Teachers to be replaced by apps

Having to enter your final answer in a particular format onto a computer compared to pages of written working on out on paper
Ok I am not a teacher but have seen enough GCSE marking guides to know that to get the mark you have to give your answer in exactly the correct format/word/phrase etc

pupils retain information better when writing than when using a computer No reason why the course couldn't include using a stylus or writing and scanning answers. Computers long ago learnt how to read handwriting.

What about the increasingly large body of work on the idea that pupils retain information better when writing than when using a computer.?

I think AI giving feedback is probably a way off. We still working on trying to get it to hold a conversation properly aren’t we?

liloland

I suspect that the choice to study his A level is his.

TheDrsDocMartens
Imagine an entire school when the internet crashed

I don't have to imagine. :)

We did a virtual A level as part of my 6th form, over 10 years ago. It can work. It's not true "teaching" but a box ticking excercise (but then teachers have to tech that way so often these days!)

The example in the op is exactly how my ds is studying for his further maths A level as his school don't offer it.

Imagine an entire school when the internet crashed

noblegiraffe just because one package is shit it doesn't mean computer ai and learning isn't without great potential.

I have no doubt they are pushing shit systems at the moment.

How good are the computers going to be at:

You’re not as focused as you usually are, is everything OK?
OK, I know we’ve got to get on with Macbeth but first - how good was Bake Off last night?
Miss - you’ll never guess what Trump just tweeted!
Miss - you know that last lesson we watched that Zephaniah interview? Look what I found on YouTube about it!
Right, it’s last period and I know we’re supposed to be reading Chapter 7 but I found this fascinating article on the MeToo movement which I think we need to read and discuss.

There are some interesting studies by Sugata Mitra relating to independent learning and technology which suggest children learn best when using technology to find answers themselves.

He has lot of talks on Youtube. I doubt this will work for all but traditional teaching doesn't work for all either. Wouldn't want Pearson doing it though. They are shocking

What about the actual teaching? Sometimes you need different methods to learn something. A good teacher knows how to get things across.

there is loads of unwritten knowledge from examining meetings, discussions with colleagues which would very impossible to replicate as well as all the exam analysis which of course a computer could do

But the unwritten knowledge could be written down, and computers are very good at learning, you only need to tell them once and then they all know forever, no need for the examining meetings.

noblegiraffe

I suspect that we are back to 'I know all about teaching because I went to school'

I have several classes that would rip this to shreds.

sonlypuppyfat

don't worry you will still be able to whine about how shit it all is.

I’m not at all convinced of that, there is loads of unwritten knowledge from examining meetings, discussions with colleagues which would very impossible to replicate as well as all the exam analysis which of course a computer could do. Never mind the issue of reading handwriting and enthusing the students, giving them a passion for the subject.

If computers can fly planes and drive cars im sure they can analyse someones work and give feedback just as good as an excellent teacher.

If an A-level student isn’t motivated to work without a TA supervising then I’m not convinced how a virtual course will work for them.
Dd1s A level classes work alone if there is no teacher available.

Who is going to mark work, give personalised feedback...

Well I guess it will be easier in some subjects rather than others but I can definitely see AI being able to do that.

I have to admit that I can see a massive positive for teachers in getting an "App" to do the bulk of the curriculum cover
on the learn ~ test ~ repeat approach
and then the teacher picks out kids to do 1-2-1 for an hour on the bits THEY need

It would allow a teacher to run 30 kids at their full capacity without them getting bored
BUT
and its an utterly mahoosive but
its only appropriate for optional subjects - where the kids want o be there

at the lower levels its a recipe for disaster

Who is going to mark work, give personalised feedback, how do you get peer to peer interaction? Sounds bloody awful, poor kids.

What worries me is the suggestion that a teaching assistant be employed to keep students on-task suggesting it's not actually that greatTeaching assistants/non specialists are are already used to supervise A-Level self study, fortnightly assessment classes or periods when teacher is ill etc. Obviously it wouldn't work with students who cant stay on task. But plenty of children who take their studying seriously can stay on task, do want to learn and are peed off at the disruptive students wasting the teachers time.

Would you really want to risk one of your 3 A-level choices on a bit of software and the hope of self-motivation? Well it sounds not unlike the Open University courses but provided in a class room, if that was the case then yes I would definitely 'consider' it as an option and do further research.

I dont think 'mymaths' is specifically designed to provide the A-level syllabus (I could be wrong) but again there is a difference between forcing children to do it that way and a student choosing to do that course, in the full knowledge of how it is taught.

I bet it would be the poor kids getting the apps, the best schools would still have proper teachers. Would have thought it was more suitable for middle/high achievers?

Alarm bells should be ringing as Pearson virtual schools in the US Link is behind a pay wall. Correct me if I am wrong but isn't a Virtual A-level a far cry from a whole virtual school?