DIY Web Apps & Automations
Work related to creating your own simple educational technology solutions. Often made more accessible with generative AI tools and platforms such as Google Apps Script. There is an underlying ethos of data ownership, breaking out of predatory pricing models, and customization to specific needs.
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Leaving the Back Open
Part 10 of an ongoing series on vibe coding in EdTech. When Spearfish School District started using the Danielson walkthrough tool I’d built, the first thing they did was ask for changes.…
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Simple Tools That Run Offline, and When to Build Them
Part 9 of an ongoing series on vibe coding in EdTech. A course module arrives as a Word document. A subject matter expert wrote it, and it’s good: objectives at the top,…
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Using Less AI in DIY EdTech
Part 8 of an ongoing series on vibe coding in EdTech. When I started building AI-powered tools for education, my instinct was the same one most people have: send the user’s question…
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An Ethos With a Changelog
Part 7 of an ongoing series on vibe coding in EdTech. Nobody asks a vendor what they believe about teaching. Procurement asks about seat cost, data handling, integration with the student information…
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Who Pays for the Free Tool?
Part 6 of an ongoing series on vibe coding in EdTech. In a recent article, I wrote about the ethics of building automation tools for educators, using Mary Doria Russell’s concept of…
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The Security Case Against Vibe-Coded EdTech
Part 5 of an ongoing series on vibe coding in EdTech. Over the past several months, I’ve been building an argument across multiple articles. I’ve made the case that educators can and…
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Designing for Human Judgement in AI-Powered EdTech
Part 4 of an ongoing series on vibe coding in EdTech. The first version of my course builder had a problem, and the problem was me. I’d been building a personal tool…
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What AI-Assisted Coding & GAS Can’t Do
Part 3 of an ongoing series on vibe coding in EdTech. I’ve spent the last year or so experimenting with, writing, and talking about why educators and districts should consider building their…
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Vultures, Vibe Coding, and Who Gets to Automate Whom
Part 1 of an ongoing series on vibe coding in EdTech. In Mary Doria Russell’s The Sparrow, published in 1996, one of the earliest plot points involves a professional role that Russell…
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DIY EdTech: The Basics of Building Custom Web Apps with AI
Part 2 of an ongoing series on vibe coding in EdTech. A few weeks ago, I wrote again about why teachers should learn to code, arguing that basic programming skills give educators…
