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Learning isn’t really something that the provider can force on the student. Learning is like weight loss-there isn’t a trivial one-size-fits-all solution, and i

Learning isn’t really something that the provider can force on the student. Learning is like weight loss-there isn’t a trivial one-size-fits-all solution, and it requires a ton of work that no one else can do for you. Tests and lectures aren’t outdated, nor even particularly ineffective compared to anything else. I don’t know when it became popular to hate the way school is run, but it usually traces back to the mistaken belief that school should predict professional performance (which is not now—nor ever was—the primary purpose of school). In both cases, my work with Ed tech has convinced me that the key problems are _social_, not technical.

newguy1234 7y ago
Technology can help reduce the impact of those social problems....for example make college courses cheaper to deliver and so on.
- cgearhart 7y ago
  Sure, but I'm arguing that the things technology can influence are very limited vs the core social problems that are the primary inhibitors of learning. Making it cheaper to deliver lectures or easier to deliver them is less important than making sure that the people receiving them are well fed, well rested, want to be there, etc. I wouldn't invest in an ed-tech company whose product depends on learners changing their behavior (e.g., any of the platform companies like Udacity, Coursera, Pluralsight, etc.) unless it was a bet on their enterprise product.
jrumbut 7y ago
It's clear that social improvements could help education but I get a sense that there is more to it than that. In Rhode Island, for instance, about 34% of students meet or exceed the expectations of English language arts and 27% for math. These students have been set up for a very difficult future. Rhode Island is about as nice, safe, and quiet as a large human settlement has ever been (obviously not without social problems). We're not going to solve the human condition, and I just wonder how best to move forward given that (in RI specifically one might start by fixing the buildings, but that's another story: https://www.providencejournal.com/news/20191215/providence-school-buildings-still-dealing-with-long-list-of-issues---leaks-asbestos-rodent-sightings-and-more https://www.providencejournal.com/news/20191215/providence-s...) RI education data, for the curious: https://lms.backpack.education/public/ride https://lms.backpack.education/public/ride

newguy1234 7y ago

Technology can help reduce the impact of those social problems....for example make college courses cheaper to deliver and so on.

cgearhart 7y ago
Sure, but I'm arguing that the things technology can influence are very limited vs the core social problems that are the primary inhibitors of learning. Making it cheaper to deliver lectures or easier to deliver them is less important than making sure that the people receiving them are well fed, well rested, want to be there, etc. I wouldn't invest in an ed-tech company whose product depends on learners changing their behavior (e.g., any of the platform companies like Udacity, Coursera, Pluralsight, etc.) unless it was a bet on their enterprise product.

jrumbut 7y ago

It's clear that social improvements could help education but I get a sense that there is more to it than that. In Rhode Island, for instance, about 34% of students meet or exceed the expectations of English language arts and 27% for math. These students have been set up for a very difficult future. Rhode Island is about as nice, safe, and quiet as a large human settlement has ever been (obviously not without social problems). We're not going to solve the human condition, and I just wonder how best to move forward given that (in RI specifically one might start by fixing the buildings, but that's another story: https://www.providencejournal.com/news/20191215/providence-school-buildings-still-dealing-with-long-list-of-issues---leaks-asbestos-rodent-sightings-and-more https://www.providencejournal.com/news/20191215/providence-s...) RI education data, for the curious: https://lms.backpack.education/public/ride https://lms.backpack.education/public/ride