ChatEDU – The AI & Education Podcast

Matt Mervis and Dr. Elizabeth Radday
  • 4.9 (45)
  • EDUCATION
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

Welcome to ChatEDU – The AI & Education Podcast , your go-to podcast for insightful discussions on the intersection of AI and education! Hosted by Matt Mervis, Director of Skills21 and AI Strategy at EdAdvance, and Dr. Elizabeth Radday, Director of Research & Innovation, this podcast explores the dynamic landscape of education technology.

  1. 20H AGO

    Google's AI Training Investment | Check-In 10

    In this ChatEDU Check-In: Google's AI Training Investment, Liz explores a massive three-year partnership between Google, ISTE, and ASCD to provide AI training to six million educators across the United States. This initiative represents one of the largest private educational investments in decades, specifically targeting hands-on experience with tools like Gemini and NotebookLM. Key Takeaways: Google is partnering with ISTE and ASCD to provide AI professional development to all K to 12 and higher education faculty in the U.S. This large-scale private initiative fills a void left by the closure of the federal Office of Educational Technology and a lack of national guidance. Critics suggest these programs may serve as customer acquisition campaigns that prioritize specific vendor tools over objective, evidence-based pedagogy. Liz’s Two Cents: While the involvement of a single vendor raises some questions about commercial influence, the practical reality is that schools need immediate support! Not to mention that so many schools already have Google’s FERPA compliant AI tools at little or no cost. With federal resources stalled, this partnership provides an essential bridge to digital literacy, ensuring that teachers are not left to navigate the complexities of AI integration without a foundational roadmap. Link to article: https://www.the74million.org/article/exclusive-new-google-partnership-a-sizable-investment-in-ai-for-teachers/ Sponsored by: Eduaide.ai | AI Created for Teachers. Where Good Ideas Become Great Lessons. Take advantage of our special offer: 50 percent off at eduaid.ai (Code: CHATEDU).

    4 min

  2. 2D AGO

    The AI College Counselor | Check-In 9

    In this ChatEDU Check-In: The AI College Counselor, Liz explores how families are increasingly turning to chatbots to navigate the complex and overwhelmed college admissions landscape. This shift highlights a growing reliance on digital tools to fill the gap left by high student to counselor ratios in public schools. Key Takeaways: AI provides 24:7 virtual support for routine tasks like researching tuition and identifying reach schools, offering a sense of control in a system where human guidance is often limited. The convenience of these tools is undermined by the risk of hallucinations, where chatbots fabricate scholarship details or provide overly optimistic assessments of admission chances. While effective for technical data organization and brainstorming, technology cannot replace the introspection and human self-awareness required to determine a true institutional fit. Liz’s Two Cents: The shift toward AI counseling highlights a desperate need for equity in a system where human guidance is often a luxury. However, we must be wary of algorithmic reassurance replacing the hard, necessary work of student self-discovery. Sponsored by: Eduaide.Ai Built by teachers, for teachers, Eduaide is an AI-powered workspace designed for real classroom planning. Take advantage of our special offer: 50 percent off an Eduaide subscription with code: ChatEDU at https://www.eduaide.ai.

