Tag Archives: education

S.Korea schools get [racist] robot English teachers (via @daylemajor )

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via news.yahoo.com

Do I find this implementation racist and insulting to non-Caucasian teachers, hell yes! They are taking a teacher from the Philippines and putting a white women’s face on them. This could have been done a lot more realistically with true videoconferencing without having to add a layer of animation, which will end up deadening much of the facial cues leaving the animation nearly useless in this regard.

One defense of this could be that they want to maintain consistency in the appearance of the teacher even when using a variety of staff on the back-end. However, that still doesn’t explain the white-washing.

With that said, this is the first implementation of robot teachers (robot-assisted language learning–RALL) I’ve heard about that make some sense. This is basically videoconferencing with a mobile monitor (with some ability for arm and leg movements). This is much better than the stuff presented before that is basically a rolling tape player with some ridiculous voice recognition. Having a skilled teacher behind the robot is key and, at least for the foreseeable future, the only way to provide an optimal educational experience.

As I saw in a presentation by KICE a few months ago, the biggest problem with using videoconfernced teachers in classrooms is having a trained (and motivated) teacher/facilitator physically in the classroom with the videoconferenced teacher. Local teachers tend to sit back and watch or, worse yet, just leave the classroom during the videoconferencing time. In addition, there is little planning time afforded local teachers, thus they tend not to plan classes with their videoconferenced co-teachers. This finding is nothing new to native English-speaking co-teachers in Korean public schools. The same complaints have been heard for years. They were hired as co-teachers, but end up planning and conducting classes alone as a result of both teacher apathy and poor oversight and training.

With all this in mind, I’d say where is the time and money for training local staff? Without it, these high-tech innovations make for great publicity, but lousy education.

Eleutian – I think that this is a pretty cool service. Ideally, collaboration between video-based teachers in Wyoming and English teachers in Korea

via eleutian.com

I would love to experience this in person. This is an amazing program. I’ve been saying for years that we need to use technology to connect qualified masses of teachers to those who need them around the world.

This is not a cheap program, but it is a well-integrated program that includes the use/adoption of Korean curricula, (ideally) collaboration between the the teachers, and the provision of native English-speaking teachers to areas of Korea that have trouble staffing them.

I saw a presentation as well that painted a pretty good picture of the program. Unsurprisingly, as I alluded to above, collaboration was the real issue. Korean teachers did not collaborate as much as was expected. This isn’t too surprising as it is the same result that we have seen many times in collaboration studies in the States. Most importantly, the Korean teachers were not compensated (in time or money) for the “extra” collaboration. The American teachers were paid for all of the time that they spend on the service so it’s not too difficult to see why they were willing to do so.

If this is really going to work throughout Korea, much still needs to be done. First, training in collaboration and methods specifically revolving around the use of videoconferencing needs to be added for pre-service programs and in-service training. There is no way that teachers are prepared to do this. These are some of the same problems we see in NEST-NNEST collaborations now in Korea. We are going to make the same mistakes again if we continue to put the technology before the training.

Wanna be a School Reformer? You Better do Your Homework! – Nice list of school reform books. Some must reads.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/gary-stager/wanna-be-a-school-reforme_b_765199….

Take a look at the list and descriptions. No need to do it here.

Changing Education Paradigms, Ken Robinson

This was a great presentation and a the animation just made it that much better. Ken Robinson is on the (cutting) edge of calls for change in education. Not simple, and likely ineffective, changes like performance pay, but big picture changes. Changes that eliminate the current system and really begin to focus on the students’ needs rather than the needs of the system as a whole. These are great, long-term ideas that will likely find their way to mainstream thinking in the not-to-distant future.

Some of his ideas you will likely agree with and others not so much. Personally, I think that he is a bit to hard on ADHD given that there are genetic markers for the disease. Though, I’m also with him in thinking that it is over-diagnosed and over-medicated (though it’s just a feeling and not based on a deeper knowledge of the issue).

A Science for e-Learning

Skinner’s Teaching Machine

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via elearnmag.org

I’m actually surprised that this isn’t discussed more. An update of Skinner’s Programmed Instruction for the computer age. Lots of research showing the benefits of the programs.

However, the problem that was there years ago is still there. It’s labor intensive to prepare the content. Programming responses is not much of a problem. The technological side is not that difficult. However, at the level required for Programmed Instruction, content preparation takes forever.

Have I also mentioned that it is quite boring. Could the use of computers help with this? Possibly. But the reality is that people get sick of taking baby steps. They don’t like being led. They want to think. A system like this would likely be very effective for those who could finish it, but I’m going to guess that attrition would look worse that new health club members after the holidays.

Learning by Playing: Video games in the classroom – NYT

Learning by Playing: Video Games in the Classroom

Gillian Laub for The New York Times

Class Media Nicole Dodson, Dakota Jerome Solbakken and Nadine Clements, students at Quest to Learn, a New York City public school, play a game they designed.

By SARA CORBETT
Published: September 15, 2010
via nytimes.com

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/19/magazine/19video-t.html?ref=magazine

This seems more like a short book. 9 pages in total. It’s a great read for a general audience. No deep research insights and a little too much observation, but a good read none-the-less.

I don’t see a future in which all school-based learning is video game-based, but I do see a time at which most homework is. At school, I still see a place for manipulation of objects, information retrieval, and design/development of products to gauge learning.

Exams come to the bedroom with new invigilation software – cool idea, but hardware is a non-starter for most programs

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via guardian.co.uk

This sounds like a cool system. However, it also sounds really expensive and requires participant set up on home computers. How many problems did you pick out in that last sentence?

I really don’t think that this is doable for widespread adoption, but it could work for some situations. Purely distance programs could probably make this work. The package could just be a requirement of the program. If it were utilized by most of the courses, it could be a valuable asset.

This could be good for testing centers. ETS could require these to be set up in local testing centers, particularly in those areas in which they have had problems in the past. Essentially, trying to keep the centers honest as well as the test-takers.

Employers hiring fewer full-time workers, more contractors – trend began in higher ed quite a while ago

Say goodbye to full-time jobs with benefits

goodbye_jobs.gi.top.jpgMany people looking for work are having trouble finding the traditional full-time job with benefits.

By Chris Isidore, senior writerJune 5, 2010: 11:12 AM ET

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Jobs may be coming back, but they aren’t the same ones workers were used to.

Many of the jobs employers are adding are temporary or contract positions, rather than traditional full-time jobs with benefits. With unemployment remaining near 10%, employers have their pick of workers willing to accept less secure positions.

In 2005, the government estimated that 31% of U.S. workers were already so-called contingent workers. Experts say that number could increase to 40% or more in the next 10 years.

via money.cnn.com

This started long ago in higher education. Lots of contract workers (given nicer monikers, like adjunct professor, or simply graduate students). The reality is, if you don’t distinguish yourself, you’re going to have to schlep to half jobs. You’re more likely to get ahead if you do something you’re passionate about.

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