TeachLab Presents The Homework Machine

MIT Teaching Systems Lab
  • 5.0 (35)
  • EDUCATION
  • UPDATED BIMONTHLY

Most education technologies are invited into schools, but generative AI crashed the party, and started rearranging the furniture. "The Homework Machine" is a mini series exploring the impact of AI on K12 education. TeachLab is a podcast that investigates the art and craft of teaching. There are 3.5 million K-12 teachers in America, and we want to explore how they can become even better at what they do. Hosted by Justin Reich, MIT Professor and director of the MIT Teaching Systems Lab.

  1. AI Literacy Part II "What We Talk About When We Talk About AI Literacy"

    6D AGO

    AI Literacy Part II "What We Talk About When We Talk About AI Literacy"

    Teachers are aware that AI is present in schools and learning environments, whether we like it or not. And many feel pressure, internally and externally, to learn and teach some form of "AI literacy". Justin has cautioned that it's too early for us to really understand what AI literacy is, and that just guessing at what might constitute AI literacy might do harm. Teachers and schooleaders appreciate that warning, but many feel that we can't do nothing. It's essential for teachers to start getting some knowledge about how AI works, to start experimenting with AI powered practices, and think about implementing them into our instruction. In our research, the most eloquent proponent that teachers should gain, and perhaps teach, some kind of AI literacy is Maureen Russo Rodriguez. Maureen is a Spanish and English teacher at St. Mark’s School in Massachussets. She is a cofounder of a network of educators called CoLab, which started in 2024 and now includes over nine hundred educators from over three hundred schools. We talk with her about her path to leading a process by which teachers design their own AI literacy professional development process, and Justin and Maureen try to pin down where they are in agreement, and disagreement. This episode was produced by Jesse Dukes. You can learn more about Co-lab at https://www.educolab.org/. We got support for our interview with Maureen from RAISE at MIT: Responsible AI for Social Empowerment and Education. Thanks to Eric Klopfer and Cynthia Brezeal. RAISE also sponsors a series of professional development opportunities around AI for teachers, in a similar spirit to Co-Lab called Day of AI. We had editorial help this week from Steven Jackson, Alexandra Salomon, Adam Brock, Sara Falls, and Steve Oulette. Teach Lab is a production of the Teaching Systems lab at MIT Justin Reich Director

    55 min
  2. AI Literacy Part 1 "Where Angels Fear to Tread" with Sam Wineburg

    JAN 29

    AI Literacy Part 1 "Where Angels Fear to Tread" with Sam Wineburg

    Over the last two years, teachers and schools have felt immense pressure to incorporate AI literacy into their curricula. In the fall of 2024, California became the first state to pass a law mandating AI literacy instruction in schools, and several others have since followed suit. In the summer of 2025, the Department of Education released the "AI Action Plan for Education," which stated in part: "The Action Plan encourages schools to teach AI literacy and supports the responsible integration of AI in classrooms. AI is seen as a key education tool to enhance individual student preparation for the real world and to bolster the United States as a leader in AI." Most major AI companies have pledged significant capital to train teachers or educate students in AI literacy. Google alone has committed over 40 million dollars toward these initiatives, while OpenAI, Microsoft, and NVIDIA have all launched similar donation programs. But do we actually know what "AI literacy" means? Sam Wineburg doesn't think so. Sam is a professor emeritus of education and history at Stanford and the co-founder of the Digital Inquiry Group. He previously led a landmark study for the Stanford History Education Group (SHEG) that exposed how standard school methods for teaching web literacy were failing K-12 students. In part one of this two-part miniseries, Wineburg shares his observations on how educators have gotten "literacy" wrong in the past. He suggests there are more responsible ways to adapt to transformative new technologies than to hastily stand up literacy guidelines that may repeat old mistakes.