    4 min

  3. 6D AGO

    Major Shift - Durable College Majors in 2026 | Ep. 100

    In this 100th episode milestone of ChatEDU, Major Shift - Durable College Majors in 2026, Matt and Liz dive into a rapidly shifting landscape where AI drives government policy, corporate restructuring, and student behavior. The hosts also discuss a surreal exit interview between Anthropic and its retiring Opus 3 model. The Rundown Anthropic vs. DoD: Anthropic is labeled a national security risk after refusing unrestricted military use, while OpenAI moves in to secure classified government contracts. Block’s AI Layoffs: Jack Dorsey cuts 4,000 jobs at Block, citing AI as the primary tool allowing for smaller, flatter, and more efficient teams. The Einstein Agent: A controversial tool that autonomously logs into Canvas to watch lectures and submit work, sparking a major crisis in academic integrity. Edia’s Creative Funding: An AI attendance platform in Albany County is being funded by revenue from school bus safety camera fines. The Rhithm Project: A new strategy to reach 10 million people to combat relational displacement and keep human connection at the center of youth development. Pew Teen Study: New data shows 54% of teens use AI for school, with 59% reporting that AI cheating is now a regular occurrence in their schools. Beneath the Surface: The Major Shift The hosts analyze a Federal Reserve Bank of New York study on the 2026 labor market. While engineering remains a top earner, Computer Science is seeing a hiring hangover, and high touch fields like Nursing and Special Education show the most stability. The Bright Byte Insights from the Stanford Education AI Summit highlight how AI is bridging the digital divide through ASL translation and scalable tutoring for low connectivity environments. Announcements Come join us! AI in Education: Spring 2026 Conference. https://www.skills21.org/event-details/ai-in-education-spring-2026-conference Follow us on YouTube! https://www.youtube.com/@ChatEDUEdAdvance Learning They'll Love - Dr. Elizabeth Radday ASCD:⁠ ⁠https://tinyurl.com/bde652nn⁠⁠ Amazon: https://tinyurl.com/22t9hz77 Barnes and Noble: https://tinyurl.com/bdckf6zw EdAdvance is offering a Middle and High School Student AI Literacy course — email chatedu@edadvance.org to bring it to your district. ​​⁠⁠www.skills21.org/ai/learnai⁠⁠ Skills21’s FREE social media literacy course. Check it out here -⁠ ⁠https://www.skills21.org/social-balance⁠⁠ This episode is sponsored by The National Center for Next Generation Manufacturing.⁠ ⁠⁠⁠https://www.nextgenmfg.org⁠⁠ Links Model deprecation commitments for Claude Opus 3 https://tinyurl.com/3d4wnuf8 The whole thing was a scam https://tinyurl.com/yrt7wemj What Jack Dorsey’s Block Layoffs Mean for the Job Market at Large https://tinyurl.com/327mmdw7 AI reshaping JPMorgan Chase’s workforce as bank plans ‘huge redeployment’ https://tinyurl.com/7dwf95h5 Agentic AI Can Complete Whole Courses for Students. Now What? https://tinyurl.com/5cjsp662 Edia Implementation and Reimbursement Plan https://tinyurl.com/526nfjsk Building Toward a Tipping Point https://tinyurl.com/3bspztny How Teens Use and View AI https://tinyurl.com/2s429bdm College majors that have the highest earning potential and lowest unemployment rates https://tinyurl.com/yetn8wcn Revenge of the English majors https://tinyurl.com/58kvvjwr 2026 Stanford AI+Education Summit https://tinyurl.com/yehj7enw Fluttering Creations https://www.flutteringcreations.com/

    1h 3m

  4. MAR 5

    Measuring the AI Skill Gap in the Classroom (For Teachers) | Check-In 8

    In this ChatEDU Check-In: Measuring the AI Skill Gap in the Classroom (For Teachers), Matt explores the launch of the Futurenav Adapt AI assessment by ETS and the current state of teacher AI competency. The episode highlights the tension between the widespread, self-taught use of AI tools by educators and the lack of formal institutional guidance or standardized skill metrics. It examines how schools are navigating the shift from individual teacher initiative to necessary district-wide oversight and legal safety. Key Takeaways: A new assessment from ETS, Futurenav Adapt AI, has been launched to create a standard for evaluating how educators recognize, navigate, and ethically implement generative technology. Despite nearly all districts utilizing some AI tools, a significant training vacuum exists, leaving the majority of teachers to teach themselves basic terminology and prompt engineering on their own. Relying on the individual initiative of motivated teachers to vet AI tools creates operational and legal risks, especially since only two states currently require districts to have a formal AI policy. Matt’s Two Cents: While standardized assessments could provide helpful data for custom professional development, we must avoid the "one size fits all" trap. A teacher’s required AI skill set varies wildly by discipline and grade level, and ultimately, these skills must map directly to district priorities. Whether the goal is improving seventh-grade writing or achieving broad AI literacy for a portrait of a graduate, teacher training must be targeted rather than generalized to be truly effective. Sponsored by: Eduaide.Ai Eduaide is an AI-powered workspace designed for real classroom planning with practical tools like grade-level evaluators and classroom-ready graphic organizers. Take advantage of our special offer: 50 percent off an Eduaide subscription with code: ChatEDU at https://www.eduaide.ai/.

