Stowe Boyd has a new post about what he calls ” Freestyling.” The first in a series about work skills we all need for the future, essentially it is the idea that in many occupations we will need to work along side a computer that collects data and does the ” easy” work for us. He uses the example of humans that work with chess software to beat other teams even if they have much stronger players.
Of course, this has me thinking about education.
Data is everywhere. Apps and software, reading programs, Khan Academy and remedial math lessons all collect data on student performance. As teachers, I worry that in some districts, too many decisions are being made simply due to what’s been recorded by an app recording a child’s reading progress. I think that this will eventually lead to a charter school market in bespoke or handcrafted education, but that’s another story.
I find Stowe Boyd’s idea interesting. It is more of a hybrid humans and data model that I’m not seeing being promoted in many places.
In any case, his post is interesting and worth your time to read and think about if you I are in a position that makes decisions based on data points.