1EdTech (formerly IMS Global Learning Consortium) develops technical standards that enable interoperability between educational technology systems. These standards ensure that different platforms—learning management systems, content publishers, assessment tools, and student information systems—can communicate and share data seamlessly. This interoperability is crucial for institutions that use multiple edtech tools, as it eliminates data silos and reduces manual workarounds.

Below is a quick reference guide to the key 1EdTech standards, organized by their primary function and data flow patterns.

We knew that saying please and thank you costs Sam Altman millions of dollars. But this article presents some research that says that impolite prompts tend to outperform polite prompts.

I will try my hardest to eliminate my please and thank yous from now on. But I don’t think I can find it in myself to be intentionally rude, even to an AI.

Alpha School has been on my mind lately, since I listened to this podcast. I don’t normally listen to that podcast, but I discovered it in my podcasts app. Joe Liemandt has some good insights and ideas, and the podcast serves mostly as marketing for Alpha School. .

Because I’m tuned into AI and education, I’ve had quite a few stories about Alpha School in my feeds. And then this Wired Story hit my feed, and it really made me think.

A few things stand out to me:

• The host’s child attended Alpha School and then left
• None of the results claimed are independently verified
• There’s always tradeoffs

It was a head scratcher to learn that Peter Attia’s child attended Alpha Schools but then left. If it was so good, why leave? The Wired story states that this is a common occurence since many parents find that Alpha Schools pushes their children too hard.

The fact that none of Alpha Schools claims are independently verified is also a red flag. With the market opportunity uncovered, there are many private schools making big claims to attract students. There are a lot of snake oil salesmen.

There are always tradeoffs. If students are learning everything they need to know in two hours with AI, then there is going to be a tradeoff. Alpha Schools may enable students to outperform their peers on MAP scores, but there has to be a tradeoff. If you believe the Wired story, it is the student’s wellbeing and sanity.

I asked Gemini to summarize an article I was looking at: Joseph Aoun’s Thoughts on Higher Education. Because it was behind a paywall, it declined to do so. However, it offered to look across the web and to create an outline based on other remarks that Dr. Aoun has made in the past. I thought the output was extremely useful, and I plan on using this approach more often.

Outline of Joseph Aoun’s Thoughts on Higher Education in America Today

I. The Context: Major Challenges and the Need for a New Social Compact

A. The Age of Artificial Intelligence (AI)

1. AI is the “fourth transformational force” in history (after fire, steam, and electricity).
2. It threatens to automate both low- and high-skilled labor (e.g., legal research, data analysis, medical image interpretation).
3. The rise of AI is making knowledge itself a commodity that can be easily accessed.
4. The purpose of education must shift from preparing students for their first job (which may disappear) to preparing them for life and multiple careers.

B. “Icebergs” Confronting Higher Education

1. Demographic Cliff: A nationwide trend of fewer high school graduates choosing to attend college.
2. Crisis of Trust: Society’s faith in the value of higher education is declining.
3. Fraying Social Compact: The post-World War II agreement between higher education and society (exchange of funding/non-profit status for educated citizens) is weakened and needs to be rebuilt.

II. The Proposed Solution: A New Educational Model—”Humanics”

A. Goal of a “Robot-Proof” Education

1. To cultivate a creative mindset and mental elasticity.
2. To teach mastery of content while developing uniquely human skills that machines cannot easily replicate.
3. To enable students to invent, discover, or create something society deems valuable.

B. The Three Core Literacies of Humanics

1. Data Literacy: The ability to read, manage, analyze, and drive insights from the flow of big data.
2. Technological Literacy: The ability to code, understand engineering principles, and know how machines work.
3. Human Literacy: The development of “soft skills” such as:
   • Communication and design
   • Understanding the humanities and context

C. The Essential Cognitive Capacities

1. Critical Thinking: The ability to analyze information objectively.
2. Systems Thinking: The capacity to view business, technology, and machines holistically and in an integrated manner.
3. Entrepreneurship: Applying a creative mindset to economic or business challenges.
4. Cultural Agility: The ability to adapt and function effectively across different cultures and contexts.

III. The Necessary Institutional Transformation

A. Emphasizing Experiential Learning

1. Co-operative education (co-op) and hands-on experience are more important than ever to hone human skills.
2. Learning in context (outside the classroom) is essential for integrating knowledge with real-world challenges.

B. Shifting to Lifelong Learning

1. Universities must broaden their reach beyond undergraduate and graduate students to become engines for continuous learning throughout a person’s life.
2. Educational offerings must be customized and personalized to meet the evolving needs of adult learners and employers.
3. The focus shifts from a single degree to providing continuous access to education over an entire lifetime.

C. The Global University Model

1. Developing a global network of campuses provides a broader perspective and student mobility.
2. This system allows a university to weather challenges and take advantage of opportunities in different markets.