The title ‘Where’s the Learning in Schools?’ adapts Jeffrey Pfeffer’s article title “Where’s the Service in our ‘Service Economy?'” He recounts the lack of service, the supposed core of a service economy, he saw in several retail stores. He speculates why more retail service did not occur.
Most teacher bloggers would likely argue that learning occurs in schools, a supposed core of formal learning in the U.S. However, casual observers, such as Pfeffer in stores, would not necessarily see the important learning in schools.
Casual, uninformed observers should be able to see learning occurring in any venue claiming to teach or in other ways enable learning.
Teachers may be right: learning occurs in schools. But, their claim does not reach criteria for state-of-the-art learning monitoring.
Tablet and other mobile PCs in and out of schools have an advantage over classroom teachers for making observations of learning promptly visible.
Loren set the pace several years ago with his original release of the MathPractice family for Tablet PCs. Each program provides increasingly difficult problems to solve, prompt feedback to the learner and lets the learner try again. Other developers have subsequently provided similar visibility on demand.
MathPractice uses a Direct Learning format for individual learners. Classrooms of students can use the software at the same time with individual responses for each user.
With prompt learning transparency with mobile PCs possible, and reasonably priced, parents, public education policy reviewers, learning analysts, et al. may now expect similar results from traditional classroom instructors and their supervisors.
Sources,:
Where’s the Service in our ‘Service Economy’?
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