Field notes
On learning, AI, and raising kids who can explain their thinking.
Notes from building a learning app with a real middle schooler at the kitchen table: what works, what doesn't, and what we think comes next.
AI in Education: Notes From the Builder's Bench
The difference between AI that answers and AI that tutors, where it helps learning, where it harms, and why the guardrails belong in code.
What an AI Tutor Really Costs, and the Case for It
An AI tutor's real cost, line by line, next to a $50-an-hour human, the hidden cost that can multiply it tenfold, and where a human still wins.
Teach-Back: The Life Skill Hiding Inside Homework
Explaining a solved problem to someone else is one of the best ways to learn. Here is how to make teach-back a simple, low pressure habit at home.
The Future of Learning When Every Kid Has a Patient Tutor
When patient explanation becomes cheap, proof of what a child can do alone becomes precious. A grounded look at what changes for kids, parents and teachers.
Why Gamification Fails in Edtech (and What Works Instead)
Points, streaks and badges optimize for engagement, not learning. Why that backfires for kids, where game ideas do help, and what to build instead.
What a Parent Really Needs to See on a Progress Dashboard
Grade averages and minutes on app hide more than they show. Here is what a useful student progress dashboard should show, and what to leave out.
Right or Wrong Is a Thin Signal. Here Is What to Track Instead
Next-gen learning apps look at how a kid reached an answer, not just whether it was right. What to track, why it matters, and what it costs.
How Adaptive Learning Keeps Kids in the Goldilocks Zone
Not too easy, not too hard. A plain-language look at how adaptive learning picks the next question, and where it goes wrong.
The Best Learning App Is the One Your Kid Closes
Minutes on an app are the wrong goal. Here is how to judge a learning app by what your kid does after the screen goes dark.
Why Voice, Camera and Handwriting Are Replacing the Keyboard
Kids think out loud, write math by hand and snap worksheets. What each input is good for, what goes wrong, and how to design for it.
Designing Edtech for the Student, Parent and Teacher Triangle
Students, parents and teachers need different things from a learning app. Here is how to serve all three without turning it into surveillance.
Connecting Learning Apps to Your AI Assistant With MCP
A plain-words guide to the Model Context Protocol for families: what it lets your AI assistant do with a learning app, and how to keep it safe.
A Plain-English Guide to Student Data, COPPA and Local AI
What parents and small edtech builders should know about COPPA, the amended FTC rule, AI vendors, and when on-device AI is the safer choice.
What Skill Tracking Means for College Admissions
Admissions is slowly shifting toward evidence of real skills and work. What that means for middle schoolers, and what parents should avoid.