Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
# Links for the Curious
LLMs are the latest in a long line of technologies that promise to upend traditional educational institutions by replacing the primary (expensive) "conduit" of knowledge: skilled teachers. But is that framework missing something important?
Grimaldi, P. J., Basu Mallick, D., Waters, A. E. & Baraniuk, R. G. Do open educational resources improve student learning? Implications of the access hypothesis. PLoS ONE 14, e0212508 (2019).
Tlili, A. et al. Are open educational resources (OER) and practices (OEP) effective in improving learning achievement? A meta-analysis and research synthesis. Int J Educ Technol High Educ 20, 54 (2023).
Cueto, S., Beuermann, D. & Cristia, J. One Laptop per Child: Lessons from a long-term follow up. VoxDev voxdev.org/topic/education/one-laptop-child-lessons-long-term-follow (2025).
deBoer, F. LLMs and the Library Card Fallacy. Freddie deBoer freddiedeboer.substack.com/p/llms-and-the-library-card-fallacy (2026).
Green, H. About - Crash Course. https://thecrashcourse.com/ thecrashcourse.com/about (2026).
Daily Dot. How YouTube is revolutionizing education. https://dailydot.com/youtube-education-john-green-pbs-idea-channel/ (2012).
Bryan, G., Karlan, D. & Nelson, S. Commitment Devices. Annu. Rev. Econ. 2, 671–698 (2010).
Robbins, H. It’s Later Than You Think. Anecdotal Value hollisrobbinsanecdotal.substack.com/p/its-later-than-you-think (2025).
Bonfadelli, H. The Internet and Knowledge Gaps: A Theoretical and Empirical Investigation. European Journal of Communication 17, 65–84 (2002).
Oppenheimer, T. The Computer Delusion. The Ted K Archive thetedkarchive.com/library/todd-oppenheimer-the-computer-delusion (1997).
Oppenheimer, T. The Flickering Mind: Saving Education from the False Promise of Technology. (Random House Publishing Group, 2004).
James, K. B. & B. The AI-Powered Nonprofits Reimagining Education (SSIR). ssir.org/articles/entry/ai-nonprofits-education (2024).
Henry, M. A $40,000-per-Year AI School With No Teachers Is Opening in Oklahoma This August. Oklahoma Watch oklahomawatch.org/2026/07/21/a-40000-per-year-ai-school-with-no-teachers-is-opening-in-oklahoma-this-august (2026).
Shavit, M. Three ‘AI schools’ to open in Greater Boston this fall, with no teachers. Boston Business Journal bizjournals.com/boston/news/2026/07/23/three-ai-schools-to-open-in-greater-boston.html (2026).
Singh, S. The AI Education Disruption, Musk Predicts Rapid Teacher Replacement. TechStory techstory.in/the-ai-education-disruption-musk-predicts-rapid-teacher-replacement (2025).
Pondiscio, R. Dear Alpha School: I Hope You’re Right. The Next 30 Years thenext30years.substack.com/p/dear-alpha-school-i-hope-youre-right (2026).
Lepp, A., Barkley, J. E. & Karpinski, A. C. The Relationship Between Cell Phone Use and Academic Performance in a Sample of U.S. College Students. Sage Open 5, 2158244015573169 (2015).
Kizilcec, R. F. et al. Scaling up behavioral science interventions in online education. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 117, 14900–14905 (2020).
Kizilcec, R. F. & Halawa, S. Attrition and Achievement Gaps in Online Learning. in Proceedings of the Second (2015) ACM Conference on Learning @ Scale 57–66 (ACM, Vancouver BC Canada, 2015). doi:10.1145/2724660.2724680.
Tyack, D. & Tobin, W. The ‘Grammar’ of Schooling: Why Has it Been so Hard to Change? (1993).
Zhou, M. Chinese university students’ acceptance of MOOCs: A self-determination perspective. Computers & Education 92–93, 194–203 (2016).
Choi, G. W. Understanding MOOC students: motivations and behaviours indicative of MOOC completion. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning doi.org/10.1111/JCAL.12131 (2016) doi:10.1111/JCAL.12131.
Dunne, G. Resisting Edutainment: How Reward Deficiency Syndrome Fuels the Student Attention Crisis. Stud Philos Educ 45, 147–173 (2026).
Darling-Hammond, L. Teacher Quality and Student Achievement: A Review of State Policy Evidence. (2000).
Strmberg, D., Lei, V. & Wu, Y. The Generative AI Learning Penalty: Evidence from Chinese Secondary Education. (2026).
Gozzi, R. The conduit metaphor in the Rhetoric of education reform: A critique of hidden assumptions. New Jersey Journal of Communication 6, 81–89 (1998).
Kirschner, P. A., Sweller, J. & Clark, R. E. Why Minimal Guidance During Instruction Does Not Work: An Analysis of the Failure of Constructivist, Discovery, Problem-Based, Experiential, and Inquiry-Based Teaching. Educational Psychologist 41, 75–86 (2006).
Harden, N. The End of the University as We Know It. The American Interest the-american-interest.com/2012/12/11/the-end-of-the-university-as-we-know-it (2012).
Hattie, J. Hattie effect size list - 256 Influences Related To Achievement. VISIBLE LEARNING visible-learning.org/hattie-ranking-influences-effect-sizes-learning-achievement/.
