General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: 20-fold increase in standardized testing coming with Gates Foundation's "Common Core": [View all]joshcryer
(62,270 posts)When you're digital all metrics can be tested in real time, statistically telling you where a student is at any given point. Indeed, it can probably get so accurate as to "test" a students daily abilities, and be able to tell if a student is having a down day or not. The role of teachers will be to adapt to it and help the students along in other ways. Stressful end of week? Start the next week slower. Over achieving? Increase the overall data until the student adjusts. In the end there will be no testing. The test is daily activities, not some thing at the end of a school period.
Eventually the role of the teacher is going to be more of a pattern recognition guide, they will teach students how to use the technology, how to best utilize it, and how to succeed at it (many kids are self-taught on technology because it comes so easily).
Some teachers, I suspect, aren't really willing to adapt to this, but new teachers will replace them in due course. This same sort of evolution happened in the nursing sector, as the nursing sector digitized there was a bit of blowback, but nursing informatics is practically everywhere now. It saves lives, just as the digitized classroom will teach students better. If nurses could adapt, teachers can.
The good thing is that Gates isn't going to be able to monopolize it. As soon as schools start to recognize that digital software is infinitely copyable and the "charge" used for it by the corporations selling it, they will move to open source solutions. I think ultimately the real revolution will affect the developing world, however, as the institution is too entrenched as it is in the developed world. It will take time for us to truly take advantage of the digital classroom.