When SXSW EDU launched in 2011, digital learning was on the rise. Computers were becoming commonplace in the classroom, not just in labs down the hall. Digital resources like tutoring videos and edtech platforms were expanding what education could offer. Connection meant accessing tools, people and expertise outside of the classroom.  

The value of technology in education can鈥檛 be understated. Even before the COVID pandemic forced schools into fully remote learning, digital platforms were optimizing outcomes. According to a , 81% of educators saw value in digital learning tools. They could accentuate lessons with research, customize projects for student needs, connect students with learnings for potential careers and so much more.

At the same time, digital connection has its downsides, including the harms of excessive screen time and . Some districts are enacting policies to restrict phone use in the classroom, while edtech companies are offering solutions to increase digital wellness and screen value.

Education needs new ways of connecting 鈥� approaches to bring people together for in-person wonder and discovery 鈥� since meaningful interactions remain at the core of what students need. found that 85% of teachers reported active student engagement and strong relationships with students are top factors in academic success, and 72% of educators engage in practices to build meaningful connections.

鈥� taking place March 9 to 12 in Austin, Texas 鈥� is bringing together the brightest minds in education to explore this theme, among other . The event is looking into the future of education to find a path toward stronger relationships for more effective learning.

When we asked participants to pick their favorite panels, the most popular tracks were Teaching & Learning and Equity & Belonging. From workshops to keynotes, sessions are aimed at providing practical advice for supporting students and strategies for balancing the benefits of technology with positive in-person relationships.

This is made clear by one of our selections for , who will take the stage in March. As the CEO and founder of Magicschool AI, a tool that amplifies educator impact, Khan understands how to balance digital and human connection for the biggest impact. He will share how to harness tools to center teachers and connections.

Featured sessions will focus on social health, to ensure students are forming positive relationships with each other. In one session, , panelists will dive into a Brookings Institution report to better understand the impact of digital platforms on cognitive, social and emotional development. In another, author will present research on trends and predictions for the future of community.

Connection isn鈥檛 just for students. Teachers benefit from stronger relationships and interactions with peers. Educator burnout can put schools at risk, and a found that teachers experience less burnout when they have mentorship and collaboration.

That is why SXSW EDU is doubling the amount of . There are over 120 opportunities to connect in one-on-one sessions and roundtable discussions. More than 30 meet-ups planned for March give attendees an opportunity to talk to others and expand their community. And there are more opportunities to network at pop-up dinners, walking tours and socials.

Bridging different roles and focus areas has always been at the core of the mission for SXSW EDU. It is a chance for educators to come together to learn across the learning life cycle, from Pre-K to continuing education, but also learn across roles and disciplines. Professionals from every walk of life 鈥� educators, filmmakers, researchers, policy makers, nonprofit leaders and edtech founders 鈥� all attend the conference and festival for a holistic view of education.

On Thursday, March 12, Crossover Day adds even more programming for educators to connect outside of their discipline. Attendees at SXSW EDU and SXSW get together to engage with music, film and innovation and to discover new ways to spark connection in the classroom.

It鈥檚 time for education professionals to explore new approaches to connect. SXSW EDU provides a chance to come together and discover what’s next in teaching and learning. Visit to learn more.

The problem, he argues, is that school鈥檚 feedback system is broken. Grading things like writing assignments is such a time-consuming, arduous task for teachers 鈥� especially those who want to offer constructive criticism 鈥� that students often don鈥檛 get the attention they need. 

鈥淚t needs to be instantaneous,鈥� Hedman said. 鈥淵ou need to have that feedback now, not three weeks later.鈥�

A Colorado-based researcher who studies how users interface with technology, Hedman said the same technology that powers plagiarism enablers like ChatGPT now has the potential to make thinking and writing come alive. He has proposed a solution that uses AI to offer immediate suggestions for students as they write.

Working with a small group of teachers, he has developed a free tool called that attaches to students鈥� Google Docs accounts. As they develop a piece of writing, students can simply flip a switch and ask the app to help organize their thoughts, assist with marshaling evidence, fix grammar and hone a thesis statement.

It鈥檚 one of several emerging as designers like Hedman push to flip a bleak script around AI and its negative effects on student motivation. Instead of banning AI or turning a blind eye to students as they outsource writing and critical thinking, he and others say, we should be using it to help students improve and learn more.

When it comes to writing in particular, teachers struggle with how to help students develop skills, Hedman said. Most often, students get good grades for simply turning in a serviceable piece of prose, with little regard for how they developed the ideas. And teachers often have little time to help them through this process. Pressed for time and bored 鈥� or even mystified 鈥� by assignments, students naturally turn to AI to produce a satisfactory product. 

In order to refocus on the writing process, Hedman invoked the well-known Apple Computer tagline, saying, 鈥淲e have to think pedagogically different.鈥�

鈥楲ess like red ink鈥�

As its name suggests, Level Up encourages students by lightly gamifying their skill development, rewarding them with a new 鈥渓evel鈥� of challenge each time they improve their writing. Its main distinction lies in offering something students seldom get in school: instant questions and suggestions that respond to their writing in real time. Instead of focusing on the prize at the end 鈥� a completed paper 鈥� the tool tackles granular tasks such as shortening too-long sentences, clarifying unclear arguments and strengthening passages that employ the passive voice. 

