Reading some things, and I can’t help but wonder how the shrinking availability of grants, increased need for funding given economic shifts, and NSF promotion of AI is exacerbating the usual cycle of overly optimistic jumping onto the bandwagon of new tech with ill-conceived ideas?

This is S.P.I.R.I.T. www.kickstarter.com/projects/121...

Really proud of this work by @selenasteinberg.bsky.social and team on our VFOI project www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... … upper elementary students learning history, sharing interests and identity and connecting to community, peers, and content through network visualizations!!

Six days until S.P.I.R.I.T. Issue 4 launches. Get notified when we go live: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1214207061/spirit-1-4-mothman-needs-us/

I'm going to start walking around wearing a shirt that says "if your ed tech doesn't work in a school with shaky Internet access and old laptops, then your ed tech doesn't work" We need to stop designing for the "classroom of the future" and start designing for the classrooms we actually have.

We need to help everyone understand how huge and horrifying this is. It’ll take decades to come back from this and it hurts us all in so many ways we can’t even guess at yet.

Since we're heading into academic job market season, a reminder: I've collected some advice (esp. for new grads): www.paul-bruno.com/2021/07/tips... And reach out if you'd like to set up a time to chat about the job market and how to navigate it. I'm not an expert by any means, but happy to talk.

Hi all: Given the quickly expanding use of AI in education, I am sharing a new @stemteachingtool.bsky.social that can help deepen our thinking about these efforts. IMO the stakes are too high not to! Please share as makes sense. 🌿 stemteachingtools.org/brief/109 #EquityFirst #AIinEd #SciEd #STEMed

Newsletter #47 is out! HUGE news about S.P.I.R.I.T. Issue 4, including the reveal of the award-winning variant cover artist, Mothman, plus this month's Kickstarter picks. https://plaguedoctorpress.substack.com/p/issue-47-may-plague-doctor-press

The Woz said I will not be booed lol I also love the lull of the crowd as they’re trying to figure out where he’s going hahaha (Via: www.instagram.com/reel/DYfgIwo...)

At #ISLS26 I’m part of a symposium where learning scientists and computer-supported collaborative learning scholars propose provocations for the next decade of scholarship in our fields. Mine: None of this matters if we don’t stop authoritarianism. 💥 Link below

Congrats to Asif Wilson, assistant professor C&I, on receiving the Watkins Award from the Society of Professors in Education. It recognizes individuals who are dedicated to curriculum studies, community engagement, socio-political and class issues, and cultural advocacy through their studies.

Countdown Standard xkcd.com/3232/

More higher ed discourse like this please

H. Chad Lane, professor of C&I and EPSY, will participate in a panel “Navigating AI Together: Conversations on Teaching, Research, and Responsibility” on Wednesday, April 15. Please register today to attend. More: https://blogs.illinois.edu/view/1526/474620007

I won’t be attending AERA in person, but I recommend the Friday 9:45 a.m. PST structured poster session, “How Data Science Education Can Enable Exploration of Real-World Phenomena.” My poster shares one piece of my dissertation on a humanistic approach to elementary data science through embodiment.

Congratulations to Curriculum & Instruction assistant professor Devon Hedrick-Shaw on receiving the Outstanding Dissertation Award, third place, from the Bilingual Education Research SIG of @aeraedresearch.bsky.social

This is the most delightful thing I’ve ever read

The NAACP published a Black Consumer Advisory mapping out companies that rolled back their DEI promises. naacp.org/campaigns/bl...

When I talk about the speculative, I always make sure to say that’s it’s not inherently equitable or just. White supremacy is speculative AF, creative AF. The current moment is a white supremacist dreamscape, a reimagining of a world where equity is even possible.

Registration for ISLS 2026 annual meeting is now open! Workshops, events, and virtual attendance are all options in the registration process. Take advantage of early bird rates by May 12! www.isls.org/news/2026-is...

