TeachLab Presents The Homework Machine

For TeachLab’s fourth Failure to Disrupt Book Club episode, we look back at Justin’s live conversation with Natalie Rusk and Mitch Resnick from MIT’s Lifelong Kindergarten Lab and who are the developers of the Computer Clubhouse program and the Scratch programming language. They discuss the founding of these programs as well as Failure To Disrupt’s Chapter 3: Peer-Guided Learning at Scale: Networked Learning Environments.“I think sometimes there really is this misperception about this type of creative learning approach... it's growing out of, as you say in the chapter, John Dewey's ideas for the progressive education movement. And sometimes people characterize that as if-- just stand back and kids will do wonderful things on their own. And of course, if you stand back, some kids will do wonderful things on their own. But I think we're very aware that you need a whole variety of supports as Natalie was talking about. So I think sometimes people get the wrong impression about what's going to be needed. And then people might get disillusioned or feel that doesn't live up to the promise if they do just stand back and say, ‘Let it work on its own.’”    - Mitch Resnick In this episode we’ll talk about:Natalie and Mitch’s background and edtech storiesBeginning of Computer ClubhouseHow Scratch grew out of Computer ClubhouseProviding support and community to informal learning experiences Resources and LinksCheck out the Computer Clubhouse network!Check out Scratch!Learn more about the Lifelong Kindergarten Lab!Watch the full Book Club webinar here!Check out Justin Reich’s new book, Failure To Disrupt! Transcripthttps://teachlabpodcast.simplecast.com/episodes/bookclub4/transcript Produced by Aimee Corrigan and Garrett BeazleyRecorded and mixed by Garrett Beazley Follow TeachLab:FacebookTwitterYouTube

Justin Reich is joined by Susanna Pollack, president and director of Games for Change and Kate Selkirk-Litman, founding teacher and curriculum specialist at Quest to Learn, to discuss games in education and the STEM Your Game Challenge, a contest for game developers to reframe game design with the lean of serving STEM education.“The community that we want to tap through this challenge is the commercial entertainment game developer. The game developer who might not have thought about the use of their games in educational contexts, but think that there might be something unique about their game, that if paired with a curriculum developer, curriculum advisor, or an educator like Kate, could actually find those threads and those connections to align with STEM education…” - Susanna PollackNote: The deadline for submissions has since been extended to January 6, 2021. In this episode we’ll talk about:NYC school closuresGames for Change mission in light of COVIDSTEM Your Game ChallengeBridging games and educationPast examples of successful game implementations Resources and LinksLearn more about the STEM Your Game Challenge!Check out Justin Reich’s new book, Failure To Disrupt! Transcripthttps://teachlabpodcast.simplecast.com/episodes/games-for-change/transcript Produced by Aimee Corrigan and Garrett BeazleyRecorded and mixed by Garrett Beazley Follow TeachLab:FacebookTwitterYouTube

Justin Reich is joined by Barbara Means, author and executive director of learning science research at Digital Promise to discuss her research with digital learning before and during COVID.“There were quite a few universities that for equity reasons told their instructors, ‘Don't do any synchronous instruction in the spring, just put everything online and let students do it asynchronously, that is on their own time whenever they wanted.’ We found that when there were no synchronous sessions, which could have been either with the professor or it could have been online office hours, or it could have been working with a teaching assistant in a section. But if there were no synchronous sessions, the students were less happy with their course and their learning. So they really wanted that connection with a real person just like many of us do. You call up customer service. And it's so frustrating even if after the fifth click you can get to what you want. You just want to say, ‘I want a real person to talk to me and tell me they're sorry.’”    - Barbara MeansIn this episode we’ll talk about:Barbara Means’ edtech storyIn-class vs remote learning researchThree helpful practicesThe importance of a personal relationship in teachingBalancing synchronous and asynchronous learningSelf-regulated learningImplementation models Resources and LinksCheck out Barbara Means’ book, Learning Online: What Research Tells Us About Whether, When and HowLearn more about Digital PromiseCheck out Justin Reich’s new book, Failure To Disrupt! Transcripthttps://teachlabpodcast.simplecast.com/episodes/barbara-means/transcript Produced by Aimee Corrigan and Garrett BeazleyRecorded and mixed by Garrett Beazley Follow TeachLab:FacebookTwitterYouTube

