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Tomorrow’s Headlines Today provides insight into the evolving world of education and how we prepare students to work together and shape a better future.

This comes from me, John Whalen, co-founder of Edtomorrow, author of Classroom Circles, and someone with a deep passion for K-12 education and the evolution of learning. I am a constant student of the field, reading widely to understand how proven wisdom about teaching connects with the shifts happening in our world. I want to help educators look ahead with imagination and purpose as we prepare our schools and the world of education for tomorrow.

I invite you to explore the three pieces we are sharing this week, which offer insights into students' increasing use of AI, the intersection of AI and CTE, and the case for media literacy instruction.

About a quarter of U.S. teens have used ChatGPT for schoolwork – double the share in 2023 

By Olivia Sidoti, Eugenie Park, and Jeffrey Gottfried (Pew Research Center, 1/15/2025)

This Pew Research Center brief shares the initial growth of most likely the most disruptive force in education we’ll see in our lifetimes. The study examines teen use of AI for schoolwork and finds that about a quarter of U.S. teens reported using ChatGPT for academic tasks, roughly doubling from 13 percent in 2023 to 26 percent in 2024. OpenAI’s ChatGPT dominates usage among teens, reflecting its much larger footprint in the United States compared with other AI tools (estimates in August 2025 range from 60-80% in this report). Given how quickly AI adoption is accelerating, a part of me wonders if this data already understates what is actually happening in classrooms and at kitchen tables. Research tends to move more slowly than technology, and AI use is moving fast!

What really caught my attention is the pace of change. As a forever 6th-grade math teacher who is admittedly guilty of spotting trends and projecting them forward, I cannot help but notice that this percentage doubled in just one year. If that pattern holds, it seems reasonable to expect that teen AI use could exceed 50 percent by the time 2025 data is collected and analyzed. Pew also explores when teens think it is acceptable to use ChatGPT for schoolwork, a section that will be fascinating to revisit as AI becomes more embedded in learning and work. It feels hard to draw firm lines around what is acceptable for students, given that Gallup reports that adults are increasingly using AI in their own jobs. In fact, recent Gallup research shows that the share of U.S. workers using AI at work doubled between 2023 and 2024. I look forward to revisiting Pew’s findings next year, as they consistently update their research and help us better understand how quickly this landscape is shifting.

FETC 2026: How CTE and AI Are Defining the Future of Learning

By: Amy McIntosh (EdTech: Focus on K–12, 1/14/26)

As I read through the Classroom section of EdTech Magazine, I kept noticing how often the conversation shifted away from devices toward experience. The stories focus on how classrooms are becoming more flexible, more collaborative, and more responsive to how students actually learn. I found myself less interested in the specific tools being mentioned and more drawn to the bigger questions educators are asking. How do we create spaces where students can work together, solve real problems, and stay engaged?

What stood out to me is how closely this work aligns with a growing emphasis on career and technical education and experiential learning. It feels increasingly clear that preparing high school students for the future world of work will require more hands-on, applied experiences that connect learning to real skills and real pathways. Across districts, there is a sense that classrooms are becoming launch points for exploration rather than endpoints for content. Teachers are experimenting, leaders are rethinking space and structure, and technology is being used to support learning that feels purposeful and connected to life beyond graduation.

More States Are Pairing Cellphone Bans With Media Literacy Instruction

By: Alyson Klein (EdWeek, 1/21/26)

I am still intrigued by the growing movement to ban cellphones in schools and by the hopes behind it, not only to improve focus in class but also to help students better understand the remarkable power these devices have over our attention and our brains. This article looks at how several states are beginning to pair cellphone restrictions with required media literacy instruction, signaling a shift from simply limiting access to also building understanding. States such as Alabama, Florida, North Carolina, and Tennessee are recognizing that, if phones are part of students’ lives outside of school, schools have a role in helping students make sense of how digital media shapes thinking, emotions, and behavior.

I agree with this approach. We cannot just punitively ban devices, even if only during the school day, and hope that alone solves the challenges we are uncovering. We need to work alongside students, while also educating ourselves, to understand why unregulated digital can be so damaging and what strategies help curb overuse. This is something I struggle with as a 48-year-old adult, and I can only imagine how much more difficult it is for students who are still developing their sense of self, identity, and self-regulation, all while their brains are maturing. 

-John Whalen

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