It’s the use of only technology in education without qualified teachers that is the concern. It’s “tech without teachers” and without public school buildings, a sense of community, student socializing, and the misuse of data collected on children that keep parents and teachers up at night!
The problem is that there is a concerted effort underway to transform public schools and put students on digital devices for all of their learning. This disruption will mean the end of public education and teaching. It will mean nonstop testing and data collection on children.
Tech companies must convince teachers and parents that technology is best. They do this with language. Below is a collection of words used to sell technology over teaching.
Students will learn on their own at home or in nonprofit or private facilities, or they will attend charters like Summit and Rocketship which are online schools.
There is no proof that students will learn best only with technology and no teachers.
This idea of “nothing but tech” is being sold to teachers and parents as the best way to learn. They will need to sign onto it for this transformation to happen.
Here are some of the words used to sell technology. Listen for them at school board and professional development meetings.
Where is the debate?
____________________________________________________
- accelerator
- accessible
- adaptive
- agency
- anytime anywhere
- assessment
- authentic
- badges
- 21st Century Ready
- CAST
- 4 C’s
- coaching
- collaborative
- college-career
- community
- competency
- competency-based
- competition
- competitive edge
- connections
- creative thinking
- culture
- curiosity
- customized
- discovery
- differentiation
- design thinking
- EdProtocol
- efficient
- empowered
- engagement
- environments
- ethical morality
- equal
- equitable
- exciting
- fall forward
- flexible
- flexibility
- future ready
- funding
- grit
- growth mindset
- high expectations
- home-centered
- IEPs for All
- individualized
- innovation
- integrated
- learner-centered
- learning-centric
- less stress
- life ready
- literacy
- mastery
- meaningful
- microcredentials
- mindset
- motivation
- open spaces
- passion
- pedagogy
- personal
- personalize
- personalized learning gap
- personalized learning
- problem-solving
- productive
- proficiency
- purposeful
- readiness
- real-world
- reflective
- relationship
- respect
- rigor
- rigorous
- risk-taking
- seamless
- seamless tech
- self-directed
- self-motivated
- social-emotional learning
- social-emotional growth
- social skills
- stakeholder
- student-centered
- student-driven
- support
- taking tests
- teacher-facilitator
- teacher development
- transformational
- Universal Design for Learning
- vision
Ummm. Hello. I must say that while Tech is necessary, from what I see in high school, it is a great way of hiding students’ skills deficits. Take away the devices and have students summarize what they have just read. You may or may not be shocked… It is no wonder remediation and college drop out rate is ever increasing. More than ever, teachers and students need to teach and learn reading, vocab, and writing in all subject areas.
Oh I agree so much! Cut and pasted reports. Short answers without thought. It truly is concerning. Thank you!
It is truly disturbing that educators have allowed our professional language to be hijacked.
A teacher justifying their silence: “I just do what my union tells me to do”
I get that sentiment. It’s just I remember as a teacher focusing on students so much that it was difficult to know what else was going on…however…unions should get it. I agree they are too compliant. And some teachers are too eager to follow the leader without asking questions.
Thanks, Jo. Thanks, Tim.
Placing 50 million school children on a 13 year long independent study program is a very bad idea.
And if this is the best can offer the next generation, we will get exactly what we deserve.
Very well said, R. Bobrick! I had not thought of it that way.
“a 13 year long independent study program is a very bad idea.” Yes.
Same way they sold charters with a better deal but after over 20 years it hasn’t happened and they are still selling a failure. The public schools have been hijacked now it is tech doing it for profit to someone as my dad always said follow the money.
Yes. Thank you, Jim!
If you apply these same words in a non-tech context they don’t sound so threatening. Truth is tech things, like public schools, are never going away so we have to learn to look at tech as a tool and not an end-all. I think modern learning should be half “old school” like writing with paper and pencil and things like recess and singing and half tech. Kids need to be taught how these educational tools are being used to educate them and they have to learn how they work because they will be self-educating long after they leave the k-12 environment. Today’s tech tools are nothing more that yesterday’s pencils.
Michael Haran
Institute of Progressive Education and Learning.
Michael,
Did you read the post?
“It’s the use of ONLY technology in education without qualified teachers that is the concern.
It’s “tech without teachers” and without public school buildings, a sense of community, student socializing, and the misuse of data collected on children that keep parents and teachers up at night!”
Yesterday’s pencils didn’t push teachers out of their jobs and they don’t collect personal data that could be harmful to students.
