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The EdTech Revolution Has Failed

(www.afterbabel.com)
346 points obscurette | 2 comments | 12 Nov 24 14:11 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source
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donatj ◴[12 Nov 24 15:41 UTC] No.42116365[source]▶
I work in EdTech, I have for a very long time now, and the problem I have seen is no one in education is willing to ACTUALLY let kids learn at their own level.

The promise of EdTech was that kids could learn where they are. A kid who's behind can actually continue to learn rather than being left behind. A kid who's ahead can be nurtured.

We had this. It worked well, in my opinion at least, and the number of complaints and straight up threats because kids would learn things "they shouldn't be" was just… insanely frustrating.

Now in order to keep schools paying for our services, every kid is banded into a range based on their grade. They are scored/graded based on their grade level rather than their growth. It's such a crying shame.

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michaelrpeskin ◴[12 Nov 24 16:01 UTC] No.42116631[source]▶
That's "equity" for you. We can't be unfair and give someone something that makes them better. It's easier to keep the top kids down than it is to lift the bottom kids up.
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1. insane_dreamer ◴[12 Nov 24 16:50 UTC] No.42117176[source]▶
Nonsense. Equity is not to blame. Finland has arguably the most equitable education system in the world and it's ahead of the US.

There are plenty of problems with the US education system -- among them this typically SV $$$-eyed idea that "tech solves everything" -- but investments to raise up the educational standards of low-income or underserved communities is not one of them.

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2. com2kid ◴[12 Nov 24 20:21 UTC] No.42119309[source]▶
> Nonsense. Equity is not to blame. Finland has arguably the most equitable education system in the world and it's ahead of the US.

Finland has one of the most equitable societies in the world.

This means the amount of effort it takes to "raise up" a poor kid in Finland to have the same resources as a well to do kid is much less than it is in America.

> but investments to raise up the educational standards of low-income or underserved communities is not one of them.

School districts cannot solve structural issues within American society, but we expect them too.

If kids are starving, or being beaten, or otherwise abused, the teachers get judged if those students do poorly on standardized tests.

The problem is kids who don't get enough to eat, the problem is that there are kids who stay awake at night scared for their lives.

But as a society we've chosen to ignore all of that and worry about test scores instead.