On Episode 222, we unpack a busy week in school tech: a nationwide Google outage that disrupted Chromebook logins, new Sophos data showing improving ransomware recovery and falling ransom payments, and CETA’s annual report putting AI at the top of state priorities.
The conversation dives into the controversial campus drone pilot approved in Florida (non‑lethal pepper‑ball drones and on‑demand airborne security) and the AI Whack‑A‑Mole challenge as AI features appear inside search engines and become hard to block.
We also discuss promising advances in live, voice‑to‑voice translation for K12 meetings and classrooms.
Our new Swag Store is OPEN - Buy some swag (tech dept gift boxes, shirts, hoodies...)!!!
00:00:00-Intro
00:09:46-Swag Store Update
00:12:59-Cybersecurity Trends
00:20:30-Killer Drones in Schools
00:30:53-AI Search
00:41:10-Real-Time Language Interpretation
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Arista
Lightspeed Systems
Fortinet
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Buy some swag (tech dept gift boxes, shirts, hoodies...)!!!
Email us at [email protected]
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Music by Colt Ball
Disclaimer: The views and work done by Josh, Chris, and Mark are solely their own and do not reflect the opinions or positions of sponsors or any respective employers or organizations associated with the guys. K12 Tech Talk itself does not endorse or validate the ideas, views, or statements expressed by Josh, Chris, and Mark's individual views and opinions are not representative of K12 Tech Talk. Furthermore, any references or mention of products, services, organizations, or individuals on K12 Tech Talk should not be considered as endorsements related to any employer or organization associated with the guys.

On this episode, Josh, Chris, and Mark unpack their top five back-to-school trends shaping K-12 technology in 2025. Topics include shifting budgets and funding pressures, rising costs for materials and software, widespread school cell phone policies and bell-to-bell enforcement, the rapid expansion of AI tools in classrooms (including Notebook LM and Gemini), and growing school safety technology demands.
The episode also highlights practical use cases for Notebook LM (flashcards, handbook summarization) and discusses vendor and licensing concerns.
Our new Swag Store is OPEN - Buy some swag (tech dept gift boxes, shirts, hoodies...)!!!
Josh talking about schools banning phones - The New York Times
Notebook LM Flash Cards
 
00:00:00-Intro
00:01:41-School Year Kickoff
00:02:18-New Notebook LM Features
00:05:03-AI’s Role in Education
00:12:47-Top 5 Trending Topics in Education
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NTP
Managed Methods
Arista
VIZOR
Fortinet
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Join the K12TechPro Community (exclusively for K12 Tech professionals)
Buy some swag (tech dept gift boxes, shirts, hoodies...)!!!
Email us at [email protected]
OR our "professional" email addy is [email protected]
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Music by Colt Ball
Disclaimer: The views and work done by Josh, Chris, and Mark are solely their own and do not reflect the opinions or positions of sponsors or any respective employers or organizations associated with the guys. K12 Tech Talk itself does not endorse or validate the ideas, views, or statements expressed by Josh, Chris, and Mark's individual views and opinions are not representative of K12 Tech Talk. Furthermore, any references or mention of products, services, organizations, or individuals on K12 Tech Talk should not be considered as endorsements related to any employer or organization associated with the guys.

On this episode, the guys are back together with Mark sharing a story about a tech emergency during his recent Alaskan cruise vacation. This episode covers current events, including a potential cut in federal Title 1 funding and the elimination of all Title 2, 3, and 4 funding in a proposed House of Representatives budget. Chris, Josh, and Mark celebrate the news that Google will not be forced to sell off Chrome, as a judge ruled against this measure in a recent antitrust case. They delve into the challenges of managing both Office 365 and Google Workspace within the same school district. Finally, Chris interviews Greg Purcell, a customer of Prey.
 
00:00:00-Intro
00:06:24-Federal Funding Cuts (Again)
00:11:02-Google's Antitrust Conclusion
00:19:30-Managing Google & Office365
 
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Lightspeed
Arista
Fortinet
Chromebookparts.com
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Join the K12TechPro Community (exclusively for K12 Tech professionals)
Buy some swag (shirts, hoodies...)!!!
Email us at [email protected]
OR our "professional" email addy is [email protected]
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Music by Colt Ball
Disclaimer: The views and work done by Josh, Chris, and Mark are solely their own and do not reflect the opinions or positions of sponsors or any respective employers or organizations associated with the guys. K12 Tech Talk itself does not endorse or validate the ideas, views, or statements expressed by Josh, Chris, and Mark's individual views and opinions are not representative of K12 Tech Talk. Furthermore, any references or mention of products, services, organizations, or individuals on K12 Tech Talk should not be considered as endorsements related to any employer or organization associated with the guys.

