Head of Privacy & Security

Enabling more people to shape AI might transform its education system. When educators create with AI, they realize it isn't magic, it's a new, malleable design material. One that they can adapt to meet their needs and use to bring their visions of education to life. This week, Playlab Education, Inc. had the chance to demo Playlab at Google.org's AI for Learning Forum. This is what Playlab Education, Inc. shared during its demo. Playlab sits at the intersection of three insights: First, Playlab Education, Inc. know its education systems need to change. This was true before AI. AI makes this change more urgent. Second, AI makes it possible for more people to participate in changing its education systems. How? In the coming years, anyone will be able to create software. Playlab makes this easier to do in education. Third, Playlab Education, Inc. don't yet know how to harness AI in education within its current systems or how it might enable Playlab Education, Inc. to create better education models. Rapidly scaling solutions now feels unwise. Rather, it seems more apt to create room for divergent experimentation - to learn and discover the myriad ways in which Playlab Education, Inc. might use AI to improve and transform education. Just like the advent of video cameras required intrepid writers and filmmakers to invent cinema, Playlab Education, Inc. need forward-looking educators to help invent the myriad ways in which AI might enable improvements in teaching and learning. Today, its community creates chat-based apps grounded in their knowledge and values. In the near future, they'll build all kinds of educational software. Its aim is to create construction kits so anyone can build robust AI edtech. On a fully open stack - open applications, open software and open AI infrastructure. Because AI systems need to be transparent, legible and malleable. For example, Building 21 is a network of project-based schools. Students don't get traditional grades. Instead, they are evaluated on competencies that they develop over time through real world projects. The challenge? Designing authentic projects is hard. Coaching and supporting students on those projects is even harder. Especially with the constraints of public education, which means this work often varies in quality. Using Playlab, Building 21 has built a collection of AI apps for students and teachers. Let's jump into this example: It's called "Parker," and it's a competency-based feedback tool. A student drops in a piece of work, and based on what they're working on, gets specific, competency-aligned feedback. Through their use of AI, they were able to move from teacher-designed projects to student-designed ones, all while deepening rigor. So how did they do it? Let's peek inside. But let's look at it through the perspective of a district in North Dakota whose educators found this app on Playlab's community site and "remixed it" to suit their needs, their context. Playlab Education, Inc. can start with the system prompt. You can see which models they tried - some of their schools are powered by Gemini 2.5 flash. By adding "References," they can add their own knowledge to the app, which means they can swap out Building 21's competencies for their own and add any additional knowledge they'd like the AI to harness. They can also connect this app to a range of Model Context Protocol (MCP)-based tools that ground it in deterministic outputs, something especially helpful in areas like math. As they build, educators get a hands-on feel for why AI isn't magic. It's a new design material. One that they can tinker with and adapt to meet their needs. As they build, they inform the next set of building blocks Playlab Education, Inc. at Playlab create - based on their goals, asks and feedback. For now they're building chat-based apps. In the coming months, they'll create interactive voice-based experiences, writing feedback tools, and AI-assisted writing tools. And in the coming years, they'll be able to create all kinds of AI-native interfaces for teaching and learning. Their ideas also spread. Because many choose to openly share their AI projects, other school systems can borrow and "Remix" them. Islands of innovation turn into networks of educators and systems working together to bring more ambitious learning to life in more places. Building 21 is just one example. Organizations like Leading Educators and Bank Street Education Center work closely with schools across the US to help teachers more effectively teach with high quality instruction materials (HQIM). Their work involves intensive coaching. Cycles of data analysis, classroom observations and feedback. To aid in this work, Leading Educators and Bank Street have built collections of AI applications that support coaches, leaders and teachers. For example, Leading Educators is working closely with school systems like Boston Public Schools and KIPP North Carolina to help both systems implement Illustrative Mathematics (IM). Because real change requires working up and down a system, Leading Educators has created AI applications that support their work with teachers and leaders. This IM Lesson Coach helps teachers break down, understand and teach with IM. It's not meant to replace coaching, but is designed specifically as a supplement. The app is grounded in Learning Commons' KnowledgeGraph that includes IM, learning components from ANet, and standards. It's also grounded in Leading Educators' frameworks on coaching. As teachers use their IM Lesson Coach, Leading Educators can easily iterate on the app based on user feedback and real world use. Because Leading Educators is committed to open sharing, other nonprofits like Bank Street or districts like Boston can borrow, learn from, and adapt their work. Both examples offer two different ways in which teams with deep expertise - in competency based learning and in HQIM implementation - are using Playlab to create AI applications that reflect their specific needs, workflows, and knowledge. They built on open infrastructure instead of starting from scratch and can learn with and from a global community of educators creating with AI. The Playlab team comes from the world of end-user programming and creative computing. Playlab Education, Inc. is deeply committed to open technology because Playlab Education, Inc. think the systems Playlab Education, Inc. is building and using in education need to be technically transparent, legible and malleable so that people can make them their own. Its hope is to create a world where many more people can create software that helps them grow their capabilities. Along the way, they'll help Playlab Education, Inc. grow and evolve to more humane, empowering education systems that better serve all learners. Thanks to support from Google.org, Playlab Education, Inc.'ll be able to bring this work to more communities starting in Idaho, Indiana and Tennessee.

