🐴 The 5-step formula for burnout (#117)

The AI teaching experiment that backfired. Plus; drone-piloting field trips?

Author

Charlie Deist
January 21, 2025

Good mornin’, folks!

In this edition:

  • A sure-fire formula for exhaustion

  • The AI teaching experiment that backfired (and what it means for learning)

  • How Iceland's volcanoes are coming to your living room

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💡 THOUGHT

Our 5-step formula to guarantee burnout

  1. Listen to all your critics

  2. Ignore your child's interests

  3. Try to recreate the classroom at home

  4. Buy curricula you hate because it's "proper"

  5. Change course because another mom's Instagram looks better

📊 TREND

The AI Tutor Paradox

Edutopia's top 10 educational findings of 2024 highlights a bombshell study with a crucial lesson about AI tutoring:

High schoolers using ChatGPT outperformed peers by 127% during practice... but bombed the actual test.

Why? They used AI as a shortcut instead of a teacher, skipping straight to answers instead of understanding.

But there's hope: AI tools that refuse to give away answers and instead ask probing questions showed promise. The difference? They're designed to guide thinking, not replace it.

Check out the full roundup of educational findings at Edutopia, including how "pandemic babies" are faring and the surprising truth about teen mental health trends.

🛠️ TOOL

Your Students' Next Field Trip? Piloting Drones Over Iceland

Nothing replaces the hands-on magic of a real field trip. But what about the places that have always been out of reach – African savannas, volcanic craters, cloud forests?

NatureEye is making these impossible destinations possible through live, interactive drone flights. This isn't passive video watching – students actually take turns piloting the drones themselves, guided by local experts on the ground.

What makes it special:

  • Real-time drone control

  • Local guides as co-pilots

  • Built-in safety features

  • Curriculum-aligned materials

  • High-res photo capture

We're exploring adding NatureEye as a community perk for OpenEd families. Interested? Reply to this email and show your enthusiasm!

(IMAGE) OF THE DAY

Hat tip to @RebelEducator on X.

That’s all for today!

– Charlie (the OpenEd newsletter guy)

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