Cheap, simple technologies long ago transformed education. They weren't flashy but they aligned to how kids learn. Maybe that's as good as it’s gonna get.
Firmly agree. As a courseware writer I have a vested interest in ed tech, but I"ve NEVER believed it was better than hands-on lab and work experience. Courseware might be better than lectures in some cases. This year I'm adapting the courseware for blind students. The ADA mandate was imposed suddenly and arbitrarily, and the criterion is both subjective and arbitrary. Kafka all the way. Still, this does open a partial door to material that was previously unusable.
Agreed! A great teacher is still the most useful teaching tool there is. I have been disappointed over time in my kids' classrooms to see educators being pushed to use learning apps more and meet time and testing requirements, rather than as a tool to differentiate individual practice time so the teacher can meet directly with more students in small groups/individually. I want to encourage the piece on Rosenwald Schools--a historic, multi-decade educational collaboration between a Jewish businessman/philanthropist and Booker T Washington to expand public education for black students across the South. Many of my elder neighbors in DC attended these schools; this spring there was a neighborhood learning session to hear about their experiences and it was fantastic. Happy to connect you if helpful! Recommend two books: Freedom Lost, Freedom Won by Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Eugene Robinson, who attended a Rosenwald school in SC; and You Need a Schoolhouse by Stephanie Deutsch, great-granddaughter-in-law of J. Rosenwald.
Great blog Tim. Question: what if your proposed truce was slightly edited. Allowing tech to do its job....allowing kids who feel motivated to learn something to move ahead and do so? Would you co-sign on that?
I.e., Khan Academy, per the data, seems helpful there. AI for sure.
It's a version of "stop expecting technology to make learning effortless." It just bluntly acknowledges that tech does not solve our bigger issue (typical kid, struggling kid).
At least in the reading space, I would posit that ed tech does not offer the opportunity for motivated kids to move ahead more effectively than Tim’s 200-year-old technologies. That’s an instructional design problem that I don’t think ed tech is uniquely poised to solve
Firmly agree. As a courseware writer I have a vested interest in ed tech, but I"ve NEVER believed it was better than hands-on lab and work experience. Courseware might be better than lectures in some cases. This year I'm adapting the courseware for blind students. The ADA mandate was imposed suddenly and arbitrarily, and the criterion is both subjective and arbitrary. Kafka all the way. Still, this does open a partial door to material that was previously unusable.
Agreed! A great teacher is still the most useful teaching tool there is. I have been disappointed over time in my kids' classrooms to see educators being pushed to use learning apps more and meet time and testing requirements, rather than as a tool to differentiate individual practice time so the teacher can meet directly with more students in small groups/individually. I want to encourage the piece on Rosenwald Schools--a historic, multi-decade educational collaboration between a Jewish businessman/philanthropist and Booker T Washington to expand public education for black students across the South. Many of my elder neighbors in DC attended these schools; this spring there was a neighborhood learning session to hear about their experiences and it was fantastic. Happy to connect you if helpful! Recommend two books: Freedom Lost, Freedom Won by Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Eugene Robinson, who attended a Rosenwald school in SC; and You Need a Schoolhouse by Stephanie Deutsch, great-granddaughter-in-law of J. Rosenwald.
Great blog Tim. Question: what if your proposed truce was slightly edited. Allowing tech to do its job....allowing kids who feel motivated to learn something to move ahead and do so? Would you co-sign on that?
I.e., Khan Academy, per the data, seems helpful there. AI for sure.
It's a version of "stop expecting technology to make learning effortless." It just bluntly acknowledges that tech does not solve our bigger issue (typical kid, struggling kid).
At least in the reading space, I would posit that ed tech does not offer the opportunity for motivated kids to move ahead more effectively than Tim’s 200-year-old technologies. That’s an instructional design problem that I don’t think ed tech is uniquely poised to solve