The EdTech Backlash Is Here, and It's Just Getting Started
jacobin.com
Tech vendors promised personalized, frictionless learning. What American schools got instead was mind-numbing, data-hungry junk software that devalues teachers and shortchanges students. A growing movement, led by alarmed parents, is saying enough.

cross-posted from: https://slrpnk.net/post/38188482

Tech vendors promised personalized, frictionless learning. What American schools got instead was mind-numbing, data-hungry junk software that devalues teachers and shortchanges students. A growing movement, led by alarmed parents, is saying enough.

Technology’s allure is always future oriented: Personal computing was going to supercharge productivity; social media and smartphones would strengthen interpersonal connections; and now AI will streamline the world of work. And for three-quarters of a century, education technology vendors have promised to optimize student learning and eliminate the busywork of teaching. But as Charles Logan, T. Philip Nichols, and Antero Garcia recently argued in Kappan, “the future they’re selling has not arrived — and perhaps it never will. But de-skilling, surveillance, and extraction — all of that is happening now, in our classrooms, today.”

  • Cherry@piefed.socialEnglish
    27·
    4 hours ago

    Like healthcare, education and tech should be a good pairing but money is always driving the tech, which leverages the learner for profit. - Money should not be in healthcare, education and of course other sectors. There are some good uses, assistive tech, Moocs etc but anything commercial is predatory. Khan sold out years ago with the app and gamification.

    • lauha@lemmy.worldEnglish
      51·
      4 hours ago

      Gamification per se is not a bad thing. Gamification is anvalid way to get better engagement and retention.

      • upandatom@lemmy.worldEnglish
        71·
        3 hours ago

        According to recent research, yes.

        But research is lacking in the retention of skills and knowledge once the gamification is removed.

        Does Duolingo create life long learners, or is it just something to pass the time and feel good about getting a score streak.

        My theory is almost all Duolingo users would quit learning if Duolingo went away tomorrow and everyone has to restart at 0 on a new app/service.

        • lauha@lemmy.worldEnglish
          2·
          50 minutes ago

          I was talking about gamification in general. Are you talking specifically about Duolingo?

      • Cherry@piefed.socialEnglish
        2·
        3 hours ago

        When gamification is used to persuade or hold a user into a subscribed service. Its predatory. It can be used to influence or motivate learners, classroom or online. But when used to further you being on the app, its not good.

        • lauha@lemmy.worldEnglish
          2·
          1 hour ago

          Exactly what I said, gamification is not bad in itself.

          Gamification is not the problem. The problem is predatory behaviour.

    • pianoplant@lemmy.worldEnglish
      8·
      3 hours ago

      Came here to say this: Anki is infinitely better than some scammy ai enabled nonsense.

      The challenge is Anki relies on the student being motivated to pursue the education. The solution to that is the student seeing the value and fun in what they’re learning. That can partially be provided by gamification, but really a passionate teacher with genuine enthusiasm is the best.

    • maegul (he/they)@lemmy.mlEnglish
      8·
      5 hours ago

      My hot take is that mainstream software technology hasn’t worked out how to be useful enough to be good in education and is now currupyrd by get rich quick start up mentalities, when really it needs the kind of open ended research that created the PC in the 60s & 70s.

      Generally speaking, in a Bret Victor kind of way, enhancing human thinking behaviours and practices just feels like a purpose that has been left behind, probably since web and big data took over.