Learning Inputs & Passion-Based Opportunities
A collection of thoughts, reflections, & connections that have stood out through January 2024.
Throughout several 2023 Reflection / 2024 Prediction thought pieces, a common theme was shifting away from learning outcomes and focusing more on learning inputs:
Avalanche VC’s predictions for EdTech in 2024: “The lynchpin of efficacious education is the quality of pedagogy designed into products to produce learning outcomes.”
The Talent Lab in their 2024 prediction post: “#5 - Interestingly enough, there’s a broader trend, induced by COVID, away from summative assessments (Regents Exams, GMATs, SATs, etc.), and that trend goes hand-in-hand with AI elevating our expectations around what assessments should measure.”
Matt Tower’s 2023 in Review article: “Now, the Carnegie Foundation’s education arm…is putting their social and financial capital behind a change explicitly focused on “shift[ing] schools’ focus away from traditional ‘seat time’ requirements and towards more accurate measures of mastery over academic content.” A competency-based future is a future with a whole new paradigm of funding incentives. With luck, this paradigm will be built around results - moving a learner from point A to point B rather than just getting their butt in the chair.”
As educators, we know that assessments only measure part of the learning that’s happening in the classroom. (From a policy perspective, standardized tests and curriculum do make sense - they provide stakeholders with national data that is comparable across geography.)
There are layers to the learning process, as Umes Shretha outlines in his post, On How Learning Happens - 5:
Visible layer (teacher-managed activities)
Semi-visible (peer culture, relationships, interactions)
Semi-invisible (individual student behavior & thinking)
Invisible (mental process, sense-making, understanding)
Go read Umes’ full article to get a more complete rundown of each one of these layers!
Learning inputs are complex and involve interactions at the individual student level, the culture & community of the classroom, the pedagogy of, and the relationship with the teacher.
Measuring outputs is hard because pinpointing the learning process is hard.
I want to center the idea of classroom culture & community, given its deep impact on learning. In the EdTech Insiders episode Breaking Barriers: Exploring Inclusive Education, Dr. Yenda Prado discusses how inclusivity means access AND social capital.
To be inclusive means leaning into the social, collaborative nature of learning.
She discusses the potential of EdTech tools that foster collaboration. Upon hearing this, I reflected on my time in the classroom.
I realized that the tools that I experimented with in my pedagogy were individual: remedial instruction, individualized access & UDL tools, engagement, etc.
Combined with how much I’ve learned in the last 6 months about social learning, I am curious about existing EdTech tools that explicitly support collaboration.
If you know of any companies that are currently doing this work, comment below or message me on LinkedIn.
The tools that I used when in the classroom offer an aspect of whole group learning (group Kahoot games, IXL Leaderboards, Read180 stations) that can be competitive.
While I don’t think competition is inherently good or bad, I am wondering what the other side of the coin looks like.
To provide an example, what might the language learning experience on Duolingo feel like by yourself? How might it change the experience if you were to join a group and work on language acquisition together?
Learning in community aids in new and unexpected outcomes that can create higher-quality learning outcomes.
As Dr. Yenda Prado says, “The toughest problems out there can only be solved together”. By addressing inclusion, we address collaboration. By addressing collaboration, we address inclusion.
This makes me think of the classic ‘students hate group projects’ trope: I wonder what kinds of opportunities exist to build EdTech tools that bring people together with a specific project in mind; to create collaboration, connection, and community around a learning goal.
Better learning inputs mean better learning outcomes.
I’m going to shift out of a purely K12 perspective and reflect briefly on the space between K12 & Higher Ed: How do we support students' pathways toward a higher education degree and / or a career?
What I’m excited about in this space is building the pipeline of student interest toward their next step.
Mentioned on EdTech Insiders: Tech Equity and Inclusivity, Pedro Martinez, CEO of Chicago Public Schools, discusses the Chicago Roadmap program. This program provides Chicago high school students with an opportunity to connect to college-level courses through City Colleges of Chicago in an area they’re interested in, find mentorship by current college students, and understand what a career looks like in that field.
Partnerships are popping up between EdTech companies, like StraighterLine, YearUp, Polygence, public schools, higher education institutions, and industry that allow students to get connected to their interests early on.
This feels like an elevated version of project-based learning. The idea is that high school students or graduates can be connected to high-level learning opportunities (through internships, research, college credits, etc) without needing to fully enroll in a degree.
The impact is empowering students to make informed decisions about their future.
To wrap up:
I’m Looking For… EdTech companies who build collaboration skills in K12 classrooms.
I’m Excited About… Connecting students with their interests sooner rather than later.
I’m Exploring… Competency-based education & measuring soft skills.
I’m Reflecting On… What it means to hold space for all of the complexities of teaching, learning, and technology, and serving as a resource for others.
This is the process of my learning in public. If you found any of this interesting, helpful, or thoughtful, I’d love to connect with you. 😊