Jacob Pleasants

New Curriculum! Comparing Children’s Lives and Community Against AI’s Illusions of Life — Civics of Technology Civics of Technology Announcements Upcoming Book Club: We’re reading The Digital Delusion: How Classroom Technology Harms our Kids’ Learning - And How to Help Them Thrive Again by Jared Cooney H...

Check out our newest addition to the curriculum library, courtesy of @mariekheath.bsky.social

www.civicsoftechnology.org/blog/new-cur...

The Score by C. Thi Nguyen: 9780593655658 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books “Mind-expanding . . . The Score is so exuberant and readable that the depth and seriousness of its insights almost sneak up on you.” —Jennifer Szalai, The New York Times “Brilliant...

This book is truly lovely. How can playing games, with all their contrived scoring systems and rules, be so wonderful --- when real-world scoring/rule systems can be so destructive?

<highly recommend the audiobook!>

www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/735252...

I've noticed that LLMs love to give the advice to "sharpen," and I'm trying to figure out why. There might actually be an interesting project here - cataloguing the vapid words/phrases that LLMs use.

Just wanted to let you know that I did it. I may live to regret it. Will keep you posted XD

Questioning the “Magic” of Generative Artificial Intelligence in a Science Methods Course - Journal of Science Education and Technology Journal of Science Education and Technology - Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) is increasingly being used by teachers for a variety of instructional tasks, from planning lessons to...

Putting some technoskepticism into teacher education!

link.springer.com/article/10.1...

I got to this part and just started screaming in terror.

This is what happens when people get hyper-focused on the narrowest "misuse" cases. MagicSchool DOES have certain compliance and safety features that ChatGPT does not. But all this is really just distracting from the real question: Is any of this actually *good* for our schools?

Is it worth getting this newsletter just to see what sorts of yarns are being spun?

One in Five K-12 Teachers Struggle Financially One in five U.S. K-12 teachers struggle financially, driving many to take a second job and increasing burnout and plans to leave the classroom.

Here's the Gallup report referenced. I have mixed feelings about this. Will it catalyze any efforts to raise teacher pay? This sort of news item doesn't help with recruitment, that's for sure.

news.gallup.com/poll/702599/...

Waiting for the pitch from tech bros that GenAI is going to save teachers time to focus on what really matters: their side jobs.

A Digital Delusion? — Civics of Technology Civics of Technology Announcements Upcoming Book Club: We’re reading Critical AI in K-12 Classrooms: A Practical Guide for Cultivating Justice and Joy by Stephanie Smith Budhai and Marie Heat...

If you're interested in trying to make sense of a book that's become quite popular in the fight against Big Tech in schools by invoking the work of Jonathan Haidt alongside the Luddites, then the next @civicsoftech.bsky.social book club is for you. We'll gather on Wednesday, April 22 at 7pm ET.

This month's Tech Talk is on Thursday March 5 at 12:00 PM Eastern Time. Join the community and talk about whatever is on your mind!

Register Here:
oklahoma.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

Critical AI in K-12 Classrooms A practical guide for teachers and students navigating the complicated intersection of artificial intelligence, education, and justice Artificial intelligenc...

Coming up this week!

Join our book club on Critical AI in K-12 Classrooms by Stephanie Smith Budhai and Marie Heath.

March 4th at 8pm EST

Register on our Events page: www.civicsoftechnology.org/events

hep.gse.harvard.edu/979889557018...

It's a great post, Charles!

I especially appreciated how you and Phil wrestle with the odd alignments that are forming among the various anti-EdTech movements

The (im)possibility of AI literacy Published in Learning, Media and Technology (Vol. 51, No. 1, 2026)

This excellent editorial by @lucipangrazio.bsky.social pulls together so many important threads in the "AI Literacy" conversation. A concise and valuable resource for anyone doing work in this area.

doi.org/10.1080/1743...

Our Time Amongst the Luddites — Civics of Technology Civics of Technology Announcements Upcoming Book Club: We’re reading Critical AI in K-12 Classrooms: A Practical Guide for Cultivating Justice and Joy by Stephanie Smith Budhai and Marie Heat...

