The fundamental challenge to teaching#

Current representation#

Context is to develop knowledge, skills and well-being in an ever increasingly diverse cohort of learners. Within a fixed period of time.

Originally, and perhaps predominantly this is to work toward common/fixed learning outcomes. But slowly there is recognition that different outcomes may be acceptable.

Ryan Craig#

From Forbes article Seeing through edtech bad behaviour

The fundamental problem facing every classroom teacher is how to help a diverse cohort of learners -- all at different levels of understanding and ability -- meet or exceed stated learning outcomes. As few students are empty vessels who develop skills and capabilities solely from being on the receiving end of content (reading, lectures) and as those who can aren't likely to be left behind anyway, a better approach is to privilege the application of learning over content delivery: attempting a task with a desirable level of difficulty, struggling, perhaps failing, adjusting, and trying again. This is active -- not passive -- learning and is the algorithm each teacher should strive to optimize. The constraint is that there's only one teacher per class and limited time; according to a recent Department of Education [report](https://tech.ed.gov/ai-future-of-teaching-and-learning/, teachers spend less than half their working hours interacting with students.

In analog days, active learning meant discussions dominated by a handful of gunners, infrequent photocopied quizzes, and awful group projects hoping students might teach each other. But today, edtech is allowing teachers to spend their time on more active learning.