Owen Henkel and Libby Hills · Technology and AI · AI and technology in education, with the evidence behind it.
In this episode of EdTechnical , our podcast hosts Libby and Owen welcome back John Roberts, CEO and co-founder of Oak National Academy, to discuss the results of a new randomised controlled trial of Aila, Oak’s AI lesson assistant. Funded by the Education Endowment Foundation and independently evaluated by the National Foundation for Educational Research, the trial followed 464 primary teachers across 108 schools in…
In this EdTechnical short, Owen is joined by guest co-host Alyssa Van Camp, research lead at EdTechnical, to discuss a recent paper on the learning penalty from generative AI. Drawing on survey data from around 27,000 secondary school students in China, the study looks at how using generative AI may affect homework productivity and learning. The headline finding is that students who use AI score higher on their…
In this episode, Libby and Owen speak with Joanna Cannon, senior fellow at the Walton Family Foundation, where she supports a growing body of research on how teachers and students are using AI. Measuring how teachers adopt AI is not straightforward. Joanna says the figures shift depending on what is asked and how AI is defined. The widely reported time savings of using AI come with significant caveats. And although…
In this episode of EdTechnical , Owen reports back from the Festival of Learning in South Korea, the annual gathering that brings together academics in AI, education, learning sciences, and human-computer interaction. Owen takes the pulse of the field through four conversations at the Festival. He speaks with a Cornell professor, a funder at the Gates Foundation, an early-stage startup founder, and a researcher at…
In this episode of EdTechnical , Libby and Owen speak with Rebecca Winthrop, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, where she directs the Center for Universal Education. Rebecca and her team recently ran a ‘pre-mortem’ on generative AI in education: rather than waiting years for the evidence to settle, they conducted a yearlong study on the risks it poses to students, and what we can do now to prevent them while…
Libby is on maternity leave, so Hermione Thompson steps in to guest co-host this episode alongside Owen. Hermione is AI and EdTech lead at Purposeful Ventures and previously advised on education policy inside the UK Prime Minister’s Office at 10 Downing Street. Owen and Hermione sit down with Minister Olivia Bailey, the UK Department for Education minister responsible for AI in schools, for a conversation on where AI…
This season EdTech founder Libby Hills and AI researcher Owen Henkel continue to speak with leading researchers, practitioners and educators on the EdTechnical podcast series about the cutting edge of AI in education. They will break down complex AI concepts into non-technical insights to better understand what the research says and help educators sift the useful insights from the AI hype. In the first episode of a…
In this EdTechnical short, Libby and Owen unpack ‘AI agents’ and what they mean for education. Agents are large language models connected to tools and workflows that are allowed to take actions like searching, summarising, and completing multi-step tasks. Recent progress comes from the combination of stronger models and better systems for connecting agents to external tools, enabling more complex and autonomous…
At this year's SXSW EDU, Owen joined a panel on what it takes to make voice AI for assessment work in classrooms. In this live recording of the session, the panelists untangle how voice AI works, and what testing this technology with kindergartners looks like in rural Georgia. They explain why the distinction between capturing what a student said versus what they meant matters enormously for literacy assessment and…
In this EdTechnical short, Libby and Owen test a conversational plush toy to understand more about AI-powered toys designed for young children. Recent research from Cambridge shows that preschool-aged children can form rapid emotional connections with social robots like these, even when the responses from the robot are inconsistent. Children’s experiences with AI toys are shaped by voice and real-time interaction.…
In this episode of EdTechnical , Libby and Owen speak with Panos Ipeirotis, Professor at NYU Stern School of Business, about his experiment using AI to run oral exams in university courses. As generative AI makes it easier for students to outsource written assignments, educators are asking whether traditional take-home assessments still measure real understanding. Panos introduced AI-mediated oral assessments after…
In this EdTechnical Short, Libby and Owen explore how AI might reshape teaching through the lens of the “weakest link” theory from economics. They discuss the possibility of full job replacement, partial task automation, and productivity gains for teachers. Automation often shifts the composition of work rather than eliminating roles, as with bank tellers and radiologists. In schools, planning, grading, diagnosing…
In this episode of EdTechnical , Libby and Owen speak with Kristyn Sommer, a developmental psychologist and child robot interaction researcher. Together, they explore how young children learn through imitation, why physical presence matters for learning, and what the so-called robot deficit reveals about engagement, psychological safety, and learning outcomes. Kristyn explains where robots can support learning, where…
In this episode of EdTechnical , Libby and Owen sit down with Dan Meyer: math educator, EdTech innovator, and self-proclaimed “token AI sceptic”. Dan’s rare mix of classroom experience and product design insight gives him a unique perspective on how technology intersects with real classrooms. He shares what the classroom teaches him about student engagement, the challenges teachers face, and why motivation is deeply…
In this episode of EdTechnical , Libby and Owen look at Alpha School, a model that started as a micro-school in Austin, Texas, and is now expanding. At its core, Alpha condenses academic learning into a morning block where students work largely independently using software, supported by guides rather than traditional teachers. Afternoons are reserved for enrichment and life skills. Libby and Owen discuss the appeal…
In this episode Libby and Owen are joined by Daisy Christodoulou MBE, EdTechnical’s very first guest from two years ago. Daisy is Director of Education at No More Marking and a leading voice in assessment. Daisy, Owen and Libby reflect over what’s changed in the two years since that first episode, including Daisy’s own views about the opportunities for AI use in assessment. Daisy shares what her team has learned…
Millions of students now study with AI chatbots. There are growing concerns about what happens when vulnerable teens form emotional bonds with AI. Tragic teen deaths have sparked intense debate about how to protect young people from AI systems that blur the line between tool and companion. California just drew the first regulatory lines—but they're messy and educational AI is caught in the middle. In this short…
In this episode of EdTechnical, Libby and Owen speak with Candice Odgers , a psychologist and researcher studying how online experiences influence children's mental health. They revisit the debate around social media and teen wellbeing, questioning the claims that social media use has caused rising rates of depression and anxiety. Candice calls for a more careful reading of the evidence and cautions against rushing…
In this episode of Ed-Technical, Libby and Owen explore why traditional AI detection tools are struggling in academic settings. As students adopt increasingly sophisticated methods to evade AI detection - like paraphrasing tools, hybrid writing, and sequential model use - detection accuracy drops and false positives rise. Libby and Owen look at the research showing why reliable detection with automated tools is so…
In this first episode of EdTechnical Season 3, Libby and Owen speak with Dr. Jason Yeatman from Stanford University about how the brain learns to read, the power of better assessment, and a broader look at how AI is beginning to reshape our relationship with reading itself. They touch on the science behind reading as a learned skill, the surprising overlap between visual and auditory processing, and the challenges…