Hedman likens it to 鈥� only without the quick, ready-made answers. Instead of allowing users to simply right-click on underlined words or passages to instantly correct them, as the popular app and similar ones do, Level Up challenges students to improve their writing at the sentence level.

Students can ask for several types of feedback: help with an introduction, an argument, a paper鈥檚 overall tone, its grammar, or the way it uses evidence to make a point. The opportunity to choose what to work on, Hedman said, makes the feedback feel 鈥渓ess like red ink, less accusatory鈥� to students. And getting immediate feedback that鈥檚 not tied to a grade invites them to write more experimentally. 

Developed over the course of several months while Hedman tutored students at a local Girls and Boys Club, Level Up emerged as he pondered the many dilemmas that pop up as digital technologies burrow deeper into children鈥檚 lives. 鈥淵ou can’t get students to read anymore,鈥� he said. 鈥淵ou can’t get students to write.鈥� To make matters worse, tools like ChatGPT allow students to 鈥減ush a single button and it’s going to write.鈥� That allows them to outsource critical thinking at a time when it鈥檚 more important than ever.

While improving their writing is key to helping students, he said, it鈥檚 not his ultimate objective: 鈥淢y goal was to understand what they cared about and what they needed鈥� to learn better and enjoy learning more broadly. 

Hedman previously worked with elementary and middle schools to develop a free app called that helps struggling readers learn to think critically about stories. The app offers short mystery and adventure stories and invites users to shape the narrative. 

鈥淲hat I discovered was, first off, students love critical thinking,鈥� he said. 鈥淎 struggling reader wants to critically think about a text they barely understand. Our brains are wired to give us a dopamine hit. We really like solving problems or getting feedback or solving the mystery. This is human nature. We like to be challenged, and we like to kind of get over that hump and solve the problem.鈥�

Getting past 鈥楢I abstinence鈥�

Level Up grew out of four years of research using 鈥渆motion sensors鈥� he developed while earning a PhD at MIT鈥檚 renowned . He has since worked at several education providers, from the school design startup , Lego and the children鈥檚 digital game developer to McGraw Hill.

He helped develop early for Curriculum Associates and noticed that for a lot of students, school 鈥渨as one of the most broken emotional experiences I’ve ever seen.鈥� Most notably, it features a problematic mismatch between students鈥� willingness to learn and schools鈥� inability to engage them. As a result, they lose focus and eventually stop caring about school.

Handing them the keys to powerful AI tools won鈥檛 help them develop learning habits, he said, but neither will depriving them of these, as many schools now do. He calls the practice 鈥淎I abstinence鈥� and said his recent survey of about 200 students shows that many 鈥� especially high schoolers 鈥� are using AI heavily to sound smarter in writing and hit required word counts. Students now routinely let AI write their essays, he said, then go back and paraphrase sentences to make them sound more natural. 

鈥淭hey talk about this process casually, like running spell check,鈥� he , noting that many students have already figured out that AI detection tools fail when humans simply paraphrase their borrowed text. 鈥淚t鈥檚 human writing, technically, but not human thought,鈥� he said.

One student told him, 鈥淧retty much all of my friends use AI every time,鈥� while another likened it to alcoholism, telling Hedman, 鈥淚 don鈥檛 drink, but it鈥檚 like testing alcohol. You try it once, then the next day you want more. Soon, it鈥檚 just how you do things.鈥�

College writing coach and John Warner, who has written several books on student writing, acknowledged the difficulties of getting students to write, but said that perhaps a better way would be to focus less on their arguments and grammar and more on their ability to explore different kinds of writing, at least earlier in their education.

鈥淲e can let young students just 鈥榙o stuff鈥� with writing and not worry too much about, 鈥業s there a thesis?鈥� They just need to be writing 鈥� and they just need to be experiencing writing and reading and expressing themselves, looking at the world, seeing what they think, seeing what they feel, seeing what they mean.鈥�

Warner said we should actually think differently about whether teachers are grading writing effectively. 鈥淚’m a skeptic about ‘real time feedback,’鈥� he said, noting that teachers can help students on occasion by waiting until they ask for help. 鈥淪ometimes the struggle is the point.鈥� 

Students 鈥� especially young students 鈥� need encouragement, not instructions. 鈥淭he feedback would be, 鈥楪reat. Do it again.鈥� The idea that we need to inculcate these very specific skills as early as possible, I don’t think there’s any evidence for it.鈥�

While banning AI altogether might seem logical, Hedman said, it鈥檚 ridiculous in a world saturated with AI. Instead, he proposes that students need teachers to help them understand the endeavor. 

鈥淚f we put guardrails and [say], 鈥榊ou actually have to reflect on your paper 鈥� and you will get graded on this reflection,鈥� it changes the students鈥� mindset from 鈥楳y job is to turn in a nice paper鈥� to 鈥楳y job is to reflect and think about my paper and make edits.鈥欌��

The distinction might seem small, he said. 鈥淏ut every student I interviewed said they would prefer it that way.鈥� 

Receiving a grade on the work that goes into an improved essay, rather than simply the end product, is much more motivating, he said. It has actually spawned an emerging field called that is only growing as AI tools improve.

