Tech-Neill-ogy #117 - 16 November 2025

Your Weekly Guide to Leveraging Technology in College Counseling

Author

Jeffrey Neill
November 17, 2025

Welcome to Tech-Neill-ogy #117!

Well, my travel season is now over, with part of each of the past three weeks on the road — in Mumbai, India for the College Board India Forum, in New York City for the College Board Forum, and most recently in Seville, Spain for the CIS Forum on International Admission and Guidance. Phew. I’m beat!

In any case, this week’s newsletter features a handful of great resources. Be sure to check out the College Trio video shared below!

In any case, enjoy the rest of the newsletter!

What is Pangram and How Can Teachers Use The AI Detection Tool?

Pangram bills itself as “AI detection that actually works.” We took a closer look

www.techlearning.com/technology/ai/what-is-pangram-and-how-can-teachers-use-the-ai-detection-tool

Why I’m Optimistic About AI: It’s Helping Us Teach the Way We Always Meant To

Friends, I sense that many of us are feeling similar tension around AI right now. We’ve all seen how AI promises speed and efficiency, but what we truly need in our schools is depth.

www.linkedin.com/pulse/why-im-optimistic-ai-its-helping-us-teach-way-we-always-sheridan-eee4c

Universities are embracing AI: will students get smarter or stop thinking?

Millions of students arriving at campuses are now using artificial intelligence. Worries abound.

www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-03340-w

The New York college trying to ‘AI-proof’ its students

Paul Smith's College's focus on fitting its students with "AI resilience" has led to a rapid rise in enrolment this fall.

www.newsweek.com/new-york-college-trying-ai-proof-students-10968117

How to measure AI adoption: 4 key metrics to track | Zapier

If you don't track AI adoption, you risk falling into the trap of mistaking hype for impact. Here are four ways to measure AI adoption across your organization.

zapier.com/blog/ai-adoption-metrics

Introducing College Trio 🎓

In this video, I’m excited to share that College Trio for parents is still under development and will be a fantastic way for them to engage in their child’s educational journey. With College Trio, parents will have the ability to track their student's progress, provided the student is comfortable with that. Additionally, it will serve as a resource for parents to receive training and support. I encourage everyone to stay tuned for more updates and to think about how we can best integrate parents into this process. Your feedback will be invaluable as we move forward!

www.loom.com/share/fd0f0d772a2f4721a15fd7ba533f9ff9

CollegeTrio - College Admissions Management

Platform for high school students and counselors to manage the college admissions process

www.collegetrio.com

Pathra - AI College Applications Workspace

Pathra is an AI college application platform.

www.pathra.ai

Free AI Tools for Teachers and Educators – Brisk Teaching

Brisk is the best AI for teachers and schools, offering free AI tools for education that fit seamlessly into your routine. With an AI lesson plan generator and tools for instruction, feedback, and differentiation, Brisk helps lighten your workload. Grade essays before the bell or create lesson plans in seconds. Install now and thank yourself all year!

www.briskteaching.com

myNeutron AI Chrome Extension: One Memory for Everything

Tired of repeating to your AI? myNeutron's AI Memory remembers context across Chrome and all your AI platforms, so you never re-explain. Join, capture, recall, and save time.

myneutron.ai

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

Here is a great prompt I’ve used periodically to check the credibility of online sources, credit to Zain Kahn and his Superhuman newsletter: 

Evaluate the credibility of this article: [insert link or paste text].

Bias (1–10): Does the article use loaded language, omit counterpoints, or show political/financial/ideological leanings? Explain briefly.

Evidence Quality (1–10): Are claims backed by verifiable data, peer-reviewed studies, or credible experts? Identify any weak or unsupported claims.

Relevance (1–10): How relevant is this source to the topic at hand compared to alternatives (e.g., primary research, domain experts, institutional reports)?

Authority Check: Who is the author/publisher? What is their track record, expertise, or potential conflict of interest?

Cross-Verification: Point out at least 2–3 better or more authoritative sources (e.g., peer-reviewed journals, government/academic reports, or established outlets).

Final Verdict: Summarize whether this article is reliable enough to cite directly, or whether it should be treated cautiously/secondary.

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

I wanted to close this week by sharing Edvisorly, an AI-infused platform to assist with transfer applicants. I had the good fortune of spending some time with Manny Smith, Founder and CEO, last week in New York at the College Board Forum. Definitely worth adding to your bookmarks!

EdVisorly | Empowering Students & Universities for Transfer Success

EdVisorly is revolutionizing transfer success! Our all-in-one mobile platform empowers community college students to explore, connect, and apply to public & private universities—making the transfer process simple, transparent, and stress-free.

www.edvisorly.com

And now, for this week’s non-tech article, enjoy:

When Helicopter Parents Touch Down—At College

Hovering moms and dads are following their kids all the way to campus.

www.theatlantic.com/family/2025/11/trailing-helicopter-parent-kids-college/684768

Happy counseling!

Jeff