Computer tech in education is a con. It is completely unnecessary.<p>There's a reason Steve Jobs limited his kids access to technology:
<a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/steve-jobs-apple-ipad-children-technology-birthday-a6893216.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/new...</a><p>In fact, it has opposite effect to what is intended. It gives the child an avalanche of distraction, when what they need is simplicity. I would say the same about mobile phones.
The cookware analogy is a really good one.<p>A similar one can be seen in the arts:<p>"That's an amazing photo. You must have a really good camera!"<p>which you see here and there. As opposed to:<p>"That's an amazing painting. You must have really good brushes!"<p>(Disclaimer: I'm a photographer and I do know that the quality of the lens and sensor is going to play some role in the output, leaving aside things like Photoshop. But my point still stands.)
I'm a high school teacher. I've worked in rural/urban/suburban districts with wildly varied student demographics and school resources. The largest tech-related improvements to my teaching have not come from the availability of "edtech" - but from run of the mill productivity software (Email/Google Docs/etc) and students having reliable access to a computer/internet.<p>I wasn't familiar with K2 Audiovisual before reading the article, so the "free unlimited training" angle doesn't resonate; however, the base argument being made is sound. Our tools need to support the work we do; if they are a distraction or impediment then they will be ignored. I freely admit that there are some interesting edtech tools being developed, but too many of these tools introduce significant redundant labor, user friction, and/or force me to change my goals/processes to fit their vision of what school is supposed to be.<p>I have strong feelings on where I think things should go, but I'll just say that there is a lot of low hanging fruit in just helping teachers accomplish the things they already know how to do.<p>There are a lot of teachers out <i>right now</i> saying, "I know [Kid A] would benefit from [extension/scaffold/resource Y] - but there isn't time to make that from scratch". Teachers know they should be personalizing their curriculum, assessment, and instructional performance for what each kid needs. They will typically even know how to accomplish it.<p>They are logistically constrained from doing so and most edtech tools aren't offering solutions to the kinds of workflow problems that teachers face everyday.<p>Edit: I have been drilling down on some ideas with another HN member (andrewwhartion). Principally, focused on teacher workflow tools. Email is in profile.
I work at an EdTech company right now and we've found huge success simply because we've tried to get out of the way and let teachers do what they do. Teachers today have a hard enough time without tech companies, policy makers, administrators, etc. barging into their classrooms and dictating the best way to instruct their kids.<p>Like germinalphrase mentioned, I think the best place for tech in education is to "[offer] solutions to the kinds of... problems that teachers face everyday" and to make the existing successes even more impactful (e.g. when a student does well, provide ways for teachers, parents, and students to celebrate together).<p>Teachers know their kids and their struggles best, the tech just has to help them do what they do.
While interesting, and anecdotally seems correct to me, does anyone here with a background in education and/or education technology have any pointers on actionable ways to use technology more effectively? This piece never seems to get to that point, other than strongly encouraging training for teachers (that they provide if you go with their solutions).
Many schools do not make proper use of computer labs.<p>While you could teach practical skills such as<p>- how to process images, audio, video<p>- how to code<p>- math beyond silly games featuring anthropomorphic neotenized animals<p>- workshops for chess and go<p>- use one of the awesome open source software for chemistry, geometry, astronomy, etc...<p>Only use for computers is for people to write documents, search online, print and... waste a lot of time on games, social networks.
Chromebooks, quizlets, etc. ARE working in my kids schools. There is a lot of time and money spent teaching the teachers, and there is a high % of teachers with specialized training to start with. The tech is hard on the parents who complain about not being able to assist, monitor and support easily, if at all.
What a great way to build empathy and connection in a sales conversation. These are the type of people I love to meet in EdTech!<p>I couldn't agree more with the author's assessment. A bit of an extension beyond just training in new tools: we need to help adults in schools understand the value technology can provide in their daily lives before we can expect to see the true potential out of the complex technologies schools are spending billions of dollars on - looking at you blended learning and [fill in other buzzword technologies].<p>If an adult in a school doesn't appreciate the value that basic everyday tools provide (I'm talking things like calendars and organized email), it's a huge mountain to climb to get them to trust what technology can do to assist their work with kids. It's quite shocking how many great educators fall in this bucket. Then add the labels of 'laggard' and 'luddite' to these people instead of truly understanding them and forget creating any trust and change.<p>It's a Maslow's thing, honestly, and so much is being spent on things way too far up the pyramid. There's so many low hanging problems to go after first to save great educators time and simultaneously build trust in the power and magic of technology. Right now we're burning all our political (and real) capital on the promises of 'edtech' without truly solving the needs of the people in the seats using them. I fear where it will end up, and the missed opportunity it represents.<p>Source: I've been working with all types of schools throughout the US, with heavy exposure in NYC.
I taught English in Japan for 2 years. I realized that the they spend less on education than America and have better results.<p>The solution to education problems isn't throwing money at it. Or at least spend it on teacher salaries, right?
The author needs a good editor. There's something consistently "off" in both the style and the personality of this article. It made it very hard for me to assess whether what they are actually saying is worthwhile. Also the calculation mentioned in the title (and which he strangely calls 'archaic') is totally spurious.
A family member of mine needed a quick way to grade student work. After a few dozen hours I had a wiki-like format loading for them to try. With a few more features tailored to language learning it ended up saving a few hundred hours per year.<p>Probably cost me $5000 since I could have been consulting. Still, it was worth it for love.<p>Now certain students hate using it, though they do appreciate getting their grades back sooner.
The cooking analogy is tempting, but it overlooks the hardware/software distinction.<p>In the classroom, you have (1) the teacher's skills, (2) the computer hardware purchased, (3) and the computer software purchased.<p>In the kitchen, you have (1) the chef's skills and (2) the hardware purchased.<p>If it's true that "software is eating the world", then a good analogy wouldn't skip over it. Software could be like the recipe, which of course makes a big difference in cooking outcomes.
Back in my day, when I had to walk to school up hill both ways through 10' snow drifts (and that was summer school), a chalkboard was good enough.<p>Get off my lawn!