Teachers and software

Sunday's Times had this article about the disappointing results of very expensive technology in the classroom.

Turns out that very expensive software doesn't necessarily help students achieve higher test scores.Gee, who'da thunk? Me. And just about anyone else who's ever taught young people for a living.

The design of the software seems right; lots of self-quizzes, hints for students to solve problems, the ability for students to move at their own pace etc. etc.  Should work.  Doesn't.  No kidding.

What's missing from the equation is a reason to learn.  Why do we learn anything?  Learning is fun and exciting when it allows us to either survive or connect with another person (which, evolutionarily speaking, helps us survive, too.)  Living the life of the mind is only for people who want to be in a community with others living the lift of the mind.  Otherwise, it's a very lonely place (read Emily Dickinson for background on that.)

The number one thing research points to as adding to test scores is "effective teaching," something that seems hard to define until we connect our reason to learn (survive or connect) to the notion.  When a teacher can help a student see the value of learning in terms or survival or connection, they can be effective.  What do I mean?  Students in college flock to courses that seem most relevant to their job search - survival.  Universities across the U.S. struggle to maintain strong humanities departments and avoid turning into job-training sites.  Understandable -- but since survival is why we learn, the trend is understandable.

To inspire students to live the life of the mind, a teacher has to be someone the students want to be able to relate to and talk to within that life.  Think about the last time you met someone really interesting -- you wanted to be able to "speak their language," or share in their interest, right?  You liked them, so you wanted to connect with them on a higher level.

Whether we're talking about young children who want to be able to "talk science" with their third grade teacher who obviously LOVES science, or university students who have an "aha" moment and pop into a professor's office hours to talk about it, what's happening here is learning for the sake of connecting.

Curriculum matters.  Textbooks, facilities and supplies matter, too.  Paying teachers what they're worth matters.  But for someone to learn anything, they need to be motivated to connect to someone who's already learned it.  That's not about software, that's about human connection.