鈥淵ou put energy and time and reflection into this paper and you should have that be in your grade, not just that you turned in a nice-looking paper鈥� Hedman said. 鈥淏ecause anyone can turn in a nice looking paper with ChatGPT now. But can people put in work and reflect and improve their papers? That’s a different skill.鈥�

In the fall of 2022, months before the public got a glimpse of ChatGPT, DiCerbo, a learning scientist and chief learning officer at Khan Academy, got access to a beta version of Open AI鈥檚 GPT-4 model. The startup needed Khan Academy鈥檚 help training it to pass the Advanced Placement biology exam, a requirement dreamed up by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, who wanted improved performance as a condition of handing Open AI more funding.

Khan Academy founder Sal Khan and DiCerbo negotiated a partnership with Open AI, and just five months later, their AI-powered Khanmigo tutoring bot debuted. Last summer, Khan Academy launched an .

Nearly two years in, DiCerbo remains bullish on the possibilities of AI tutoring, cheerfully engaging critics about the limitations of the technology, even as by all measures it evolves and improves. 

Much of the press for Khanmigo has been positive: late last year, produced an upbeat feature on Khan Academy鈥檚 efforts 鈥� host Anderson Cooper called Khanmigo鈥檚 potential 鈥渟taggering,鈥� but tempered the observation by adding, 鈥淚t鈥檚 still very much a work in progress.鈥�

Other media accounts have challenged Khan鈥檚 predictions that AI will anytime soon, with a Wall Street Journal reporter a year ago that Khanmigo didn鈥檛 consistently know how to round answers or calculate square roots and 鈥渢ypically didn鈥檛 correct mistakes when asked to double-check solutions.鈥�

Khan Academy has said improvements are ongoing, but that at least a few errors are likely to persist. The organization stresses that Khanmigo remains 鈥渋mperfect鈥� and 鈥渟till evolving.鈥� 

In March, DiCerbo will appear at , alongside Curriculum Associate鈥檚 Kristen Huff and Akisha Osei Sarfo of the Council of the Great City School to discuss how AI can improve school assessments. The panel will be moderated by 蜜桃影视鈥檚 Greg Toppo, who spoke recently with DiCerbo in a wide-ranging interview. 

They talked about Khanmigo, its critics and why she feels 鈥渃autiously optimistic鈥� about the role of AI in education.

The interview has been edited for length and clarity.

You’ve been with Khan Academy now for almost five years, and it’s been an eventful time. You’ve spent a lot of that time creating and improving Khanmigo. What are the latest developments? 

We have learned a lot in what is coming up on two years since Khanmigo launched. In terms of what students are doing, we definitely see some interesting things we didn’t necessarily expect. Students who are English language learners really like and use the supports in other languages. We probably shouldn’t have been surprised, but always need to be reminded that it’s important to just have instruction on how to use new technology and tools, and what that looks like. For students, how do you ask good questions? And for teachers, how do you integrate it? So both professional learning for teachers and supports for students have been important things that we’ve added over time.

The other thing is that we have found that Khanmigo as a tutor works best when it is paired with educational content we have already created. It is better integrated and has lower error rates when it’s using, and has reference to, the existing problems that were written and verified by people 鈥� and not just the problems, but the [step-by-step] hints and the answers that already exist in our system. When it can reference those, Khanmigo is better. And when students are just working on the practice that is part of Khan Academy generally, they are using Khanmigo as an assistant and as a help to get unstuck.

When we talked last year, you used that word “unstuck.” You guys have come in for some criticism from critics like and , who say Khanmigo gets math wrong, among other things. Meyer last year said he’s become a kind of pro bono consultant for you guys. [DiCerbo laughs.] You’re familiar with the criticisms, and I wonder: How have they landed? And have they had an effect on the product?

Dan has very good classroom experience and is extremely knowledgeable about teaching math. So many times, the things he says align to conversations internally that we’re already having. And the things he says are things that we end up changing and doing. We always appreciate criticism that helps us improve and move on. A lot of our work has been on things like working to better evaluate math accuracy, improve it, and get the balance right between how much Khanmigo gives help versus asks questions 鈥� all of the things we’re working to tune and get right in that sweet spot for what the student needs.

Dan actually just this week had . The thing he misinterprets about us is that he thinks we’re trying to replace teachers, and he thinks we don’t value teachers. That’s what that whole post was about. And that is just not how we see what we’re doing. We see Khanmigo as a tutor that’s also working in the same ecosystem, but the teacher is fundamental to this whole process.

I saw the 60 Minutes piece with Anderson Cooper a while back and I wonder how that landed.  

First of all, the writing piece they highlighted is something we’re pretty excited about. Very often in schools, kids do writing assignments and teachers end up with a huge stack of writing. As Sarah [Robertson], who’s our product manager, said in the piece, she had to limit herself to only 10 minutes per essay feedback, and still it would take her hours and hours as a secondary school teacher to grade all of these essays 鈥� and then the students get them back two weeks later. That’s not immediate feedback. So the idea that we can potentially provide more immediate feedback to students on their writing is pretty interesting to us.

There鈥檚 a lot of concern over cheating. 

