Online Learning and the Ed Tech Debate

17 snips

Aug 17, 2020

Guest

David Deming

Guest

Josh Kim

Join Josh Kim, Director of Online Programs at Dartmouth, and David Deming, Harvard's Professor of Education and Economics, as they dive into the evolving world of online education. They challenge misconceptions, advocating for tailored learning experiences and the necessity of high-quality content. The duo addresses the dual influence of technology and COVID on access to education, highlighting inequalities and the urgent need for innovation. This insightful discussion will leave you rethinking how education and technology can collaborate for a better future.

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ANECDOTE

Master's Degrees at Scale

Josh Kim's daughter, a future teacher, may benefit from a low-cost, scaled master's program.
Such programs offer content, peer groups, and mentorship, reducing debt burden.

INSIGHT

Economics of Master's Programs

Universities use master's programs to subsidize undergraduate losses due to high tuition discounts.
Mid-tier schools face challenges as top-tier schools offer low-cost online master's degrees.

ADVICE

EdTech and Public Education Funding

The ed tech community needs to champion public education funding.
Engage and collaborate with academics to address structural inequality.

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This episode is all about education and technology, a topic that’s especially top of mind this week as students in much of the country return to school—virtually. The intersection of learning and technology has been accelerated by the pandemic, but the debate around education's "disruption," and what that means for educators doing the hands-on work of teaching, has been swirling for years.

In this episode, a16z general partner Connie Chan and host Lauren Murrow are joined by educators and experts Josh Kim, the Director of Online Programs and Strategy at Dartmouth College (whose most recent book, Learning Innovation and the Future of Higher Education, was published earlier this year), and David Deming, Professor of Education and Economics at the Harvard Kennedy School and the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

We explore the complicated issue of online education from a variety of angles: Can the quality of online learning stack up to an in-person education? What improvements have we seen over the past decade and what improvements are we likely to see this fall, compared to the COVID scramble last spring? And might this moment be the push we need for educators and technologists—sometimes at odds—to collaborate more closely?

We discuss and debate the research behind online learning, the dual impact of tech and COVID on the future of higher ed, and tech's potential in everything from curriculum to access to structural inequality.

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