May 3, 2023 (This article is reprinted from the Spring issue of ET Magazine.)

AI, VR, XR, SEL, AR, ML, and BCI were among some of the acronyms to fill the halls at the recent Future of Education Technology Conference, or FETC, that I recently attended in New Orleans, LA. Granted, given the powerful title of this event, I was desperately seeking the next big thing(s) that the market could not live without. Despite the disruption eruption and acceleration celebration of new technologies that lay claim to such, including whiz-bang, non-acronym-based innovations that simply solve problems by doing things better, faster, and/or less expensively in the Education Technology space, I walked away with more questions than answers.

AI for Everyone Else?

With the viral advent of ChatGPT, the concept and application of Artificial Intelligence, or AI, as an education technology is today, more clearly understood by the masses. So too, however, is the fear of its disruption on traditional teaching and learning methods, theories, and outcomes among key stakeholders. As a result, embracing AI in EdTech is a glass half-empty/half-full conversation depending on who you talk to. Will auto-generated intelligence solve all our teaching and learning…