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Future Learning Short Smells Like Soylent Green
What’s the purpose of this video from Good Magazine and University of Phoenix? Is it to encourage the community to get that, “One win?”
I am as big of an edtechnophile as they come, but something about this video just doesn’t sit right with me. I felt the same way after seeing this that I feel after seeing any of the myriad infographics pumped out by the online learning advocacy associations. The feeling is the same one I felt when watching the aging population line up at the Soylent Green factory to take their long vacation. Something isn’t quite right.
If you don’t have the full twelve minutes to watch, at least listen to what Sal Khan has to say beginning at about the eight minute mark. Let me know what you think.
Soylent Green
Khan has little respect for a classroom teacher when he says that what we do is teach children to be quiet and submissive and take it for an hour. I’m also not convinced that “we will be reading off screens for the rest of our lives” as I think there might well be some other technology replacing that. I am a bit suspicious when I see that it’s sponsored by University of Phoenix. I’m just reading an article from The Atlantic about for-profit education and the abysmal graduation rate but very high student loans and government payments.
Some random thoughts:
-Several great quotes, my favorite being that education should be “Armor against doctrine.”. Could talk about that all day! Sadly, i do not believe this goal is commonly held in public ed.
-What Sal Khan says near the eight minute mark hits very close to home. The part about teaching kids to sit still for an hour. This is not true in every classroom, but it is relevant in too many. (And our poor kids have 100-minute blocks!)
-The idea of teachers being more effective in teaching higher order/critical thinking skills and letting software handle the ‘basics’, (for lack of a more eloquent description.) Cannot for the life of me remember the name of the charter school group that does this such that they have fewer teachers and pay them something like $120,000-$160,000/yr. They have lots of (less expensive) classroom IA’s who help the kids navigate the technology when needed. Am sure that charters like KIPP are watching their model closely. We should be, too!
What part(s) didn’t sit well with you, Jack?
Lisa – I just spent the week at Silicon Valley Math Initiative Coaching Workshop and am eagerly awaiting implementation of Common Core for mathematics. The main paradigm shift is not the content but rather the methodology of instruction and assessment. We will be focusing on the 8 Practices of Mathematics (note I did not say mathematicians but anyone/everyone who uses mathematics – accountants, scientists, economists, trades people, engineers). The Smarter Balance assessment (to replace CST) will assess critical thinking and critiquing. It will be much less about getting the “right” answer than the thought process and justification. Only 40% will be multiple choice. Expect to see even more collaboration in math classrooms with emphasis on formative assessments. Most math teachers will be shouting Hooray with agreement that we are moving in the right direction.
This is great news, Laura!
I am still trying to figure out what was the point/meaning of video….aside from UOP being involved, I am not clear on what the motivation(s) of the creator was/is. Due to Mr. Khan being taking in a particular context, I think everyone in this video was edited for a reason…..just not sure what. If this is some sort of prediction of future and how to deal with it, I doubt the capacity to reason (algebra and higher maths) and the capacity to slow the brain down to think rather than allow the squirrel to run is going to change. Engagement comes from something inherently being interesting, not the ability to take crap and make it interesting.