# Links for the Curious
LLMs are the latest in a long line of technologies that promise to upend traditional educational institutions by replacing the primary (expensive) "conduit" of knowledge: skilled teachers. But is that framework missing something important?
Grimaldi, P. J., Basu Mallick, D., Waters, A. E. & Baraniuk, R. G. Do open educational resources improve student learning? Implications of the access hypothesis. PLoS ONE 14, e0212508 (2019).
Tlili, A. et al. Are open educational resources (OER) and practices (OEP) effective in improving learning achievement? A meta-analysis and research synthesis. Int J Educ Technol High Educ 20, 54 (2023).
Cueto, S., Beuermann, D. & Cristia, J. One Laptop per Child: Lessons from a long-term follow up. VoxDev voxdev.org/topic/education/one-laptop-child-lessons-long-term-follow (2025).
deBoer, F. LLMs and the Library Card Fallacy. Freddie deBoer freddiedeboer.substack.com/p/llms-and-the-library-card-fallacy (2026).
Green, H. About - Crash Course. https://thecrashcourse.com/ thecrashcourse.com/about (2026).
Daily Dot. How YouTube is revolutionizing education. https://dailydot.com/youtube-education-john-green-pbs-idea-channel/ (2012).
Bryan, G., Karlan, D. & Nelson, S. Commitment Devices. Annu. Rev. Econ. 2, 671–698 (2010).
Robbins, H. It’s Later Than You Think. Anecdotal Value hollisrobbinsanecdotal.substack.com/p/its-later-than-you-think (2025).
Bonfadelli, H. The Internet and Knowledge Gaps: A Theoretical and Empirical Investigation. European Journal of Communication 17, 65–84 (2002).
Oppenheimer, T. The Computer Delusion. The Ted K Archive thetedkarchive.com/library/todd-oppenheimer-the-computer-delusion (1997).
Oppenheimer, T. The Flickering Mind: Saving Education from the False Promise of Technology. (Random House Publishing Group, 2004).
James, K. B. & B. The AI-Powered Nonprofits Reimagining Education (SSIR). ssir.org/articles/entry/ai-nonprofits-education (2024).
Henry, M. A $40,000-per-Year AI School With No Teachers Is Opening in Oklahoma This August. Oklahoma Watch oklahomawatch.org/2026/07/21/a-40000-per-year-ai-school-with-no-teachers-is-opening-in-oklahoma-this-august (2026).
Shavit, M. Three ‘AI schools’ to open in Greater Boston this fall, with no teachers. Boston Business Journal bizjournals.com/boston/news/2026/07/23/three-ai-schools-to-open-in-greater-boston.html (2026).
Singh, S. The AI Education Disruption, Musk Predicts Rapid Teacher Replacement. TechStory techstory.in/the-ai-education-disruption-musk-predicts-rapid-teacher-replacement (2025).
Pondiscio, R. Dear Alpha School: I Hope You’re Right. The Next 30 Years thenext30years.substack.com/p/dear-alpha-school-i-hope-youre-right (2026).
Lepp, A., Barkley, J. E. & Karpinski, A. C. The Relationship Between Cell Phone Use and Academic Performance in a Sample of U.S. College Students. Sage Open 5, 2158244015573169 (2015).
Kizilcec, R. F. et al. Scaling up behavioral science interventions in online education. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 117, 14900–14905 (2020).
Kizilcec, R. F. & Halawa, S. Attrition and Achievement Gaps in Online Learning. in Proceedings of the Second (2015) ACM Conference on Learning @ Scale 57–66 (ACM, Vancouver BC Canada, 2015). doi:10.1145/2724660.2724680.
Tyack, D. & Tobin, W. The ‘Grammar’ of Schooling: Why Has it Been so Hard to Change? (1993).
Zhou, M. Chinese university students’ acceptance of MOOCs: A self-determination perspective. Computers & Education 92–93, 194–203 (2016).
Choi, G. W. Understanding MOOC students: motivations and behaviours indicative of MOOC completion. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning doi.org/10.1111/JCAL.12131 (2016) doi:10.1111/JCAL.12131.
Dunne, G. Resisting Edutainment: How Reward Deficiency Syndrome Fuels the Student Attention Crisis. Stud Philos Educ 45, 147–173 (2026).
Darling-Hammond, L. Teacher Quality and Student Achievement: A Review of State Policy Evidence. (2000).
Strmberg, D., Lei, V. & Wu, Y. The Generative AI Learning Penalty: Evidence from Chinese Secondary Education. (2026).
Gozzi, R. The conduit metaphor in the Rhetoric of education reform: A critique of hidden assumptions. New Jersey Journal of Communication 6, 81–89 (1998).
Kirschner, P. A., Sweller, J. & Clark, R. E. Why Minimal Guidance During Instruction Does Not Work: An Analysis of the Failure of Constructivist, Discovery, Problem-Based, Experiential, and Inquiry-Based Teaching. Educational Psychologist 41, 75–86 (2006).
Harden, N. The End of the University as We Know It. The American Interest the-american-interest.com/2012/12/11/the-end-of-the-university-as-we-know-it (2012).
Hattie, J. Hattie effect size list - 256 Influences Related To Achievement. VISIBLE LEARNING visible-learning.org/hattie-ranking-influences-effect-sizes-learning-achievement/.
