This just in: some fear technology
In a “Why the Khan Academy Exists”-type article that Sal wrote for the Chronicle of Higher Education, the efficacy of enormous lecture halls and current textbooks are called into question.
Surprise! The worried commenters’ reactions are predictable…
“Who is this? Textbooks are archaic. I do not think so. Textbooks are the foundation of learning. I am not a textbook seller, but I am a veteran teacher with 25 years of public school experienc. This author needs to get a grip. … Put down the computer gadgets and have a real live conversation with the teacher and classmates. I enjoy technology but sometimes we go too far.”
-jzbetty
“What an aunt sally straw person argument; who learns calculus in 300 person classes anymore or are you teleporting the the 1950’s every day/ let’s try to do a serious assessment…”
-11122741
“Part of the purpose of a live lecture of any size is to hear and watch the professor make connections. And make connections as a student. And watch and hear other students make connections. Yes, students can participate in even large lectures. Yes, the physicality and living presence add something. Some of the content is emergent, not canned.”
-oldassocprof
It’s a familiar story. The old incumbents who are most threatened by some new technology are exactly those who are unwilling to embrace the new tools, and by the time they notice that their more open-minded colleagues are getting along just fine working with the new tech, they’ve already created a self-fulfilling prophecy for themselves.
Anybody with a career in education who thinks that some new piece of educational tech is going to completely replace teachers or “making connections with a student” or “emergent content” misses the point and does so at their own risk.
Education can be improved, and it seems reasonable that some of that improvement may come from new technologies. Simply being willing to admit that fact will send waves of relaxation through a generation of geeks who are puckered up with frustration from dealing with attitudes like those above.
Rosie is kinda scary.
In absolutely no way does the Khan Academy (or any reasonable leader in educational technology) aim to replace all of the passionate members of the existing educational system. The goal is to supply the best tools, the most data, and the fastest content to all students, and the educators who embrace this power are going to quickly be in a league of their own.