In 2025, IT Services published dozens of technology- focused blog articles to support and inform students, faculty, and staff. These articles, found in the Latest News section of the ITS site, span topics such as teaching and learning, working and collaborating, and upcoming service changes and launches.
Artificial intelligence dominated the conversation this past year as Northeastern rolled out new AI tools and resources for students, faculty, and staff and adoption took off. Below, check out the five top-viewed ITS blog articles to see what community members have been reading and talking about across the global campus system this year.
5. Claude AI: Your personal assistant for the summer
Summer brings a unique challenge for students balancing condensed coursework with the desire for rest and relaxation. This article introduced Claude’s education-specific features, including Learning mode and project templates designed to support academic work. From creating custom practice questions to generating study materials tailored to course content, the article highlighted how Claude provides 24/7 support that adapts to busy schedules—helping students work efficiently while still enjoying summer fun.
4. Meet Claude 4: The latest next-gen AI assistant
Northeastern announced the availability of Claude 4, Anthropic’s latest advancement in AI technology at the time. Since then, Anthropic released multiple versions of Claude, most recently Claude Sonnet 4.5. This article introduced the two model variants—Claude Sonnet 4 for everyday tasks like writing assistance and coding help, and Claude Opus 4 for more demanding computational work and advanced reasoning. With improved reasoning abilities, better code generation, and enhanced understanding of academic contexts, Claude 4 serves as a reliable companion for literature reviews, technical documentation, and collaborative problem-solving.
3. Mental Health Awareness Month: Access to Headspace for Northeastern students
May marks Mental Health Awareness Month, and this timely article reminded students about a valuable resource available through their Northeastern accounts: Headspace. The leading meditation and mindfulness app offers guided meditations, sleep content, mindful workouts, and music designed to help manage stress, improve focus, and sleep better. Especially important during busy semesters, the article provided step-by-step instructions for accessing this evidence-based tool using Northeastern credentials.
2. Uncovering the hidden secrets of Microsoft Outlook with AI
From finding time for meetings to taming inbox chaos, this article revealed powerful Outlook features that many community members may not be using. The digital instructional technologists at ITS broke down practical ways to work smarter, including the scheduling poll tool, sweep function for managing messages, and tips for dragging emails to the calendar to create protected focus time. When paired with Copilot, the article demonstrated how Outlook transforms from a productivity tool into a personal assistant capable of drafting follow-ups and helping reschedule meetings with just a prompt.
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1. Introducing Claude: Northeastern’s new AI tool
The top viewed ITS blog article of 2025 announced the launch of Claude for the Northeastern community. The article introduced Claude as a powerful generative AI tool designed for creative engagement, advanced reasoning, visual analysis, multilingual translation, and code generation. What makes Claude especially unique is its ability to expound on its reasoning, allowing users to learn as they interact with it. The article explained how to access the university’s enterprise accounts and directed readers to the university’s AI policy for responsible use guidelines.