What's the Teacher Role in a Tech Classroom

This story is a few months old, but still worth a look.

Back in January, Hechinger ran a report about a panel discussion at the NY Edtech Week global innovation festival back a month earlier. It's a reminder once again of how divorced ed tech can be from actual education in actual schools. But writer Tara Garcia Mathewson is still pretty excited:

Computers, laptops and other digital devices have become commonplace in most schools nationwide, changing the way students get instruction and complete assignments. Computers have also digitized student records and taken a whole host of school processes to the cloud. This has created new risks and led to the founding of new departments focused on the safety and security of all this data. It has also created new efficiencies for schools.

Well, that observation about keeping all this data safe is certainly timely, but the argument about efficiencies seems as timeless as a Shakespeare play.

Phil Dunn, the IT guy for Greenwich Public Schools says, basically, that newer IT makes his job as the IT guy easier. That is... unsurprising?

Mathewson also deploys a construction that I scold my students for frequently:

New technologies are coming out all the time. Some make life better and easier for the people who use them. Some make life different, but not necessarily better. And there are definitely the technologies — designed for the classroom and elsewhere — that make life, or learning, worse.

So some tech makes things better, some makes it worse, and some makes it different? That just about covers all the possibilities, right?

But it takes a guy whose job is pushing ed tech to really really demonstrate just how clueless some edtech people are about the ed part. Chris Rush is a co-founder and chief program officer of New Classrooms, one more "non-profit" group that is pushing product like crazy. They are all in on "personalized learning" ("Teach To One" math is their product) and adaptive software and you'll be unsusprised to discover they are supported to the tune of over-a-million-dollars each by Bezos, Gates, Dell, Chan-Zuckerberg and something called New Profit, Inc, a "national nonprofit venture philanthropy fund (and fans of Pay For Success, aka Social Impact Bonds)." Here in part is what New Classrooms has to say about their approach:

Our performance-based tasks don’t fit neatly into any single pedagogical practice. Because students work for an extended period of time on real-world challenges, there are some shades of project-based learning.

A key difference is that they are closely connected to specific skills and exit slips that are part of each student’s personalized curriculum, making it less open-ended than traditional project-based learning. In either case, the goal is the same: for students to acquire deeper knowledge.

The teacher’s role in this kind of learning experience is multifaceted, using a combination of techniques: planning, direct instruction, facilitating, challenging, and cheerleading.

So, teaching, only with computer-aligned educational jargon attached. Does New Classrooms know what it's doing? Well, back at the panel discussion, Rush had a few things to say:

Teachers spend a significant amount of time scoring papers rather than spending time with students

Wait! What? Does Rush imagine that in a traditional classroom, teachers say, "Okay, you students just do some stuff, but I'm going to be sitting at my desk grading things." Seriously? Because my wife, the fourth grade teacher who most daysdoesn't even have enough non-student-interaction time to allow her to pee, would disagree.

Let me be clear. Teachers do not spend time scoring papers instead of spending time with students. They spend time scoring papers instead of eating or peeing or interacting with their own children at home or instead of sleeping.

Also, leaving notes, explanations, thoughts, responses, and reactions written out on a piece of student work is, in fact, a form of interacting with students.

Automating not only multiple-choice test scoring but the grading of essays and project work would give teachers more time to focus on the student interaction that they’re uniquely capable of.

Automating multiple-choice test scoring is fine but A) good teachers know that multiple-choice tests are the lowest form of assessment and B) they take very little time to score anyway, which is why some teachers use them even when we know better.

Also, and I wan to make sure I'm really clear about this--

Computers are not capable of assessing writing. Computers are not capable of assessing writing. Computers are not capable of assessing writing. Computers are not capable of assessing writing. Computers are not capable of assessing writing. Computers are not capable of assessing writing. Computers are not capable of assessing writing. Computers are not capable of assessing writing. Computers are not capable of assessing writing. Computers are not capable of assessing writing. Computers are not capable of assessing writing. Computers are not capable of assessing writing. Computers are not capable of assessing writing. Computers are not capable of assessing writing. Computers are not capable of assessing writing. Computers are not capable of assessing writing. Computers are not capable of assessing writing. Computers are not capable of assessing writing. Computers are not capable of assessing writing. Computers are not capable of assessing writing. Computers are not capable of assessing writing. Computers are not capable of assessing writing. Computers are not capable of assessing writing. Computers are not capable of assessing writing. Computers are not capable of assessing writing. Computers are not capable of assessing writing. Computers are not capable of assessing writing. Computers are not capable of assessing writing. Computers are not capable of assessing writing. Computers are not capable of assessing writing. Computers are not capable of assessing writing. Computers are not capable of assessing writing. Computers are not capable of assessing writing. Computers are not capable of assessing writing. Computers are not capable of assessing writing. Computers are not capable of assessing writing.

I refer you to the work of Les Perelman for more specifics (here and here and here for starters). But to sum up my point-- computers are not capable of assessing writing.

Up next...

Jonathan Supovitz, director of the Consortium for Policy Research in Education at the University of Pennsylvania, talked about school improvement. Using a sports analogy, he said coaches don’t just look at the game summaries to consider how their players did. They look at videos of each play. Data systems in schools, though, skip straight to the summaries, Supovitz said. The play-by-play is missing.

Supovitz calls that missing data the "next frontier." I call it "what teachers already do."

But when the issue of what teachers will do comes up, the panel has more bosh to shovel. Rather than sidelining teachers, some panel members say that "teacher skills will just need to change." This is, indeed, the oldest ed tech pitch in the book.

Ed tech: We have invented a great new glass hammer for you to buy and use to build birdbaths.

Teacher: We are building great, solid houses for humans with power screwdrivers and wood screws.

Ed tech: Well, once you change your whole methodology, purpose and program, this hammer will be really useful.

What needs to change this time? Supovitz says "there will be a demand for teachers who are more sophisticated about looking at and responding to student performance data."

No problem, because that's what teachers do all day, every day. Except that by "more sophisticated" what he means is "Our system is not designed to give you the data you want and need, but to give you the data we decided to give you, so you're going to have to learn how to dig the data you actually need out of our reports." Gosh, thanks for all your help. I'm sure the company will also sell the professional development needed to "support this additional responsibility."

Put another way, ed tech sees a role for teacher, and that role is not so much "instructional leader" as "meat widget responsible for bridging the gap between the company has figured out how to do and what the students actually need." Ed Tech companies will provide all the glass hammers, and teachers can figure out how to use glass hammers and wood screws to build a solid house.