NEW on Wonkhe: Andrew Routledge explores why universities still let students opt out of speaking, and what a better model looks like buff.ly/rP9FjS1
27.02.2026 06:10
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NEW on Wonkhe: Andrew Routledge explores why universities still let students opt out of speaking, and what a better model looks like buff.ly/rP9FjS1
Universities face:
*Teachers pension scheme cost increases
*National Insurance rises
*International student levy
*Soaring library costs
*Brutally high energy charges
*Potential 'free speech' fines
*Covid class action
There's nowhere to turn really.
"Do not use prescriptive criteria to judge extended writing."
Yesterday, I interviewed a tech guy who told me something too important for me to wait until the podcast comes out for you to hear it:
Many free AI detectors have especially high false positive rates because they make money selling software that "humanizes" writing. 1/2
Worth reading. "Cognitive outsourcing [...] doesnβt just mean finding storage space for thoughts weβve produced through our own mental effort; it means we donβt make the effort ourselves."
My New Year's resolution is to call LLMs 'LLM', not AI. I strongly believe that when employers say they want graduates with AI skills, they mean people who can programme a tool that can detect cancer, not someone who can talk to ChatGPT.
LLMs as a way to move past friction in writing is one of our biggest challenges, IMO. So tempting to just get past the hurdle through the automation, but it's the friction where learning happens. The assignment and the assessment has to value that friction, not just the outcome.
![Dear [TEACHER],
I want to make sure we're on the same page for the rest of the year, because I was surprised and disappointed to hear that you uploaded student projects to ChatGPT.
We have always found [SCHOOL] to be a place that encourages students to express themselves creatively, to be responsible and aware of how their actions affect others, and to be intellectually honest β doing their own work, rather than copying from others.
I know ChatGPT has been heavily marketed as an educational tool, but everything about it is the opposite of those values. AI tools are built by training models on stolen work. They have huge and terrible environmental costs, because their data centers generate enormous amounts of pollution and are cooled with drinking water. They're also incredibly dangerous: tools like ChatGPT have taught children how to start fires and even encouraged them to commit suicide.
And in a classroom setting, it teaches students that a machine can express their ideas better than they can. I told [ CHILD ] I was interested in seeing what they had to draw, and my heart sank when they told me "but I can't draw that pretty." Children deserve to draw what they imagine.
These environmental, ethical, and pedagogical concerns are why I don't want [ CHILD ] to use AI tools (or for you to use them on their behalf). For the same reasons, I respectfully ask that you stop using them in your classroom.
If you do plan to use AI this year, please send home a permission slip requesting consent. There are important privacy concerns when you upload student work into a for-profit service like ChatGPT.
Thank you,
[ PARENT ]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:c2xl6zaxo623jzbjb43urymd/bafkreiesldew7oebm4hg2gymd4cftvwmrpbdw6m7eil2buiphw7db4ror4)
Dear [TEACHER], I want to make sure we're on the same page for the rest of the year, because I was surprised and disappointed to hear that you uploaded student projects to ChatGPT. We have always found [SCHOOL] to be a place that encourages students to express themselves creatively, to be responsible and aware of how their actions affect others, and to be intellectually honest β doing their own work, rather than copying from others. I know ChatGPT has been heavily marketed as an educational tool, but everything about it is the opposite of those values. AI tools are built by training models on stolen work. They have huge and terrible environmental costs, because their data centers generate enormous amounts of pollution and are cooled with drinking water. They're also incredibly dangerous: tools like ChatGPT have taught children how to start fires and even encouraged them to commit suicide. And in a classroom setting, it teaches students that a machine can express their ideas better than they can. I told [ CHILD ] I was interested in seeing what they had to draw, and my heart sank when they told me "but I can't draw that pretty." Children deserve to draw what they imagine. These environmental, ethical, and pedagogical concerns are why I don't want [ CHILD ] to use AI tools (or for you to use them on their behalf). For the same reasons, I respectfully ask that you stop using them in your classroom. If you do plan to use AI this year, please send home a permission slip requesting consent. There are important privacy concerns when you upload student work into a for-profit service like ChatGPT. Thank you, [ PARENT ]
I ended up drafting an email that didn't really lean on research specific to grade school education, but expressed my concerns in the most basic terms.
I removed the personal details and have shared it as a template here for folks who might find it useful:
bit.ly/TeacherEmail...
Large hall with acoustic panels fitted. Photo taken by Acoustisolve.
Acoustic panels can be a game changer:
βοΈ Especially for inclusive lunchtimes
βοΈ Especially for children with speech & language needs.
Just to say that I have found this PhD thesis on the topic, which is very helpful: discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/13...
Amazing! Thank you!
Could you do one that explains how untreated syphilis spreads in the body? I've been reading Mickle's Notes on Syphilis in the Insane from 1876, and I'd love it if someone could go over his diagnoses with modern-day knowledge and explain them in laymen's terms. A bit much to ask, I know.
I find this disturbing but the snowball has started down the hill now and there is no coming back!
#academicresearch
it's wild how the positive use cases are like "save 5 minutes reading a long doc" and "write a generic email faster" and the negative use cases are "get encouraged to dive deeper in psychosis, misogyny, or suicidal thoughts" and we're still on the fence about overall value
I love doing Origin Story because it feels like Iβm back in education, only we set the curriculum and we donβt have to do exams. As Iβm the son of two teachers, the fact it seems to help actual students (not something we actively considered when we started) is just lovely
Trump sues Everybody!
Insane data from Germany shows how social media is geared towards more fringe political views. The left bar shows the share of uploaded videos by party on TikTok and the right bar shows what videos are shown in the feed. Social media loves the extremes and is NOT a fair mirror of reality.
So important that European educator unions are getting together to agree ways forward on AI in both schools and HE - and especially that they are *not* partnering with big AI firms as the US teachers' union has done.
The stuff I don't know is bottomless. But what I do know, I know, and I know it because I've read it for myself. I've thought about it. I've attempted to articulate my ideas to others, have received feedback from other human intelligences on these ideas and then engaged in more academic conversation
ladies and gentlemen...we got him
This!
Seeing this this morning reminded me of your talk. bsky.app/profile/jame...
The UK is Europeβs cloudiest place. Marseille is the northernmost blue sky capital of the continent. The Mediterranean offers plenty of blue skies of course.
Late to reading this but this is interesting because it isnβt just correlation (like lots of previous studies). They tracked impact over time.
Why can I remember no Labour politician making this point, this well?
Everybody except the Greens seems to think the best way to fight Reform is to agree with Farage about everything.
This, right here, is brilliant. And genuinely patriotic. And so, so true.
Why is Keir Starmer obsessed with Nigel Farage?
*please share widely*
My department (Second Language Studies, University of HawaiΚ»i at MΔnoa) is hiring a corpus linguist who conducts research on second languages. Great place to teach (2/2 load) and do research! See link for more details:
go.hawaii.edu/mGc
Super interesting graphic shows what people use ChatGPT for. I can be found in the 10% of people who give their finished writing to ChatGPT for editing. I ask it to critique my writing. Itβs pretty good at finding holes in arguments.
More prosaically, as someone pointed out to me recently: LLMs are *always* hallucinating. its just that sometimes their hallucinations appear to map our experienced reality. But the map is never *of* our reality, just *like* it. So the words donβt describe it. 4/4