    32 min
  3. Click Here: Silencing a Kindergarten

    11/26/2025

    Click Here: Silencing a Kindergarten

    We’re pleased to share powerful reporting from our friends at the show Click Here, from Recorded Future News and PRX. They tell true stories about the people making and breaking our digital world. Over the past year, they’ve been documenting the digital – and cultural – erasure of Uyghurs in China. As part of that series, they follow one man who set out to preserve his culture the old fashioned way: by opening kindergartens that celebrated the Uyghur language. And then, almost overnight, those doors were locked. And the school’s founder went from teacher… to enemy of the nation. Sean Powers reported the story and Dina Temple-Raston Dina, the host of the Click Here, brings it to us. It’s not too late to take our listener survey about the Homework Machine series. We will enter you in a drawing to receive one of two $25 gift cards.

    36 min

  4. 10/02/2025

    The Homework Machine Ep 7: Break the Teacher

    The timing of the arrival of AI has been bad for many schools and teachers. In the Fall of 2022, schools were just emerging from the extraordinary challenges brought by the pandemic. Teacher morale and turnover are at historic lows. Some school districts are on a good footing, and have the resources and stability to adapt, and even experiment with using AI to support learning, but many teachers tell us generative AI has just been one more thing they have to deal with, often without the support they would like. At a moment when unprecedented sums are being invested in AI development — including many billions devoted to AI powered education technology — teachers wonder if our priorities are in the right place. This episode was produced by Steven Jackson and Jesse Dukes. We had editing from Ruxandra Guidi and Alexandra Salomon. Reporting and research from Holly McDede and Andrew Meriwether. Reporting and research for the series from Chris Bagg, Andrew Parsons, Natasha Esteves, and Marnette Federis. Sound design and music supervision by Steven Jackson. Production help from Yebu Ji. Data analysis from Manee Ngozi Nnamani and Manasa Kudumu. Administrative support from Jessica Rondon. Special thanks to Josh Sheldon and Eric Klopfer. Original music for this series was created by Steven Jackson, Andrew Meriwether and Jesse Dukes, as part of the music project Cue Shop. Thanks to Will Grueb, Andy Wilds, and the MIT Music Department for letting us use the MIT Harpsichord. The research and reporting you heard in this episode was supported by the Spencer Foundation, the Kapor Foundation, the Jameel World Education Lab, the Social and Ethical Responsibility of Computing initiative at MIT, and the RAISE initiative, Responsible AI for Social Empowerment and Education also at MIT. We had support from Google’s Academic Research Awards program. Please take our Listener Survey for a chance to win a $25 gift card.

    38 min

  5. 09/26/2025 · BONUS

    Close All Tabs: Teens Under the Influence (Of Chatbots)

    https://docs.google.com/forms/d/15pFzNFcJ08xBSTnoE2-YJyoxsdIW5cKDnjrpBfBAf7U/edit

    35 min

  6. 09/18/2025

    The Homework Machine Ep 6 "Inviting AI to the Party"

    We keep saying that most ed tech is invited into schools, but generative AI crashed the party. But the truth in, some teachers have invited AI into schools. Some think it’s been great, and others see opportunities as well as challenges. We visit four classrooms where students and teachers are using AI in ways they say are innovative, fulfilling, and effective: a student in Oregon who worked with her teacher to expand the scope of her assignments with AI; a Southern California instructor using AI to bypass busywork and focus on the creative aspects of filmmaking; a teacher in Illinois deploying AI to provide targeted feedback; and, finally, a former engineer whose students use AI coding tools to make circuitboards…play Rick Astley? And we ask the question: What are the human teachers doing to create conditions in which AI can support learning? This episode was produced by Jesse Dukes. We had editing from Alexandra Salomon and Ruxandra Guidi. Reporting and research from Chris Bagg, and Andrew Parsons. Additional reporting from Andrew Meriwether, Holly McDede, Natasha Esteves, and Marnette Federis. Sound design and music supervision by Steven Jackson. Thanks to Jerry Shaw for digging up some of those Arduino Uno songs. The “Uptown Funk” was a simulation, created in our studios. Production help from Yebu Ji. Data analysis from Manee Ngozi Nnamani and Manasa Kudumu. Administrative support from Jessica Rondon. Special thanks to Josh Sheldon and Eric Klopfer. Original music for this series was created by Steven Jackson, Andrew Meriwether and Jesse Dukes, as part of the music project Cue Shop. Thanks to Will Grueb, Andy Wilds, and the MIT Music Department for letting us use the MIT Harpsichord. The research and reporting you heard in this episode was supported by the Spencer Foundation, the Kapor Foundation, the Jameel World Education Lab, the Social and Ethical Responsibility of Computing initiative at MIT, and the RAISE initiative, Responsible AI for Social Empowerment and Education also at MIT. We had support from Google’s Academic Research Awards program.