IEPA policy holds dialogue on AI integration into Ghana's education system. The Institute of Educational Planning and Administration (IEPA), UNESCO Category II Centre of the University of Cape Coast (UCC), has long recognised the potential of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to address Ghana's educational challenges and promote equitable learning. As a result, it has held a Policy Dialogue Series under the theme "From Chalkboards to Chatbots: How AI is Transforming Ghanaian Classrooms." The event formed part of a collaborative initiative between IEPA, the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NaCCA), and Transforming Teaching, Education and Learning (T-TEL), aimed at exploring the transformative role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in education. Opening the session, the Director-General of IEPA, Prof. Michael Boakye Yiadom, emphasised the importance of partnerships between research institutions and implementing agencies, He therefore called for collaboration between IEPA and NaCCA to document, evaluate, and refine Ghana's AI in Education Blueprint, which could potentially serve as a model for other nations. Further emphasising the inevitability of AI in education, the Director General said, "AI is now part of University of Cape Coast, and so University of Cape Coast cannot help but use it. There are ethical issues that need to be tackled, but it does not stop University of Cape Coast from using it." Director-General of IEPA, Prof. Boakye Yiadom Delivering the keynote address, the Executive Director of T-TEL, Mr. Robin Todd, described the development of PlayLab AI for SHS teachers as a significant step forward because it considered inputs from professors and SHS teachers in curriculum design. "For the first time, we had professors and SHS teachers coming together to write the curriculum; this is a big shift in approach," he noted. Mr. Todd further explained that NaCCA staff had received training on developing AI-driven applications to support curriculum development, assessment, and instructional materials. The process of developing the application, he said, followed four phases: 'technical accuracy review, educational quality review, user experience review, and regional testing." He noted that the app was designed specifically for SHS teachers in Ghana and added, "AI is more likely to be effective if integrated within existing professional learning structures and routines to encourage regular usage." In his remarks, Mr. Eric Amoah, Deputy Director of NaCCA, described the ongoing changes in education as a major step in Ghana's educational transformation. "Today, we stand at the threshold of another transformation. It is ethically grounded and culturally significant," he affirmed. Transforming Teaching, Education and Learning (T-TEL), the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NaCCA), and funding from the Mastercard Foundation, in partnership with PlayLab AI. The apps are intended to help teachers prepare lessons, design assessments, and share best practices, while maintaining consistency with national education standards. He emphasised that the introduction of AI in education would remain locally led, ethically grounded, and centred on empowering teachers. Deputy Director of NaCCA, Mr. Eric Amoah (M), in a handshake with the DG of IEPA, Prof. Boakye Yiadom. With them is a Deputy DG of IEPA, Prof. Alfred Ampah-Mensah

Playlab AI partners with Amazon to make its AI learning software affordable to schools and districts in selected US region.