Author: Nola Jones

Last September, a group of third graders attended a lecture on artificial intelligence in a computer classroom in the province of Gansu. They were perhaps seven or six years old. Around the same time, a teacher in an Ohio school district was likely given a memo regarding whether or not students could type their essays into ChatGPT. That seemingly insignificant and easily disregarded difference may end up being more significant than most people currently recognize. An “AI+ Education” action plan that leaves little room for interpretation was released in early April by China’s Ministry of Education and four other government…

Most British homes have a drawer where important documents discreetly collect dust, somewhere between old utility bills and a forgotten charger. Typically, passports reside there. Mostly adult ones. If there are any children’s versions, they are usually applied for two weeks prior to a summer flight and are regarded as merely a formality. It’s a sensible strategy until all of a sudden it isn’t. Something changed in February 2026. The UK quietly implemented new passport requirements under its Electronic Travel Authorization system without the kind of public fanfare you might anticipate. Dual nationals, or British citizens who had become accustomed…

A certain type of legislation doesn’t come with a press conference or a ton of coverage on cable news. It gradually gains support in committee rooms and hallways, gaining the support of groups that most Americans are unaware of but that subtly influence the formulation of national policy. The proposed legislation pertaining to childcare worker compensation, which is reportedly receiving support from OMEP and the thoughtful consideration of three U.S. senators, sounds exactly like that type of legislation. Silent. methodical. possibly important. Here, the larger context is important. Cost and access have dominated the American child care discourse for years.…

Twelve-year-olds in a Birmingham classroom are drawing water cycle diagrams based on observation instead of copying them from a whiteboard. They’re not adhering to a manual. They are sketching what they actually see while gazing out the window at a drainage ditch following a downpour. It sounds almost charming. Researchers connected to Cambridge’s education reform circles also claim that it may be one of the most serious approaches to climate education in years. For a while now, the phrase “think like Da Vinci” has been used in progressive education settings. It is typically used as a cozy source of inspiration,…

The demographic reality quickly becomes apparent when you stroll through any mid-sized Japanese city these days. schools where the hallways are only partially occupied. Employees long past retirement age work in municipal offices. a nation that, according to statistics, is running out of citizens to govern itself. It’s Tuesday morning in Osaka, so it’s no longer a prediction. That’s precisely where businesses like Agent can help. Koji Shinomiya founded Agent, which has spent years positioning itself at the nexus of AI adoption, educational technology, and something less common in the business sector: a sincere attempt at social problem-solving. Currently, the…

In the past, state budget tables and nonprofit grant cycles would have been the beginning and end of discussions about early childhood education in a building in Portland. No one anticipated the arrival of the Oregon Business Council. And yet, here we are. Over the course of the last year or so, something changed—quietly at first, then with enough force that people in both sectors began to take notice. The business community in Oregon has begun to look much further back after previously concentrating on workforce pipelines that start somewhere around community college. Their concern for workforce development is not…

A college campus that remains motionless has a subtly eerie quality. The brick structures don’t fall apart overnight. The shelves in libraries don’t go empty overnight. The quad simply waits there. After operating continuously for 185 years, the former Green Mountain College in Poultney, Vermont, closed its doors in 2019. The Griswold Library’s arched windows, the riverfrontage that cuts through the campus, and the open quad that used to be crowded with students debating John Dewey and environmental policy are all still visible if you were to walk through that campus today, or at least imagine it. It’s still lovely.…

This is the kind of week that transforms Omaha from a flyover city to the epicenter of something truly exciting. A bar is counting Jell-O shots by school affiliation somewhere along the river, hotel rates are negotiated weeks in advance, and downtown fills with team colors. The College World Series is that. It’s messy, boisterous, sentimental, and surprisingly difficult to forget if you’ve ever been there in June. Eight teams from across the nation arrived at Charles Schwab Field this week to begin the 2026 Men’s College World Series, each with the burden of a full season behind them. The…

Teenagers who are passionate about fashion have a certain kind of ambition. Not the laid-back type, not the one who appreciates a nice outfit, but the one who, at sixteen, reads trade reports about the industry and studies magazine layouts in the same way that other children study game strategies. It appears that Vogue Summer School has managed to locate those students and place them in the same room for two weeks in New York City. The brochure doesn’t adequately describe what happens after that. Supported by Condé Nast and administered by Vogue College of Fashion, the program bills itself…

In June, there’s always something special in the air in Omaha. It’s difficult to describe precisely—a blend of concession smoke, chopped grass, and the subdued buzz of excitement that builds for weeks before a single pitch is thrown. There’s really nowhere else in college sports quite like Charles Schwab Field, which fills up gradually at first, then all at once, and by the time the lights come on and the lineups are announced. It’s time to start watching the 2026 Men’s College World Series if you haven’t already. The first round matches took place at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha,…