    4 min

  5. MAR 3

    What AI Power Users Actually Do! | Check-In 7

    In this ChatEDU Check-In: What AI Power Users Actually Do!, Matt explores Anthropic’s New AI Index and what sets top AI users apart from the rest. The episode examines how users interact with generative models, specifically highlighting the difference between simple iteration and true strategic steering. It underscores the growing need for critical discernment as AI outputs become more visually polished. Key Takeaways: Most users now treat AI as a work in progress by iterating on responses, yet only thirty percent actually steer the AI by questioning its logic or pushing back on assumptions. Polished outputs, such as formatted documents or apps, create a discernment gap where users are less likely to identify missing content or verify facts. High level AI fluency requires mastery of description, delegation, and discernment, with the ability to evaluate and question the machine being the most critical and rarest skill. Matt’s Two Cents: Kudos to Anthropic as they keep cranking out these great research pieces based on the mountains of chat (and now vibe coding) data they have to analyze. Matt also shares his favorite Gemini Gem right now which is a student AI Chat Autopsy simulator designed to get at some similar takeaways.  ⁠https://gemini.google.com/gem/1ju4IL2_8WWnkKfZGPGeFsWSLDhc7vhut?usp=sharing⁠  Sponsored by: ⁠Eduaide.Ai⁠ Eduaide is an AI-powered workspace designed for real classroom planning with practical tools like grade-level evaluators and classroom-ready graphic organizers. Take advantage of our special offer: 50 percent off an Eduaide subscription with code: ChatEDU at⁠ https://www.eduaide.ai/⁠.

    4 min

  6. FEB 27

    Beyond the Tech Ban: Shielding Focus and Fluency | Ep. 99

    In this episode of ChatEDU, Beyond the Tech Ban: Shielding Focus and Fluency, Matt and Liz weather a New England “snowpocalypse” to tackle a provocative question– Is edtech making Gen Z less cognitively capable than their parents? They begin with a playful (if “unscientific”) recap of the NPR David Green vs. Google NotebookLM lawsuit experiment before diving into the cognitive decline debate. The Rundown Gemini Music: Google’s new Lyria integration for high-quality audio and lyric generation. NotebookLM Update: The highly requested ability to edit and annotate AI-generated slide decks. Corporate Mandates & Monitoring: Amazon tracks AI adoption through its “Clarity” system; Accenture requires AI adoption for summer promotions; and Block mandates weekly “AI achievement” emails, reportedly causing some AI burnout. IBM’s Strategy: A tripling of entry-level hiring with a focus on human-centric soft skills. CS Enrollment Shifts: Students are moving away from traditional Computer Science toward AI-specific majors at MIT and UCSD. Cybersecurity Crisis: Sophisticated AI-powered phishing in schools amidst declining federal support. Alpha School Expose: 404 Media’s investigation into surveillance, scraping, and high hallucination rates. Magic School’s AI OS integrating SIS data; Liz’s finding of 10% AI grading swings; and a push to frame agents like Raina as tools, not “BFFs.” Beneath the Surface The hosts critique expanding screen time bans and propose a “Quality Screen Time Index,” using SAMR to distinguish basic substitution from transformative AI use. Bright Byte Matt and Liz wrap up with a breakthrough from OpenAI’s latest reasoning model, which solved a decades-old gluon physics problem, proving the formula wasn’t zero and generating a 12-hour proof later confirmed by scientists. Announcements Celebrate our 100th episode:⁠ ⁠skills21.org/chatedu100⁠⁠ Learning They'll Love - Dr. Elizabeth Radday ASCD:⁠ ⁠https://tinyurl.com/bde652nn⁠⁠  Amazon: https://tinyurl.com/22t9hz77 Barnes and Noble: https://tinyurl.com/bdckf6zw EdAdvance is offering a Middle and High School Student AI Literacy course — email chatedu@edadvance.org to bring it to your district. ​​⁠⁠www.skills21.org/ai/learnai⁠⁠  Skills21’s FREE social media literacy course. Check it out here -⁠ ⁠https://www.skills21.org/social-balance⁠⁠ This episode is sponsored by The National Center for Next Generation Manufacturing.⁠ ⁠⁠⁠https://www.nextgenmfg.org⁠⁠ Links NPR Host Sues Google Over NotebookLM Voice https://tinyurl.com/muzvhcb6 Gemini Can Now Create Music https://tinyurl.com/ytaj2jhs Google Fixes NotebookLM’s Most Annoying Slide Deck Flaw https://tinyurl.com/42vxnz43 Amazon Tracks AI Use; Accenture Ties Promotion to AI https://tinyurl.com/yc4dmey6 Dorsey’s New Company Falters Amid AI Mandate https://tinyurl.com/mw579faj IBM to Hire Entry-Level Talent in the AI Era https://tinyurl.com/3xz84yd9 The Computer Science Exodus https://tinyurl.com/4rune56n Why AI Threatens School Cybersecurity https://tinyurl.com/3t74zn5h Stocks Slide After Launch of Claude Security Tool https://tinyurl.com/hpzpzwt3 Inside an AI-Powered Private School https://tinyurl.com/34rzhs49 MagicSchool MagicSchool.ai Student Companionship and Responsible AI in Schools https://tinyurl.com/4j74d6rb Department of Labor's Artificial Intelligence Literacy Framework https://tinyurl.com/3d6zt7wv IQ scores fall worldwide https://tinyurl.com/dbsetjbn Is Screen Time Hurting Literacy? https://tinyurl.com/msvbr3uf ‘AI Bill of Rights’ reaches Florida’s K-12 schools https://tinyurl.com/4zdwtha2 Digital Learning & AI Literacy Evaluation https://www.edadvance.org/ai AI Solves a "Zero" Mystery in Physics https://tinyurl.com/5a9t7wd9

