Edtech Insiders

Week in EdTech 8/13/25: Back-to-School Uncertainty, B2B vs B2C Learning, GPT-5 Backlash, School Choice Surge, Google’s Gemini Power Play, and More! Feat. Evan Harris of Pathos Consulting Group, Becky Keene of AI Optimism & Max Spero of Pangram Labs


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Join hosts Alex Sarlin, Ben Kornell, and guest co-host Matt Tower from Whiteboard Advisors for a back-to-school edition of Week in EdTech, covering market shifts, Big Tech’s push into education, the GPT-5 rollout, and the rising challenge of deepfake abuse in schools.

✨ Episode Highlights:

[00:03:40] Back-to-school funding uncertainty and “back-to-basics” mentality
[00:06:40] B2C vs. B2B: consumer learning grows while institutions tighten
[00:09:31] Big Tech moves from infrastructure to competing in applications
[00:13:40] GPT-5 rollout backlash and prioritization of B2C users
[00:17:34] Rethinking schools’ role: raising the floor vs. raising the ceiling
[00:19:52] School choice and flexible student pathways through ESAs
[00:20:58] Proposal for an AI user Bill of Rights
[00:27:36] Media panic: critiques of AI in education from major outlets
[00:34:19] SoftBank executive buys stake in UK university
[00:38:10] Workforce training gap: Google and Microsoft invest billions
[00:39:12] Google’s Gemini leads in image and video generation 

Plus, special guests:
[00:49:18] Evan Harris, President of Pathos Consulting Group, on deepfake abuse in schools and crisis response
[00:56:02] Becky Keene, author of AI Optimism, on AI literacy for teachers and classroom integration
[01:03:47] Max Spero, Co-Founder and CEO of Pangram Labs, on building future-ready schools with emerging tech

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Edtech InsidersBy Alex Sarlin and Ben Kornell

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