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I think there are two great arguments here: nobody needs tools that perpetuate a vanishing system and there are lots of interesting things happening in EdTech.

I think there are two great arguments here: nobody needs tools that perpetuate a vanishing system and there are lots of interesting things happening in EdTech. While I am grateful for your example, I would like to offer a different perspective. I know of a university teacher who is looking into solving the arduous task of grading without going crazy. I approve of a tool being built to facilitate this. I am torn on this issue as well: I strongly dislike formal education, with it following a metric of "teaching to the test" and "learning to test instead of retention." I wish that there was more systemic change towards a different way of assessment. But not for one second will I assume to know what is best for the teachers in that space. If building a pre-grading (which is merely an example here) can help them shave off an hour of tedious work a day, I think it's a valid side project idea. It may even be a valid business idea. The project that changed my life[1] was an EdTech productivity system that generated student feedback for online teachers working with young students in China. Student feedback as text-only is a horrible way of communicating individualized instruction. Yet we help teachers speed up that process, which allowed them to do one thing: teach more. Be more present in the classroom. Foster stronger relationships. I would argue that making anything nominally more convenient is a good thing: it removes an inconvenience so that things that matter can take place. No teacher would call teaching inconvenient. Lots of them would call admin stuff very inconvenient. Again, it's not about "teaching to the test" per see. It's about removing barriers to allow for meaningful, accomplished, and impactful work. [1] https://thebootstrappedfounder.com/from-founding-to-exit-in-two-years-the-feedbackpanda-story/ https://thebootstrappedfounder.com/from-founding-to-exit-in-...

DoreenMichele 6y ago
I know of a university teacher who is looking into solving the arduous task of grading without going crazy. I approve of a tool being built to facilitate this. This is a different thing to me and a better suggestion: Solve the problem of someone you personally know whose work you believe in. That's completely different in my mind from "pull some generic education-related blurb off the internet and build that." Even if, nominally, the two projects sound like exactly the same thing. In practice, they probably aren't remotely the same thing, which is part of why we have memes like "Ideas are worthless. Execution is everything."
- arvidkahl 6y ago
  Thanks for clarifying this. I agree with this, one hundred percent. I think that if you're not an education expert or enthusiast, you'd better go look for problems to solve somewhere else — which was the premise of my original comment. It pains me every time I see someone building a business without the passion to help their audience.

DoreenMichele 6y ago

I know of a university teacher who is looking into solving the arduous task of grading without going crazy. I approve of a tool being built to facilitate this. This is a different thing to me and a better suggestion: Solve the problem of someone you personally know whose work you believe in. That's completely different in my mind from "pull some generic education-related blurb off the internet and build that." Even if, nominally, the two projects sound like exactly the same thing. In practice, they probably aren't remotely the same thing, which is part of why we have memes like "Ideas are worthless. Execution is everything."

arvidkahl 6y ago
Thanks for clarifying this. I agree with this, one hundred percent. I think that if you're not an education expert or enthusiast, you'd better go look for problems to solve somewhere else — which was the premise of my original comment. It pains me every time I see someone building a business without the passion to help their audience.