We can say, “Hey, we’re going to flag this piece,” which Anderson did in his demo 鈥� he just cut and pasted in a whole bunch of content. We can say, “Hey, we don’t know where this content came from. We’re not going to make the judgment, but teacher, here’s a flag for you to check on.”. Not surprisingly, we got a lot of queries from school districts asking about getting access.

When I was writing the piece last year about IBM Watson and the effort to make it into a tutor, you expressed a cautious optimism that despite all the failures we’ve seen, this time was different. It’s been almost a year now. I wonder if your feelings have changed about AI tutoring generally and Khanmigo specifically?

I would still characterize how I feel as cautiously optimistic. I don’t think this is The Golden Ticket that’s going to save us all and be the sole reason that educational outcomes improve. I do think it still can be an important tool in the toolbox.

Does the change in presidential administrations have any bearing on your work, given that President Trump’s got an apparent interest in AI and support from big tech, specifically and ? 

There is a lot of noise about what may or may not happen. We are basically sticking to “What are our technology partners doing, and what are we able to then partner with them to build?” And we will see what actually comes to fruition and deal with it if and when anything actually happens. We’re not counting on anything either way.

My last question about this topic is the earthquake that happened with the Chinese AI startup . The interpretation that I’ve been hearing is that it has caused supreme havoc at places like Open AI. I wonder if any of this has redounded to you guys?

Not specifically the Deep Seek piece, but it’s just part of what we have thought is likely to be the future 鈥� it’s just a little bit sooner than perhaps we thought. The models themselves become a commodity. Even since we launched, the prices have come down so far that it’s significant. We’re able to offer what we do at significantly lower prices, and that’s just likely to continue. And it’s not going to be the models themselves that are the 鈥渕oat鈥� or the differentiator 鈥� it’s going to be what people build with them.  

Is it even in the realm of possibility that you would work with a company like Deep Seek?

Well, Deep Seek’s model is open-source, so you can install it on your own machine. And that’s part of the concern about security and privacy with the app that, of course, has ties to the Chinese government. Then there’s the question about the model itself, as an open-source model, How does it perform? I would not rule out us using open-source models from different sources, but they would have to be evaluated, like all our models are, for security and privacy and their performance. 

Let’s talk about South by Southwest. The session we’re doing is titled “How AI Makes Assessment More Actionable in Instruction,” which doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue. But it gets to an interesting idea, which is that AI can make assessments better: more invisible, more customizable, and help teachers adapt instruction. I wonder what you’re seeing in terms of the ways AI is moving into that field?

It’s interesting, because the assessment conversation has lagged a bit behind the learning conversation when it comes to AI. But it seems to be picking up speed this year, both at South by Southwest and at ASU+GSV.

Traditionally we’ve had multiple-choice tests. You and I know there’s the whole game-based, simulation-based movement. What does AI let us do? The idea of a conversational-based assessment is interesting. What if the assessment looks like what happens when a teacher sits down next to a student and says, “Explain your thinking. How did you get to that?” There’s a conversation there. And that could potentially be an interesting way of adding to assessments that we already have. Of course, there would be questions: Is that standardized? Because different kids might get different questions as they engage in this conversation. How do we deal with that when we’re talking about high-stakes assessment? 

The last thing I think is interesting is helping teachers and parents make sense of assessment data and get recommendations. Can AI help with that? Instead of getting this printout that says, “Your student got a 580 on this,” and you’re like, “What does that even mean? What should I do?” If you could have a conversation about that, that might be an interesting piece. We’ve been exploring that in something we have called and recommendations that allow teachers to talk about their students’ Khan Academy performance. What else might they assign? How might they group students based on those kinds of things? 

In the past couple of months I’ve been playing around with AI tools that summarize and analyze big chunks of text and YouTube videos and whatnot. It strikes me that we are going to become so used to having a tool like this break things down for us that if schools can’t help us break our students’ performance down, we’re going to be disappointed. Is my cart ahead of the horse?

I always try to figure out if I’m in a bubble or not, because I feel the same way. I know lots of people that similarly are really getting into the habit of whenever they get a large amount of information, put it into an AI tool and get the summarization. I’m not quite sure how broad-based that is when we think about all of the parents out there and all the schools, but that is what I’m seeing, and it might become an expectation in the near future. 

Is there something on the horizon that you are looking at that maybe others aren’t paying attention to 鈥� good, bad or other?

The video was out quite a while ago of Sal and his son [of Khanmigo]. We鈥檙e starting to get to a place where the AI is seeing what the student is working on, and is able to interact with that and move forward. I’m pretty excited about that.

returns to Austin, Texas, running March 3-6. As always, it鈥檒l offer a huge number of panels, discussions, film screenings, musical performances and workshops exploring education, innovation and the future of schooling.

Keynote speakers this year include neuroscientist , founder of Ness Labs, an online educational platform for knowledge workers; astronaut, author and TV host , and , CEO of Search for Common Ground, an international non-profit. Idriss will speak about what it means to be strong in the face of opposition 鈥� and how to turn conflict into cooperation. Also featured: indy musical artist Jill Sobule, from her musical F*ck 7th Grade.

