4 ms·

But isn't the hope that if we get these apps right, then the competence of the leadership and the staff doesn't matter so much anymore, just the drive of the in

by rcarr 3y ago

But isn't the hope that if we get these apps right, then the competence of the leadership and the staff doesn't matter so much anymore, just the drive of the individual student?

hotnfresh 3y ago
We have tools that do awesome for driven individual students. We’ve had them since before computers. The problem is we expect to have a fair amount of success educating students who are not driven, which is a large majority of students. Almost anything works with driven students.
- rcarr 3y ago
  > We have tools that do awesome for driven individual students. We’ve had them since before computers. If you're referring to books then I disagree. I think the computer opens up a whole new way of teaching that is far more interesting. Maths concepts are far easier to understand with good graphics and animations for example. Stuff like Duolingo is far more engaging than than a Spanish textbook (even if does need work on how it teaches grammar). Even stuff like electronics and computers, you would have been limited by your budget for parts, whereas now you can launch up virtual labs or learn networking in the cloud. And now these things are available to everyone now, across the globe. If you're a kid in a small town of a few thousands residents, you may not even be guaranteed to have a library, let alone a library that has multiple books on a topic you want to read. Nowadays, you've got all the information you want at your fingertips. Personally, I think the key to making driven students is to let them study more of what they want to study, within reason. When a kid starts showing a passion for something, let them go down the rabbit hole and let them drop other studies to compensate if necessary. If I remember rightly, the American system of schooling is already a lot better at doing this than the UK system of schooling.

by rcarr 3y ago

But isn't the hope that if we get these apps right, then the competence of the leadership and the staff doesn't matter so much anymore, just the drive of the individual student?

hotnfresh 3y ago

We have tools that do awesome for driven individual students. We’ve had them since before computers. The problem is we expect to have a fair amount of success educating students who are not driven, which is a large majority of students. Almost anything works with driven students.

rcarr 3y ago
> We have tools that do awesome for driven individual students. We’ve had them since before computers. If you're referring to books then I disagree. I think the computer opens up a whole new way of teaching that is far more interesting. Maths concepts are far easier to understand with good graphics and animations for example. Stuff like Duolingo is far more engaging than than a Spanish textbook (even if does need work on how it teaches grammar). Even stuff like electronics and computers, you would have been limited by your budget for parts, whereas now you can launch up virtual labs or learn networking in the cloud. And now these things are available to everyone now, across the globe. If you're a kid in a small town of a few thousands residents, you may not even be guaranteed to have a library, let alone a library that has multiple books on a topic you want to read. Nowadays, you've got all the information you want at your fingertips. Personally, I think the key to making driven students is to let them study more of what they want to study, within reason. When a kid starts showing a passion for something, let them go down the rabbit hole and let them drop other studies to compensate if necessary. If I remember rightly, the American system of schooling is already a lot better at doing this than the UK system of schooling.