Tech-Neill-ogy #137 - 2 August 2026

Your Weekly Guide to Leveraging Technology in College Counseling

Author

Jeffrey Neill
August 03, 2026

In partnership with

Welcome to Tech-Neill-ogy #137!

We are headed into week 3 of the school year with students returning to class on Thursday! Seemed like a short break, but here we are nevertheless. Lots to look forward to this year. I hope all of your school years are off to a good start. Lots of interesting pieces in this week’s newsletter. I spent a lot of time pondering the Course Catalog articles. Let me know your thoughts! Enjoy!

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AI skills gap persists despite widening personal use

Companies assuming employees will bring AI skills into their jobs will set themselves up to fail, according to CompTIA VP of Research Seth Robinson. 

CIO Dive

Some Kids Will Never Think AI Is Cool

“I think it should stand for ‘artificial idiot,’” one 9-year-old says. Here’s why kids of all ages are calling AI “disgusting” and “creepy.”

WIRED • Elana Klein

Would You Go Back to a Time Before Smartphones If You Could?

Turns out, looking back is also about looking forward.

The Atlantic • Julie Beck, Natalie Brennan

Schools across America are quietly admitting that screens in classrooms made students worse off and are reversing years of tech-first policies | Fortune

Millions were spent putting laptops in every student’s hands. Now schools want them back as tech falls short of the miracle solution it was sold as.

Fortune • Marco Quiroz-Gutierrez

The Great Screen Debate Is Really a Choice Debate

Students are taking a much-needed summer break, but the screen time debate is still intensifying. Some parents are demanding opt-outs, and educators are divided. Over the course of the last school yea

RealClearEducation • JoAnn Kilpatrick, Ed.D.

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

I fell down a rabbit hole the other day while waiting in a doctor’s office with this one… 

Act as a panel of history’s greatest minds — including Leonardo da Vinci, Marie Curie, Socrates, Einstein, Sun Tzu, and Maya Angelou. I’ll share a modern-day idea, challenge, or decision. For each thinker, give unique feedback based on their worldview and expertise — for example, Einstein might focus on systems and imagination, while Sun Tzu would assess the strategic angle. Let them offer contrasting opinions if it deepens the insight. Then, summarize the most valuable takeaways and end with one thought-provoking question I should reflect on. Here’s my challenge: [Insert your idea, goal, or dilemma]

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

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

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That’s it for this week, but here’s this week’s non-tech (ish) article:

The End of Reading Is Here

Optimists once believed that universal literacy was inevitable. Now it seems that the age of reading might be a short anomaly in human history.

The Atlantic • Rose Horowitch

We are not becoming illiterate so much as “postliterate,” increasingly able to process fragments and summaries while losing the stamina and capacity to engage deeply with complex ideas. In an age of AI-generated information, sustained reading is more essential than ever because it develops the independent judgment students need to question, synthesize, and think for themselves. Lots to think about…

“What’s at risk is nothing less than the ability to think for oneself.”

—Rose Horowitch, “The End of Reading Is Here,” The Atlantic, July 8, 2026.

Happy counseling!

Jeff