3 ms·
Software has existed for grading and primary classrooms since the early 2000s. The software was awful, and expensive. When you look at Microsoft's new Office 36
by partiallypro 8y ago
Software has existed for grading and primary classrooms since the early 2000s. The software was awful, and expensive. When you look at Microsoft's new Office 365 offerings for schools...it makes me pretty enthusiastic for the future. I don't see this as a race to the bottom at all. Though I can see some problems with ecosystem lock-ins. But, US schools have long been teaching for the past, Microsoft and Google's new offerings should help schools to lift themselves out of that rut. There are trade offs, but I think the benefits outweigh the bad. My first computer courses in school were on an Apple, that doesn't mean I used Apple for the rest of my life.
- donaldknuth123 8y agoYou didn't read the article did you? He mentions Facebook and social media in particular. I don't think anyone is saying MS Office is dangerous...
- save_ferris 8y agoThe ethicist is pretty concerned about the "arms race for attention", which seems to go far beyond software that simply grades assignments. Sure, the quality and price of those apps may have been disrupted, but there also seems to be a pseudo-social component to education apps that didn't exist in the early 2000's (at least my school). I think we can agree that building quality CRUD apps has become much more straightforward in the last several years (which could explain the improved quality of grading apps), but there are many ethical questions around data collection, user-engagement, etc. that extend far beyond basic tooling that existed 20 years ago. This feels like an extension of the overarching debate around social media in general, which Tristan Harris also criticizes regularly.