Tech-Neill-ogy #123 - 18 January 2026

Your Weekly Guide to Leveraging Technology in College Counseling

Author

Jeffrey Neill
January 19, 2026

Welcome to Tech-Neill-ogy #123!

I hope this finds you all doing well. This is the final few days before we return to school. PD on Wednesday, classes on Thursday. Always a tough few days to get back in the saddle. That said, I hope you all handle the transition back to work/school well!

In any case, enjoy the rest of the newsletter!

AI’s future for students is in our hands

Mary Burns and Rebecca Winthrop explore the role artificial intelligence will play in shaping the future of student learning and development.

www.brookings.edu/articles/ais-future-for-students-is-in-our-hands

The risks of AI in schools outweigh the benefits, report says

A new report warns that AI poses a serious threat to children's cognitive development and emotional well-being.

www.npr.org/2026/01/14/nx-s1-5674741/ai-schools-education

Make AI a force for good in schools 

A Q&A on how schools can adopt innovative, responsible, and effective AI tools.

www.fastcompany.com/91474255/make-ai-a-force-for-good-in-schools

More Teachers Are Using AI in Their Classrooms. Here's Why…

But there's still a big number of teachers who don't plan to use the technology.

www.edweek.org/technology/more-teachers-are-using-ai-in-their-classrooms-heres-why/2026/01

Navigating the AI revolution

The final months of 2025 brought an unprecedented opportunity to immerse myself in the evolving landscape of artificial intelligence (AI) in higher education.

www.ccdaily.com/2026/01/navigating-the-ai-revolution

AnyToURL

Turn Any File into a Shareable URL Instantly

anytourl.com

Boom for Mac: Present & Record Like a Pro

The video app for serious presenters. Present live, record your screen, and look incredible on camera. No editing required.

www.boomvideo.app

TurboScribe: Transcribe Audio and Video to Text

Start Transcribing for Free — Convert unlimited audio and video files to accurate text. Get accurate transcripts in seconds, not days. Lightning fast. Unmatched 99.8% accuracy. 24/7 transcription.

turboscribe.ai

Meco: The #1 newsletter reader | Declutter your inbox

Meco app is your space to read newsletters outside the inbox. Add your newsletters in seconds and liberate your inbox today.

meco.app

PDF.beauty - Professional PDF to PPTX Conversion

High-fidelity PDF to PowerPoint conversion powered by AI. Transform Banana Pro PDFs into fully editable PPTX files.

www.pdf.beauty

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

I find my own searching on the Internet to be replaced increasingly by this prompt, or something like it. Simple, but it is powerful… 

Explain these difficult concepts in the simplest way possible, like I’m 12 years old: [paste tricky topics]. Add analogies and real-life examples.

Here’s an example in which I asked it to explain “stock options”:

ChatGPT - Stock Options Explained Simply

Shared via ChatGPT

chatgpt.com/share/696d0375-ff98-8006-8445-7b08dbc221c4

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’s all for this week, but, first, here is this week’s non-tech article, on a topic that I’ve been wondering about for a long while:

Are Schools Underestimating How Badly the Pandemic Hurt Older K-12 Students? - EdSurge News

The pandemic disrupted learning for millions of American students. But are we over-focusing on younger students at the expense of those most hurt by ...

www.edsurge.com/news/2026-01-09-are-schools-underestimating-how-badly-the-pandemic-hurt-older-k-12-students

Happy counseling!

Jeff