In today's @civicsoftech.bsky.social blog, I join @philnichols.bsky.social and @anterobot.bsky.social to reflect on what we've learned while writing about the Luddites over the last three years. We share thoughts about Luddism and education, collaboration, and writing for different audiences.

Every time we use the term "technoskepticism" we have to follow it up with a clear statement that this does not mean we are "anti-tech" or denialists. It's not unlike the work one has to do when using "Luddite." It's annoying to have to clarify this, but reclaiming terms is hard.

Enough, with Adam Becker | The Data Fix with Dr. Mél Hogan

Loved this Data Fix conversation between @melhogan.bsky.social and Adam Becker!

More Everything Forever was one of my favorite books of 2025 (My review: www.civicsoftechnology.org/more-everyth...)

shows.acast.com/the-data-fix...

‘I hope this email finds you well’: how synthetic affect circulates through MagicSchool AI This study examines how MagicSchool AI (MSAI), an educational technology platform, mediates affective dimensions of teacher-family communications through its Email Family Tool. Drawing on an algori...

Recommended reading: "'I hope this email finds you well': how synthetic affect circulates through MagicSchool AI" from Brad Robinson and Kevin Leander in @lmt-journal.bsky.social at:

I Hope this Blog Post Finds You — Civics of Technology Civics of Technology Announcements New! Technology Audit Curriculum: This activity provides a structured way to surface the ethical dimensions of technology tools. Drawing on four analytic ap...

"The question I keep coming back to isn’t whether individual teachers are wrong to use these tools, but what it means that such tools now exist in the first place..."

Today: Brad Robinson writes about human connection and "synthetic affect."

www.civicsoftechnology.org/blog/i-hope-...

Horvath (the author of this new book) pulls the very same levers. He is clearly good at tapping into and amplifying a bunch of typical parental anxieties. Unlike Haidt, he also clothes himself in the garb of "neuroscience"

A critical reading guide is forthcoming, but your caution is well taken.

The book hasn't yet attracted quite the following of Haidt yet, so maybe there will be less of a mob (Hugh Grant notwithstanding)

An important part of this story is the role of social media platforms that actively incentivize surveilling others to use as "content." Video glasses are a problem, yes, but so too is the social media apparatus that encourages people to look at other people as mere material for their next post.

Activists who challenged Industry Inevitability Myths — Civics of Technology Civics of Technology Announcements New! Technology Audit Curriculum: This activity provides a structured way to surface the ethical dimensions of technology tools. Drawing on four analytic ap...

Today, learn from activists who have resisted data centers and other exploitative projects.

Sue Kasun and Erin Anderson interview Omar Lázaro García and Aurora Gómez.

You can also read their conversation in Spanish!

www.civicsoftechnology.org/blog/activis...

February Tech Talk tonight!
8:00 Eastern Time
Register below to join the conversation!

oklahoma.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

Introducing the Ethics of Actors in SYstems (EASY) approach to digital advertising literacy — Civics of Technology Civics of Technology Announcements Next Tech Talk: Please join us for our next Tech Talk where we meet to discuss whatever critical tech issues are on people’s minds. It’s a great way to connect, l...

Today, Michelle Ciccone shares some of her recent work on Digital Advertising Literacy with 6th grade students. How do these students navigate the onslaught of ads, influencers, and marketing?

www.civicsoftechnology.org/blog/introdu...

Ooo new article from Mark Coeckelbergh - definitely reading this one! Thanks for sharing :)

#211 Silicon Valley’s Vision for Schools is Trapped in a Cold War Fantasy In the schools of the (near) future, teachers will be replaced by robots and learning will be personalized, allowing each student to move at their own pace. AI refuser and self-described ‘ed tech Cass

A little weekend listening while you shovel: Silicon Valley has been selling the same failed #edtech, schools-on-screens vision for decades. The latest @haveyouheard.bsky.social features the brilliant Audrey Watters soundcloud.com/haveyouheard...

But hey, they're being compensated with access to the very product they are co-designing. What a deal!