Short updates on coding, AI, and education, with one practical idea for what to learn next.
Sal Khan says schools that use technology well succeed because of teachers, administrators, and other hard-to-copy conditions, not technology alone. He argues that overrating the tech can create unrealistic expectations and distract from what is needed to help more classrooms benefit. His goal is to use technology to let students learn at their own pace while freeing class time for human interaction.
Students are already using AI for schoolwork, often to summarize material, get unstuck, and brainstorm. The excerpt says Study and Learn in Microsoft 365 Copilot is built to support active learning rather than just give quick answers, and it discusses how institutions are responding to student AI use. Some schools have limited AI, but that may leave students using unmanaged tools elsewhere.
The Raspberry Pi Foundation hosted the 22nd Bebras International Task Workshop in Cambridge, bringing together organisers, educators, and researchers to review computational thinking tasks for upcoming national Bebras Challenges. Delegates from 61 countries discussed wording, illustrations, age suitability, accessibility, and the thinking skills involved. Out of 277 submitted tasks, 214 were accepted.
A high school student in New Jersey created a free economics program for middle schoolers, using AI-built simulations based on sports. Students make decisions like managing payroll, handling salary caps, drafting players, and setting ticket prices while learning concepts such as incentives, scarcity, risk, and opportunity cost. The classes mix slide lessons, discussion, and interactive games.
Google and the University of Waterloo’s Futures Lab is helping students create practical AI tools. The program also aims to prepare students for future jobs by giving them real-world experience.
Teachers see AI as a way to fill subject and language gaps for bilingual students. Researchers are exploring chatbots and multilingual models that can adapt learning materials, support parent-child dialogue, and offer explanations in a child’s home language while keeping core content in English. Experts say the approach could expand access if used well.
Sal Khan says the first version of Khanmigo did not improve learning as the team had hoped. Later iterations placed AI inside practice, prompted students to explain their thinking, avoided simply giving answers, and aimed to multiply teachers’ capacity.
An Indigenous school’s technology coordinator describes how AI changed teachers’ work from routine support to urgent problem-solving. Teachers felt panic and embarrassment when student writing turned out to be AI-generated, leaving students to succeed without much learning. These incidents showed a broader policy gap the school had to address.
Microsoft’s third AI in Education Report surveyed over 3,000 students, educators, and leaders in six countries. The discussion highlights that while many people have tried AI tools, daily use is still much lower, student optimism has dipped, and leaders and teachers disagree about how much training has happened. It also suggests the cheating concern reflects a broader academic integrity issue, not just AI.
The Experience AI programme works with partners around the world to support AI literacy, with materials in 19+ languages and partners in over 38 countries. The article explains why localisation matters and why Croatian is being treated as simply a language, not a “small” one. It also describes how translating new technology terms can be difficult, even for common concepts like AI.
Code Club is presented as a free, creative space where young people experiment with technology, build projects, and learn by having fun. The excerpt says it helps them grow in confidence, resilience, teamwork, and problem solving, not just programming. Schools, libraries, and community centres can run clubs with existing equipment and access free resources and support.