Test scores are plummeting while tens of billions in federal aid flows to schools. A visit to a recent education technology convention provides a glimpse of the frenzy to profit from the recovery efforts.
Because you can’t trust kids and teenagers. Most people will lack motivation to actually study and finish the courses, people need tutors and exams to get things done or provide more explanation to people that don’t understand things.
Some people are guessing chatbots could pose as a tutor but I still don’t think that’s a solution.
There is roughly zero percent chance I would have paid any attention to online lectures/classes when I was in grade school or high school. I couldn’t even pay attention to online classes during grad school trying to get my Masters. I already didn’t do my homework or study for tests in school, so the only way I learned was from being in person and listening to the teacher. If I would have been expected to get most of my learning from online courses, I would be in a very different place in life right now.
Not to mention that people forget School is a social playground too. Education is only one part of it, making friends and dealing with the many situations that come your way is what makes people grow up. It’s scary that some kids would learn in front of a computer rather than in a class.
I’m not saying tech doesn’t have a place. Obviously we shouldn’t go back to drawing things in dirt with a stick. But we’ve tried EVERYTHING except for what would make a significant improvement: the best teachers and more time in the classroom.
But resources like Coursera and EdX are incredible - why not let the best educators make courses like that and then teach millions of students?
It also allows them to have a freer syllabus.
Because you can’t trust kids and teenagers. Most people will lack motivation to actually study and finish the courses, people need tutors and exams to get things done or provide more explanation to people that don’t understand things.
Some people are guessing chatbots could pose as a tutor but I still don’t think that’s a solution.
There is roughly zero percent chance I would have paid any attention to online lectures/classes when I was in grade school or high school. I couldn’t even pay attention to online classes during grad school trying to get my Masters. I already didn’t do my homework or study for tests in school, so the only way I learned was from being in person and listening to the teacher. If I would have been expected to get most of my learning from online courses, I would be in a very different place in life right now.
Not to mention that people forget School is a social playground too. Education is only one part of it, making friends and dealing with the many situations that come your way is what makes people grow up. It’s scary that some kids would learn in front of a computer rather than in a class.
I’m not saying tech doesn’t have a place. Obviously we shouldn’t go back to drawing things in dirt with a stick. But we’ve tried EVERYTHING except for what would make a significant improvement: the best teachers and more time in the classroom.
Yeah, it’s just not clear how scalable that is.