As in 2024, artificial intelligence remains a major focus, with dozens of sessions exploring AI鈥檚 potential and pitfalls. But other topics are on tap as well, including sessions on playful learning, book bans and the benefits of prison journalism. 

To help guide the way, we鈥檝e scoured the to highlight 25 of the most significant presenters, topics and panels: 

Monday, March 3:

A new independent film features a Seattle school counselor who builds a world-class Ultimate Frisbee team with a group of immigrant children at Hazel Wolf K-8 School. 

Generative AI is accelerating the adoption of a skills-based economy, but many are skeptical about its value, impact and the pace of growth. Will AI spark meaningful change and a new economic order, or is it just another overhyped trend? Meena Naik of Jobs for the Future leads a discussion with Colorado Community College System Associate Vice Chancellor Michael Macklin, Nick Moore, an education advisor to Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey, and Best Buy鈥檚 Ryan Hanson.

The Clayton Christensen Institute鈥檚 Julia Freeland Fisher headlines a panel that looks at how generative AI can help students access 24/7 help in navigating pathways to college. As new models take root, the panel will explore what entrepreneurs are learning about what students want from these systems. Will AI level the playing field or perpetuate inequality? 

New research shows students who are engaged in schoolwork not only do better in school but are happier and more confident in life. And educators say they鈥檇 be happier at work and less likely to leave the profession if students engaged more deeply. In this session, LEGO Education鈥檚 Bo Stjerne Thomsen will explore the science behind playful learning and how it can get students and teachers excited again.

Mike Yates of The Reinvention Lab at Teach for America leads an interactive session offering participants the chance to build their own AI tools to solve real problems they face at work, school or home. The session is for AI novices as well as those simply curious about how the technology works. Participants will get free access to .

Join Charlotte West of Open Campus, Lawrence Bartley of The Marshall Project and Yukari Kane of the Prison Journalism Project to explore real-life stories from behind bars. Journalism training is transforming the lives of a few of the more than 1.9 million people incarcerated in the U.S., teaching skills from time management to communication and allowing inmates to feel connected to society while building job skills. 

Tuesday, March 4:

Amid the hand-wringing about what AI means for the future of education, there鈥檚 been little conversation about how a few smart educators are already employing it to shift possibilities for student engagement and classroom instruction. In this workshop, attendees will learn how to leverage promising practices emerging from research with real educators using AI in writing, creating their own chatbots and differentiating support plans. 

AI-enabled tools can be helpful for students conducting research, outlining written work, or proofing and editing submissions. But there鈥檚 a fine line between using AI appropriately and taking advantage of it, leaving many students wondering, 鈥淗ow much AI is too much?鈥� This session, led by Turnitin鈥檚 Annie Chechitelli, will discuss the rise of GenAI, its intersection with academia and academic integrity, and how to determine appropriate usage.  

Explore the real-world impact of AI in education during this interactive session hosted by Zhuo Chen, a text analysis instructor at the nonprofit education startup Constellate, and Dylan Ruediger of the research and consulting group Ithaka S+R. Chen and Ruediger will share successes and challenges in using AI to advance student learning, engagement and skills. 

In 2025, authors face unprecedented challenges. This session, which features Scholastic editor and young adult novelist David Levithan, as well as Emily Kirkpatrick, executive director of the National Council of Teachers of English, will explore the battle for freedom of expression and the importance of defending reading in the face of censorship attempts and book bans.

Kate Arend and Kim Lessing, the co-presidents of Amy Poehler鈥檚 production company Paper Kite Productions, will be live to record their workplace and career advice podcast 鈥淢illion Dollar Advice.鈥� The pair will tackle topics such as setting and maintaining boundaries, learning from Gen Z, dealing with complicated work dynamics, and more. They will also take live audience questions.

With rising recognition of neurodivergent students, advocates say AI can revolutionize how schools support them by streamlining tasks, optimizing resources and enhancing personalized learning. In the process, schools can overcome challenges in mainstreaming students with learning differences. This panel features educators and advocates as well as Alex Kotran, co-founder and CEO of The AI Education Project.

Assessments are often disruptive, cumbersome or disconnected from classroom learning. But a few advocates and developers say AI-powered assessment tools offer an easier, more streamlined way for students to demonstrate learning 鈥� and for educators to adapt instruction to meet their needs. This session, moderated by 蜜桃影视鈥檚 Greg Toppo, features Khan Academy鈥檚 Kristen DiCerbo, Curriculum Associates鈥� Kristen Huff and Akisha Osei Sarfo, director of research at the Council of the Great City Schools.

Wednesday, March 5:

Gun violence is now the leading cause of death for American children and teens, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, yet coverage of gun violence鈥檚 impact on youth is usually reported by adults. Run, Hide, Fight: Growing Up Under the Gun is a 30-minute documentary by student journalists about how gun violence affects young Americans. Produced by PBS News Student Reporting Labs in collaboration with 14 student journalists in five cities, it centers the perspectives of young people who live their lives in the shadow of this threat. 

Educators are at the forefront of testing, using artificial intelligence and teaching their communities about it. In this interactive session, participants will hear from educators and ed tech specialists on the ground working to support the use of AI to improve learning. The session includes Stacie Johnson, director of professional learning at Khan Academy, and Dina Neyman, Khan Academy鈥檚 director of district success. 

