Jeremie O'Brien retweeted
Fifteen years ago, @Coursera and online courses changed education. It worked better than almost anyone expected, expanding access by opening up where you can learn. But how you learn remains largely the same as it has for centuries: it is still one-size-fits-all, taught the same way to each person who shows up.
We now have an opportunity to change how learning happens. With advances in AI, we can now build a custom learning guide for each person. We will turn learning from one‑to‑many to one‑to‑one. I'm starting LearnVector to invent this next generation of learning. We are starting with a $100M investment from Coursera, and plan to collaborate closely with Coursera and Udemy.
Good learning needs much more than just a chatbot. Research shows that chatbots without guardrails harm learning. They help complete tasks and enable students to do better on homework. But cognitive offloading to a chatbot results in them being less skilled. And, you cannot always trust what a chatbot tells you.
In contrast, LearnVector will plan a path with you, adapt to how you learn, and patiently stay with you until you’ve mastered new skills.
One thing has not changed in all this time. People want learning they can trust: material that is accurate, relevant, and worth the effort you put into it. Anything less wastes the most valuable thing a learner has: time. Coursera has a trusted library of materials from authoritative sources. LearnVector plans to work with Coursera to bring this trustworthy learning to everyone. I'm grateful to Greg Hart and the entire Coursera team for supporting LearnVector.
I look forward to working with our talented team to change how we learn, and accelerate human development.
learnvector.ai
LearnVector just raised $100M from @coursera.
We know that AI without guardrails actually hinders learning, because most students don't use it properly. They look for answers rather than using it as a tutor.
@AndrewYNg 's LearnVector is going to make us move to truly personalised learning, and actually make AI the tutors we dreamt of when the technology first came out.
$4.5M raised for @imagilabs to teach vibe-coding to students (in partnership with @Lovable)
This is great news for the EdTech space because it seems to have been losing steam.
It’s also great because vibe-coding is becoming an essential basic skill as AI is taking more and more space at work.
And you might think that vibe-coding doesn’t need to be taught, but it really does.
#1 to make it less intimidating for someone who’s never coded
#2 to teach best practices, because one can easily go head-first into vibe-coding without knowing that there’s a better way to do things (AI isn’t going to question your approach unless you ask it to)
TIME named Duolingo the #1 EdTech company in 2026.
This is controversial for many people, because @duolingo is very often seen as an (addictive) game that doesn't teach as much as it simply makes you feel good about yourself.
IMO, these people haven't been paying attention.
Duolingo has been consistently adding content and adding features.
The Chinese lessons for example now go way further, and don't just stop at the very basics.
You can now talk to an AI with a simple Super subscription. And let me tell you: that really forces you into "conversation mode". That's personally when I make the most progress.
Yes, Duolingo started as a mobile gaming company that happened to teach you a bit of vocab, and keep you in "maintenance mode". But it's moving towards real tangible learning.
Not to say it shouldn't be supplemented for optimal results. But it's done something that no other education platform has really done: getting people addicted to learning languages.
And the important part: it prioritizes consistency.
Jeremie O'Brien retweeted
The world is on track for 2.5C-2.9C of heating, which would almost certainly be beyond tipping points for the collapse of the Greenland & west Antarctic ice sheets. The melting of those ice sheets would lead to 12 metres of sea level rise.
How will the displaced look back at us?
Here another study confirming our <1.5°C Planetary Boundary. Already at current 1.2°C of global mean temperature rise, we are in danger for multi-meter sea level rise over the coming centuries with major Earth system impacts theguardian.com/environment/…
Jeremie O'Brien retweeted
Ask, and you shall receive. ⭐
Students who studied a lesson and then wrote their own questions outperformed students who simply restudied the material by *33 percent* on a follow-up test.

ALT Did You Know? Students who studied a lesson and then wrote their own questions outperformed students who simply restudied the material by 33 percent on a follow-on test. Other research shows that students learn better when they are “trained to generate cognitively challenging questions.” Work with students to identify crucial themes or insights, and model how to write more complex, open-ended questions that start with “explain,” “why,” or “how.” Sources: Bugg & McDaniel, 2012; Ebersbach, Feierabend, & Nazari, 2020; Levin & Arnold, 2008
Don't try to use GPT detectors to catch students using ChatGPT.
They don't work.
OpenAI’s AI content detector had a detection rate of 26%.
They ultimately took it down.
Other detectors don't do better, according to a Stanford paper.
They are also biased and misclassify non-English native speakers more often than not.
Finally, add “elevate the provided text by employing literary language” to your prompt and detectors will only detect 3% of the results.
So it's not worth it.
Did you know?
Researchers have had trouble understanding how we learn without the immediate reward of a dopamine rush.
We realised only recently that there was a cyclical soft pulse of dopamine and acetylcholine in the brain (twice per second) that was associated with learning.
A very similar pattern to the one observed during introspection and rest, suggesting that the brain is learning during those moments.
sciencedaily.com/releases/20…
What about using themes to increase motivation?
Using superheroes as examples to teach anatomy, researchers were able to increase motivation significantly in students.
Study size was small, but the idea is worth taking!
anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wi…
Basic environmental education won't be enough to change attitudes.
Test was recently made: improving student knowledge and awareness of local environmental issues doesn't result in change of students' attitudes overall.
But maybe planting a seed in students' minds is still worth it, even if immediate effects on attitude aren't noticed?
And maybe practical exercises could work better?
cambridge.org/core/journals/…
New study suggests that better time management is linked to better sleep for college students.
Time management is a skill.
And it should be actively taught before students enter college.
tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.…
Teaching is like coaching: the trick isn't to evaluate strengths and weaknesses, the real trick is to help someone get to a place where they are actively seeking feedback for themselves.
That's when they start truly growing.
When they have in mind what they want to become. Why they want to learn.
Recent research supports this approach: frontiersin.org/articles/10.…
Teaching languages at a young age is SO powerful.
"Early bilingual language experience can enhance children's social-cognitive skills for effective communication."
And recent study shows that bilingual children with biggest language diversity reap the most benefits.
cambridge.org/core/journals/…
Surprising application of AI:
AI chatbots can help children with socio-emotional learning!
A superhero themed chatbot successfully taught multiple children the skill of “self-talking” for example!
I wonder what other ideas will disrupt #edtech!
dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/35850…
Games are a great medium for learning!
And board games based on numbers can help young children with math!
(Recent study proves it for pre-K and K!)
So if you're a parent, play board games with your kids as simple as Snakes & Ladders, Monopoly or Othello!
If you're a teacher, try to use games to teach, and help students practice! You might be surprised!
tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.…
Daily exposure to multiple odorants greatly boosts memory!
It's what we call olfactory enrichment.
In 2006, it was shown mouse memory benefits from OE.
New study shows it may be the case for humans too!
This could have implications to treat dementia (the study suggests this by testing on older adults exclusively), but could maybe help our children learn as well (if animal results are to be believed)!
frontiersin.org/articles/10.…
Personalized learning is unlikely to result in “equality of outcomes” and, by definition, does not provide “equality of inputs”.
However, if implemented in a high-quality way, personalized learning is in line with “adequacy” notions of equity, which aim to equip all students with the basic competencies to participate in society as active members and to live meaningful lives."
nature.com/articles/s41539-0…
Polls show American voters aren't convinced that covid funds really improved schools.
dfer.org/wp-content/uploads/…
Are parent expectations biased by gender? Are mother and father expectations different?
In short: yes, and not much.
nature.com/articles/s41599-0…
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