    41 min

  7. 09/09/2025

    The Homework Machine Ep 5 "Winterset"

    Education technology companies have been falling over themselves to provide AI powered tools for schools, and to convince schools to buy their product. The array of AI powered products is dizzying, and while some can likely be put to good use, it can be hard for school leaders to gauge which are worth adopting. One school system in Iowa, Winterset Community School District has gone all in on generative AI, piloting at least three AI powered products and encouraging faculty and students to experiment with AI. They kindly let us visit for a week, and we dive in to see what they’re excited about, and what has been challenging. This episode was produced by Andrew Meriwether and Jesse Dukes. We had editing from Ruxandra Guidi and Alexandra Salomon. Reporting and research for the Homework Machine from Natasha Esteves, Holly McDede, Andrew Parsons, Marnette Federis, and Chris Bagg. Sound design and music supervision by Steven Jackson. Production help from Yebu Ji. Data analysis from Manee Ngozi Nnamani and Manasa Kudumu. Special thanks to Josh Sheldon and Eric Klopfer. Administrative support from Jessica Rondon. Thanks to Chad Sussex and everybody at Winterset who spoke to Andrew Meriwether. We’re happy to share that AI Express: Leading the Future of Learning — written by Chad Sussex and Sandy Groom-Meeks, who guided the AI journey for Winterset — is now available. This book offers school leaders and educators a practical roadmap for safely and effectively implementing AI in schools. Find the book here: https://bit.ly/AIExpress_Amazon Original music for this series was created by Steven Jackson, Andrew Meriwether and Jesse Dukes, as part of the music project Cue Shop. Thanks to Will Grueb, Andy Wilds, and the MIT Music Department for letting us use the MIT Harpsichord. The research and reporting you heard in this episode was supported by the Spencer Foundation, the Kapor Foundation, the Jameel World Education Lab, the Social and Ethical Responsibility of Computing initiative at MIT, and the RAISE initiative, Responsible AI for Social Empowerment and Education also at MIT. We had support from Google’s Academic Research Awards program.

    43 min

  8. 09/04/2025 · BONUS

    The Homework Machine Interlude: Justin Goes Back to School

    We’re halfway through “The Homework Machine” series, and as our production team works to finish the final episodes, we check in with Teaching Systems Lab director Justin Reich, who is returning to the classroom after a full year of sabbatical. Justin has been nervous, since some of the assignments he’s relied on in the past are not “AI-proof”. He tells us how he plans to adapt, We want to share A Guide to AI in Schools: Perspectives for the Perplexed the guidebook authored by TSL, based on the interviews we conducted for “The Homework Machine”. Justin is a fan of these protocols for evaluating student work:

    26 min
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Most education technologies are invited into schools, but generative AI crashed the party, and started rearranging the furniture. "The Homework Machine" is a mini series exploring the impact of AI on K12 education. TeachLab is a podcast that investigates the art and craft of teaching. There are 3.5 million K-12 teachers in America, and we want to explore how they can become even better at what they do. Hosted by Justin Reich, MIT Professor and director of the MIT Teaching Systems Lab.

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