EdTechnical
by Owen Henkel & Libby Hills
Latest episode
Can AI give teachers their Sunday nights back?
Can AI give teachers their Sunday nights back?
About this podcast
Hosted by EdTechnical co-founders Libby Hills (CEO) and Owen Henkel (Research Director), the EdTechnical podcast explores AI in education through a research-grounded lens.
Each episode, Libby and Owen ask experts to help educators sift the useful insights from the AI hype. They ask questions like: how does this actually help students and teachers? What do we actually know about this technology, and what is just speculation? And (importantly!) when we say AI, what are we actually talking about?
Beyond the podcast, EdTechnical also invests in promising AI edtech companies and conducts applied research to inform real-world product and investment decisions.
Episodes
The newest 20 of 58 episodes
- Can AI give teachers their Sunday nights back? · 30 min · Season 5 Episode 7In this episode of EdTechnical, our podcast hosts Libby and Owen welcome back John Roberts, CEO and co-founder of Oak National Academy, to discuss the results of a new randomised…
- Does AI help with homework but harm exam performance? · 16 min · Season 5 Episode 6In this EdTechnical short, Owen is joined by guest co-host Alyssa Van Camp, research lead at EdTechnical, to discuss a recent paper on the learning penalty from generative AI…
- How are teachers using AI? · 35 min · Season 5 Episode 5In this episode, Libby and Owen speak with Joanna Cannon, senior fellow at the Walton Family Foundation, where she supports a growing body of research on how teachers and…
- Notes from the Festival of Learning: The future of AI in education · 31 min · Season 5 Episode 5In this episode of EdTechnical, Owen reports back from the Festival of Learning in South Korea, the annual gathering that brings together academics in AI, education, learning…
- AI Pre-Mortem: Getting Ahead of AI's Risks in Education · 36 min · Season 5 Episode 3In this episode of EdTechnical, Libby and Owen speak with Rebecca Winthrop, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, where she directs the Center for Universal Education…
- England's Bet on AI in the Classroom · 34 minLibby is on maternity leave, so Hermione Thompson steps in to guest co-host this episode alongside Owen. Hermione is AI and EdTech lead at Purposeful Ventures and previously…
- Should We Be Embracing Cognitive Offloading? · 43 min · Season 5 Episode 1This season EdTech founder Libby Hills and AI researcher Owen Henkel continue to speak with leading researchers, practitioners and educators on the EdTechnical podcast series…
- AI That Acts: What “Agents” Mean for Classrooms · 16 minIn this EdTechnical short, Libby and Owen unpack ‘AI agents’ and what they mean for education. Agents are large language models connected to tools and workflows that are allowed…
- Voice AI Is Listening. But Is It Actually Hearing? (Recorded Live at SXSW EDU 2026) · 26 minAt this year's SXSW EDU, Owen joined a panel on what it takes to make voice AI for assessment work in classrooms. In this live recording of the session, the panelists untangle…
- A Teddy Bear That Talks Back? · 12 min · Season 4 Episode 4In this EdTechnical short, Libby and Owen test a conversational plush toy to understand more about AI-powered toys designed for young children. Recent research from Cambridge…
- AI broke take-home assignments. Can it fix them too? · 33 min · Season 4 Episode 3In this episode of EdTechnical, Libby and Owen speak with Panos Ipeirotis, Professor at NYU Stern School of Business, about his experiment using AI to run oral exams in…
- Why AI Can't Automate Just the "Boring" Parts of Teaching · 14 min · Season 4 Episode 2In this EdTechnical Short, Libby and Owen explore how AI might reshape teaching through the lens of the “weakest link” theory from economics. They discuss the possibility of full…
- Are Roboteachers Coming? (Probably Not) · 36 min · Season 4 Episode 1In this episode of EdTechnical, Libby and Owen speak with Kristyn Sommer, a developmental psychologist and child robot interaction researcher. Together, they explore how young…
- Adding It Up: Dan Meyer on Math, Tech & AI Scepticism · 36 min · Season 3 Episode 7In this episode of EdTechnical, Libby and Owen sit down with Dan Meyer: math educator, EdTech innovator, and self-proclaimed “token AI sceptic”. Dan’s rare mix of classroom…
- How Revolutionary is Alpha School? · 17 min · Season 3 Episode 6In this episode of EdTechnical, Libby and Owen look at Alpha School, a model that started as a micro-school in Austin, Texas, and is now expanding. At its core, Alpha condenses…
- Back to the Future: Two Years on with Daisy Christodoulou · 33 minIn this episode Libby and Owen are joined by Daisy Christodoulou MBE, EdTechnical’s very first guest from two years ago. Daisy is Director of Education at No More Marking and a…
- Guardrails and Growth: California’s AI Safety Push · 15 min · Season 3 Episode 4Millions of students now study with AI chatbots. There are growing concerns about what happens when vulnerable teens form emotional bonds with AI. Tragic teen deaths have sparked…
- Is social media really destroying teen mental health? · 39 min · Season 3 Episode 3In this episode of EdTechnical, Libby and Owen speak with Candice Odgers, a psychologist and researcher studying how online experiences influence children's mental health. They…
- Why AI Detectors Don't Work for Education · 19 min · Season 3 Episode 2In this episode of Ed-Technical, Libby and Owen explore why traditional AI detection tools are struggling in academic settings. As students adopt increasingly sophisticated…
- Rewiring the Brain: Reading, AI and the Science of Literacy · 38 min · Season 3 Episode 1In this first episode of EdTechnical Season 3, Libby and Owen speak with Dr. Jason Yeatman from Stanford University about how the brain learns to read, the power of better…
