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>Any task that can be reduced to simply following a set of instructions over and over is being done by robots and software. Agreed. Along similar lines: Any p

by arikrak 13y ago

>Any task that can be reduced to simply following a set of instructions over and over is being done by robots and software. Agreed. Along similar lines: Any problem that can be solved with clearly-defined steps can be programmed so that a computer can solve it. Many areas of education, especially math-related ones, involve students learning to mechanically implement set procedures and formulas to solve problems. These mechanical processes can all by definition be solved by a computer, so why pretend that these technologies do not exist? Human computers were once necessary, but they have since been supplanted. http://www.learneroo.com/courses/9/nodes/84 http://www.learneroo.com/courses/9/nodes/84

jacques_chester 13y ago
Sometimes it takes hundreds of exposures to concrete examples to grasp the abstract principle. I'm sure we've all had a-ha! moments of the form "it's just like Professor Whatsisname / Coach Thingo / Mrs So-and-so said, I just didn't get it".
sowhatquestion 13y ago
I find it interesting there's one genre of indignant op-eds lamenting the death of creativity in education (including this one--not saying it's bad or formulaic, but it's definitely part of a genre).... and there's another genre lamenting that most college graduates are getting Starbucks barista type jobs that don't require creativity... Much scarier than the idea that the education system is failing, is the idea that it's succeeding, but succeeding at the increasingly meager role that our society assigns it. As OP points out, there isn't a textbook with the answers for meaningful real-world problems--but there is one that tells you precisely how many pumps of chocolate syrup go in a grande mocha. HN readers may be a priori more prepared to accept the watered-down version of this idea. "Of course the system needs creative problem solving, that's the most important part of my job!" If this describes you, congratulations, you are one of the priviliged few who has what the economist David Autor calls an "analytic" job. In fact, it's increasingly likely that the very purpose of your job is to ensure that there's no middle ground between you and those textbook-following Starbucks workers[1]. 1: http://decomplecting.org/blog/2013/03/11/confessions-of-a-job-destroyer/ http://decomplecting.org/blog/2013/03/11/confessions-of-a-jo...

by arikrak 13y ago

jacques_chester 13y ago

Sometimes it takes hundreds of exposures to concrete examples to grasp the abstract principle. I'm sure we've all had a-ha! moments of the form "it's just like Professor Whatsisname / Coach Thingo / Mrs So-and-so said, I just didn't get it".

sowhatquestion 13y ago

I find it interesting there's one genre of indignant op-eds lamenting the death of creativity in education (including this one--not saying it's bad or formulaic, but it's definitely part of a genre).... and there's another genre lamenting that most college graduates are getting Starbucks barista type jobs that don't require creativity... Much scarier than the idea that the education system is failing, is the idea that it's succeeding, but succeeding at the increasingly meager role that our society assigns it. As OP points out, there isn't a textbook with the answers for meaningful real-world problems--but there is one that tells you precisely how many pumps of chocolate syrup go in a grande mocha. HN readers may be a priori more prepared to accept the watered-down version of this idea. "Of course the system needs creative problem solving, that's the most important part of my job!" If this describes you, congratulations, you are one of the priviliged few who has what the economist David Autor calls an "analytic" job. In fact, it's increasingly likely that the very purpose of your job is to ensure that there's no middle ground between you and those textbook-following Starbucks workers[1]. 1: http://decomplecting.org/blog/2013/03/11/confessions-of-a-job-destroyer/ http://decomplecting.org/blog/2013/03/11/confessions-of-a-jo...