Josh and Chris recap the hectic second week of school, covering Chromebook rollouts, Clever headaches, cell‑phone bans, and a recent ChromeOS update rollback. They also ask the question "Is Esports a sport?" 
The episode highlight? A candid interview with Adeel Khan, founder and CEO of MagicSchool. Adeel shares MagicSchool's origin story, how MagicSchool uses AI models with human‑in‑the‑loop evaluations, its focus on K12 privacy, and its plans for customizable district tools and an AI operating system for schools.
--------------------
NTP
Managed Methods
Arista
Fortinet
--------------------
Join the K12TechPro Community (exclusively for K12 Tech professionals)
Buy some swag (shirts, hoodies...)!!!
Email us at [email protected]
OR our "professional" email addy is [email protected]
Call us at 314-329-0363
X @k12techtalkpod
Facebook
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Music by Colt Ball
Disclaimer: The views and work done by Josh, Chris, and Mark are solely their own and do not reflect the opinions or positions of sponsors or any respective employers or organizations associated with the guys. K12 Tech Talk itself does not endorse or validate the ideas, views, or statements expressed by Josh, Chris, and Mark's individual views and opinions are not representative of K12 Tech Talk. Furthermore, any references or mention of products, services, organizations, or individuals on K12 Tech Talk should not be considered as endorsements related to any employer or organization associated with the guys.

Josh and Chris talk about the first week back to school - Smartboard repairs, missing classroom printers, tech tickets, moving equipment, and more. They also share anecdotes about Mark’s Alaska trip (send pics for prizes).
They also discuss vendor DPAs, the fallout from bell‑to‑bell cell phone bans, and creative MFA options.
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Lightspeed
Extreme Networks
CTL
VIZOR
Fortinet
--------------------
Join the K12TechPro Community (exclusively for K12 Tech professionals)
Buy some swag (shirts, hoodies...)!!!
Email us at [email protected]
OR our "professional" email addy is [email protected]
Call us at 314-329-0363
X @k12techtalkpod
Facebook
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Music by Colt Ball
Disclaimer: The views and work done by Josh, Chris, and Mark are solely their own and do not reflect the opinions or positions of sponsors or any respective employers or organizations associated with the guys. K12 Tech Talk itself does not endorse or validate the ideas, views, or statements expressed by Josh, Chris, and Mark's individual views and opinions are not representative of K12 Tech Talk. Furthermore, any references or mention of products, services, organizations, or individuals on K12 Tech Talk should not be considered as endorsements related to any employer or organization associated with the guys.

Josh, Chris and Mark dive into the chaos of the back‑to‑school rush and the latest K‑12 tech headlines. Topics include Ohio’s new requirement that districts adopt AI policies, the pros and cons of writing evergreen AI regulations, and how that mandate could interact with existing tech agreements.
The trio also covers recent news like ChatGPT‑5’s launch and integrations, a Fortinet vulnerability alert, and San Francisco Unified’s payroll/ERP struggles. Between updates they share candid stories from the frontline: ticket surges as staff return, construction and classroom rollouts, recovering deleted Google accounts, and practical coping strategies for IT teams (from daily planning tricks to quick wellness tips).
Expect first‑hand anecdotes, real‑world advice for managing summer‑to‑school transitions and a light‑hearted finale — the improvised children’s story “Grumpy Josh and the Magical Gummies.” Tune in for an episode that blends policy debate, troubleshooting war stories, and a little comic relief.
Referenced Links:
https://marketbrief.edweek.org/regulation-policy/ohio-is-requiring-ai-policies-for-all-k-12-schools-will-other-states-follow/2025/08
https://www.govtech.com/education/k-12/sfusd-payroll-software-prompts-teachers-union-labor-complaint
Grumpy Josh Storybook: https://g.co/gemini/share/477028792b1c
00:00:00-Intro
00:12:44-AI Policies in Education
00:17:00-Summer Woes
00:42:55-Grumpy Josh
--------------------
NTP
Managed Methods
CTL
VIZOR
Fortinet
--------------------
Join the K12TechPro Community (exclusively for K12 Tech professionals)
Buy some swag (shirts, hoodies...)!!!
Email us at [email protected]
OR our "professional" email addy is [email protected]
Call us at 314-329-0363
X @k12techtalkpod
Facebook
Visit our LinkedIn
Music by Colt Ball
Disclaimer: The views and work done by Josh, Chris, and Mark are solely their own and do not reflect the opinions or positions of sponsors or any respective employers or organizations associated with the guys. K12 Tech Talk itself does not endorse or validate the ideas, views, or statements expressed by Josh, Chris, and Mark's individual views and opinions are not representative of K12 Tech Talk. Furthermore, any references or mention of products, services, organizations, or individuals on K12 Tech Talk should not be considered as endorsements related to any employer or organization associated with the guys.

