Can online learning make teaching more human?
Data-driven pedagogy. The phrase conjures a robotic, dull future that only intensifies the worst aspects of 20th-century, bureaucratic, industrial wasteland-style schooling, where learners are defined down to “users,” or even metonymized as disembodied “eyeballs,” and force-fed bits of disconnected information.
For a counternarrative, the question is simple. What can creative humans do with the power of data? One possible answer is that computer-powered analytics could expand humans’ ability to focus on the most human aspects of teaching and learning.
I reported earlier this year on a small experiment the video website Khan Academy ran to this end.
While browsing the web site, some Khan users saw a simple slogan added to the page next to, say, a math problem: “The more you learn today, the smarter you’ll be tomorrow.” The line linked to a further explanation of the concept of “mindset,” the famous body of research by Harvard psychologist Carol Dweck on growth, achievement and motivation.
Displaying that one line led to a 5% increase in problems attempted, proficiencies earned, and return visits to the site, compared to otherwise similar learners who did not see the line.
This week, Andrew Liu, Udacity’s data science intern, blogged about his own research with the data
Data-driven pedagogy. The phrase conjures a robotic, dull future that only intensifies the worst aspects of 20th-century, bureaucratic, industrial wasteland-style schooling, where learners are defined down to “users,” or even metonymized as disembodied “eyeballs,” and force-fed bits of disconnected information.
For a counternarrative, the question is simple. What can creative humans do with the power of data? One possible answer is that computer-powered analytics could expand humans’ ability to focus on the most human aspects of teaching and learning.
I reported earlier this year on a small experiment the video website Khan Academy ran to this end.
While browsing the web site, some Khan users saw a simple slogan added to the page next to, say, a math problem: “The more you learn today, the smarter you’ll be tomorrow.” The line linked to a further explanation of the concept of “mindset,” the famous body of research by Harvard psychologist Carol Dweck on growth, achievement and motivation.
Displaying that one line led to a 5% increase in problems attempted, proficiencies earned, and return visits to the site, compared to otherwise similar learners who did not see the line.
This week, Andrew Liu, Udacity’s data science intern, blogged about his own research with the data