As always, lots to think about here. McLuhan and Postman have certainly become even more relevant of late. Also reminded me of Neil Selwyn - years ago - on how educational technologies are shaped as much by commercial priorities. “Problems” in education are often defined to fit tech solutions. A meta problem of the medium is the message. But positives also. For me speed at which detailed, feedback can be given (at distance) when needed (almost automatically) in the run up to exams has been revolutionary.
Yes, I think the speed and scalability of technology make certain trade-offs worth it. But it's good to try and think how we can use technology to preserve paper based education & assessments too.
Agreed. The exam based feedback I have been giving - IBDP history - is all handwritten for the moment. The IB moves to digital assessment in the next few years. The accuracy of the inbuilt OCR is remarkable and eliminates handwriting biases. Our students do history in three languages. I can cope with the French but I have no German. I can trust the AI to do the job as it provides an accurate transcript first. During the Easter holiday exam prep time, students send me PDFs of essays and plans and I can provide detailed feedback (cumulative - it remembers the student's previous essays) in minutes. I am still in the loop, but I am not sure I need to be or should be.
As always, lots to think about here. McLuhan and Postman have certainly become even more relevant of late. Also reminded me of Neil Selwyn - years ago - on how educational technologies are shaped as much by commercial priorities. “Problems” in education are often defined to fit tech solutions. A meta problem of the medium is the message. But positives also. For me speed at which detailed, feedback can be given (at distance) when needed (almost automatically) in the run up to exams has been revolutionary.
Yes, I think the speed and scalability of technology make certain trade-offs worth it. But it's good to try and think how we can use technology to preserve paper based education & assessments too.
Agreed. The exam based feedback I have been giving - IBDP history - is all handwritten for the moment. The IB moves to digital assessment in the next few years. The accuracy of the inbuilt OCR is remarkable and eliminates handwriting biases. Our students do history in three languages. I can cope with the French but I have no German. I can trust the AI to do the job as it provides an accurate transcript first. During the Easter holiday exam prep time, students send me PDFs of essays and plans and I can provide detailed feedback (cumulative - it remembers the student's previous essays) in minutes. I am still in the loop, but I am not sure I need to be or should be.