As AI becomes increasingly present in the classroom, educators are understandably concerned about how it might disrupt their teaching. An expert panel featuring Jake Baskin, executive director of the Computer Science Teachers Association andKarim Meghji of Code.org, will look at how teaching will change in an age of AI, exploring frameworks for teaching AI skills and sharing best practices for integrating AI literacy across disciplines.

Generation Alpha is the first to experience generative artificial intelligence from the start of their educational journeys. To thrive in a world featuring AI requires educators helping them tap into their natural creativity, navigating unique opportunities and challenges. In this session, a cross-industry panel of experts discuss strategies to integrate AI into learning, allowing critical thinking and curiosity to flourish while enabling early learners to become architects of AI, not just users.

Join a panel of educators, tech leaders and nonprofit officials as they discuss AI鈥檚 ethical complexities and its impact on the education of Black children. This panel will address historical disparities, biases in technology, and the critical need for ethical AI in education. It will also offer unique perspectives into the benefits and challenges of AI in Black children鈥檚 education, sharing best practices to promote the safe, ethical and legal use of AI in classrooms.

Is teacher morale shaped by where teachers work? Find out as Education Week releases its annual State of Teaching survey. States and school districts drive how teachers are prepared, paid and promoted, and the findings will raise new questions about what leaders and policymakers should consider as they work to support an essential profession. The session features Holly Kurtz, director of EdWeek Research Center, Stephen Sawchuk, EdWeek assistant managing editor, and assistant editor Sarah D. Sparks.

While most students in U.S. public schools are now young people of color, more than 80% of their teachers are white. How do white educators understand and address these dynamics? Join a live recording of a podcast that brings together white educators with Christopher Emdin and sam seidel, co-editors of From White Folks Who Teach in the Hood: Reflections on Race, Culture, and Identity (Beacon, 2024).

Schools are locked in a battle with students over fears they鈥檙e using generative artificial intelligence to plagiarize existing work. In this session, join Elliott Hedman, a 鈥渃ustomer obsession engineer鈥� with mPath, who with colleagues and students co-designed a GenAI writing tool to reframe AI use. Hedman will share three strategies that not only prevent plagiarism but also teach students how to use GenAI more productively.  

Thursday, March 6:

Join futurists Sinead Bovell and Natalie Monbiot for a fireside discussion about how we prepare kids for a future we cannot yet see but know will be radically transformed by technology. Bovell and Monbiot will discuss the impact of artificial intelligence on our world and the workforce, as well as its implications for education. 

Young children spend 80% of their time outside of school, but too many lack access to experiences that encourage learning through hands-on activities and play. While these opportunities exist in middle-class and upper-income neighborhoods, they鈥檙e often inaccessible to families in low-income communities. In this session, a panel of designers and educators featuring Sarah Lytle, who leads the Playful Learning Landscapes Action Network, will look at how communities are transforming overlooked spaces such as sidewalks, shelters and even jails into nurturing learning environments accessible to all kids.

In this session, participants will build an AI chatbot alongside designers and engineers from Stanford University and Stanford鈥檚 d.school, getting to the core of how AI works. Participants will conceptualize, outline and create conversation flows for their own AI assistant and explore methods that technical teams use to infuse warmth and adaptability into interactions and develop reliable chatbots.  

In this session, participants will learn how educators, technologists and policymakers work to develop AI responsibly. Panelists include Isabelle Hau of the Stanford Accelerator for Learning, Amelia Kelly, chief technology officer of the Irish AI startup SoapBox Labs, and Merlyn Mind CEO Levi Belnap. They鈥檒l talk about how policymakers and educators can work with developers to ensure transparency and accuracy of AI tools.聽

Since the mid-20th century, the town of Highland Park has resisted annexation and today operates a separate, roughly 6,700-student school district that is surrounded on all sides by the 139,723-student Dallas Independent School District. Student demographics between the two school systems 鈥� and the services they鈥檙e able to offer 鈥� are markedly different, from New America鈥檚 Education Funding Equity Initiative, which explores how school district borders across the U.S. create racial and economic segregation 鈥� often intentionally. 

Included in the report is that allows users to explore school district segregation by race and class in their own communities. 

In Dallas, students of color comprise 94% of enrollment and in Highland Park,  just 18%. Such segregation extends beyond race. In Highland Park, less than 4% of students live in poverty. In the Dallas school system, a quarter of kids are impoverished, with some of the city鈥檚 most underserved neighborhoods just a stone鈥檚 throw from Highland Park. 

Such jarring school district disparities, which create real-world gaps in learning opportunities for students, exist across the country. America鈥檚 patchwork school district borders carry serious consequences for communities and children鈥檚 academic outcomes, according to the report by New America, a left-leaning think tank based in Washington, D.C. Nationally, about 30% of school funding is generated by local property taxes, a reality that creates haves and have-nots between property-wealthy districts and those that serve predominantly low-income families. 

Much of the disparities can be blamed on inequitable housing policies, such as redlining and , which were explicitly implemented to segregate neighborhoods along race and class lines, ultimately showing up 鈥渘ot just in residential patterns but also in school budgets,鈥� said Zahava Stadler, a project director at New America who shared the findings of her research during a workshop last week at the SXSW EDU conference in Austin, Texas. 

