Top 20 ETIH stories of 2025: The final ten that defined EdTech
2025 was the year the pressure test arrived. AI moved from theory to daily routine, and the weak points in policy, data security, and infrastructure showed up fast.
These were the ten most read ETIH stories of the year. More than headlines, they're signals. Use them to tune your plans for classrooms, campuses, and teams in 2026.
10. Multiverse's commitment to train 15,000 new AI apprentices
A clear shift: employers stopped talking about AI in strategy decks and started building skills pipelines. With big names on board and structured training in governance, ethics, and deployment, this is workforce prep at operational level.
- Action: Map roles in your institution that will absorb AI tasks (data, curriculum, IT, student services) and create placement-style pathways with employers.
- Action: Pair AI skills with policy literacy (ethics, bias, privacy). Treat this as core, not a module on the side.
9. Chegg suffers a 24% revenue drop and sues Google over AI search impact
AI answers in search reduce clicks. Businesses dependent on traffic felt it first, but the lesson applies to education: models built on search visibility are fragile.
- Action: Favor models with durable demand (institutional contracts, outcomes-linked services) over pure consumer traffic.
- Action: Build owned channels (email, communities, first-party data) to reduce platform risk.
8. Google expands Gemini and launches new Chromebook features across education
AI became part of the default toolkit. No extra fee in Workspace for Education, tighter classroom controls, and assessment features quietly moved AI into daily workflow.
- Action: Set clear classroom norms for AI use by task type (pre-writing, study support, feedback) and update your academic integrity policy to match.
- Action: Run short, repeated PD cycles on practical use, not one big demo. Measure for workload relief and learning impact.
- Action: Review data settings and admin controls before rollout, especially for younger learners.
7. PowerSchool data breach exposes millions of student records
One compromised staff password. Claims of up to 62 million records taken. Centralized platforms are efficient until they're not.
- Action: Enforce MFA everywhere, rotate admin credentials, and enable anomaly alerts. Audit third-party access scopes.
- Action: Minimize what you collect and how long you keep it. Less stored data equals less exposure.
- Action: Pre-write family communications and incident playbooks. Practice with tabletop drills.
6. AWS launches new AI skills programs for students and early-career professionals
Industry stepped deeper into skills development with free routes into cloud, gen-AI, and model building. Real briefs, credits on offer, and a clear on-ramp for young talent.
- Action: Embed cloud and AI fundamentals into existing STEM, business, and CTE courses. Capstone with real prompts and lightweight fine-tuning projects.
- Action: Bring in industry mentors for feedback cycles. Treat it like a studio model, not a lecture.
- Resource: Explore practical AI course paths by job role at Complete AI Training.
5. Uplift Aerospace builds a VR and AI division for workforce training
Simulation moved into the mainstream of skills training. High-stakes, hard-to-access environments can now be practiced safely and repeatedly.
- Action: Pilot VR modules where placement access is limited (lab safety, technical procedures, customer scenarios). Track time-to-competency and error rates.
- Action: Align virtual tasks with assessment rubrics and credit pathways so sims count toward progression.
4. Schools in England given AI-generated attendance targets
Policy tried to optimize attendance with AI-set baselines and new hubs. Many teachers pushed back: targets don't fix causes.
- Action: Pair attendance goals with root-cause playbooks-transport, health, SEND needs, part-time work, bullying, family context.
- Action: Use weekly, student-level signals for early outreach, not just termly targets. Measure the impact of each intervention.
3. United States mandates AI education across all K-12 schools
AI literacy became expected, not optional. Core concepts, responsible use, and basic model understanding are now part of the baseline.
- Action: Define grade-band outcomes: awareness (K-5), structured use and critique (6-8), workflow integration and ethics (9-12).
- Action: Integrate across subjects. Treat AI as a writing, research, math, and arts tool, not a siloed class.
- Action: Give teachers simple, reusable lesson frames and exemplars they can iterate on.
2. UPLOpen reaches 10,000 open-access titles and broadens availability
Open access hit scale. Budget pressure and student demand pushed universities to expand free, high-quality sources.
- Action: Update discovery layers to surface OA first. Teach students to evaluate OA quality with clear checklists.
- Action: Renegotiate library spend with publishers using OA usage data to back your case.
1. MIT's ChatGPT brain study and the creativity question
Imaging showed what many suspected: using ChatGPT too early shifts activity toward shortcuts and away from exploratory thinking. Outputs get safer and faster-but flatter.
- Action: Redesign assignments into stages. Require planning and ideation artifacts before AI is allowed; permit AI in later stages for critique, revision, and comparison.
- Action: Grade the process. Collect outlines, drafts, and reflection notes. Make source disclosure and prompt logs part of academic honesty.
- Action: Teach students how to use AI to widen, not narrow-idea generation, counter-arguments, style variations.
The signal across these stories
AI is now baseline infrastructure. Skills pipelines matter more than slogans. Trust hinges on data security and transparent practice. Open access is gaining ground. Policy only works when it meets classroom reality.
Your next steps for 2026
- Publish a simple, public AI use policy for staff and students. Update it quarterly.
- Run short PD sprints focused on one workflow improvement at a time. Measure time saved and learning gains.
- Do a data minimization audit. Turn off what you don't need. Tighten access and retention.
- Stand up a cross-functional AI working group (curriculum, IT, library, safeguarding, student voice). Give it decision rights.
- Build an AI skills map by grade and program. Tie it to assessment and progression, not just awareness.
- Resource: Curate practical courses and certifications to upskill your team at Complete AI Training.
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