Is the problem facing America’s education system a people problem, or an information / technology problem?
Steve Midgley: The United States education system does have some significant shortcomings. And those shortcomings are inequitably distributed among racial, social, language and other lines. From that perspective, it’s pretty clear that as a country, we can and should do better. Technology does today and will in the future play a role in improving educational outcomes for students. Technology has often played a significant role in helping to make social and economic activities more effective, efficient and in some cases even transformative. How can technology continue to help education in more and more significant ways? We at the Department do not think that technology’s role is in supplanting teachers. Technology however can assist in supporting a teacher to make her more effective,, allowing her to focus on connecting and working with students in a personal and personalized way. How? Some learning today has to be generalized to be effective (e.g. “direct instruction”). But the fact is
