the hype to explore the human stories shaping our schools—from the rise of artificial intelligence in the classroom to student well-being, shifting policies, and the future of teaching. Whether you are a classroom educator, a district leader, an edtech innovator, or simply a curious mind, this show delivers the rigorous, empathetic, and trusted journalism you need to understand where education is headed.

Information

  • Creator
    EdSurge Podcast
  • Years Active
    2015 - 2026
  • Episodes
    491
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © All rights reserved
  • Show Website
    This Week with EdSurge

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