Watch this video and ask yourself:
- Is this the future of education – powered by artificial intelligence and facial recognition – that you want?
- Do you think it will help to prepare students for the challenges they are and will face as contributors to society and as participants in the workforce?
- If you were a student, would you voluntarily choose to use it and – if so – under what circumstances or conditions?
This week, the Trump Administration released its FY18 budget request and its priorities are as expected: a reduced federal investment and role in K-12 education and some new school choice priorities. Congress won’t pass it as is; Congress never does. But, these are the two themes it seems likely to me that we’ll continue to see under the current regime. EdTech appears not to be a special priority in the budget request and – in fact – a close read of the staffing request for the Department revealed a potential re-organization and minimization of the role of the Office of Educational Technology underway (details here).
Cyber incidents affecting K-12 schools continue apace. As of the time I am writing this, I’ve identified 138 incidents since the start of 2016. For those not keeping score, allow me to catch you up: roughly two times per week – every week since 2016 – a public report is made of a cyber incident affecting a K-12 school or district. These incidents involve the disclosure of data about students and teachers and disruptions to teaching and learning that relies on technology. And, they undermine trust in the ability of K-12 schools to make good choices about the use of technology. Given the nature of public disclosure about these incidents, it also is surely an undercount (perhaps by orders of magnitude). Two other threads I’ll be watching:
- Google knew about the Google Docs phishing exploit years before it swept through schools, but chose not to fix it. When we outsource our IT to third parties, we trust them to make the choices we would make about data privacy and security. Sometimes they do; sometimes they don’t. Too often, the only way we find out is when something goes wrong.
- Students continue to hack their own school IT services, and the laws and policies we apply in these cases seem ill-equipped. We celebrated Ferris Bueller in my day; today, we threaten these kids with expulsion and jail time. Some kids are even counter-suing. This will only continue to escalate.
More broadly, it seems notable that a number of prominent figures in the world of technology are beginning to raise questions and concerns about the state and direction of the field. Most recently, we have Walt Mossberg (perhaps the most influential technology journalist to ever wield a pen):
Otherwise, here’s what caught my eye this past week – news, tools, and reports about education, public policy, technology, and innovation – including a little bit about why. No endorsements; no sponsored content; no apologies for my eclectic tastes.
Strong opinions may be weakly held.
A Thinking Person’s Guide to EdTech News (2017 Week 21 Edition)
Ed-Tech Publishing Group Wrestles With Shift to "Student-Centered" Learning | Market Brief →
My definition of 'student-centered’ doesn't involve the pervasive tracking and sharing of students’ digital actions - for which students offer no consent and over which they have no control.
Tagged on: May 28, 2017
The Next Stage for EdSurge Concierge | EdSurge News →
Recall that you and I funded this EdSurge effort and the pivot via our federal taxes and ED's SBIR program. Personally, I struggle to see a compelling federal role for investment here...
Tagged on: May 28, 2017
Fate of Nevada Connections Academy remains undecided | Las Vegas Review-Journal →
The seven-member authority board oversees charters authorized by the state and can close or restructure high schools that have graduation rates below 60 percent. Nevada Connections Academy’s graduation rate was 37 percent in 2015 and 40 percent in 2016.
Tagged on: May 27, 2017
OUR VIEW: KHSD misused database but where was state DOJ? | Bakersfield.com →
The Kern High School District deserves harsh criticism for its apparent misuse of the highly restricted police information database known as the California Law Enforcement Telecommunications System. The school district clearly overstepped its bounds, running invasive CLETS checks on students, parents and others, often without sufficient justification.
Tagged on: May 27, 2017
3 reasons I’ll not be returning to Twitter | Open Educational Thinkering →
I find I agree with much about Doug Belshaw's line of thinking here (and also have been exploring the possibility of migrating my social media use to Mastodon). Stay tuned...
Tagged on: May 27, 2017
Don't Let Personalized Learning Become the Processed Food of Education | Education Next →
Mike wonders, "...if the model is premised on the idea that we can break knowledge and skills into discreet standards and progressions, and if teacher-led discussions are discouraged...." It is. There is a chasm between the rhetoric and practice of technology by some in our field. We would do well to work harder to separate the wheat from the chaff.
