Erik Ofgang

Erik Ofgang

Erik Ofgang is Tech & Learning contributor. A journalist, author and educator, his work has appeared in The New York Times, The Smithsonian, Washington Post, The Atlantic, and Forbes.com. He currently teaches at Western Connecticut State University’s MFA program. While a staff writer at Connecticut Magazine he won a Society of Professional Journalism Award for his education reporting. He is interested in how humans learn and how technology can make that more effective.

Latest articles by Erik Ofgang

An illustration of a computer generated face.

AGI (Artificial General Intelligence): What Teachers Need To Know

By Erik Ofgang published

The term "AGI" is gaining more usage. Melanie Mitchell, a professor at the Santa Fe Institute, shares what you and your students should know about it.

A sreenshot of a chatbot mental health tool in action.

4 Tips For Using AI Chatbots For Student Mental Health Support

By Erik Ofgang published

More and more students are turning to AI for mental health help. One district found a way to make those interactions safer.

Deep academic research and AI

I Used ChatGPT's Deep Research Tool For Academic Research. Here's What I Learned

By Erik Ofgang published

ChatGPT’s Deep Research tool acts as a research assistant and can quickly find great sources on a variety of topics.

A young student engaged in an interactive lesson.

4 Tips For Future-Ready Teaching

By Erik Ofgang published

Educator Christine Anne Royce makes the case for changing the teaching paradigm for the future with less memorization and more learning.

A screenshot of Amira AI, a cartoon character.

Amira Learning: Teaching With The AI-Powered Reading Tool

By Erik Ofgang published

Amira Learning is a research-backed AI reading tutor and more that incorporates the science of reading into its features.

Classroom Tools
A screenshot from an AI-generated video showing a futuristic character.

Google’s VEO 3 AI Video Generator: What Educators Need To Know

By Erik Ofgang published

VEO 3 from Google takes making short clips with AI to the next level in ways that are sure to impact schools.

A rubik's cube unsolved.

Challenge-Based Learning: What Teachers Need To Know

By Erik Ofgang published

Challenge-based learning can foster engagement and deep learning by having students design solutions to challenges that impact their communities.

A group of Scrabble letters

AI Reading Tutors Are Already in Schools. Digital Promise Wants To Make Them Better

By Erik Ofgang published

A $10 million federal grant will fund the Using Generative Artificial Intelligence for Reading R&D Center (U-GAIN Reading)

A scene from the TV show Sesame Street

The Science of Sesame Street

By Erik Ofgang published

Since its debut in 1969, Sesame Street has always kept educational science at the forefront, and research continues to show that kids who watch it do better in school.

arc ai

Arc Review: A Sleek AI-Powered Alternative To Google Search

By Erik Ofgang published

The Arc AI search tool is an impressive alternative to traditional search engines, with lots of potential for educators.

Scite.AI

Scite Review: A Helpful AI-Powered Academic Search Tool

By Erik Ofgang published

Scite is an AI-powered research assistant tool designed to help make academic research more efficient -- and largely succeeds at that goal.

Classroom Tools
chatgpt and ai cheating

I Asked ChatGPT How To Stop AI Cheating. Here’s What It Said

By Erik Ofgang published

ChatGPT’s advice on limiting AI-generated student submissions was surprisingly sound overall.

A budding plant

Teaching STEM and AI Through Farming

By Erik Ofgang published

The CEO of a farming education nonprofit explains how teachers can use farming education for STEM education

A giant sandcastle with a blue sky overhead.

4 Summer Teaching Goals I’ll Actually Meet

By Erik Ofgang published

Over the last few years, I’ve learned that by setting fewer less ambitious teaching goals, I actually accomplish more over the summer.

An illustration of a computer brain.

GPT-4.5 Has Passed The Turing Test. What Does That Mean For Teachers?

By Erik Ofgang published

In the most rigorous version of the Turing test conducted to date, participants couldn’t distinguish between real humans and certain AI models.

An illustration of a light bulb with a crack in it and smoke coming out.

Recognizing When Not To Use AI

By Erik Ofgang published

AI has become part of modern education for teachers and students, but it’s not always the best or most efficient way to accomplish a task.

A cell phone on a table.

Implementing School Cell Phone Bans

By Erik Ofgang published

More and more districts, schools, and states are implementing cell phone bans. Here’s advice for doing that effectively.

ai executive order

AI In Education Executive Order: What You Need To Know

By Erik Ofgang published

The President’s executive order calls for AI literacy, a national AI challenge, and more.

Claude AI

4 Reasons To Use Claude AI to Teach

By Erik Ofgang published

Features that make Claude AI appealing to educators include a focus on privacy and conversational style.

Classroom Tools
Bright sparks fly from a welding device

Using Technology To Teach CTE To Incarcerated Students

By Erik Ofgang published

The Placer School for Adults is using technology to let students train and gain certificates in various CTE fields.

A 3D printer

Using 3D Printing and Student Input to Aid Accessibility

By Erik Ofgang published

3D printing has provided young adults at one nonprofit an opportunity to design and build their own assistive technology.

A futuristic artest rendering of quantum spaces.

Quantum Computing In Education: 5 Things To Know

By Erik Ofgang published

The AI revolution in schools may soon be supercharged by the power of quantum computing

Classroom Tools
student tutors

Cross-Age Tutoring: Student Tutors Teach Others And Themselves

By Erik Ofgang published

A new study found that cross-age tutoring leads to improvements in both tutees and tutors.

A sign with the words "dream job" on it

Getting A Teaching Job: Cutting Through Digital Clutter By Telling Your Story

By Erik Ofgang published

By talking about myself in the right way, I've found new opportunities in education and beyond.

The cover of David Sobel's book: "Childhood and Nature: Design Principles for Educators."

Design Principles for Outdoor Teaching

By Erik Ofgang published

A new edition of a classic book on outdoor learning guides educators on creating lessons that harness students’ natural love of nature.

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