MAKING IT EASIER TO BE A BETTER TEACHER

NOTEWORTHY NEWS

Here’s our weekly roundup of interesting education stories from around the world. Click each link to dive deeper:

👉 6 ‘magic phrases’ child psychologists say turn kids into better listeners.

👉 Turns out, studying philosophy really sharpens your thinking.

👉 Why doing nothing might actually be your most productive move.

TECH TOOL

Your Classroom’s Digital Playground

History just got a glow-up. We’ve found a (mostly) free tool that lets teachers and students remix scenes or get dropped into any historical moment. 

It’s fast, fun, and perfect for sparking creativity - and critical thinking - without needing a full lesson plan overhaul.

The Solution: Eggnog.ai

Eggnog has two tools currently in beta that anyone can use via their website or their free app:

1. /remix – Take popular scenes or historical clips and tweak them. Want Napoleon giving your next quiz instructions, or SpongeBob critiquing a science project? Done. Kids can remix too, but heads up: safety filters aren’t super tight yet, so adult guidance is wise.
   

2. /entertimeportal – Be a time traveler. Every day, students get a short AI-generated scene from any point in history. Then, trivia-style, they guess when and where it happened. Use it as a class warm-up, a team challenge, or a solo brain-teaser.

Is This For YOUR Classroom?

If you want students thinking, laughing, and learning at the same time, yes. But remember: /remix needs monitoring for safe content, and /entertimeportal works best for history or social studies - but clever teachers can adapt it anywhere.

Strategies That Work:

• Daily Time-Traveler Challenge: Kick off class with /entertimeportal. Students guess the time/place and discuss context clues, then reveal the answer for a quick critical-thinking warm-up.

• Creative Presentations: Have students use /remix to enhance presentations with AI-generated clips. History speeches, science reports, or literature projects all get a fun boost.

• Team Remix Battles: Split students into small groups. Give them a scene to remix and present to the class. Encourage humor and creativity while reinforcing the topic.

Eggnog is like giving your classroom a shot of espresso with a time machine on the side.

BRAINY BITS

Can AI Feedback Stand On Its Own?

TLDR: In a randomized trial with college students practicing speeches in virtual reality, AI-only feedback performed about as well as teacher-supported AI feedback on presentation skills, student perceptions, and anxiety. Students also rated AI-only feedback as useful.

Here’s what that means for your K-12 classrooms:

The Study: Can AI feedback stand alone for evaluating student oral presentations?

Sixty undergraduates prepared a 5-minute talk, rehearsed once in an immersive VR classroom, then delivered the same talk live. 

After the VR rehearsal, one group received AI-only feedback on nonverbal delivery (pace, volume, intonation, eye contact). The other group got the same AI graphs plus a short teacher debrief to interpret them. 

Outcomes included expert-rated presentations, a perceptions survey, pre-post anxiety, and a feedback-usefulness check. 

The Results:

No meaningful differences emerged between AI-only and teacher-supported AI on presentation performance, student perceptions, or post-talk anxiety. 

Anxiety fell from before to after practice in both groups, and students in both conditions said the feedback was useful. 

So what does this mean for your classroom? Well, it shows that when focused only on evaluating presentation skills,  AI-only feedback held its own. 

What is not made clear from this study are effects for younger students, multiple class periods, content quality, or long-term growth. 

In Your Classroom:

Studies like this show us that teachers (and students) might find use for AI as an assistant coach for basic feedback on student presentation skills.

Here’s how this data can impact your classroom this week:

Strategies

• Let AI catch the basics. Use an AI tool to flag pace, volume, and eye contact during assignment presentations. Spend your time on structure, reasoning, evidence, and audience impact.

• Flip one practice. Assign a 5-minute at-home or center-based rehearsal that generates AI notes. Students bring one “keep” and one “fix” to class for a quick share and mini-goal.

• Make reflection routine. After AI feedback, run a 3-2-1: three delivery wins, two adjustments, one goal for the live run. Tie it to a simple rubric so AI comments turn into action. 

Looking for a small way to let AI take some of your marking work without jeopardizing the value of your feedback? 

These results show some support for letting it handle the immediate presentation skills feedback so you can coach what matters most: clear ideas, strong evidence, and real audience connection. 

REFERENCES

This week’s issue adapts information from the following sources:

Tech Talk:

Applied ai media company. (2025). We build AI-native content experiences.  Retrieved from https://www.eggnog.ai/

Brainy Bits:

Sichterman, B., Banihashem, S. K., Verstappen, M., Schipper, M., Waisvisz, P., Noroozi, O., & van Ginkel, S. (2025). Can AI feedback stand alone for fostering students’ presentation performance? A comparison of AI-only versus teacher-supported AI feedback. Interactive Learning Environments, 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1080/10494820.2025.2521338