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Leon Furze

Everything educators need to know about GenAI in 2026

Published 26 days ago • 2 min read

leonfurze.com

GenAI in Education

This week on the blog... kicking off 2026 with a guide for educators

Hi everyone,

Welcome back for the first newsletter of 2026. If you've been here for a while you might notice a few (small) differences. I've moved from Mailchimp to Kit and am testing out the new platform - let me know if anything doesn't work!

Part of the reason I've shifted is that the mailing list grew a lot in 2025, and I want to really make the most of this community in 2026 as I continue to shift away from social media. Please consider forwarding this email to colleagues and helping the list to grow!

Everything Educators Need to Know About GenAI in 2026

The first blog post for 2026 makes the fairly bold claim that it contains everything you need to know... To back that claim up, I've kicked off with a longer piece than usual: one to bookmark and come back to. It covers a lot of ground, including:

  • What is Generative Artificial Intelligence?
  • Text, image, audio, video: What’s out there?
  • Which GenAI products are educators and students actually using?
  • What are educators worried about?
  • What are students worried about?
  • How are schools responding to GenAI in policy and in practice?
  • “Cheating”, assessment, and talking to students about GenAI

I've also collated posts from across the blog into a reading list of 60+ articles covering everything from practical use to policy, and the bigger picture ethical, social, and political concerns of the tech.

Hope you find the first post of the year useful!

Podcasts, blog posts, and videos, oh my...

When people ask what I do for a day job, I usually say "consultant". And while I spend a lot of my time consulting and advising, I think it would be more accurate to say that I'm a writer first and foremost.

I spend hours a day hammering away at the keyboard or speaking into voice memos to later turn into articles. In 2026, I'll be leaning much more into that side of my "job", and publishing more content and resources than before. It also helps that I submitted my PhD thesis at the end of last year, so I don't have a whopping great big deadline looming over me and squashing all my other writing...

With that in mind, here are a few things you can expect this year, and where you can find them:

I'm looking forward to another big year! Thanks to everyone who has supported the blog and the newsletter since day one. In December, I hit 1,000,000 readers: let's keep it up in 2026!

Cheers,

Leon

PS: The Summer Sale for online courses ends soon: 20% off everything at Practical AI Strategies. Head to https://practicalaistrategies.com and use the code SUMMER-2025 to apply the discount to courses and digital downloads.

Stay informed.​
The AI Reads page curates fresh, practical articles on AI and education—updated every week, free to browse.
Check it out → https://leonfurze.com/ai-reads/​

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Leon Furze

I'm a educator, writer, and podcaster who loves to talk about artificial intelligence, education, and writing & storytelling. Subscribe and join over 9,000+ educators every week!

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