For TeachLab’s third Failure to Disrupt Book Club episode, Justin Reich reflects on a live conversation with special guests Cristina and Neil Heffernan. They discuss Failure To Disrupt’s Chapter 2: Algorithm-Guided Learning at Scale: Adaptive Tutors, and discuss the success of their tool ASSISTments.“According to SRI, they thought the reason why it was successful...They were like, "This fit in with what teachers were used to doing." They're used to actually assigning homework, and classwork. They could see before the kids walked in the door, which problems were hard. And so they could do something a little differently. In fact, what they did find is actually teachers didn't go over every item the way they used to. And of course they didn't because all the kids got feedback, but they still went over the stuff that was hard. And particularly in the places where there was common wrong answers because all those kids should be told, "Hey, you weren't all alone." Meaning, actually, you and half of the rest of you all screwed up this problem in the same way. And I think there's a social-emotional component of actually doing that as opposed to just sitting in class and realizing, ‘I got everything wrong’ and not knowing everyone else, or a large number of other kids are in the same boat.” - Neil Heffernan, Professor/Researcher/Program Director In this episode we’ll talk about:The Heffernan’s edtech love storyPersonalized learning vs. forming communitiesThe rhetoric behind algorithm-guided edtechThe core of ASSISTmentsNon-disruptive edtechProviding teachers with student feedback dataVirtual Professional Learning CommunityThe surge of online learning with COVIDResources and LinksCheck out ASSISTments!Watch the full Book Club webinar here!Check out Justin Reich’s new book, Failure To Disrupt! Transcripthttps://teachlabpodcast.simplecast.com/episodes/bookclub3/transcript Produced by Aimee Corrigan and Garrett BeazleyRecorded and mixed by Garrett Beazley Follow TeachLab:FacebookTwitterYouTube

This week on TeachLab, host Justin Reich is joined by S. Craig Watkins, professor at the University of Texas at Austin and a respected voice on digital media and youth culture. Together they discuss the affordances and limitations of technology in education and the digital divide created as technology becomes a staple in the classroom.“What struck me is even as I came into the project aware of these ideas around the digital divide and the tech rich and the tech poor, the haves and the have-nots, when we subscribe to that view with no other considerations and in a very one-dimensional way, we end up imposing a kind of deficit narrative on those who we see as occupying the wrong side of the divide. That is to say we only see them, right, through lack. Lack of access to technology, lack of educational opportunities, lack of interest, lack of motivation, lack of this kind of capital, that kind of capital.”-S. Craig WatkinsIn this episode we’ll talk about:S. Craig Watkins’ edtech story: Using technology in the educational settingThe digital divideEarly adopters of mobile technologyHow classes and curriculum can stifle the creativity the technology introducesHow the pandemic changes and doesn’t change edtech Resources and LinksCheck out Young People’s Transitions into Creative Work: Navigating Challenges and OpportunitiesCheck out The Digital Edge: How Black and Latino Youth Navigate Digital Inequality by S. Craig WatkinsCheck out Don't Knock the Hustle: Young Creatives, Tech Ingenuity, and the Making of a New Innovation EconomyCheck out Justin Reich’s new book Failure to Disrupt: Why Technology Alone Can’t Transform Education Transcripthttps://teachlabpodcast.simplecast.com/episodes/s-craig-watkins/transcript Produced by Aimee Corrigan and Garrett BeazleyRecorded and mixed by Garrett Beazley Follow TeachLab:FacebookTwitterYouTube