In this episode, we talk about AI (and other things)! We discuss the growing concerns surrounding school surveillance tools, examining case studies where innocent student jokes have led to harsh outcomes due to automated threat detection. Shifting gears, we look at the availability of AI tools like Gemini Pro and ChatGPT for college students, including student discount programs. Also, we analyze a recent Common Sense Media report on AI teacher assistants, discussing their moderate risk rating, potential for invisible influence, concerns about novice teachers taking content as fact, and the risks associated with using AI for high-stakes circumstances like IEP creation or grading. 
 
Much of the episode is spent unpacking Jay's K12TechPro survey regarding Gemini and NotebookLM in classrooms, revealing current district policies on AI use for staff and students, and the presence (or absence) of board policies.
 
Referenced URLs:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/08/07/ai-school-surveillance-gaggle-goguardian-bark/473cb556-737e-11f0-84e0-485bb531abeb_story.html
https://apnews.com/article/ai-school-surveillance-gaggle-goguardian-bark-8c531cde8f9aee0b1ef06cfce109724a
https://gemini.google/students/
https://help.openai.com/en/articles/10986084-student-discounts-for-chatgpt-terms-of-service
https://www.commonsensemedia.org/sites/default/files/featured-content/files/csm-ai-risk-assessment-ai-teacher-assistants-final.pdf
00:00:00-Intro
00:14:21-Gemini & ChatGPT Student Promo
00:16:00-Surveilling Students
00:19:15-Common Sense Media - Bias in AI
00:25:43-Are you enabling AI for students?
--------------------
PowerGistics
Lightspeed (Check out Signal!)
Fortinet
--------------------
Join the K12TechPro Community (exclusively for K12 Tech professionals)
Buy some swag (shirts, hoodies...)!!!
Email us at [email protected]
OR our "professional" email addy is [email protected]
Call us at 314-329-0363
X @k12techtalkpod
Facebook
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Music by Colt Ball
Disclaimer: The views and work done by Josh, Chris, and Mark are solely their own and do not reflect the opinions or positions of sponsors or any respective employers or organizations associated with the guys. K12 Tech Talk itself does not endorse or validate the ideas, views, or statements expressed by Josh, Chris, and Mark's individual views and opinions are not representative of K12 Tech Talk. Furthermore, any references or mention of products, services, organizations, or individuals on K12 Tech Talk should not be considered as endorsements related to any employer or organization associated with the guys.

This week, we're covering some hot topics making headlines, including the recent unfreezing of billions in education funds, new disability policies being considered in Louisiana that involve cameras in classrooms, and the rise of AI-powered instruction in a Texas private school.
Beyond the news, our main topic is a deep dive into how states and schools are currently handling cell phone bans. We'll explore different approaches, from school-by-school discretion to bell-to-bell bans and even complete prohibitions on possession. We'll discuss the implications of these policies and what they mean for students and educators in the digital age.
 
News articles discussed:
https://www.chalkbeat.org/2025/07/25/trump-administration-unfreezes-billions-in-education-funds-for-schools/
https://www.nola.com/news/education/la-schools-must-update-disability-policies-under-new-law/article_2951749d-d2ce-47d1-ae45-81b8d48237f9.html
https://www.foxnews.com/us/ai-running-classroom-texas-school-students-say-its-awesome
https://malegislature.gov/PressRoom/Detail?pressReleaseId=231
 
00:00:00-Intro
00:11:23-Controversial LA Law
00:16:43-Texas AI School
00:18:30-State Cell Phone Bans
--------------------
PowerGistics
NTP
--------------------
Join the K12TechPro Community (exclusively for K12 Tech professionals)
Buy some swag (shirts, hoodies...)!!!
Email us at [email protected]
OR our "professional" email addy is [email protected]
Call us at 314-329-0363
X @k12techtalkpod
Facebook
Visit our LinkedIn
Music by Colt Ball
Disclaimer: The views and work done by Josh, Chris, and Mark are solely their own and do not reflect the opinions or positions of sponsors or any respective employers or organizations associated with the guys. K12 Tech Talk itself does not endorse or validate the ideas, views, or statements expressed by Josh, Chris, and Mark's individual views and opinions are not representative of K12 Tech Talk. Furthermore, any references or mention of products, services, organizations, or individuals on K12 Tech Talk should not be considered as endorsements related to any employer or organization associated with the guys.