Seattle Public Schools IT Head John Krull answers our questions…well, sort of
John Krull agreed to answer our questions about what is happening in terms of technology and software programs planned for Seattle Public Schools.
As Krull states in his letter of application for the position within Seattle Public Schools, “I implemented a blended and personal learning infrastructure for 87 urban schools improving overall student engagement”.
To put that in plain English, “blended and personalized learning” means that a student works in front of a computer the greater part of the day and the teacher is then able to manage over 40 to 50 students in a classroom, theoretically, which is a way to cut cost.
This is a popular approach for online charter schools like Summit charter school.
Computers or laptops are programmed with packaged lessons that many times have not been vetted by parents or teachers or as in Seattle, by the school board. There is also experimental software using a Social Emotional Learning (SEL) program that is integrated into the computers to determine a student’s mindset and attitude.
Then there is the concern of student privacy and the culling of personal information that can be provided to third parties with no protections by FERPA.
We raised a red flag when we discovered that John Krull had been hired by Seattle Public Schools after working in Oakland with their public school system which I wrote about in The Progressive.
The following are the ten questions we submitted to John Krull, Chief Information Officer for Seattle Public Schools, with Krull’s answers after each question.
- Why did you decide to move to Seattle after two years in Oakland?
I thoroughly enjoyed my almost four years as Chief Technology Officer in Oakland. While there, I led a team that made numerous advancements in use of technology in students’ education.
Seattle Public Schools presents another exciting opportunity to leverage technology to provide the best educational experience for students in an area I call home. I have Seattle Public Schools IT Head John Krull answers our questions…well, sort of | Seattle Education: