Category: Technology

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Department of Education AI Toolkit

The Department of Education1Look: I had an existential crisis while drafting this blog post. I regularly read newsletters about education and EdTech as part of my job and am acutely aware of the hubbub around the potential elimination of the Department of Education. Couple that with relaxed restrictions on AI development from the new administration, and I ended up in a loop of questions: Does any of this matter? For all I know, once Linda McWrestling is in charge of public education, these guidelines and toolkits will be formally retracted. I decided that wasn’t the blog post I wanted to write; all this politicking doesn’t change a good idea, and I hope thousands of schools and districts have seen this Toolkit and will consider it important regardless of what Sam Altman tells Trump is safe. released a toolkit for Safe, Ethical, and Equitable, AI Integration last October. I finally made the time to read it and love what I found. As with most things in education, if it’s sensible in that context, it is worth considering in every context.

Continue reading “Department of Education AI Toolkit”
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    Look: I had an existential crisis while drafting this blog post. I regularly read newsletters about education and EdTech as part of my job and am acutely aware of the hubbub around the potential elimination of the Department of Education. Couple that with relaxed restrictions on AI development from the new administration, and I ended up in a loop of questions: Does any of this matter? For all I know, once Linda McWrestling is in charge of public education, these guidelines and toolkits will be formally retracted. I decided that wasn’t the blog post I wanted to write; all this politicking doesn’t change a good idea, and I hope thousands of schools and districts have seen this Toolkit and will consider it important regardless of what Sam Altman tells Trump is safe.
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Digital News

In addition to receiving a physical copy of the Sunday edition of the New Haven Register, my subscription includes access to their “E-Edition,” which amounts to a digital scan of the paper. It’s perfect for reading on my iPad.

Image of an iPad showing the digital edition of the New Haven Register in the browser.

Clicking on an article opens it in a dedicated and simplified reader view, avoiding the need to flip through the paper to continue reading. Plus, I can still read the daily comics.

I prefer reading the “curated” daily newspaper instead of checking the website or the CT Insider app for new articles.1Or, even worse, enable push notifications from the app. I can dedicate time to sit down and peruse the day’s news, then not feel obligated to have it follow me around on my phone. It’s helped me become more informed on news of all types—more than poking around on Reddit allows—without succumbing to a 24-hour news cycle or doom-scrolling social media to see all the hottest takes.

I still enjoy going outside on a sleepy Sunday morning to see a bagged newspaper at the base of the front porch, but it would certainly be a waste to have that every day. This online version, which I made a shortcut to access easily, is more than sufficient.

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    Or, even worse, enable push notifications from the app.
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We Are So Back with iA Writer on the iPad

With iOS and iPadOS 18 out, I decided to give iA Writer another shot on my iPad. I adore it on my MacBook, and it’s been frustrating not having a consistent interface for my personal writing.

Lo and behold, I discover that iA Writer has been properly working with Dropbox since May! Dropbox decided to hop aboard the “modern File Provider API” train, leading to a slightly worse experience than many years ago1That is Apple’s fault., but a significantly better experience than when using any Dropbox text file would result in errors and conflicted files.

I’m holding my breath—it takes a while for me to rebuild trust with tools that failed me so thoroughly, regardless of who is “at fault”—but I’ve been writing for the last twenty minutes and have clear indicators that my files are being saved. That makes me feel right at home.

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    That is Apple’s fault.
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feeeed

I started using feeeed after reading about it on MacStories. It’s a neat app that, though lacking a certain style and polish, is a wonderful way to create a personal list of suggested content using only sources that you provide. I can take in a fun mix of baseball subreddit posts, articles on several blogs I follow, random photos from my library, and a handful of other options.

I’ve tried the RSS game, but as someone who leans toward completionism with my content, I find it difficult to see the list of unread articles grow, yet I refuse to declare feed bankruptcy. feeeed offers a better way for me to access this content naturally. I can always open a chronological list view if I want to find something in particular, but the default view that serves you a mix of content and then cuts you off is ideal. It’s not for everyone, but I’m glad this app was made.

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Managing Multiple Computers

A pickle I’ve avoided for a couple of years has finally been unjarred.1Is this a good metaphor? Two years ago, I was issued a company-owned laptop that was precisely the same make and model—down to the color—as my personal computer. I was loathe to use two computers and felt uncomfortable doing my extracurricular tasks on the work device, so I continued exclusively using my personal laptop as I’ve done since I started there.

To comply with various data privacy laws and ensure the company can provide tech support, it was recently made clear to me that work had to be done on the work laptop. I now have to maintain feature parity between two computers, bring them both with me while traveling, and generally be inconvenienced by this change.

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    Is this a good metaphor?