Tech-Neill-ogy #85 - 9 March 2025

Your Weekly Guide to Leveraging Technology in College Counseling

Author

Jeffrey Neill
March 10, 2025

Welcome to Tech-Neill-ogy #85!

This week’s newsletter features a handful of interesting articles and relevant tools for college counseling, not the least of which is the super-impressive ParentGPS, put out by CGN to provide college and career guidance for parents of high school students. I’ve played around with it quite a bit, and it is pretty great!

After its release last week, I received a number of alarmist messages from folx around the globe, worrying that this is the death knell for college counselors. As I have said repeatedly, I do not know what this job will look like in 10 years, but I’m confident it will be different than what it is now, and AI is a part of this. For those of us who have been doing this for a while, think back to how the job has changed over the past 10 years. Or 20! Or more! In light of that, it is important to remember that, at our heart, we focus on relationships and supporting people, and no technology can replace that. For those interested, with some colleagues, I’ve submitted a proposal for this summer’s International ACAC Conference at Northeastern on “future-proofing” our roles, very much in line with this thinking…

Anyway, enjoy this week’s newsletter!

AI Chatbots Can Cushion the High School Counselor Shortage — But Are They Bad for Students?

The more students turn to chatbots, the fewer chances they have to develop real-life relationships that can lead to jobs and later success.

www.the74million.org/article/ai-chatbots-can-cushion-the-high-school-counselor-shortage-but-are-they-bad-for-students

Why We Need Media Literacy Now

Erin McNeill emphasizes the urgent need for media literacy in education to help students navigate the digital landscape effectively.

www.gettingsmart.com/2025/02/25/erin-mcneill-on-why-we-need-media-literacy-now

4 Brand New AI Tools For 2025 With The Potential to Change Teaching

2025 has already been a wild year for AI models and teaching.

www.techlearning.com/news/4-brand-new-ai-tools-for-2025-with-the-potential-to-change-teaching

8 Essential Reads on Artificial Intelligence

Keep up with the rapid pace of innovation by checking out these eight books about where AI came from, what it can do for you now, and where its future will take us.

nextbigideaclub.com/magazine/8-essential-reads-artificial-intelligence/54447

The 15 Best GPTs to Use with ChatGPT | DigitalOcean

Explore 15 powerful GPTs from OpenAI's GPT Store for learning, research, productivity, and creativity.

www.digitalocean.com/resources/articles/gpts

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

‎ParentGPS: AI College Guidance

The journey to college and beyond is one of the most significant milestones for families, but it can also be one of the most overwhelming. From navigating complex financial aid forms to helping your child craft the perfect…

apps.apple.com/us/app/parentgps-ai-college-guidance/id6739634977

Lindy — Meet Your AI Assistant

Get things done 10x cheaper, 10x faster with your custom AI — no coding required.

www.lindy.ai

Akiflow | Time-Blocking Digital Planner & Calendar

The Productivity game-changer for founders and managers.
Tasks and Meetings in a single place, automatically.

akiflow.com

Forage Mail

Forage is an AI assistant that summarizes your newsletters and keeps your inbox under control. No new app to learn—keep using your favorite mail app while it works invisibly in the background.

foragemail.com

Attention

With Attention's AI, your calls turn into valuable insights and actions. Generate follow-up emails, update Salesforce, alert stakeholders of churn risk, create coaching scorecards and more.

www.attention.com/product/book-a-demo

Stuck on a topic? Looking to learn more on an area of interest? Or just checking to make sure you have a sound understanding of a topic? Here’s an excellent prompt for that: 

Let's discuss [insert topic here], and you will ask me questions to help me explore it further. We will work together to build a deep understanding of the topic, and you will provide feedback to help me identify any misconceptions or gaps in my understanding, using an approach like the Feynman technique. Let's begin.

I particularly like how there is part “lecture” and parts seeking for understanding. It was pretty easy for me to fall down the rabbit hole with this one. Test your understanding of basic concepts around college counseling! It’s pretty great!

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

iVisa

Say goodbye to your visa processing worries and say hello to effortless travel! With iVisa, you can be sure of a smooth journey. Give iVisa a go. You’ll only regret not using it before.

HTTP://share.ivisa.com/6G3rVP

FREE PD Micro-credentials

Rapid AI for Learning courses have a Human Centred AI approach and a unique framework we call REARI.  We encourage our learners to implement AI Tools into their practice using the methodology RESEARCH, EVALUATE. APPLY, REVIEW, IMPROVE

ai4l.com.au/collections/free-pd-micro-credentials

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

Navigating College Applications with AI: Insights from the Latest Research — AI in College Admissions

Join us for an engaging webinar that explores groundbreaking findings from the latest research report, Navigating College Applications with AI.

www.edhub.ai/events/20250318-navigating-college-applications-with-ai-research-insights

We are back to the grind here after a restful week off for Carnaval. I hope you all are able to find some downtime during your spring break. To end this week’s newsletter, here’s an interesting non-tech article that stuck with me:

Why You Should Build a “Career Portfolio” (Not a “Career Path”)

Whereas a career path tends to be a singular pursuit (climb the ladder in one direction and focus on what is straight ahead), a career portfolio is a never-ending source of discovery and fulfillment.

hbr.org/2021/10/why-you-should-build-a-career-portfolio-not-a-career-path

It hits on an approach to working with students for those of us who do careers counseling. Lots to digest.

Enjoy your week! Happy counseling!

Jeff