    1h 4m

  7. FEB 26

    Make Them Read! | Check-In 6

    In this ChatEDU Check-In: Make Them Read!, Liz explores the systemic decline of long-form reading in classrooms and the rise of the "excerpt culture." This episode examines how the shift toward clips and samples over the last fifteen years has eroded student attention spans and basic reading skills. Key Takeaways: The transition from full-length novels to abbreviated samples reflects a broader cultural shift that prioritizes the "reel" and the "clip" over deep literary engagement. Requiring students to commit to long-form texts acts as a strategic resistance to the monetization of attention, allowing them to reclaim their focus from digital distractions. Authentic comprehension and original voice are best developed through "flash essays" and unassisted, timed tasks that remove AI bumpers and force students to confront intellectual uncertainty. Liz’s Two Cents: There is a profound tension between "meeting students where they are" and the pedagogical necessity of waiting for them to catch up to the heights of great literature. If educators treat declining attention spans as a terminal condition rather than a challenge to be met with more rigorous engagement, they risk making the "end of reading" a self-fulfilling prophecy. Article Link: https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/02/youth-reading-books-professors/685825/?taid=69814c1dbe49b700014af753&utm_campaign=the-atlantic&utm_content=edit-promo&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter Sponsored by: Eduaide Eduaide.ai where good ideas become great lessons. Take advantage of our special offer: 50 percent off at eduaide.ai.

    4 min

  8. FEB 24

    The Silicon Gaze: Uncovering ChatGPT’s Hidden Biases | Check-In 5

    In this ChatEDU Check-In: The Silicon Gaze: Uncovering ChatGPT’s Hidden Biases, Liz explores how researchers used forced-choice comparisons to reveal deep-seated stereotypes within AI models. By bypassing standard safety filters, the study demonstrates how millions of automated responses reflect geographic and demographic prejudices. Key Takeaways: Researchers used a forced choice method to extract millions of subjective rankings, revealing that ChatGPT consistently mirrors internet tropes regarding cleanliness, friendliness, and intelligence across different locations. The episode highlights that the model’s training data links racial and economic demographics to negative attributes, such as ranking states with higher Black populations lower on work ethic and beauty. The silicon gaze creates a facade of neutrality that can subtly influence users' perceptions of career paths and neighborhoods, making these hidden biases difficult for the average user to challenge. Liz’s Two Cents: The perpetuation of quiet biases in AI data is deeply concerning as these models become integrated into everyday tasks. For school leaders, this reinforces the urgent need for professional learning and student-facing curriculum that focuses on identifying and questioning the inherent prejudices embedded in the technology we often treat as neutral. Article Link:  https://geoffreyfowler.substack.com/p/chatgpt-bias Sponsored by: Eduaide Eduaide.ai where good ideas become great lessons. Take advantage of our special offer: 50 percent off at eduaide.ai

    4 min
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4.9
out of 5
45 Ratings

About

Welcome to ChatEDU – The AI & Education Podcast , your go-to podcast for insightful discussions on the intersection of AI and education! Hosted by Matt Mervis, Director of Skills21 and AI Strategy at EdAdvance, and Dr. Elizabeth Radday, Director of Research & Innovation, this podcast explores the dynamic landscape of education technology.

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