Education Reform: Can Technology Replace Teachers?

Nancy Bujnowski, a French and German teacher who was laid off from Eagle Valley High School before officials adopted an online learning program, calls friends to help her make a last-minute move to Colorado Springs, Colo. She was recently hired by that school system.

—Nathan W. Armes for Education Week

Quality debated as districts tap tech over teachers

By Ian Quillen, Published Online: August 7, 2012

Of all the recent budget cuts made by the Eagle County, Colo., school district—the loss of 89 staff jobs through attrition and layoffs, a 1.5 percent across-the-board pay cut, and the introduction of three furlough days—none sparked as much anger or faced the same scrutiny as the decision to cut three foreign-language teaching positions and replace them with online instruction.

At a spring school board meeting, supporters of the targeted programs in French and German, as well as the affected teachers, railed against the 6,200-student district for replacing face-to-face instructors with a digital option they argued would not be as rich or as meaningful.

The highly charged response reflects the fear many teachers are beginning to feel that technology could push them out of their jobs, especially in an era of persistently tight budgets.

http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2012/08/08/37replace_ep.h31.html?r=466802008&tkn=QLSFxbbbg1FwOty9l2g2mn6pGSelbODkDJwi&cmp=ENL-EU-NEWS1

TomMcDonald’s Comments:

The goal is effective and efficient, long term, individual student learning, of critical must know information.

Where individual long term, learning, = Instructor Facilitated, Appropriate: initial understanding, ongoing reinforcement, fluency/mastery, recall (eliminating forgetting), application, stick/behavior change, in the most effective and most efficient way possible

Brain based, research proven, classroom proven learning methodologies solidly point towards a new long term learning model:

(1) Instructor facilitated, truly personalized, learning methodology, over time, (2) with instructor facilitated, truly personalized, reinforcement, over time, (3) in an instructor facilitated, truly personalized blended learning environment, over time

Ask any teacher and they agree that the ideal model is one teacher to one student.

If teacher facilitated, truly personalized learning technology, in a blended learning environment, is the most effective and most efficient way to empower each student with long term, truly personalized learning, shouldn’t everyone involved think it’s a great idea?

Is this not consistent with organization objectives, proven learning research and optimized student learning outcomes?

Great teachers will be bettered with appropriate, truly personalized learning technology and will empower students with advanced, long term learning outcomes.

Poor teachers will need to become better or be repositioned, consistent with defined, organization/student strategic objectives.

Resisting teacher facilitated, research proven, classroom proven, advanced, individual long term learning outcomes, supplemented by proven learning technology, is inconsistent with organization/employer outcomes and does not advance individual student learning outcomes.

Is there a another, affordable, effective and efficient research proven, classroom proven, option  to advance individual student learning outcomes?

I’d be interested in knowing (with supporting research validation)

Tom

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Blended Learning:

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Education and Accelerated Learning:

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Learning About Learning:

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How to Transfer Training (Learning):

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• 11% less study time, 22% less test time, and 95% higher test scores

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My deliverables to you are: (I) Improved Learning Outcomes and Increased Competence; a. Retention to fluency (95% vs. 28%), b. Behavior change through accountable reinforcement, c. Improved application, d. Advanced individual performance and e. Advanced organization performance.

You will ensure that every person reaches true mastery* in the shortest amount of time. Mastery* produces people who have the adaptive reasoning skills required to effectively apply knowledge to new situations.

*Mastery is required where appropriate information application is critical to achieve a desired outcome; For example, Education: K-12, Higher, Corporate, Government; Medical; Medical Continuing Medical Education – Performance Improvement; Safety; Sales Performance; Aviation; Military; Individual Certifications and Individual Continuing Education.

McDonald Sales and Marketing, LLC, Specialties:

Appropriate Application; Behavior Change; eLearning; Employee Selection and Employee Development; Human Capital Management; Individual Performance Improvement; Learning Performance Improvement; Learning Retention and Reinforcement Improvement; Organization Performance Improvement; Workforce Development and Productivity; Verbal Skills Simulation and Reinforcement; Sales Performance Improvement; Web-Based (SaaS/Cloud) Solutions

To Discuss how these Solutions will add value for you, your organization and/or your clients, Affinity/Resale Opportunities, and/or Collaborative Efforts, Please Contact:

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