I've been reconnecting to the academic edtech space for the past year. After spending the past 20 years in both industry and academic online learning, academic behaviour remains a bit odd:
1) Academics in education talk about the use of technology in education but often don't know how to use technology in depth.
Story: In attending the World Conference of Online Learning - held at a very capable hotel - there were no power bars for laptops, and no sessions were recorded. Less than 5% of 1500 attendees (academics) carried or used a laptop or tablet for notes. Typing fast to take notes received comments. This was one of the leading conferences (apparently) in the world. Over 100 countries, 500 speakers, and 200 sessions.
2) Some academics seem to regularly trash education that technology may be in fact delivering well for students beyond the Academic's ability to understand.
One talk I attended at this conference was a Ph.D. essentially skewering how Duolingo is not a good way to learn a language. The arguments may have had merit, I found it hard to take the talk seriously, well, because the millions of users reporting a positive learning experience with tools like Duolingo is well known. Learning to speak a language is incredibly valuable for many people.
3) If academic's don't use the right terminology...
It's a little baffling why academics use the word pedagogy when speaking about the use of technology in education.
Pedagogy is how children learn, not adults. Andragogy is how adults learn.
"Pedagogy", "improving learning experiences", "improving student outcomes"is on a long chain of lean startup type groupspeak where people continue doing what they do but sprinkle a little innovation dust on what they're doing. Want to upset an academic? Correct them in using Andragogy instead of Pedagogy as a non-academic.
4) Innovation in Education + Technology.
Technologists can learn education easier than educators will learn technology. These two groups need to come together, or as I suspect, educators competent in understanding the capabilities and possibliites of technology will need to exist in higher learning. The rate of change in society may be hard to keep up with a tenure seeking mindset.
5) K-12 educators seem a lot more tech friendly than post-secondary educators.
Post-secondary educators seem often threatened by technology replacing them, and fail to recognize that improved digital learning experiences will be like better text books.
If our educators aren't levelling up on tech use, they wont be able to help the students of the future.
As a Ph.D. in higher education with both a computer science and learning science background, I can confirm many of your claims. Most education researchers and practicing educators have a weak grasp of computing and it's powers. And indeed, many faculty outside of computing are terrified of computing. There's no context for them to learn about it. I respond to these troubling trends by collaborating with people in other disciplines, sharing my expertise. Right now, I'm working with faculty in our College of Education, in Psychology, and many interdisciplinary researchers with backgrounds in Feminism, Anthropology, and other fields. Interdisciplinary research will save academia; the National Science Foundation has shifted to a strong expectation of interdisciplinary teams. I'm hopeful.
Other claims you made are wrong. That people report positive learning experiences with Duolingo is not evidence that they can read, write, or speak a language. In fact, there are several studies of Duolingo that show the exact opposite: there's massive variation in learning outcomes, and it really only supports the most motivated and resourceful of learners. But that's what research is for: to test assumptions with data.
I think you are 100% spot on. I used to run an edtech startup that sold directly to government run schools. When I attempted to introduce the technology to the school I was often met with hostility because they said my technology was designed to replace teachers rather than empower them. Needless to say, I got out of the business quick and now I focus my efforts on building technology to allow self-learners to directly learn.
The existing government run education model is completely broken. They are openly hostile to innovative technology. It is a matter of philosophy and it cannot be fixed. If the system is broken, it is time to have it replaced with something better. Eventually, something better will come a long and citizens/taxpayers will begin to question why this old model still exists, just like how people ask why certain businesses still exist.
If there is any innovation to happen in education, it will not come from traditional universities or schools.
1) Academics in education talk about the use of technology in education but often don't know how to use technology in depth.
Story: In attending the World Conference of Online Learning - held at a very capable hotel - there were no power bars for laptops, and no sessions were recorded. Less than 5% of 1500 attendees (academics) carried or used a laptop or tablet for notes. Typing fast to take notes received comments. This was one of the leading conferences (apparently) in the world. Over 100 countries, 500 speakers, and 200 sessions.
2) Some academics seem to regularly trash education that technology may be in fact delivering well for students beyond the Academic's ability to understand.
One talk I attended at this conference was a Ph.D. essentially skewering how Duolingo is not a good way to learn a language. The arguments may have had merit, I found it hard to take the talk seriously, well, because the millions of users reporting a positive learning experience with tools like Duolingo is well known. Learning to speak a language is incredibly valuable for many people.
3) If academic's don't use the right terminology...
It's a little baffling why academics use the word pedagogy when speaking about the use of technology in education.
Pedagogy is how children learn, not adults. Andragogy is how adults learn.
"Pedagogy", "improving learning experiences", "improving student outcomes"is on a long chain of lean startup type groupspeak where people continue doing what they do but sprinkle a little innovation dust on what they're doing. Want to upset an academic? Correct them in using Andragogy instead of Pedagogy as a non-academic.
4) Innovation in Education + Technology.
Technologists can learn education easier than educators will learn technology. These two groups need to come together, or as I suspect, educators competent in understanding the capabilities and possibliites of technology will need to exist in higher learning. The rate of change in society may be hard to keep up with a tenure seeking mindset.
5) K-12 educators seem a lot more tech friendly than post-secondary educators.
Post-secondary educators seem often threatened by technology replacing them, and fail to recognize that improved digital learning experiences will be like better text books.
If our educators aren't levelling up on tech use, they wont be able to help the students of the future.