First Fish Chronicles
Emily Cherkin, Jeremy Caplan, Denise ChampneyFirst Fish Chronicles is about dismantling the EdTech industry to save children, education, and democracy.
| Platform |  | Pricing | Freemium | Publishes | Daily |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Issues | 132 | Founded | a year ago | Last Issue | 8 days ago |
| Active | |||||
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firstfish.substack.comLatest Issues
"Blame it on IXL": An Anthem for the Anti-EdTech Revolution
Note from Emily: This is so, so awesome. A third grade teacher in a 1:1 district with “mandatory screentime” (I can’t even believe that’s a sentence I am writing about children in schools) decided to use music to help his students write a s...
If EdTech Products are Expensive, Ineffective, and Extractive, Why Are We Still Using Them?
Photo by Enguerrand Photography on Unsplash
Note from Emily: Abigail Rubin is a school board director in the Lower Merion School District in Pennsylvania. She is also an Occupational Therapist and a mom of four children. She recently invit...
What We Need to Know About EdTech, Data, and Privacy
Note from Emily: This essay was originally posted on my website in April 2025. I have lightly edited it to reflect changes over the past year and to add new information. One important note on terminology: I do not call them EdTech “tools” b...
WEBINAR: Opting Out of EdTech
Note from Emily: This webinar aired on Tuesday, April 28, 2026. Almost 500 people registered, and nearly 200 attended live. The questions asked were fantastic— be sure to watch the Q/A at the end! Thank you for attending.
EdTech is...
Software Engineer: The Business Model of EdTech is to Collect Data for Profit
Note from Emily: EdTech is Big Tech in a sweater vest: just like the business model of Big Tech companies like Meta and Google rely on the collection and sale of user data for profit, so do EdTech companies. Even if we could find EdTech pro...
Key Facts
Audience Metrics
Subscribers, engagement, traffic and sponsorship for First Fish Chronicles.
| Subscribers | Engagement | 80 | Monthly Web Visits | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Accepts Sponsors | Estimated Cost per Ad | ||||
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Authors
The writers behind this newsletter.
My mission is to save children, education & democracy by dismantling the EdTech industry through grassroots change. I am The Screentime Consultant, an author, teacher, speaker, writer, activist, and parent.
I'm Director of Teaching and Learning at CUNY's Newmark Graduate School of Journalism. I write the Wonder Tools newsletter to help people discover the most valuable sites and resources for productivity and creativity. I enjoy collaborations; say hi\ud83d\udc4b
Denise Champney (MS CCC/SLP) is a school based speech-language pathologist, working to undue Big Tech's grip on education. All writing is done without the use of AI.
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