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There’s a new classroom time bomb.
And it’s not ChatGPT-5
Andre Violante
August 13, 2025
MAKING IT EASIER TO BE A BETTER TEACHER
6 min. read
Big launches don’t always mean big wins.
This week’s Tech Tool is GPT-5 - yes, it’s here, yes, it’s “smarter,” and yes, teachers are already disappointed. We’ll break down what it still does well (and what it still does terribly).
On the Brainy Bit side, we’ve got new research linking more screen time + less sleep to higher long-term heart-health risks in kids.
Here’s what you’re going to master in the next 6 minutes:
Noteworthy News: Think you don’t make an impact? This CEO begs to differ 💼
Tech Tool: The let down of the summer 🤖
Brainy Bit: Screen time is aging their hearts 🩺
NOTEWORTHY NEWS
Here’s our weekly roundup of interesting education stories from around the world. Click each link to dive deeper:
TECH TOOL
Hype meets reality: GPT-5 might not be your classroom hero
When OpenAI released GPT-5 last week, it came with big promises of smarter, deeper AI. But for many teachers (and users), it feels more like a letdown than a breakthrough.
GPT-5 claims to think better and handle longer conversations, but it often trips over basic tasks and shows signs of rushed development.
The EdTech: GPT-5
What does it still do well?
It can hold longer chats, tailor language to your classroom style, draft lesson plans, and brainstorm creative ideas.
For free-tier users, these features were locked before and can still make ChatGPT a helpful assistant.
So why are so many disappointed?
Weak Benchmarks: Scores barely improve on GPT-4.5 and fall behind rivals on logic and reasoning tests.
Frequent Errors: Hallucinations persist - making up facts and messing up details unless carefully prompted.
Limited Context & Fine-Tuning: The promised huge context window isn’t widely available, and no fine-tuning means less customization.
Forced Upgrade: Older, stable models were removed without warning, breaking many user workflows.
Is This For Your Classroom?
Teachers comfortable with AI quirks and prompt engineering might find incremental value - especially on the free plan. But if you expect a game-changer, prepare to be underwhelmed, or worse - frustrated.
Strategies That Still Work:
Lesson Planning: Use GPT-5 for ideas, but always double-check.
Student Feedback: Draft feedback here, but review carefully to catch errors.
Brainstorming: Great for creative sparks, but watch for logic slips.
GPT-5 feels like a cautious step wrapped in hype. It’s useful if you stay realistic and skeptical, but it doesn’t fix core AI flaws like hallucinations or deep reasoning.
This release hints OpenAI is prioritizing business over breakthroughs. For teachers seeking reliable AI help, GPT-5 is a tool to try - just don’t expect miracles beyond what you’re already using it for (at least not yet!).
“Phone breaks are in a way, the new smoke breaks.”
For teachers who are looking for news stories to use in their classroom, but want to steer clear of any political biases, our sponsor this week may be able to help:
Real News for Real People — Not Partisans
Feeling like you want to get off the rollercoaster of polarizing politics? Read Tangle — an independent and nonpartisan political newsletter recently profiled on This American Life for helping to bridge the gap between politically divided families. Each day, the newsletter unpacks one important news story, examining it from all sides of the political spectrum.
BRAINY BITS
More screens, less sleep, higher risk?
Here’s the TL;DR: in a large Danish study, every extra hour of kids’ daily screen time linked to a higher heart-health risk score - and the link got stronger when sleep was shorter.
Screens aren’t evil, but the combo of more screens and less sleep looks like a not-so-great tag team for growing bodies.
Researchers followed two long-running mother–child cohorts of over 1000+ participants.
Parents or teens reported discretionary screen time.
The main outcome was a combined cardiometabolic risk score built from five routine measures: waist size, systolic blood pressure, HDL (“good” cholesterol), triglycerides, and glucose.
They also tracked sleep and activity with accelerometers, ran blood tests, and created a predicted cardiovascular-risk score.
The Results:
Each additional hour/day of screen time was tied to higher risk in both children and adolescents.
Less sleep made that link stronger in both age groups. In teens, more screen time also aligned with a higher blood-based cardiovascular-risk score.
Bottom line: more hours on screens tracked with less-favorable lipids and other markers, especially for adolescents. Quick note: this study shows an association, not proof of cause, but it definitely begins to raise a potential red flag.
In Your Classroom:
You can’t control home devices, but you can shape routines that nudge better balance. Here’s how this study can benefit your classroom:
Strategies
Assign early, due early: Post digital homework before dismissal and set “by-8 p.m.” checkpoints so families aren’t glued to screens right before bed.
Paper-first options: When possible, offer printables or offline choices for practice. You still hit the standard - without stacking evening screen minutes.
Sleep-smart mini-lesson: Teach a 10-minute “why sleep matters” routine - earlier bedtimes and dimmer lights help.
Small shifts - fewer late-night screens and a little more sleep - can help protect students’ long-term heart health while keeping learning on track.
WHAT’S NEXT?
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REFERENCES
This week’s issue adapts information from the following sources:
Tech Talk:
OpenAI (2025). Introducing GPT-5. Retrieved from https://openai.com/index/introducing-gpt-5/
Brainy Bits:
David Horner, Marie Jahn, Klaus Bønnelykke, Bo Chawes, Trine Flensborg‐Madsen, Ann‐Marie Malby Schoos, Jakob Stokholm, & Morten Arendt Rasmussen. (2025). Screen Time Is Associated With Cardiometabolic and Cardiovascular Disease Risk in Childhood and Adolescence. Journal of the American Heart Association, 0(0), e041486.
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