Congratulations to @ciatillinois.bsky.social Idalia Nuñez on receiving the Early Career Researcher Award from the Bilingual Education Research SIG of AERA. More: https://blogs.illinois.edu/view/1526/1113488487

For the last 3 years, I have co-organized an AI & Education Conference that brings together about 1000 educators to talk about the latest in K-12 education with AI. This year's focus is on educator/student/community led innovation with AI: centering community voice. web.cvent.com/event/396882...

I meant to share here yesterday, but I forgot. I made a flyer for my storying-focused grad class that I’ll be teaching next fall, and I think it’s cute!!

The game looks great, and more importantly the jokes rolling in are amazing!

The benefits of therapy have been proven, but resources and a lack of therapists can get in the way of people receiving much needed help. But — the College of Education at the University of Illinois has a solution.

Our online master’s degree options are once again ranked in the top 10 by U.S. News and World Report. #6 - Curriculum & Instruction #6 - Best Online Master’s Programs for Veterans (New) #9 - Educational/Instructional Media Design Explore our online degree options: https://bit.ly/3ZAZoFf

Congratulations to teaching assistant professor Theopolies Moton III on receiving the honor of 2026 MLK Champion by the University of Illinois MLK Commemorative Planning Committee last night. Read more: https://blogs.illinois.edu/view/1526/52701161

I think this is an important methodological statement, rejecting the use of Gen AI in Reflexive Qualitative Research: journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10....

Still accepting applications until Jan 20 for Wallace-supported ISLS attendance funding!

Plz Share: Seeking nominees (self and external nominations welcome) for the 2026 Jan Hawkins Award for Early Career Contributions to Humanistic Research and Scholarship in Learning Technologies awarded through @aeraedresearch.bsky.social Division C. Info here: sites.google.com/site/janhawk...

Apparently we need more public education efforts to understand the difference between things AI does on its own and things that humans program AI to do… AI issuing comments about its failings and suggesting it is working on them makes sense in Star Trek but frankly would be scary in the real.

Love the heat y’all are bringing on AI. For those of you in LS, ISLS is likely to host focused conversations this year on AI to inform our policies. Please show up. I need your voices in the room to help ensure we on the board advance ethical policy stances.

A thread on how GenAI corroded literature and citations

Just learned from our younger child what the current version of “first world problems” is. YC - “So my friend told me he couldn’t fit in his slacks anymore because his glutes had gotten bigger from working out, and I was like ‘oh no your lobster’s too buttered’”

We will not be robbed of our learning. bsky.app/profile/nsou...

I love when teachers ask if they can share what kids have done in our studies with their parents in a showcase because it’s cool!

As part of her National Academy of Education/Spencer Foundation grant, @ciatillinois.bsky.social Assistant Professor Giselle Martinez Negrette is rebuilding the dual language classroom by understanding how those spaces are created and experienced by the people within them.

“People with T1D need to make many decisions to manage the chronic illness that involve various factors that interact with each other within a complex system,” says D’Angelo. “I’m excited about this project and its potential to improve the educational landscape for people with T1D”

SO Excited to finally have this paper out! Lead author @bahhumburg.bsky.social and the whole team did some really cool work! “Using Scientific Annotation Tools to Support Collaborative Embodied Learning in Elementary School Classrooms” link.springer.com/article/10.1...

In this timeline I take my wins where I can.

Beavers are awesome. The more I learn about how they support the surrounding ecosystems the more I appreciate them and want to teach kids about them!

smelly

Excited to share a new article by some colleagues and I about “How children blend feedback in a mixed-reality environment for collective embodied learning.” doi.org/10.1007/s114... … Spoiler alert, the entire activity system matters, and impacts what they notice, engage with, and learn.

Once more for the Monday morning crowd.

Serious question: do people teach lies and misdirection as an argumentative strategy or do the people who use it just learn though observation? I spend so much time trying to teach reliance on evidence and … sometimes I wonder how people who do the opposite get there.

The Center for Research and Innovation in Technology-Enhanced Learning (ITEL) aims to significantly enhance learning in schools and other venues through technology. Read more about how ITEL will become an interdisciplinary hub for the integration of technology into educational contexts:

Our Halloween decorations for this year