How convenient for Zuckerberg that his "learning" program directs children to click links that send them to ad and tracking filled websites.
This is exactly the type of "philanthropy" I expected from his "charity" when it was announced.
Parents and students in Kansas have concerns about the Summit Learning program
11–20 of 28 posts
Re: Parents and students in Kansas have concerns about the Summit Learning program
#12Earlier quoted context omitted.
It’s Kansas. Public education funding was gutted. That said, the number of parents working in Silicon Valley who would send their kids to a school that worked like this is very low. The closest thing would be Alt-School which pretty much failed. So on one hand, the hypocrisy is annoying. On the other hand, these schools have no money so maybe this helps them stay open at least.
>That said, the number of parents working in Silicon Valley who would send their kids to a school that worked like this is very low I wouldn't be so sure of that. Many people prefer self directed and independent learning. And the reality is that once you're out of college effectively all learning happens that way.
I’m one of these parents, and I know a lot of them.
Most restrict screen time to ... zero. And they’re big names at Google and FB and whatever.
“Self directed” comes in many different forms. I’m not saying Summit is negative (although one of the comments on this story references a study that says it’s net-equal to negative). I’m just pointing out that SF/SV is a weird place.
Re: Parents and students in Kansas have concerns about the Summit Learning program
#13Silicon Valley’s mantra for finding suckers(in their minds) in the flyover country is “we come bearing gifts” and don’t forget the mission to “change the world”
Re: Parents and students in Kansas have concerns about the Summit Learning program
#14I’m all for exploring new ways to educate kids but does anyone else think it’s kind of weird these experiments are happening in public schools?
Why not set up low-cost private opt-in “Lab schools” instead? That way, if the experimental program isn’t working for a student they can transfer back to regular school.
Re: Parents and students in Kansas have concerns about the Summit Learning program
#15The idea that children should spend their days staring at screens and never interacting with other human beings seems really sick. But oh so on brand for the Valley.
Although it's my understanding that the valley rich people pay for their children to get educated by humans rather than computer monitors.
Re: Parents and students in Kansas have concerns about the Summit Learning program
#16One of the things that worries me about the current approaches to improving schools is that we focus so much on ensuring a minimum standard for all students to meet. I think for the future of the country, we should care much more about ensuring that exceptional students are allowed to excel. An exceptional student from a wealthy background will get the extra support they need, but we need a system where exceptional students from any background are able to reach their real potential.
If something like personalized learning can be made to work, it really has a ton of potential to realize this vision. It's a major project to really get this right though. Not sure if Summit has the right approach, but this article doesn't talk at all about what they're actually doing. It would be nice to see some much more thoughtful criticism.
Re: Parents and students in Kansas have concerns about the Summit Learning program
#17Earlier quoted context omitted.
>That said, the number of parents working in Silicon Valley who would send their kids to a school that worked like this is very low I wouldn't be so sure of that. Many people prefer self directed and independent learning. And the reality is that once you're out of college effectively all learning happens that way.
I’m one of these parents, and I know a lot of them. Most restrict screen time to ... zero. And they’re big names at Google and FB and whatever. “Self directed” comes in many different forms. I’m not saying Summit is negative (although one of the comments on this story references a study that says it’s net-equal to negative). I’m just pointing out that SF/SV is a weird place.
> “Self directed” comes in many different forms
e.g. Montessori schools are very much in favor of self directed learning, but not in the form of computer instruction.
Re: Parents and students in Kansas have concerns about the Summit Learning program
#18I’m all for exploring new ways to educate kids but does anyone else think it’s kind of weird these experiments are happening in public schools? Why not set up low-cost private opt-in “Lab schools” instead? That way, if the experimental program isn’t working for a student they can transfer back to regular school.
That was the original premise of charter schools, and decades later, the pitch for AltSchools.
Re: Parents and students in Kansas have concerns about the Summit Learning program
#19Our daughter is enrolled in a Summit school in the Bay Area. It’s been a very positive experience and not one I’d recognize from the way it’s described in the story. Her teachers are extremely available and supportive, and there’s a lot of emphasis on group and individual projects and presentations.
But I would agree that a lot of the linked resources in the curriculum are not of very high quality. I don’t know whether better sources at the appropriate reading level aren’t available, or if they just grabbed something from the first page of Google results.
I’m wondering if some of the issues in the story have to do with the implementation of the program and not the program itself.
Re: Parents and students in Kansas have concerns about the Summit Learning program
#20Earlier quoted context omitted.
>That said, the number of parents working in Silicon Valley who would send their kids to a school that worked like this is very low I wouldn't be so sure of that. Many people prefer self directed and independent learning. And the reality is that once you're out of college effectively all learning happens that way.
I’m one of these parents, and I know a lot of them. Most restrict screen time to ... zero. And they’re big names at Google and FB and whatever. “Self directed” comes in many different forms. I’m not saying Summit is negative (although one of the comments on this story references a study that says it’s net-equal to negative). I’m just pointing out that SF/SV is a weird place.
>Most restrict screen time to ... zero.
For young kids? Sure. For middle school to high school kids like the article is talking about? I seriously doubt it.