There’s a lot of noise, and my goal is to surface what’s most relevant, actionable, or thought-provoking. Sharing it out because it’s kind of silly to just have it sitting on my scratchpad.
A lot going on in the United States this weeks — the beginning is bit heaving on all things state-side.
One article to read right now.
This week of all the things that I read and reviewed this one kept me thinking. Education Doesn’t Need an Upgrade — It Needs a Rethink an interview with Yong Zhao. This is just a good read that can help us all remember the “why” behind the work that so many of us are doing right now. It isn’t about just pushing AI into education — it’s about taking the moment to figure out what’s possible and changing some long-held beliefs in order to truly make the most of AI in education. Read the article at https://www.edtechdigest.com/2025/07/17/education-doesnt-need-an-upgrade-it-needs-a-rethink/.
Top of Mind this Week: America’s AI Action Plan
The document released this week by the White House summarizes the plan for the U.S. aims to win the global AI race. There are several summaries floating around (many of which seem to be AI generated) but after a read through these are the big things that were standing out:
- The administration wants to remove red tape (note that the document doesn’t include many definitions but hopefully protections are not seen as red tape)
- The removal of things like misinformation and DEI from National Institute of Standards and Technology’s (NIST) frameworks seems to be a priority
- Encouraging open source models (as a side note a friend sent me this podcast the other day and its worth a listen https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_sfcB3OSZuc)
- Setting expectations for AI literacy and workforce development with some attention to research on labor impacts and education (including military education) and advance things like robotics, drones, etc. to support more streamlined manufacturing
- Addressing some of the unpredictability of AI especially in uses related to national defense (and investing in AI to support defense)
- Addressing energy needs (note that there wasn’t a lot of attention to climate impact in this document, however a friend shared this recently and it would be good to give it a look — it provides a calculation of environmental impacts of different AI uses https://what-uses-more.com/)
- Infrastructure elements (including chip distribution, government led assessments of risk, etc.)
I put some notes into an AI graphic builder to create a table comparing this action plan and NIST frameworks so that it would be easier to interpret. See the image below.
AI in Education updates from the US: Designing a future with no boundaries, AI guidance from the U.S. Department of Education, and Ohio schools setting AI policies by 2026
Stanford University released their new paper on how AI can support learners with disabilities. Key recommendations included:,
- Co-design with individuals who have learning differences
- Professional development for educators on integrating AI equitably
- Cross-sector collaboration to ensure inclusive policy and funding models
- Prioritization of privacy, transparency, and student agency
You can read the full paper at https://acceleratelearning.stanford.edu/app/uploads/2025/07/AI-Learning-Differences-Designing-a-Future-with-No-Boundaries_Final.pdf.
💡 It is important to point out that the white paper is accompanied by a Hackathon Toolkit to support schools, companies, and community organizations in creating inclusive AI tools with students, families, and educators.
The U.S. Department of Education issued guidance for the use of AI in schools. This is new to this administration and a bit different in tone than the previous copy under Biden-Harris. It is important to note that this only a Dear Colleague Letter (that means there is little larger meaning to this than just informative). The big parts of this letter included:
- Federal formula and discretionary grant funds may be used to support the responsible integration of AI in education, including AI-powered instructional tools, high-impact tutoring, and college/career navigation systems.
- There are three key areas for AI use — adaptive instructional materials, hybrid AI-human tutoring models, and AI-driven advising platforms for postsecondary and career pathways.
- AI initiatives must be educator-led, ethical, accessible, transparent, and data-protective, with emphasis on supporting — not replacing — human educators and ensuring compliance with privacy laws.
Also, important to note in the US that as of today 26 states have now have official guidance or policy on the use of AI in K12 schools. Read a recent article on this at https://stateline.org/2025/07/15/more-than-half-the-states-have-issued-ai-guidance-for-schools/
This happened a few weeks ago and I didn’t come upon it until recently, but it is important to note that Ohio passed a new law that schools must set AI policies by mid-2026. You can read more on this at https://www.axios.com/local/columbus/2025/07/08/ohio-schools-require-ai-policy-artificial-intelligence
AI in Education updates from Africa: The University of Cape Town scraps flawed AI detectors
The University of Cape Town (UCT) will cease using AI detection tools, such as Turnitin’s AI Score, from October 1, 2025, due to concerns over their reliability and potential to undermine student trust and fairness in assessments. This is an important move that others should take note of. Read the full article at https://www.news.uct.ac.za/article/-2025-07-24-uct-scraps-flawed-ai-detectors
AI in Education updates from Asia: Smart Classrooms and AI tools in Delhi
Delhi’s Education Minister announced a five-year plan to equip public schools with smart classrooms, AI technologies, and computer labs to modernize learning environments. This comes in tandem with a reaffirmation of the government’s dedication to delivering a high quality education. Read more at https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/smart-classrooms-ai-tools-in-govt-schools-in-next-5-yrs-sood/articleshow/122865349.cms
AI in Education updates from South America: Groundbreaking Robotics
Chile is positioning itself as a regional AI leader with initiatives like the launch of Latam-GPT, a large AI language model tailored for Latin American languages, and the establishment of two AI supercomputing centers in the Metropolitan and Valparaíso regions. Brazil is making substantial investments, including the development of Scala AI City, the largest data center project in Latin America. And, Argentina is focusing on integrating generative AI into various sectors, with a primary goal of improving productivity. Read more at https://www.travelandtourworld.com/news/article/south-americas-new-ai-revolution-in-chile-brazil-and-argentina-lead-the-way-with-groundbreaking-robotics-and-technological-advancements/
Remember that the future of education is being shaped now and we need more voices that are informed, thoughtful, and equity-driven. Subscribe to Jody’s newsletter to get weekly updates delivered right to your in-box at https://jodybritten.medium.com/subscribe.
