AI in schools – The choice we keep making
4 hours ago
- New educational technologies are often sold as solutions, but they rarely improve learning and often worsen it, as seen with television and MOOCs.
- The core of effective education remains unchanged: a skilled teacher working closely with a small group of students—technology has never made this cheaper without making it worse.
- Tech companies push products because they profit, ignoring teachers' warnings; Upton Sinclair's insight applies: it's hard to see clearly when your income depends on not seeing.
- The author's experience with smart boards cost $50,000 and were abandoned by teachers; a projector and whiteboard proved more useful.
- Open gradebooks, sold as transparency, led to grade inflation, obsessive checking (50–80 times daily), meaningless feedback, and inflated student confidence misaligned with actual ability.
- AI in schools faces the same choice: use it as a tool to support teachers (e.g., creating lesson variations) or let it replace teacher judgment, which has historically harmed students.
- Education is inherently expensive because it relies on human time, attention, and relationships—no technology has made it efficient without sacrificing quality.
- The author advises listening to teachers, who have consistently been right about technology's limitations in education.