Another Somewhat Obvious Report about Hippy Dippy Learning
December 25, 2020
What’s “hippy dippy”? That’s my code word for expecting students to sit in front of a computing device to learn. When individuals are freed from class and a motivated instructor, the students kick into screw around mode: Games, porn, TikTok, and digital mischief. Am I the only person in rural Kentucky aware of this fact? I don’t think so.
I read with some amusement (short-lived, very short-lived) “Kids Are Failing Online Learning.” The write up reports:
… Students are still struggling with the switch to online learning months after in-person classrooms shuttered.
I noted these factoids:
Around the United States, as grades trickle in, it’s become clear how devastating the switch to remote learning has been for many students. In Austin, early data released to local reporters noted that failing grades had increased by 70%. (A spokesperson for the Austin Independent School District, Cristina Nguyen, said more recently updated data showed the district overall didn’t see a statistically significant increase in failing grades, although secondary schools did see an increase.) One notably detailed report from Fairfax, Va., on first-quarter grades found that F’s had increased from 6% the prior year to 11% this year. The report concluded that there was a “widening gap” among students…
Online has been around for decades. The shift to online learning has made clear that putting students in a classroom with a teacher works better than thumb typing.
Is this dismal report important? Yes, it is. The write up confirms that making a technology shift teaches. Students learn how to excel at displacement activities. Those are okay but may not be helpful in making informed decisions.
Sure, there will be exceptions. Is that why there is an elite in today’s social construct? In person and classroom instruction may reduce the gap between thumb typers who wander and those few who can suck in data and generate high value outputs.
Computing devices are not magical online teaching systems because what students learn may be how to islands of ignorance. The islands, however, each perceive their knowledge empire as comprehensive, robust, and informed.
Stephen E Arnold, December 25, 2020
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