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Because remote education doesn't really work. Humans are just not wired for it. One of my friend's daughter was 6 years old in the middle of the mess. He sim

by bsder 3y ago

Because remote education doesn't really work. Humans are just not wired for it. One of my friend's daughter was 6 years old in the middle of the mess. He simply could NOT get her to "mode switch"--if she was home and daddy was home it's "vacation time" and anything else was a miserable fight. He and couple of other families finally got together to pay a teacher and have a "pod" of 4 other children in their local housing development. That way the daughter went to "school" for some number of hours a day and her father didn't have to fight the "mode switch" any more. All four of those students are now WAY ahead of all their classmates.

2devnull 3y ago
I agree but would also note that your proof isn’t very fullproof. You can pull 4 students and send them to a tutor under any condition, and those students will come out ahead. You prove only that a teacher with a 4 person classroom of students of concerned parent-types tends to outperform the baseline, a pandemic remote learning environment with a mix of students and public school salaried teacher.
- giardini 3y ago
  (S)he didn't claim a "proof"! But the story (s)he tells is extremely interesting and is useful to others.
- bsder 3y ago
  The point was that my friend couldn't get his daughter to learn, period, without a fight until he solved the mode switch problem. And that parents in the same housing development didn't seem to be able to solve it either as their children are now far behind those of my friend's daughter and her compatriots from that pod. Neither individual home tutors nor parental tutoring nor online schooling seemed to be able to solve the problem. The solution required an in-person mode switch of the teacher and environment. Now, this could obviously be different for, say, college age or adult learners. Young children don't have the same general understanding of conditions that adults do. On the other hand, "mode switch" is a thing even for adults as we talk about "flow" all the time.
  - 2devnull 3y ago
    I think you’re right. I’d just love better data. I used to do the typical Silicon Valley commute and arrive at work unable to focus for an hour or two because mode switching so quickly know it’s a thing. What I wonder about is why is it more of a thing in some situations compared to others, and is it not a thing we want to make students practice doing.

by bsder 3y ago

2devnull 3y ago

I agree but would also note that your proof isn’t very fullproof. You can pull 4 students and send them to a tutor under any condition, and those students will come out ahead. You prove only that a teacher with a 4 person classroom of students of concerned parent-types tends to outperform the baseline, a pandemic remote learning environment with a mix of students and public school salaried teacher.

giardini 3y ago
(S)he didn't claim a "proof"! But the story (s)he tells is extremely interesting and is useful to others.
bsder 3y ago
The point was that my friend couldn't get his daughter to learn, period, without a fight until he solved the mode switch problem. And that parents in the same housing development didn't seem to be able to solve it either as their children are now far behind those of my friend's daughter and her compatriots from that pod. Neither individual home tutors nor parental tutoring nor online schooling seemed to be able to solve the problem. The solution required an in-person mode switch of the teacher and environment. Now, this could obviously be different for, say, college age or adult learners. Young children don't have the same general understanding of conditions that adults do. On the other hand, "mode switch" is a thing even for adults as we talk about "flow" all the time.
- 2devnull 3y ago
  I think you’re right. I’d just love better data. I used to do the typical Silicon Valley commute and arrive at work unable to focus for an hour or two because mode switching so quickly know it’s a thing. What I wonder about is why is it more of a thing in some situations compared to others, and is it not a thing we want to make students practice doing.