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The educational world is besieged by companies convinced that their technology is not only the solution to our educational woes, but a fat business opportunity

The educational world is besieged by companies convinced that their technology is not only the solution to our educational woes, but a fat business opportunity waiting to be exploited. Teachers in classrooms have been burned so many times by technology that fails to deliver and uneven implementation across the district, that they instinctively cover their wallets every time a new company shows up promising to "revolutionize" education. Remember "Baby Einstein"? The company (owned by Disney) makes promises about how using their products will help develop young minds and was contradicted by researchers at the University of Washington. Lawsuits between Disney and UW followed, but Disney did ultimately offer refunds to parents that bought the DVD's. This is a classic example of a for-profit company making dubious claims about the educational value of their product. And Educators get these proposals all - the - time. I've been in the educational/web space for 20 years, and frankly, nothing turns me off faster then saying your new start-up is going to solve education problems. Maybe it will, but you'd better be different then the long line of failed products before you...

MarcScott 12y ago
I've been teaching for over 10 years now and have weathered the storms of many technology revolutions in the classroom. Interactive white boards < Virtual Learning Platforms < Netbooks < Flipped Classrooms < 1:1 Tablets It grows very tiresome.
- dahart 12y ago
  I wish Osmo all the best, and hope it breaks the mold. But I have to agree about schools and tech, and generally about tech and education. Spend more time with your kids, and don't expect an iPad to teach your kids anything, and you'll be in a better place. I say this being a huge lover of technology, having developed ipad apps and video games professionally. The school my kids are in is continually blowing large sums of money buying technology that they don't leverage in the classroom. They can't leverage tech in the classroom, the teachers aren't developers, and they're not even trained in basic tech, and they don't have the money for the training because they're spending the money on e-whiteboards. The money would go so much further paying for art teachers, or supplies, or school activities, or almost anything. Our art classes are no longer funded by the state or school district, the school hires a part time art teacher to teach a class once a week, or maybe every other week. And yet they're buying ipads and interactive white boards. Its insane, and really, really sad. The interactive whiteboards are a complete joke and costs thousands a pop. Our entire state (UT) is using automated essay scoring, which does not, and will never, work. Not even a little. I know the school district, and the state, has been having discussions with the essay scoring software company, and they're being told it will improve. The school system has no idea that this fundamentally will not work, and the software company is fully incapable of improving automated essay scoring. One night I came home from work to find my child in tears and my wife on the verge of tears trying to help, because my kid couldn't figure out how to get the goal score on his automated essay the teacher had set. A couple of quick tests, and I discovered the software largely grades on length alone. We pasted the text of a proposal to ban automated essay scoring from all US schools, and his essay suddenly had a perfect score. What a joke, and the state is spending tax money on a statewide contract for this ridiculous and worthless software.
  - i_am_ralpht 12y ago
    Often school districts have rules on how money can be spent, e.g.: they wont use donations to pay for salaried employees as it creates a liability if they have a shortfall one year and have to pay to lay people off. So that's why a lot of the donation money goes on interactive whiteboards and iPads, as well as hourly aides/TAs/etc (who might be subject to a limit on their hours...).
    - ericd 12y ago
      Instead of feeding it through immediately to salaries, couldn't they create an endowment for themselves, and use it like a conservative retiree would use their retirement savings? (4%/year withdrawal rate). That way, they could use the money for what people really want it to be used for (more, and better teachers), and there wouldn't be very much risk of a shortfall.
      - fargolime 12y ago
        I wouldn't support that myself. Where teachers get pensions they already make over $100K/yr all things considered. It's an important service but that's plenty for what they do.

MarcScott 12y ago

I've been teaching for over 10 years now and have weathered the storms of many technology revolutions in the classroom. Interactive white boards < Virtual Learning Platforms < Netbooks < Flipped Classrooms < 1:1 Tablets It grows very tiresome.

dahart 12y ago
I wish Osmo all the best, and hope it breaks the mold. But I have to agree about schools and tech, and generally about tech and education. Spend more time with your kids, and don't expect an iPad to teach your kids anything, and you'll be in a better place. I say this being a huge lover of technology, having developed ipad apps and video games professionally. The school my kids are in is continually blowing large sums of money buying technology that they don't leverage in the classroom. They can't leverage tech in the classroom, the teachers aren't developers, and they're not even trained in basic tech, and they don't have the money for the training because they're spending the money on e-whiteboards. The money would go so much further paying for art teachers, or supplies, or school activities, or almost anything. Our art classes are no longer funded by the state or school district, the school hires a part time art teacher to teach a class once a week, or maybe every other week. And yet they're buying ipads and interactive white boards. Its insane, and really, really sad. The interactive whiteboards are a complete joke and costs thousands a pop. Our entire state (UT) is using automated essay scoring, which does not, and will never, work. Not even a little. I know the school district, and the state, has been having discussions with the essay scoring software company, and they're being told it will improve. The school system has no idea that this fundamentally will not work, and the software company is fully incapable of improving automated essay scoring. One night I came home from work to find my child in tears and my wife on the verge of tears trying to help, because my kid couldn't figure out how to get the goal score on his automated essay the teacher had set. A couple of quick tests, and I discovered the software largely grades on length alone. We pasted the text of a proposal to ban automated essay scoring from all US schools, and his essay suddenly had a perfect score. What a joke, and the state is spending tax money on a statewide contract for this ridiculous and worthless software.
- i_am_ralpht 12y ago
  Often school districts have rules on how money can be spent, e.g.: they wont use donations to pay for salaried employees as it creates a liability if they have a shortfall one year and have to pay to lay people off. So that's why a lot of the donation money goes on interactive whiteboards and iPads, as well as hourly aides/TAs/etc (who might be subject to a limit on their hours...).
  - ericd 12y ago
    Instead of feeding it through immediately to salaries, couldn't they create an endowment for themselves, and use it like a conservative retiree would use their retirement savings? (4%/year withdrawal rate). That way, they could use the money for what people really want it to be used for (more, and better teachers), and there wouldn't be very much risk of a shortfall.
    - fargolime 12y ago
      I wouldn't support that myself. Where teachers get pensions they already make over $100K/yr all things considered. It's an important service but that's plenty for what they do.