Tech-Neill-ogy #111 - 28 September 2025

Your Weekly Guide to Leveraging Technology in College Counseling

Author

Jeffrey Neill
September 30, 2025

Welcome to Tech-Neill-ogy #111!

Another week down, and, again, a day late! Suck-tober seems to have begun a week earlier this year…

Anyay, a couple upcoming events that I wanted you all to be aware of. Cyndy McDonald is a friend and a fellow instructor in the UCLA Extension College Counseling certificate program. She offers a series of Friday Forums, welcoming guests from all over and all-comers. I’m working with her on a two-part series on AI Literacy. (And the wonderful Emily Pacheco will do a third one in November to follow-up on these first two sessions!) Click on the graphics below to register!

Anyway, enjoy the rest of the newsletter!

6 New Features Added To Google NotebookLM

Google has added six new features and upgrades to its NotebookLM platform that will be of interest to educators.

www.techlearning.com/news/6-new-features-added-to-google-notebooklm

What Should A Teacher Do When Faced with AI Reluctance?

Exploring reasons behind AI reluctance in students, from psychological and social influences to ethical concerns, and how educators can approach it.

www.gettingsmart.com/2025/09/25/what-should-a-teacher-do-when-faced-with-ai-reluctance

AI ‘companions’ pose risks to student mental health. What can schools do?

As experts warn about the prevalence of AI companions among children and teens, schools can help their students use AI tools in alternative, safer ways.

www.k12dive.com/news/ai-companions-student-mental-health-schools/761054

The difficult human work behind responsible AI use in college operations

Officials should carefully consider if an AI tool can actually address a problem — and then perform audits and error checks after it’s rolled out, experts said.

www.highereddive.com/news/human-work-responsible-ai-use-college-operations-nacac-2025/761062

The responsible AI playbook: A guide for academic leaders

In this playbook, learn how academic institutions can craft AI policies that ensure responsible use by students and faculty while upholding integrity.

highereddive.tradepub.com/free/w_defa9145/prgm.cgi

Esslo Explore

Choose college application essay topics by brainstorming with Esslo Explore. Swipe through questions, speak your thoughts, and get college essay ideas. [I’m leaving this here for another week, as I had a chance to play with it, and it is pretty great for the right students!]

www.esslo.org/explore

Nano Banana: AI Image Editor with Gemini 2.5 Flash Image

Ultra-fast AI editing with precise local control and multi-image fusion on Nano Banana, powered by Gemini 2.5 Flash Image. Start free.

nano-banana.io

Free Undetectable AI Academic Paper Writer | FlashPaper.ai

Write academic essays and research papers with AI that bypasses detection tools. FlashPaper.ai delivers best humanizer, citation rich content that reads naturally and scores high.

flashpaper.ai

PromptBuilder - AI Prompt Engineering Platform for ChatGPT, Claude & Gemini

Generate, optimize and organize professional AI prompts in seconds. 5000+ users trust our prompt engineering tools for consistent, high-quality results.

promptbuilder.cc

Agenda Hero | We make calendars magically simple

Agenda Hero turns text, images, and PDFs into calendar events you can instantly add to Google, Apple, and Outlook. Or create a shareable schedule so your team, family, or group can get events on their calendars too. Experience AI Magic.

agendahero.com

https://www.edficacy.co/ - Tell them Jeff sent you!

This is a prompt I stumbled upon (credit unavailable/forgotten) that we used to differentiate for our students what a Curriculum Vitae (CV) is versus a resume. Also, it is one that can be plenty helpful to adults, too! 

Step 1: Analyze the following job description and list the key skills, experiences, and qualifications required for the role in bullet points.

Job Description:[JOB_DESCRIPTION] //or upload

Step 2: Review the following resume and list the skills, experiences, and qualifications it currently highlights in bullet points.

Resume:[RESUME] //or upload

Step 3: Compare the lists from Step 1 and Step 2. Identify gaps where the resume does not address the job requirements. Suggest specific additions or modifications to better align the resume with the job description.

Step 4: Using the suggestions from Step 3, rewrite the resume to create an updated version tailored to the job description. Ensure the updated resume emphasizes the relevant skills, experiences, and qualifications required for the role.

Step 5: Review the updated resume for clarity, conciseness, and impact. Provide any final recommendations for improvement.

Please, if you have any great prompts or ideas, please share! Send me a note at [email protected].

Webinars & Live Events Page

Look here for upcoming webinars and other events (and recorded ones) by the College Essay Guy! New events are happening all the time…

www.collegeessayguy.com/webinars-live-events

That is all for this week’s newsletter, but, first, an interesting non-tech article:

How America’s elite colleges breed high-status careers—and misery

“They funneled the shit out of me.”

www.motherjones.com/politics/2025/09/elite-ivy-league-colleges-endowment-inequality-career-funnel-finance-management-consulting-tech-recruiting

Anyway, best wishes for a great week! Happy counseling!

Jeff