Tagged on: May 25, 2017
Data breach lawsuits underway | The Leader →
This lawsuit - the second (!) filed by educators against their employer, Tipton County schools, re: the successful phishing of their W-2s by unknown attackers - alleges violations of federal and state law, negligence, loss of value of personal property and requests damages to be awarded, including the cost to the injured employees of fraud protection, lost pay and future damages incurred when identities are stolen.
Tagged on: May 25, 2017
Anonymous student data may be shared with researchers | The Advertiser →
National research organizations may soon get access to Louisiana students’ unidentified personal information. The Louisiana House Thursday passed a bill, 73-16, would allow such data to be sent to legitimate educational researchers.
Tagged on: May 25, 2017
Ohio schools might regain paper option for standardized tests | The Independent →
After one year of requiring students to take their state standardized tests on a computer, Ohio’s legislators could give the state’s schools the choice to go back to paper and pencil.
Tagged on: May 24, 2017
Why Bad Online Courses Are Still Taught in Schools | Slate →
Because many of the laws regulating them are toothless—and because of an aggressive political effort to maintain that status quo.
Tagged on: May 24, 2017
Barnes & Noble Education gains foothold in analytics market with Unizin deal | Inside HigherEd →
With declining revenues, Barnes & Noble Education is pushing beyond books into the predictive analytics market.
Tagged on: May 24, 2017
Cyber charter schools cost ESASD millions | Pocono Record →
East Stroudsburg Area School District and its taxpayers paid cyber charter schools $3.7 million last year. That total has climbed consistently for at least the last five years.
Tagged on: May 23, 2017
It is this strong alliance of policymakers, civic and business elites, and friends in the corporate, foundation, and media worlds that relies on standards of effectiveness, fidelity, and popularity. This coalition and their standards continue to dominate public debate, school reform agendas, and determinations of “success” and “failure.”
Tagged on: May 23, 2017
Federal spending on technology could reach $95 billion in 2018 | FederalNewsRadio.com →
“Surprisingly" (the author writes) the Education Department would see an increase of $28 million in its IT budget next year.
Tagged on: May 23, 2017
Technology allows us to monitor our kids around the clock. But should we? | Houston Chronicle →
Are we, with all of these surveillance technologies, placing our children in a virtual panopticon? Should we be concerned that this surveillance converts kids into objects, rather than the autonomous subjects we want them to be?
Tagged on: May 23, 2017
What’s at Stake When Government’s Data Is Stolen | Government Technology →
Cyberbreaches can cost the taxpayers a lot of money. But the consequences aren't just financial.
Tagged on: May 23, 2017
Meet Caliper, the Data Standard That May Help Us (Finally) Measure Edtech Efficacy | EdSurge News →
This article frames the massive surveillance of students by companies and teachers as an unabashed social good and as an obvious positive benefit to students themselves. Instead, it feels to me that students are objectified in this frame. Because we can automate this collection and sharing of information about children and youth in school, doesn't mean we should.
Tagged on: May 22, 2017
$14 million later, Iowa schools drop troublesome testing software | The Des Moines Register →
The Iowa Department of Education will terminate its contract with a testing software vendor after a technical audit found the system was "unfit" and came with "a very high risk of continuous failures."
Tagged on: May 22, 2017
I Am an Online Credit Recovery Dropout | Slate →
To understand the computer-based courses many high-schoolers must take, I signed up for some. It was even less fun than you’d think.
Tagged on: May 22, 2017
Fast. Isolating. Superficial. | Slate →
What class is like for the millions of high-schoolers now taking courses online.
Tagged on: May 22, 2017
The New Diploma Mills | Slate →
Rushing to boost graduation rates, more school districts are relying on “online credit recovery”—a form of instruction that may be selling students short.
Tagged on: May 22, 2017
Reporter Matt Barnum takes an uncharacteristically muted view of the research on and criticisms of personalized learning, but it still isn't a pretty picture for supporters (who contend that its best days remain ahead of us, if only we keep innovating).
Tagged on: May 21, 2017
Senator Warner pushes FTC to protect children's data security with 'smart toys' | NBC12 →
U.S. Senator Warner is pushing the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to protect children's data security with internet-connected "smart toys." He sent a letter to the FTC "asking the agency about its efforts to protect children's privacy following several high-profile instances of children’s data being hacked."
Tagged on: May 21, 2017
New [PDF] report on the deployment of robust broadband to NYC schools, which found concerns regarding project management and oversight.
Tagged on: May 21, 2017
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