why good people disagree about edtech: edtechwomen portland meeting
TRANSCRIPT
Breakfast Talk 4/26/2014
Marie Bjerede | Bobbie Jager | Mary Kremer
BackChannel: https://todaysmeet.com/Etwportland or
http://goo.gl/SjkUIP
#etwportland
Guest Wifi: Mimosa (no password)
why women, and not men?
one reason: we bring a different, authentic, and important voice that is
suppressed or altered in the presence of the
dominant culture/voice
if this is true…if we are here to explore and raise our voice, let’s spend some time today honing it
why is the edtech discussion so shrill?
pundits and politicians making hay while playing with kids’
future?
entrenched interests putting profit ahead of children?
institutions imposing their will and taking our autonomy?
maybe so. or just maybe…
when it comes to our children, we react instinctively from our morals as much as our intellect
this book explores the genetic and evolutionary foundation of morality, and why we cant understand why good people disagree with us about the most fundamental and important
things
http://righteousmind.com
when faced with taboo questions, e.g. “is it ok to tear
up an old flag for cleaning rags?” many people have
such a strong reaction against it that the reasons they articulate against it
make no logical sense – they are poorly executed
rationalizations. some people are literally “dumbstruck”
because it is so inconceivable that anyone could think that
was ok, that they literally have no words to express it
what would someone have to pay you to do the things in
column B- note they are intellectually equivalent to
column A?from The Righteous Mind
did any of the “taboos” in column B give you a sense of moral outrage? here are the evolutionary bases of those moral senses - different people have these to different degrees.
from The Righteous Mind
your moral balance is correlated to your political affiliations
note that the author later split “fairness” into two categories. 1:Liberty/Oppression: rejection of attempted domination and banding together against bullies which supports the
“egalitarianism and antiauthoritarianism of the left, as well as the don’t-tread-on-me and give-me-liberty antigovernment anger of libertarians and some conservatives.” vs 2: Proportionality
from The Righteous Mind
what if our sense of moral outrage when faced with these discussions has an evolutionary basis?
can we use that knowledge to better put
ourselves in other people’s shoes with more empathy and
insight?
can we understand each others’ arguments well enough that we can stop arguing against “strawman” versions because we are blind to portions of the argument?
lets burn the strawman
let us seek better arguments and deeper understanding; more systemic approaches and more holistic vision; let us move from fallacies to intellectual honesty and inquiry; let us lend each
other our eyes to serve as rear-view mirrors in our blind spots; let us construct some knowledge. together.
Burning the Strawman - Topics1. Common Core Standards are good for schools2. Common Core aligned assessments are good for schools3. Gaming is a good way to learn4. Flipping the classroom improves teaching and learning5. Kahn academy is a wonderful innovation6. Families deserve universal school choice7. Competition among public and private and charter and on-line schools leads
to a better school system8. Students should have their own personal mobile device for use at school and
at home9. A quiet, orderly classroom means great teaching10. Student test scores are a good way to measure teacher quality11. MOOCS are the future of higher education12. College is not the best investment of time and money for many kids13. Software developers should have access to anonymized student data
Burning the Strawman – Part I
• Choose a topic from the list where your reaction is visceral, not intellectual. One where the only answer is obvious.
• Alone, or in groups, make the absolute best argument you can on that topic…
…for the other side• Write your arguments on note paper,
sticky notes, or directly into Google Docs
Burning the Strawman – Part II
• Now make the argument for your own side• Be sure to include thoughtful responses to
ALL the concerns from the other position• If you can find someone who took the
opposite position, see if your argument was made any more persuasive by the exercise
