We don’t need more technology in schools. We need more time and to pay teachers more so we can attract the best people to the field. Technology can’t solve everything and our educational system has been under attack for at least 30 years. You wanna fix education? Fund it like the military.
You wanna fix education? Fund it like the military.
My mom had a tote bag that said “I want to live in a world where schools have all the money they need and the air force needs to hold a bake sale to buy a bomber.”
But resources like Coursera and EdX are incredible - why not let the best educators make courses like that and then teach millions of students?
It also allows them to have a freer syllabus.
Because you can’t trust kids and teenagers. Most people will lack motivation to actually study and finish the courses, people need tutors and exams to get things done or provide more explanation to people that don’t understand things.
Some people are guessing chatbots could pose as a tutor but I still don’t think that’s a solution.
There is roughly zero percent chance I would have paid any attention to online lectures/classes when I was in grade school or high school. I couldn’t even pay attention to online classes during grad school trying to get my Masters. I already didn’t do my homework or study for tests in school, so the only way I learned was from being in person and listening to the teacher. If I would have been expected to get most of my learning from online courses, I would be in a very different place in life right now.
Not to mention that people forget School is a social playground too. Education is only one part of it, making friends and dealing with the many situations that come your way is what makes people grow up. It’s scary that some kids would learn in front of a computer rather than in a class.
I’m not saying tech doesn’t have a place. Obviously we shouldn’t go back to drawing things in dirt with a stick. But we’ve tried EVERYTHING except for what would make a significant improvement: the best teachers and more time in the classroom.
Yeah, it’s just not clear how scalable that is.
Indeed, no point in throwing technology at something that has some basic flaws to be fixed first (I expressed something similar here).
Ok. I guess we should keep throwing tech at the problem. It’s worked so well so far as we can see by our students just crushing the rest of the world academically. /s
Also, did you just post an opinion piece written by yourself as a source to back yourself up?
Sorry for my miswriting of my reply; what I meant is that I agree and had expressed related concerns in another community, hence the link. Not backing myself up, just expressing my opinion :) Not only should we not throw more tech at the problem, but I think we should rethink about what we do without the tech.
How about paying teachers more and supporting teachers when the parents/kids attack them for not letting the kids do whatever they way?
Depends on the state, but one consistent one is another one you mention, which is getting teacher’s some space between the parents. Another element is just giving them some measure of creative flexibility in delivering curriculum. I teach in the corporate world and have had many former public teachers come over. The number one and two reasons for leaving the field aren’t pay, they are those other things. Complete lack of creative expression and being constantly bombarded by parents who want to interfere with how their children are being taught.
Edtech is such a garbage industry filled with the worst people. Pumping schools with proprietary software and SaaSS should have been made illegal decades ago, now the students and teachers are going to really feel the consequences
I just wanted to comment on how I absolutely hate the wording of the phrase “We’re Huge in Learning Loss!”
learning loss
It is possible for tech to be useful in schools. There may be a time in the best future where AI gives children across the planet access to much more education than they have historically had. The issue with the way the tech is used in the West right now is that it destroys classroom cohesion. Phones, tablets, and Chromebooks have become YouTube and tick-tock machines that kids retreat into whenever they are able. Getting kids to be interested in working with others on anything is becoming a monumental task. Not to mention that hardly any of them think it’s actually valuable to learn anything at all other than how to make money as a streamer or influencer.
Oh dear God. Kids don’t need “nifty gadgets” to learn, they need an authentic learning community and a reason to care.
Completely agree. They do need opportunities to train on certain gadgets, but they are solving no problems with this kind of focus.
One thing that annoys me is the schools went back to in school without any seeming strategy for remote in the future. Every kid above a certain age should attend school remotely once a week so that if something like this happens again they are immediately prepared for it.
Don’t forget the far right, “end public schools”, theocratic fascists that ride in on this wave to exploit the vulnerable moment.
