Unpacking Agentic AI in Education
A quick plug for this week's episode of Modem Futura with Punya Mishra, which dives into what agentic AI does and doesn't mean in education, and why this matters.
I’m leery of writing too much about podcast episodes on this Substack newsletter as, from experience, it’s the fastest way to lose readers’ attention. But I decided to make an exception this week as today’s conversation with Punya Mishra on Modem Futura is a must-listen for anyone interested in, or concerned about, agentic AI in education.
By way of background, Punya is an internationally recognized expert in educational technology, the role of creativity and aesthetics in learning, and the application of collaborative, design-based approaches to educational innovation. He’s widely known for his work on developing the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) framework, which is one of the most influential frameworks for technology integration in teaching. And for the past few years he’s been at the forefront of thinking, research, and teaching around the use of AI in education.
Agentic AI has become a bit of a buzzword in education technology circles, and so Punya, myself, and my co-host Sean Leahy sat down to unpack what it is, what it’s not, and how we should be thinking about AI in learning.
I should warn you that there’s a fair amount of skepticism in the conversation, with all three of us struggling to understand what exactly agentic AI in education actually means—despite being experts in the field! But through the skepticism we found insights emerging that I found to be quite eye opening—and certainly perspectives that I think are critical to how we approach AI in learning and education.
Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or below. And if you want to cut to the chase and skip the cold open (because, as always, this is a banter-filled conversation), the podcast proper starts at 9:57.
Hope you both enjoy the podcast—and do listen out for what I found to be quite profound insights from Punya on approaching AI in education from the perspective of the process of becoming—not “becoming better,” but simply “becoming.”
> I’m leery of writing too much about podcast episodes on this Substack newsletter as, from experience, it’s the fastest way to lose readers’ attention.
Newsletter subscribers are here because we like to *read*.
As a reader with limited time, I am frustrated by the deluge of podcast content out there (which sometimes strikes me as an excuse to not have to write and put together a cogent argument. Case in point—I dictated this comment and then edited it heavily to condense and clarify).
At the very least, you could follow the lead of the New York Times, by posting an edited transcript that can be consumed in minutes, not hours.