
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

Student-Led Security Operation Centers
By Erik Ofgang published
A growing number of universities are employing students at their Security Operations Center. Here’s what that looks like in practice.

ChatGPT Talks Now. What Does That Mean For Teaching?
By Erik Ofgang published
OpenAI’s Advanced Voice Mode ChatGPT assistant is light years ahead of more common voice assistants, and can sometimes be so lifelike, it’s spooky.

Competency-Based Learning and Microcredentials
By Erik Ofgang published
Competency-based learning is an important teaching strategy for students and teacher professional development. The strategy also connects naturally with microcredentials.

Explaining Your School’s AI Approach To Parents
By Erik Ofgang published
As more and more schools are using AI, an award-winning educator shares tips for making sure parents are on board with it.

Gemini: Teaching With Google’s AI Chatbot
By Erik Ofgang published
Gemini, Google’s flagship generative AI model, can help educators with lesson planning and more, though it's not as effective as platforms specifically designed for education

GPT-4.5: What Educators Need To Know About The New ChatGPT Model
By Erik Ofgang published
I tested OpenAI's latest and greatest large language model, GPT-4.5. Here's what I learned.

Ransomware 2.0: Recent Hacking Trends and How To Guard Against Them
By Erik Ofgang published
Ransomware methods and strategies are evolving but there are still low-cast interventions to counter these attacks.

Mindful Social Media Use Can Reduce Negative Impact, Says Research
By Erik Ofgang published
A new study found that refraining from using social media improved the mental health of young adults, but so did reframing their relationship to these apps

Teaching Quantum Mechanics In K-12
By Erik Ofgang published
Learning about quantum science can be a great way to prepare for a career in STEM

Class Companion: Teaching With The AI Grading and Tutor Tool
By Erik Ofgang published
We tested Class Companion, the GPT-4 powered AI tool, which is designed to assist educators in providing individualized feedback to students.

4 Brand New AI Tools For 2025 With The Potential to Change Teaching
By Erik Ofgang published
2025 has already been a wild year for AI models and teaching.

One High School Teacher's Strategy For Using AI to Enhance Learning
By Erik Ofgang published
Kevin Hudson has encouraged his students to use AI in specific ways, and he’s seen their assignments improve as a result.

DeepSeek: Everything Educators Need to Know About The New AI Model
By Erik Ofgang published
DeepSeek R1 is a new reasoning AI model that has made the next generation of AI tools more readily available to students and teachers.

Google’s New AI Tutor LearnLM Is Trained On Learning Science and It Shows
By Erik Ofgang published
I tested Google LearnLM and it’s the best AI tool for teaching that I’ve seen.

Large Print Format Books Help Young Readers, Says New Research
By Erik Ofgang published
A study conducted by Project Tomorrow found large print books help student readers, even those without vision impairments.

AI In Education: 4 Ways To Avoid Falling Behind The Curve
By Erik Ofgang published
Arizona State University professor Andrew Maynard has tips for educators on keeping up with AI developments and harnessing its educational potential in the process.

AI Prompt Writing For Middle School English
By Erik Ofgang published
Bill Henry, an 8th grade English teacher, shares prompts and advice for teaching English with the help of AI.

The Remembered Success Effect: Adding Easier Math Questions Can Boost Student Motivation
By Erik Ofgang published
A new study of the remembered success effect finds that adding less challenging questions to the beginning or end of an assignment can improve student motivation.

Sora: Is OpenAI's Video Generating Tool Helpful For Teaching?
By Erik Ofgang published
OpenAI’s new video-generating tool is impressive and flashy but needs work before it’s a realistic classroom option.

4 New Teaching Features For Google Classroom: AI, Accessibility, and More
By Erik Ofgang published
Google Classroom AI updates and new accessibility features for Chromebooks are among the new features Google recently announced.

Grok: Using The AI Tool To Teach
By Erik Ofgang published
Grok — the AI tool from X and its polarizing owner, Elon Musk — offers similar teaching opportunities as other popular generative AI tools, but also has some unique features and advantages that set it apart.

4 Ways I Improved My AI Prompt Writing
By Erik Ofgang published
Writing effective AI prompts is an increasingly important skill for educators and their students.

Teaching With Drones: 6 Skills Students Can Learn
By Erik Ofgang published
Students learn coding, math, physics, cybersecurity, and other STEM lessons while becoming drone pilots.
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