鈥淭hese are policy choices that are being made not just in the way we鈥檝e designed school funding systems, but also in the way we actively maintain school funding systems year to year,鈥� she said. 鈥淎ll of those things are policy choices that are being made by state policymakers every single year.鈥�  

In total, researchers analyzed more than 13,000 school districts across the country, along with more than 25,000 pairs of neighboring school district borders, to identify how such arbitrary divisions work to generate inequality. Nationwide, they found that, on average, enrollment of students of color fluctuated by 14 percentage points between neighboring school districts. Along the 100 most racially segregated school district borders, however, the average difference was 78 percentage points. In other words, in one school district, students of color comprised 2% of the total enrollment while, in a district directly next door, they accounted for 80% of the student body. 

Economic segregation was similarly stark. On average, the enrollment of impoverished students fluctuated by 5.2 percentage points between neighboring school districts. Yet along the 100 most economically segregated school district borders, researchers found the average divide was roughly six times that, at 31 percentage points. One example, the Utica, New York, school district where 33% of students live in poverty, compared to the neighboring New Hartford district where 5% do. 

While school district border changes have been used by communities interested in concentrating their affluence, Stadler said the opposite 鈥� district consolidation 鈥� should be viewed as 鈥渁 tool in the toolbox of creating more equitable school districts,鈥� establishing schools that are more diverse while ensuring that all students have fairer access to educational resources. 

But local context matters. Simply merging school districts to eliminate racial and economic segregation isn鈥檛 always the most equitable solution, the report argues, as each area has its own individual policies and contexts. In South Dakota, for example, researchers observed striking racial and economic segregation between the predominantly white Custer School District and the neighboring Oglala Lakota School District, located on the high-poverty Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. Indigenous students represent 96% of enrollment on the reservation and less than 4% in Custer. 

An influx of federal and state dollars has left the Oglala Lakota County Schools among South Dakota鈥檚 best-funded, but they remain among its lowest-performing. These high levels of funding 鈥渄o not ensure our children a rich education,鈥� Diana Cournoyer, executive director of the National Indian Education Association, argues in the report. Along with historical challenges and the scars of trauma and colonialism, Cournoyer said, the reservation鈥檚 schools also have to contend with bureaucracy and limitations on how they can spend those government dollars. That creates barriers in how they can use funds 鈥渢o address the unique needs of Native students, which results in inequitable access to opportunities.鈥� 

Despite the imbalance in school resources, Cournoyer notes that students on the reservation benefit from cultural and language support 鈥� something they could miss if they attended schools in Custer, even with its 鈥渘icer facilities and more advanced technology.鈥� The city and its school district were named for George Armstrong Custer, a U.S. commander who fought and killed Indigenous people on the Great Plains before his defeat at Little Bighorn. 

鈥淭hey would not be in a school environment that reflects or values their native culture,鈥� Cournoyer wrote. 鈥淭hey would be isolated, away from the protection of their family and tribal leadership. They would be more likely to encounter racism and stereotyping, making them less comfortable with expressing their Native identity.鈥�

Keynote speakers this year include of Harlem Children鈥檚 Zone, of Stanford University, who popularized the idea of 鈥済rowth mindset,鈥� and actor , who starred on Broadway as George Washington in Hamilton. Jackson, who has a child on the autism spectrum, will discuss how doctors, parents and advocates are working together to change the ways neurodivergent kids communicate and learn.

But one issue that looms larger than most in the imaginations of educators is artificial intelligence. This year, South by Southwest EDU is offering dozens of sessions exploring AI鈥檚 potential and pitfalls. To help guide the way, we鈥檝e scoured the schedule to highlight 18 of the most significant presenters, topics and panels: 

Monday, March 4:

: The New School鈥檚 Maya Georgieva looks at how AI is ushering in a new era of immersive experiences. Her talk explores worlds that blur the lines between the virtual and real, where human ingenuity converges with intelligent machines. Georgieva will spotlight the next generation of creators shaping immersive realities, sharing emerging practices and projects from her students as well as her innovation labs and design jams. .

: Educators have long sought a better way to demonstrate learning, adapt instruction and build student confidence. Now, advancements in machine learning, natural language processing and data analytics are creating new possibilities for finding out what students know. This session will explore the ways in which AI is rendering assessments invisible, reducing stress and anxiety for students while improving objectivity and generating actionable insights for educators. .

: Many high-pressure professions 鈥� pilots, doctors and professional athletes among others 鈥� have access to high-quality simulators to help them learn and improve their skills. Could teachers benefit from hours in a simulator before setting foot in a classroom? In this session featuring presenters from the Relay Graduate School of Education and Wharton Interactive at the University of Pennsylvania, panelists will discuss virtual classrooms they鈥檙e piloting. They鈥檒l also address the challenges, successes and possibilities of developing an AI-driven teaching simulator. .

: In just the first half of 2023, venture capital investors poured more than $40 billion into AI startups. Yet big questions loom about how these technologies may impact education and the world of work. How are education and workforce investors separating wheat from chaff? Hear from a trio of venture capital and impact investors as they share the trends they鈥檙e watching. .