This week on TeachLab, host Justin Reich is joined in a live webinar by members of the Youth in Front team. They answer questions and share reflections and resources that we believe can help educators process this moment themselves and with their students.“So I've been doing a 10 minute election update every day...but again, really thinking about dosage and trying to just think about what is the right amount to not sort of overwhelm you or drown you in this, but also to make sure you feel like you have space to engage. And if it takes more than 10 minutes, then we take more than 10 minutes. But trying to just plan in doses, as opposed to entire lessons about the election or the electoral college, which is how I would have taught it in person. In person, there would have been a whole voting unit and we would have gone through every element of it. I didn't feel like that was the right move in this context, and so I didn't. So I've done these sort of 10 minute doses.” - Neema AvashiaIn this episode we’ll talk about:IntroductionsHow post-election has looked in K-12 school communityHow COVID affects election educationThe multiple views of student activistsCivic education opportunities with high student awarenessTeacher transparency on personal political viewsGrounding conversations in specific textsTeaching Challenging Issues in Uncertain Times: Strategies for Online and Hybrid Teaching online course Our GuestsNeema Avashia from Boston Public Schools Kevin Dua from the Cambridge Public Schools Joshua S Littenberg-Tobias from the MIT Teaching Systems Lab Sara O'Brien from Youth In Front Resources and LinksWatch the full webinarCheck out Conversations Across Differences with Meira LevinsonCheck out Teaching Challenging Issues in Uncertain Times: Strategies for Online and Hybrid TeachingCheck out Youth in Front: Understanding and Supporting Student-led ActivismCheck out Justin Reich’s new book! Transcripthttps://teachlabpodcast.simplecast.com/episodes/youthinfront/transcript Produced by Aimee CorriganRecorded and mixed by Garrett Beazley Follow TeachLab:FacebookTwitterYouTube

For TeachLab’s second Failure to Disrupt Book Club episode, Justin Reich is joined again by friend and colleague Audrey Watters to reflect on their conversation with special guests George Siemens and Elizabeth Losh. They discuss Failure To Disrupt’s Chapter 1: Instructor-Guided Learning at Scale and Massive Open Online Courses, looking at “three big bets of MOOCs,” and exploring why MOOCs failed to achieve their most ambitious goals. “I don't know if I've ever seen an ed tech thing where we can spend eight years talking about, "What is it?" We've been trying to define, "What are MOOCs? Are MOOCs this, are they that? They're not this, they're not that." I find it fascinating why we're finding so much difficulty really nailing down what MOOCs are and what role they play.” - George Siemens, Writer/Professor/Researcher In this episode we’ll talk about:Elizabeth Losh’s EdTech storyThe global impact of MOOCs Online and remote learning during COVIDFemTechNet as an example of creative innovationProductive discourse in online forumsThe complicated relationship between Universities and MOOCs George Siemens is a writer, theorist, speaker, and researcher on learning, networks, technology, analytics and visualization, openness, organizational effectiveness, and complexity in digital environments. He is a Professor and the Executive Director of the Learning Innovation and Networked Knowledge Research Lab at University of Texas, Arlington and co-director for the Center for Change and Complexity in Learning at the University of South Australia.Elizabeth Losh is a theorist and scholar,  and the Gale and Steve Kohlhagen Professor of English and American Studies at the College of William and Mary. She specializes in Rhetoric; Digital Publishing; Feminism & Technology; Digital Humanities; and Electronic Literature. Resources and LinksWatch the full Book Club webinar here!Check out Justin Reich’s new book, Failure To Disrupt! Transcripthttps://teachlabpodcast.simplecast.com/episodes/bookclub2/transcript Produced by Aimee Corrigan and Garrett BeazleyRecorded and mixed by Garrett Beazley Follow TeachLab:FacebookTwitterYouTube

