What’s In, What’s Out for AI, Cellphones, Cybersecurity, and Other Ed-Tech Stuff

Using cellphones for classroom learning
There was a time in the not-so-distant past that teachers saw instructional potential in students’ cellphones. But now that most students have school-issued laptops—thanks, in part, to pandemic-era remote learning—cellphones don’t have the educational utility they once did. Plus, the lure of text messages, Snapchats, and other social media when using cellphones is just too strong.

Banning or restricting use of cellphones in school
Schools, districts, and even states are increasingly restricting—or even completely banning—students’ cellphone use during the school day. This is largely in response to educators complaining that the devices have become a major source of distraction and social strife, and an emerging line of research showing the negative effect of cellphones and social media on kids’ mental health. As more state policymakers take up the issue, we expect to see state-level restrictions increase in 2025.

Hysterical fears over AI leading to massive cheating and teachers losing their jobs
When ChatGPT became widely available for public use at the end of 2022, educators worried that, at best, students would never write another essay again and that, at worst, critical thinking was all but dead. Two years later, educators, schools, and students are adjusting to the new normal in which AI is increasingly being used for highly practical purposes.

Teachers using AI as personal assistants
Now that educators have had time to experiment with chatbots and other widely available AI tools, they are increasingly incorporating the technology into their jobs—from creating grading rubrics and lesson plans to firing off recommendation letters for students and emails to parents, among many other uses. Teachers are also experimenting with developmentally appropriate lessons to teach their students about AI.

TikTok, maybe
A federal court denied TikTok’s petition to overturn a law that requires the popular video-sharing app to break ties with its China-based parent company ByteDance Ltd. or be banned in the United States by mid-January. The social media company has appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which is set to take up the case and hear arguments on Jan. 10.

TikTok, maybe
While some educators would welcome a ban on the app that has caused many headaches for schools, others would be sad to see it go. TikTok has become a valuable resource for many educators to share ideas and a cathartic (and humorous) outlet for their profession’s unique challenges. If ByteDance decides to sell TikTok or if the Supreme Court rules in favor of ByteDance, expect educators to continue to use it as a form of professional development and entertainment.

The AI free-for-all
By the start of 2023, students everywhere had access in the form of ChatGPT to a powerful and free technology that could do much of their schoolwork for them. Schools were caught flat-footed because they didn’t have policies for—or even much official guidance on—how students and teachers should or should not use AI text and image generators. Teachers scrambled to figure out how to prevent students from using AI to cheat—sometimes turning to new AI programs to do so—while simultaneously experimenting with using AI in their jobs.

AI guidance
About half of states have now released some form of AI guidance for schools. The federal government also stepped up in 2024, releasing AI guidance for ed-tech vendors in the summer and recommendations for schools in the fall on how to both leverage AI and avoid some of its pitfalls. But experts say this is just the beginning of a challenging AI journey for schools.

E-rate?
The future of the E-rate program, which was created to improve school and library internet connectivity, is in jeopardy. The U.S. Supreme Court agreed to take up a case about the constitutionality of the funding mechanism for the Universal Service Fund, which distributes about $4 billion annually under the E-rate program.

E-rate?
But many education groups are fighting to both retain and modernize the program so that the funds could also be used for cybersecurity upgrades. The Federal Communications Commission, which runs the program, recently updated rules to allow E-rate funds to be used for Wi-Fi hotspots and school bus Wi-Fi.

Free-wheeling use of educational software and apps
More and more of the resources teachers and students use daily are online. In fact, districts accessed an average of 2,739 distinct ed-tech tools during the 2023-24 school year, according to data from LearnPlatform, an ed-tech company that helps districts measure the effectiveness of their digital products. But allowing teachers unfettered—and unvetted—access to any free education program they want can create big security risks.

Rising fears over cybersecurity
The cybersecurity risk for the education sector, which includes K-12 schools and higher education institutions, has risen between 2022 and 2024, according to Moody’s Ratings, a global credit rating provider. In fact, cybersecurity has been a top concern for district technology leaders for more than five years, especially as more tools and systems come online, but they say funding for cybersecurity upgrades has not kept pace with the demands. Still, district chief technology officers are putting in place programs to train all staff members, and even students and parents, about how to use more effective cybersecurity practices.