: This session will look at the profound transformations in teaching taking place in classrooms that blend AI with tailored, competency-focused education. Laura Jeanne Penrod of Southwest Career and Technical Academy and Nevada鈥檚 2024 will explore AI’s role in enhancing rather than supplanting quality teaching 鈥� and what happens when schools embrace the human touch and educators鈥� emotional intelligence. .

: In this interactive workshop led by women leaders from the University of Texas at Austin and the Waco (Texas) Independent School District, participants will learn how to design effective lesson plans and syllabi that incorporate AI tools such as ChatGPT and DALL-E to help prepare students to address society鈥檚 most pressing needs. .

: If we get AI in education right, it has the power to revolutionize how children learn. But if we get it wrong and fail to nourish children鈥檚 creativity 鈥� their ability to innovate, think critically and problem solve 鈥� we risk leaving them unprepared for a changing world. Creativity is the durable skill that AI cannot replace. And this panel, comprising educators and industry leaders, will explore the role we play in nurturing children鈥檚 innate creativity. .

: This panel, featuring early AI-in-education pioneers such as Amanda Bickerstaff, founder of AI for Education, Charles Foster, an AI researcher at Finetune Learning, and Ben Kornell,  co-founder of Edtech Insiders, will explore their journeys and what they consider the most exciting future opportunities 鈥� and important challenges 鈥� in this emerging space. .

Tuesday, March 5:

: AI鈥檚 continued adoption in schools raises concerns about bias, especially toward students of color. This session, hosted by Common Sense Education鈥檚 Jamie Nunez, will highlight practical ways AI tools impact engagement for students from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds. It will also address ethical concerns such as plagiarism and issues with facial recognition tools. And it will feature positive student experiences with AI and practical ways to ensure it remains inclusive. .

: In 2024, what defines “AI literacy”? And how can we promote it effectively in schools? Marc Cicchino, innovation director for the Northern Valley Regional High School District in northeastern New Jersey, shares insights on fostering AI literacy through tailored learning experiences and initiatives like the NJ AI Literacy Summit. As part of the session, Cicchino guides attendees through organizing their own summit. . 

: Come watch a live recording of The Cusp, a new podcast hosted by Work Shift鈥檚 Paul Fain, exploring AI鈥檚 potential to not only enhance how we develop skills and improve job quality but exacerbate inequalities in our education and workforce systems. Leaders from Learning Collider, MDRC and Burning Glass Institute will share their perspectives on how AI can reach learners and workers in innovative ways, bridging the gap to economic opportunity. .

: While a few school districts have embraced artificial intelligence, neither the technology companies creating the AI nor the governments regulating it have provided guidance on how to integrate the new tech into classrooms. This has left districts wondering how to integrate AI safely, ethically and equitably. This panel of TeachAI.org founders and advisory members will discuss why government and education leaders must align standards with the needs of an increasingly AI-driven world. The panel features Khan Academy鈥檚 Kristen DiCerbo, Kara McWilliams of ETS, Code.org and ISTE鈥檚 Joseph South. .

Wednesday, March 6:

: Just as artificial intelligence is gaining momentum in education, the early childhood education workforce is experiencing record levels of burnout. A recent survey found many educators say they鈥檙e more likely to remain in their roles if they have access to better support, including high-quality classroom tools and flexible professional development. Could we harness AI to empower our early childhood workforce? This panel, led by the National Association for the Education of Young Children鈥檚 Stanford Accelerator for Learning, will explore the possibilities and challenges of AI in early childhood education. .

Perhaps no one in education needs to adapt more to AI than principals. This discussion with a principal and consultants from IDEO, The Leadership Academy and the Aspen Institute will explore how principals can lead during this time of swift change. Participants will come away with tangible suggestions for fostering innovation, adaptability and self-awareness. .

: This interactive session will give educators an opportunity to explore how they might use AI to advance their work, regardless of their background or technical expertise. 鈥婰ed by project managers and leadership development specialists with Teach For America, it will help participants create their own AI tools, build a deeper understanding of generative AI and develop a better sense of its promises and risks. .

Thursday, March 7: 

: This panel discussion, led by The Education Trust鈥檚 Dia Bryant and Khan Academy鈥檚 Kristen DiCerbo, will look at whether emerging uses of AI in schools could create a new digital divide. It will explore the intersection of AI and education equity and AI鈥檚 impact on students of color, as well as those from low-income backgrounds. The session will offer steps that educators and policymakers can take to ensure that schools factor in the culture and neurodiversity of students. . 

: This session, led by Alex Tsado of Alliance4ai, will explore what鈥檚 required to engage diverse learners to become emerging AI leaders. It鈥檒l also explore how educators can help them build tech and leadership skills and promote an 鈥淎I-for-good鈥� worldview. And it鈥檒l examine the challenges that Black communities face in AI development 鈥� and propose research and solutions that can be scaled easily. .

: This panel brings together of the U.S. Department of Education鈥檚 Office of Educational Technology and Jeremy of Digital Promise for an interactive conversation about generative AI that will integrate two distinctive and powerful vantage points 鈥� policy and research. They鈥檒l reflect on the listening sessions they鈥檝e conducted, talk about policy and share insights from major research initiatives that address the efficacy, equity and ethics of generative AI. .