For TeachLab’s first Failure to Disrupt Book Club episode, Justin Reich is joined by friend and colleague Audrey Watters for her insight on Justin’s new book as a well respected writer on educational technology. They reflect on and play clips from the first live webinar Book Club from September 21st, where they were joined by special guest Chris Gilliard, Professor of English at Macomb Community College, to get his unique privacy and surveillance perspective on the book’s introductory chapter and edtech in the age of remote learning.“I mean, one for one, the pandemic highlighted that it's a place where kids go because their parents have to go to work. It's a place where kids get fed. It's all these things. As an educator, I don't want to overstate this. I believe strongly in education, but it is a place where people, in some ways, it holds people until they're adults. I'm trying to state that in the least offensive way possible. I mean “watch” in all the different ways you might think about it. Watch as in oversee. Watch as in take care of. Watch as in monitor.”  -Chris GilliardIn this episode we’ll talk about:Initial reflections on the webinarPrivacy and surveillance in schoolsMistaking surveillance for careCriticisms of “Learning at Scale”The incentives of technology companiesMoving forward with edtech during pandemic times Resources and LinksWatch the full Book Club webinar here!Check out Justin Reich’s new book! Transcripthttps://teachlabpodcast.simplecast.com/episodes/bookclub1/transcript Produced by Aimee Corrigan and Garrett BeazleyRecorded and mixed by Garrett Beazley Follow TeachLab:FacebookTwitterYouTube

Justin Reich is joined by Mitchell Stevens, a sociologist of education at Stanford University to discuss the history and current relationship between online learning and higher education, and how COVID has altered that relationship.“I do think this provides a moment of true uncertainty about the future, because essentially every college and university overnight had to reconceive what quality instruction would look and feel like at their institutions. It creates an openness to forward change that I honestly believe we cannot fully predict. It will depend, for example, on how American students and those who pay tuition feel about the value proposition of what they've experienced and the extent to which the utilities and advantages that they experience online are sufficiently satisfying, that they're willing to continue a conversation about online or hybrid delivery. I do believe this is the context in which how students and their families respond to these new environments will be definitive in how the fate of the sector unfolds.” - Mitchell StevensIn this episode we’ll talk about:What is higher education?How online learning fits in with higher educationThe historical relationshipHow the pandemic changed the attitude towards online learningWhy isn’t higher education turning towards expensive, already produced online courses?No mandate and no incentive to measure learningThe influx of K-12 homeschoolingEducational businesses, how they stand between home and school. Resources and LinksLearn more about Mitchell Stevens and check out his Twitter!Check out Justin Reich’s new book! Transcripthttps://teachlabpodcast.simplecast.com/episodes/mitchell-stevens/transcript Produced by Aimee Corrigan and Garrett BeazleyRecorded and mixed by Garrett Beazley Follow TeachLab:FacebookTwitterYouTube

Justin Reich is joined by editor and EdSurge podcast host Jeff Young to discuss the current state of higher education and the technology issues of opening schools during the pandemic. They also look at Jeff’s new project, the Pandemic Campus Diaries, a series on the EdSurge Podcast that aims to document this unique moment in a lively and lasting way, and shine a light on the nuanced effects the pandemic has on students whose learning has been disrupted.“...we were trying to get a sense of, ‘what is the experience?’ And so we have kind of drafted a cohort of professors and students at these six campuses of various types around the country, different geographies, different types of campuses and trying to get-- we don't know what's going to happen. None of us do.” - Jeff Young In this episode we’ll talk about:Pandemic Campus Diaries projectTypes of adaptations for remote learningTechnology on delicate and disruptive systemsThe cost of COVID policies on the campus experienceWorking together to create solutionsThe variety of experiences between professors Resources and LinksCheck out EdSurge and the Campus Pandemic DiariesCheck out Justin Reich’s new book! Transcripthttps://teachlabpodcast.simplecast.com/episodes/jeff-young/transcript Produced by Aimee Corrigan and Garrett BeazleyRecorded and mixed by Garrett Beazley Follow TeachLab:FacebookTwitterYouTube