My prediction is that data can replace empathy, just as Watson can beat human competitors most of the time. Students struggle with new concepts, but do they all struggle in uniquely different ways? Aren't there patterns? I think the data from millions of interactions, and a curriculum guided by the best teaching minds the world has to offer will be better than the average teacher, up to a certain point. Note that I mean this in a very narrow sense, when constrained to a specific topic, and especially when explaining something intuitively to a student and answering students' questions. I agree though that for the foreseeable future there still need to be teachers.
I'm all for better teachers, but I think it's just not going to happen. They haven't become better in the past few decades or even century, rather possibly the opposite, with the need for many more teachers than there are competent people to fill those positions. The only solution I can see is to make teaching one of the most highly paid and highly respected professions. There doesn't seem to be any incentive for this, and it would require a huge cultural change. And even if that was the case, there would probably be the a concentration of teaching talent in the big cities at top schools, while rural schools will have to do with the scraps. Software at least is democratizing.
Of course what I'm suggesting would require some very sophisticated software that doesn't exist today, but I would say that for me, if I would have followed the videos on Khan Academy (for science and math) instead of the education I received, I would probably have been better off. I grew up in a rural area, and I know how bad it can be. After getting an engineering degree, I now see how little those "teachers" actually knew or understood. It's shocking really. But I'm not surprised when you look at the kind of people that go into teaching today.
I'm all for better teachers, but I think it's just not going to happen. They haven't become better in the past few decades or even century, rather possibly the opposite, with the need for many more teachers than there are competent people to fill those positions. The only solution I can see is to make teaching one of the most highly paid and highly respected professions. There doesn't seem to be any incentive for this, and it would require a huge cultural change. And even if that was the case, there would probably be the a concentration of teaching talent in the big cities at top schools, while rural schools will have to do with the scraps. Software at least is democratizing.
Of course what I'm suggesting would require some very sophisticated software that doesn't exist today, but I would say that for me, if I would have followed the videos on Khan Academy (for science and math) instead of the education I received, I would probably have been better off. I grew up in a rural area, and I know how bad it can be. After getting an engineering degree, I now see how little those "teachers" actually knew or understood. It's shocking really. But I'm not surprised when you look at the kind of people that go into teaching today.