Revision One

 

Publication: The New York Times-Education section

Michael Pagan

Dr. Carrie Hall

Are Robot Teachers Our Children’s Future?

Imagine a world where children and students alike would need a special barcode would be etched into their skin in order for them to be registered as a student. Imagine sending your children off to school, and watching someone scanning your son or daughter, like an item. But, every students “barcode” shows an extensive learning history of him/her. Their strengths, weaknesses, preferred learning methods, and an overall grade. A grade solely compiled of numbers, nothing more. It would not take progress, or the will to actually learn. Now, most would find such a system not only unethical, but possibly illegal. This “dystopian” world is not as far-fetched as it seems. Within the decade, multiple studies deemed “innovations” have been introduced within NYC Public schools. These innovations ultimately would take the teachers role in educating children, and determine how their child should be taught. Granted, there has always been a natural inclination to advance current technology, in order to make life easier for everyone, with the ultimate goal being to benefit modern society. But, there is a limit to how far-how much rather we should depend on said technology. Technology already drowns humanity out, it quite literally is addicting. But to replace hardworking, dedicated people who have made teaching their profession, is not only insulting, to teachers as well as the entire foundation to teaching, but to pretty much every student who would have never even pondered such a thing growing up in school.

“Teachers are themselves products…trapped inside structures even more rigid than those imposed on the children.”(1) These were words written by John Gatto, author of ‘Against School’. Gatto doesn’t seem to be making the argument of technology over teachers per se, but is somewhat referring to teachers, as well as students, as zombies, or a robot of sorts. What Gatto is saying is that school is a factory, essentially, pumping out brainwashed, conditioned kids, by teachers who are just as bored as the students! Teachers who apparently have not much a choice.  Now, most people would scoff at such a statement. This is because most students who have made it as far as to college especially-would attest to the fact that they are in fact not zombies. Who could’ve guessed it?

I always considered myself a self-dependent student. I knew from a young age that if I wanted to get something done right, I had to do it myself. I didn’t really rely on other people to “guide” me. In high school, I had a teacher that truly opened up my eyes to the way I view not only education, but also how I viewed learning in general.  She showed me the true impact that a teacher can have on your life. Being “self-dependent” meant that I tended to not ask so many questions regarding material being covered in class. I thought I could figure it out myself. I figured if using this method got me through elementary and middle school, what would be so different about high school? Yeah, my methods had worked-at first. My “don’t ask now, and try to figure out” routine only got me so far.  See, there would be days when, for whatever reason, I wouldn’t get all of the key points mentioned in a lecture. Or, perhaps, we would be given an essay with a specific prompt that I wasn’t familiar with. It was at these times that I realized that the way I was reading these assignments, and school as a whole was distorted. So, I did something that I had not done in a very long time. I went to my teacher and asked her a question. And to my surprise, she wasn’t mad at me. In fact, she told me that she encouraged questions about a topic. I had explained that the reason I never really asked many questions was because I had thought that it would seem as if I wasn’t paying any attention during the class period. But, she told me that it showed her the exact opposite. She explained that it shows genuine interest, and that she actually takes them as compliments. When she told me this, it quite literally opened up my eyes to how drastic things can be in reality, compared to the so called “facts” you may have of something. She gave me a whole new meaning of perspective.

Like aforementioned, though I do believe that real teachers should always take priority over “robot” teachers; this doesn’t mean that technology doesn’t have its place. I was born in a generation where computers were integrated into school life from an early age. From desktops, to eventually SMARTboards, technology changed how we learned, for the better. In the article, ‘Learning (Your First Job), by Robert Leamnson, we are given a thought that pretty much every student can relate to somewhat. “…Learning is not something that just happens…You cannot be ‘given’ learning, nor can you be forced to do it.”(1) Now, Leamnson is making the point that it is up to each individual student whether or not they actually want to learn. You could have the best teacher in the world, but if a student is genuinely disinterested, all of the teachers efforts would be futile. But, Robert doesn’t seem to say anything about encouragement. Technology has been proven to generate interest into pretty much any topic. This is as long as it can be related to something thats actually interesting.

This paper might make it seem like I am bashing technology, criticizing the effectiveness of a real teacher, as opposed to a robot teacher. But, it is quite the contrary. I believe firmly, that technology has, and always will have a place in our daily lives, especially when it comes to schooling. But, there are boundaries when it comes to how we are teaching our children. Our children are not guinea pigs, testing new teaching methods, in favor of the ones that provide the best results. I believe that an ultimatum could be reached. One where we could use methods that these teaching programs utilize to improve students grades, and for teachers to  implement some of those same methods. If we use technology to our advantage, and don’t let it take over our lives, I think our future may be brighter than it seems.

Mentor Article:

Davidson, Cathy N. “What Role Do Teachers Play in Education?” The New York Times, The New York Times, 17 Aug. 2018, www.nytimes.com/2018/08/17/books/review/andrea-gabor-after-the-education-wars.html.

Works Cited:

Against School – John Taylor Gatto, www.wesjones.com/gatto1.htm.

Leamnson, Robert. “Learning (Your First Job).” MA, Dartmouth, Dec. 2002.