This Week with EdSurge

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Rebooting Internet Access Programs to Address the ‘Homework Gap’ Sep 23, 2024

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As pandemic relief funds run out — which helped many students connect to the internet to keep up with their studies — there’s a danger that the “homework gap” could suddenly widen, argues Nicol Turner Lee, director of the Brookings Institution’s Center for Technology Innovation, in a new book.

How Rising Higher Ed Costs Change Student Choices. (Doubting College, Ep. 6) Sep 17, 2024

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The high cost of college is changing how high schoolers think about whether or not to go. A new book, “Rethinking College,” argues for changing the narrative around higher education to be more welcoming to gap years, apprenticeships and other alternatives to college at a time where a degree is so expensive that students worry about its value.

How a Returning College Student Advocated to Improve a Fledgling Online Program Sep 10, 2024

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A student who was just a few classes shy of graduating from Morehouse College was excited to try its new online program designed for students trying to finish their degrees. It turned out to be a more challenging process than he expected. Here’s how he helped to improve the program for himself and future students.

AI Chatbots Reflect Cultural Biases. Can They Become Tools to Alleviate Them? Sep 03, 2024

Show notes

A professor has been running an unusual experiment looking for signs of racial and gender bias in AI chatbots. And he has an idea for developing new guardrails that can check against such bias and remove it before it is shown to users. See show notes and links here: https://www.edsurge.com/news/2024-09-03-ai-chatbots-reflect-cultural-biases-can-they-become-tools-to-alleviate-them

When the Teaching Assistant Is an AI ‘Twin’ of the Professor Aug 27, 2024

Show notes

Two instructors made AI chatbot versions of themselves to help teach their classes, and they say class discussion improved as a result. But some teaching experts worry about the long-term implications of bringing in robot teaching assistants.

The Power of the 'Grit' Narrative in Education. Bootstraps Ep. 7 (Encore Episode) Aug 20, 2024

Show notes

It’s still popular to prize students who have “grit,” who overcome tough odds to succeed. A book by Alissa Quart called “Bootstrapped: Liberating Ourselves from the American Dream,” looks at why this narrative is so hard to shake — and proposes more community-minded alternatives that could improve equity. This episode first ran in 2022, as the final installment of our Bootstraps series on who gets the best opportunities in American education. For more on the series, see: https://www.edsurge.com/research/guides/bootstraps-a-podcast-series

Power, Prestige and the World's Most Famous Scholarship. Bootstraps, Ep. 6 (Encore Episode) Aug 13, 2024

Show notes

The Rhodes Scholarship was designed to forge a network of people who would go on to rule the world. So who gets this opportunity? And how is the oldest and best-known graduate scholarship dealing with the legacy of its founder, who used ruthless and racist practices to build the diamond empire that funded the effort? This originally ran in 2022, as part of our Bootstraps series on who gets what educational opportunities in America. Find show notes here:https://www.edsurge.com/news/2022-03-02-power-prestige-and-the-world-s-most-famous-scholarship

Breaking Up With the SAT. Bootstraps, Ep. 5 (Encore Episode) Aug 06, 2024

Show notes

The SAT can feel very different to different students. While it can give any college applicant stress, some low-income and minority students see it as evidence that selective colleges don't want them. Can the rise of test-optional policies lead to a new, more equitable era of college admissions? | Guest reporter: Eric Hoover, of The Chronicle of Higher Education | This originally ran in late 2021 as part of our Bootstraps podcast series.

The Tyranny of Letter Grades. Bootstraps Ep. 4 (Encore Episode) Jul 30, 2024

Show notes

Our current grading system can be a way for kids to prove themselves and win college scholarships, or admission to selective colleges. It can also be a barrier, in sometimes surprising ways. What might a world without letter grades and GPAs look like? This first ran in 2021.

The Strange Past and Messy Future of 'Gifted and Talented.' Bootstraps, Ep. 3 (Encore Episode) Jul 23, 2024

Show notes

Sometime early in elementary school, kids are put on one of two paths: regular or gifted. Where did this idea come from? The answer goes back more than a 100 years, to a once-famous scholar named Lewis Terman. And it turns out his legacy, and the future of gifted programs, are still very much under debate. This first ran in 2021.

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