Get Me Coding

08/14/2026

Your kid IS the rocket! Check out Mr. Fred's Tech Talks podcast and learn how.

08/11/2026

The technology students
carry has changed.
The need to understand what that technology is doing
has not.

08/07/2026

I’m a technology professor, and today I’m suggesting something that sounds completely backwards: Use AI to get kids away from technology.

Hear me out.

What if AI created the song... but your child performed it?

What if AI drew the creature or spacecraft... but your child built it out of cardboard? What if AI suggested the backyard adventure... and then the screen got closed?

I think we may be asking the wrong question when kids use AI.

Instead of only asking: “Did they use AI?”

I’m starting to ask: “What happened next?”

Did they build? Move? Draw? Explain? Change the idea? Work with someone else?

That question prompted some ideas I shared in this week's podcast to help parents: S2 E24: AI Is the Launchpad. Your Kid Is the Rocket.

I’d love to know what you think.

What would you want a child to DO after using AI?

Full episode is available through the GetMeCoding website podcast section and wherever you listen to podcasts. Search "Mr. Fred's Tech Talks".

08/05/2026

Behold, artificial intelligence from my high school and college years. Yes, that is a 3×5 card. Apparently, cloud storage was sold in packs of 100.

08/05/2026

Fellow parents, a moment of honesty.

When I was a kid in the 80s, my mom didn't need an app to keep me busy on Saturday. She had one command. "Get outside." That was it. Somehow it worked every single time.

Cut to today. Same house energy, different generation. My own kids? Same "I'm bored" chorus every Saturday morning. Except now they have tablets, streaming, and endless YouTube feeds all whispering "we can fix that boredom for you."

Here is what I have been trying that actually works, and it is completely backwards from what you might expect.

I have been using AI to get my kids off the couch. Not more screen time. Less.

Here is one prompt to try this weekend. Sit next to your kid, open ChatGPT or Claude or whatever you use, and type:

"Give me 10 backyard adventures for a Saturday for a [age] year old. Make them creative, low-cost, and doable with stuff we probably have at home."

Then read the list together. Let your kid pick one. And this is the important part. Actually go do it. Shoes on. Out the door. Muddy return required.

Try it. Then come back and tell me what your kid picked. I want to hear the wildest one.

08/02/2026

What if you could use AI to get your kids off the couch?
See the comments.

07/31/2026

"There is nothing better than being tired from play."

07/29/2026

It’s 11:47 PM. The assignment is due at midnight, the document is blank, and AI can finish the entire essay in minutes.

Disaster avoided…or learning avoided?

How would you handle this scenario as a parent?

In this week’s episode of Mr. Fred’s Tech Talks, I share three practical ideas for helping students use AI in ways that support learning without quietly replacing it.

🎧 Listen to The AI School Supply List:

https://www.getmecoding.com/ai-school-supply-list/

07/25/2026

Every fall, parents head out looking for notebooks, folders, and whatever four black pens the teacher specifically requested. But this year, there's a different list worth thinking about.

On Mr. Fred's Tech Talks, I'm talking about what it really means to be prepared for school when AI can explain the whole lesson and maybe finish the assignment before bedtime. Three skills that won't be on the Target list, but probably should be: digital confidence, healthy skepticism, and the judgment to know when AI is helping you learn versus quietly doing the learning for you.

If we have not met, I am a college professor, longtime technology educator, and dad who's been watching this play out in real classrooms for 28 years. This one is worth a listen whether you have a student heading into middle school or college.

Read the full episode and listen here: https://www.getmecoding.com/ai-school-supply-list/

What's one thing you wish your student knew about using technology before this school year starts?

Drop it in the comments I would love to hear from you.

Students need more than pencils and notebooks in the age of AI. Discover three essential skills for using AI without letting it replace learning.