A Common Sense AI Curriculum | Ep. 126

Banning AI in class doesn't stop it, it just drives it underground. Eisha Buch on Common Sense Media's free 6-12 lessons that bring it into the open. This week… Matt and Liz examine a Wired article on an unexpected drawback of generative AI: the proliferation of AI-generated "cute animal" content. Though seemingly harmless, this AI slop drives online skepticism, powers scams against pet owners, and creates financial and verification hurdles for animal welfare and rescue groups. AI Slop Is Ruining Cute Animals on the Internet: https://tinyurl.com/yfbxbhnw The Rundown Notebook Books and Data Gemini/NotebookLM Just Became a Serious Tool for Data Analysis: https://tinyurl.com/48ev8en7 Collaborate with Gemini in Google Sheets: https://tinyurl.com/4h8sjcwm Previously On ChatEDU Claude for Teachers: https://tinyurl.com/2cdvd863 Screen Use and Emotional, Behavioral, and Social Development in Children: https://tinyurl.com/yfb2wetz LME Global (Jared Cooney Horvath): https://tinyurl.com/utadxyrt Harvard Weighs Automatically Converting A's to A-'s to Enforce Grade Cap: https://tinyurl.com/33tf2xzd AI Avatars Harvard Is Selling a $699 Course Taught by A.I. Clones of Its Faculty: https://tinyurl.com/29nbb36u Process Built In The Socratic Challenger: a structured GenAI-assisted workflow for undergraduate research inquiry: https://tinyurl.com/y3eyr3p5 AI in Ed Newsletter (Sidaard Gunasekaran): https://tinyurl.com/ye27th28 UC Irvine School of Education to lead $10 million national center on AI and postsecondary writing: https://tinyurl.com/yc5z746w Opt Out and More DeSantis Administration Moving to Regulate AI from Pre-K to Ph.D.: https://tinyurl.com/mrj26kzz MIT Times 2 How MIT Sandbox has turned student ideas into $8.7 billion in global impact: https://tinyurl.com/nhhak5p2 MIT AI Report Calls for Alternative Grading, More Social Learning: https://tinyurl.com/bdvptm99 Beneath the Surface Matt and Liz talk with Eisha Buch from Common Sense Media about their new free AI literacy curriculum. Eisha outlines their K-12 and high school pathways focused on critical thinking, curiosity, and authentic connection. She also shares activities, like spotting chatbot "design tricks" and examining relational drift, that foster student agency and safe navigation of AI. AI Literacy Lessons for Grades 6–12: https://tinyurl.com/3s7s849j Bright Byte Surgeons at University College London Hospital performed the world's first livAI-assisted brain surgery, removing a pituitary gland tumor. Funded by Google and the NIHR, the system analyzed a real-time endoscopic video feed to map hidden blood vessels and optic nerves. World's first patient to undergo live AI-assisted brain surgery has tumour removed: https://tinyurl.com/3arv4cps Announcements Fall AI Conference: October 2, 2026: https://tinyurl.com/4k6x9scx Purchase Learning They'll Love - Dr. Elizabeth Radday on Amazon: https://tinyurl.com/22t9hz77 Check out our middle / high school Student AI Literacy course: ​​⁠⁠⁠www.skills21.org/ai/learnai⁠⁠⁠ Explore Skills21’s FREE social media literacy curriculum: ⁠⁠⁠https://www.skills21.org/social Address Screen Time concerns: skills21.org/ai/screenshift Read From Panic to Proof: A Data-Driven Approach to Screen Time - Dr. Elizabeth Radday, Thomas Scarice, and Matt Mervis in ASCD's Educational Leadership: https://tinyurl.com/4pwdu68 Sponsor The National Center for Next Generation Manufacturing: Your Gateway to Next Generation Advanced Manufacturing - https://www.nextgenmfg.org