Nancy
I totally agree with you but I think you are getting as little far out there. Even if you completely used tech to teach you still need people to initiate it and you still need people (children) to consume it. Your scenario could never happen unless you take humans out of the equation and had AI robots teaching other AI robots. And as far as data is concerned it can be used, like many other things, for either good, bad or be neutral but it takes a human consensus to determine that. I do agree with you and you bring up a good point but I just think that we can’t function without the people element to things including raising children of which formal education is a part. Now automation may, like other industries, eliminate some jobs in education but I think that would mostly be at the staff level as we will always need people to people contact in teaching. A good example of the people element is when Larry Ellison at Oracle had to hire 25 liberal arts majors because his computer scientist couldn’t communicate on a interactive social level with one another other. I know I made a short story long but using ONLY technology without human teachers (qualified or not) could never happen. It would be a complete failure on many levels as we are now seeing with so many problems at the online charter schools. Human nature will always prevail.
How many public schools have closed in this country?
In 2013, Mayor Rahm Emanuel closed 53 elementary schools and one high school in Chicago alone.
How many for-profit and nonprofit charter schools have opened?
Why are teachers still treated badly when there’s a teacher shortage?
Fast track programs create “facilitators” not teachers. Humans who don’t teach but direct students on their computer.
Check out Summit Charter Schools.
The tech term I mentioned above “anytime anyplace” means children can learn on digital devices anywhere.
Yes it sounds like it can’t happen but watch the news it is happening.
Please read some of my other tech posts and look up the links. I don’t wear a tinfoil hat. I promise. ( :
Do some reading and research.
Nancy
I do a lot of reading and research. That’s what I do and that’s why I follow bloggers like you and Diane Ravitch. In fact I’m developing an online charter school which is to be used in conjunction with traditional classroom education. I am fortunate to come along after the first wave of online schools so I have been able to study the fraud and failures. All of my content is based on student motivation and engagement. I do care about what educational professionals think and I try and listen to all sides but when people get too one sided it’s hard to stay focused. Whether you like it or not technology is here to stay and children love it. Good luck trying to hide it from them, they’ll find it and use it with or without permission. The better way to go is to give them agency and responsibility for its use.and teach them media literacy and the value of the “delete” button.
Teachers have to develop their own tech literacy skills and teaching style. If a teacher just uses tech without personal relationship that’s as bad a teacher who teaches traditionally without personally connecting with the students. A bad teacher is a bad teacher.
I am no fan of the DeVos reformers as I think they are mostly crooks trying to steal money from the public sector but they have made us define why public school are a better choice and that’s good and needs to be a continual process. Charter schools were originally created to be incubators to test education ideas and programs and if they got traction at that level the program could be implemented throughout the main public schools. Somehow we got away from that and the charters became politically idealized and the kids got left behind. I did a whole critique of the charter industry which you can read in my website at (http://institute-of-progressive-education-and-learning.org/k-12-education/charter-schools/)
I know you are a wonderful advocate for public education and so am I. The only thing I ask of you is that you keep an open mind. Serendipity is the magic in research.
I do not believe online charter schools mix with traditional public schools. Tell me, how many credentialed teachers are you going to hire to work at your school?
Charters have been mostly a failed experiment. The ones that work are usually run by teachers.
The online charters are awful. Kids in NYC recently protested so much screen time.
https://nypost.com/2018/11/10/brooklyn-students-hold-walkout-in-protest-of-facebook-designed-online-program/
I know they have been mostly failures but I have a very unique concept. The teachers we will hire will have to have certain qualities whether they are credentialed or not. Again, you are very prejudice. It is too early to share my concept with you but once it is ready to be rolled out I will give you the first chance to publicly critique it. The problem with the NYC program is that it isn’t motivating or engaging for the students. If it were they wouldn’t have protested. I’m glad they did though as it gave them a great lesson in civil discourse. I will value your feedback but I’ll value the kid’s feed back more. Keep up your great work.
You say, “The teachers we will hire will have to have certain qualities whether they are credentialed or not.”
Yes. As a teacher who earned degrees the old-fashion way through university prep., you lose me here. And I am prejudiced about having teaching credentials.
Would you fly in an airplane with a pilot who didn’t have credentials?
And you value kid’s feedback more than me. Ouch. I believe kid’s should be heard but it is also important to be the adult in the room. Students a lot of times don’t know what it is they will be interested in until the teacher presents it to them.
Thanks for commenting. We may disagree but your example is important to learn about.
Tech, like charters, like vouchers, like all other reforms, are sold to the public with the same lie: you can get something for nothing. For students to use personalized learning, they will need twice the number of teachers in addition to millions to re-train effective teachers. Let us tell the truth. Your taxes are about to double or your teachers are about to be asked to work twice as many hours for the same pay, which now comes in under median for a college graduate. I will support all the ideas for reform when they are funded. Until then, shut up and let me teach school.
When pencil and paper was introduced as a technological breakthrough to replace sand tablets and chalkboards I’m sure there was some push back because of the cost. If the cost of today’s tech for the educational value is perceived to be too much don’t buy it. Remove all EdTech from personalized learning and you have a teacher caring for each of her or his students just like good teachers have always done.