151–160 of 406 posts
Back then we were facing the same issues in Turkey. Ultimately, we had to close down the site because Turkish government was silencing every opposing voice.
Funny how you guys are now thinking this is a big issue NOW.
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I think you're exactly right in that the "world APIs" for education are the limiting factor. The major issue is that the assessment process is directly tied to the learning process within a single institution, leading to both being done incredibly inoptimally. It leads to the necessity of standardized tests and exams, and accredited institutions, which limits the potential learning opportunities available to the very…
> The major issue is that the assessment process is directly tied to the learning process within a single institution, leading to both being done incredibly inoptimally. Very good point. There are no feedback looks between the two subsystems which makes them both suck. One point I'd like to raise though is that I'm not sure if it's really optimal have 'assessments'. I have some fundamental issues with assigning numer…
Experience could even just be a boolean value, has or doesn't have, instead of anything numerical. Or there could emerge separate numerical systems for each area of knowledge. The important part is that the system is based on social consensus of people who actually possess the experience, so that its the most relevant and applicable system possible.
If you're concerned about jobs and democracy, open an office in a swing state. The way the us electoral system is organized, every young educated person who moves from the heartland to California is a vote for Trump. Alternately find some way to get uneducated heartlanders to move to Fresno or something. Also it would help if you show just the smallest amount of empathy people in the U.S. who don't live in one of two…
We need to stop writing off states that aren't progressive enough as places unworthy of investment or business. Part of the problem is that "founder culture" isn't big in smaller cities away from the west coast. Some time and investment towards teaching students at state colleges and community colleges across the nation, along with some actual investments could go a very long way.
Of course, most VCs already have a deluge of bad ideas that will come to them, so they don't think there is much to be gained from seeking out new sources of ideas. But that's elitism and laziness. There are talented and driven Americans who may not talk with the same lingo or approach the same problems the same way, but leaving them out (or requiring them to move and be surrounded by others who do think how VCs want) will only entrench the existing divide.
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That's easy to say for someone with a good income. For a lot of people wages go down while cost of living goes up.
That's not what I'm getting at. I'm referring to technology specifically. Cost of living is dictated predominantly by the cost of housing, healthcare, education, and food. Food cost as a % of income has decreased significantly since 1960 according to the USDA [1]. Technology and globalization have impacted food a lot. Education, and housing? Not nearly as much. Healthcare is more complicated, and I'm not an expert, s…
I just wanted to expose something commonly left out of these discussions, which is that technology is generally deflationary. More technology in the areas of healthcare, education, and housing might be the solution, not the problem.
I am a little ambivalent about this. On the one hand the intent is probably good but on the other hand companies like YC and Silicon Valley are drivers of a lot of developments that led to the current situation. - Silicon Valley is a great example of growing inequality. Most of the rewards go disproportionally to a select few at the top - A lot of VC companies are killing a lot of previously relatively stable jobs. U…
Technology is a tool. Effects depend on who handles it / with which incentives. It can naturally facilitate wrongdoing (intended or not) but it also can – and it would be irresponsible not to use it – to counter said wrongdoings.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
That's easy to say for someone with a good income. For a lot of people wages go down while cost of living goes up.
That's not what I'm getting at. I'm referring to technology specifically. Cost of living is dictated predominantly by the cost of housing, healthcare, education, and food. Food cost as a % of income has decreased significantly since 1960 according to the USDA [1]. Technology and globalization have impacted food a lot. Education, and housing? Not nearly as much. Healthcare is more complicated, and I'm not an expert, s…
Education should be on this list. The root of all these problems stem from a lack of effective education. 1) The current methods are highly ineffective for teaching By getting more effective at teaching children, and helping them to self educate, we get better informed citizens who can interpret news more accurately and effectively participate in democracy. 2) The current goals for education do not align with current…
Education and News are two sides of the same coin. At some point the majority of the adult population makes the decision to learn about the world from entertainment companies. We should reanalyze what news and continuing education mean, relative to each other. https://theconversation.com/ and http://www.worldcrunch.com/ make good starts, as do aggregators like http://www.aldaily.com/ and https://redef.com/ As far as…
Contrary to popular belief - even here on HN - teachers are chronically making known sub-optimal instructional tradeoffs because they lack the time to complete tasks as they should ideally be completed. Very little seems to be done to create tools to improve the instructional process (that doesn't involve removing the teacher from that very process - e.g. MOOCs, Khan Academy, Knewton, etc.). Those digital alternative absolutely have a place, but there's a lot of opportunity to fundamentally improve the instructional work being done by teachers in classrooms every day.
Your suggestions are a great place to start:
- network instructional materials and lessons so they can be accessed in their entirety by other teachers
- network assessment materials that are tied (on the question/answer level) to standards and common goals (e.g. comprehension quip above).
Email is in profile if anyone would like to continue this discussion in a more detailed manner outside the thread.
I am a little ambivalent about this. On the one hand the intent is probably good but on the other hand companies like YC and Silicon Valley are drivers of a lot of developments that led to the current situation. - Silicon Valley is a great example of growing inequality. Most of the rewards go disproportionally to a select few at the top - A lot of VC companies are killing a lot of previously relatively stable jobs. U…
Silicon Valley is a great example of growing inequality. Most of the rewards go disproportionally to a select few at the top. That's a good thing: http://www.paulgraham.com/inequality.html "Decreasing economic inequality means taking money from the rich. Since risk and reward are equivalent, decreasing potential rewards automatically decreases people's appetite for risk. Startups are intrinsically risky. Without the…
(Of course, Facebook has had such a ridiculously large effect on the world that argument is probably hard to win, but it illustrates what I'm trying to say)
I applied to Y combinator with an app that addressed both points raised under news section three years ago and didn't get accepted. Back then we were facing the same issues in Turkey. Ultimately, we had to close down the site because Turkish government was silencing every opposing voice. Funny how you guys are now thinking this is a big issue NOW.
How is this sentiment useful? Sorry, guys. Whatever you do now is invalidated by what you didn't do before. The past is only useful as something we can learn from. Focussing on what can be done now is something we can actually grapple with, change, and improve.
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Having worked myself as a constituent contact in a Congressional office, I can tell you from experience that you are exactly right. Someone who's willing to hand-write a letter and pay for a stamp is seen as a more motivated constituent -- more likely to care enough about the issue to have it decide how they'll vote in November, in other words -- than someone who makes a call; and the caller is more motivated than so…
I asked this elsewhere, but does being a donor matter at all for calls/letters? If so they check the dollar amount?
That being said, once the sums you contribute get large enough you will almost certainly get to be known around the office -- either explicitly (e.g. the Chief of Staff tells all the people who handle correspondence "Bob Smith is a good friend of the Congressman's, if you find any messages from him bring those straight to me") or implicitly (e.g. the staff of the Congressional office notices that when Bob Smith comes in to meet with the boss he's ushered right in and stays for a long time). So large contributors' messages can easily get special attention, even without that kind of direct connection to their contributions ever being made.