kamalini ramdas

The OECD just published an important report on the impact of AI on education. This should be mandatory reading for anyone interested in the topic. According to this report, Gen AI has huge potential to help both teachers and students, improving their creativity, productivity and performance. Gen AI has also the potential to enhance tutoring and teaching quality, support collaborative learning, as well as improve student pass rates. Thus, AI has truly the potential to dramatically change education and our education systems. However, there are also several risks that we should be aware. For instance, in one randomized experience mentioned by the report, access to Gen AI tools improved performance in maths by about 48%, but students performed 17% worse once access was removed (graph below). In other words, while Gen AI can be a great education tool, it is essential that we develop purpose-built tools for education that make students and teachers active participants and not passive consumers. As the OECD, rightly emphasizes, “the challenge for policymakers is to ensure that GenAI is a learning partner and not a learning shortcut.” A must read. oecd.org/en/publication… @OECDEduSkills @oecd @SchleicherOECD

The November 2025 issue of the #QJE is now online here: academic.oup.com/qje/issue/140/4

Check out this @TheEconomist article featuring our recent study on phone-free classrooms. w/ @andbjn @pradeepkuc Amidst the global rush toward school phone bans, our research shows that such bans create ‘healthier classrooms’ and foster learning. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cf…

Did you know the world’s most common lender isn’t banks? It’s the corner shops! Billions unbanked; live on a grocery tab. But little is known. So we study how poverty, culture, and finance create a unique market, and why we need a trust-building policy🧵papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cf…

📲✖️Should phones be banned in classrooms? Our study with 17,000 students finds: Removing phones improves grades, especially for struggling students! 🧵 papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cf… (with @andbjn and P. Choudhury) Half of global education systems have phone bans in classrooms, particularly in K-12 settings, BUT these policies are exercised with an absence of a large-scale controlled study. Little is known about whether or how they work (nytimes.com/2024/09/09/lea…). This is where our research comes into play. We partnered with 10 higher education institutions. Half of the students had to put their phones in a box during lectures throughout a semester. 💡Findings: 1. Better grades: Mandatory phone deposition boosted grades by 0.078 standard deviations, about the same effect as the gap between having a very good or a mediocre teacher for a year. First-year, lower-performing, and non-STEM students benefited the most. 2. Students liked it: Students experiencing the ban became significantly more supportive of phone ban policies. Many policymakers worry as ban policies appear restrictive. Increased support after first-hand experience is an important indicator for phone bans being a realistic, non-invasive policy. 3. No major side effects: there was a mild uptick in FOMO, but no adverse effects on student distraction, well-being, academic motivation, digital use, or online harassment. 🎯 We also did spot checks! 4. A healthier classroom environment: study coordinators randomly visited thousands of lectures to take a peek into the classroom dynamics. Students were observed as less chit-chatting and disrupting the lecture, along with reduced phone usage(!) and increased engagement by teachers.

Longer thread incoming, but @R_Thaler and I have a new book coming out “Winner’s Curse: Behavioral Economics Anomalies—Then and Now”, out on October 21. And our UK publisher is running a promo!

What if farming could heal the Earth instead of harming it? In the breathtaking Ziro Valley of Arunachal Pradesh, the Apatani tribe has quietly perfected a symphony of sustainability. Growing rice and rearing fish in the same field for over 60 years! In a world rushing toward industrial farming, the Apatanis remind us: Tradition can be the future. This Nature Conservation Day, swipe to see how their method could inspire the future of food.>> #SustainableFarming #ZiroValley #ApataniTribe #EcoFriendlyFarming #RiceFishFarming

Dry fish is a great source of protein. Can be a good supplement for Anganwadi and mid day meals especially in coastal fish eating communities bbc.com/tamil/articles…