Tech Promised Everything. Did it deliver?

This TEDx talk by Scott Hanselman has been shared a lot on BlueSky, and probably other places, over the last few days. I finally had (made) some time to watch it today. It is something I would show early in all my classes if I were still teaching. I recommend it for everyone though.

Technology promised us Community, Convenience, and Creativity. This talk asks the question “Did it deliver?” It’s a good question and the answer is both yes and no. A lot of the answer is up to us. And by us I mean everyone but especially those of us deep into technology.

As CS educators, most of us talk about computing, especially programming, as a creative tool. Does AI help or hinder that? A lot is going to depend on how we teach it and how people use it. Just as social media promises community and connection but so often results in isolation, AI can go in different directions. We’re still early in to the AI “thing” and that means there is a lot of potential for helping move in a direction. What is the direction we want for it?

Just about everything has unintended consequences. Technology is perhaps first among those things. We need to think deeply about how we use it.

Thoughts on Advance Placement Computer Science Results

My Facebook feeds are full of teachers discussing the results their students received on the AP CS exams. Lots of the thrill of “victory” and the agony of “defeat.” I can relate.

The thing is that most of the results are a lot more dependent on the students than the teachers. If the student does the work all course long they are likely to get a good grade on the exam. If they didn’t do the work, especially if they cheated a lot, they are not going to get a good grade no matter what the teacher has done. Even if they did the work a lot of factors the day of the exam can make a big difference.

Sometimes a student takes the exam sick or while over tired. Somethings their boy or girl friend broke up with them the day before. Sometimes the student just doesn’t care about the exam. None of those factors are under the teacher’s control. I had a class of very smart students who all just decided they didn’t care and would blow off the exam. Nothing I could do about it. Guidance wanted to blame me but fortunately there were no long lasting consequences. It was my first year teaching the course and I was given another chance.

Speaking of that first year, my assistant principal, who had taught several AP courses, assured me that it takes most teachers three years to really get the hang of a specific AP course. I believe him. I see too many teacher beating themselves up after their first year teaching AP CS. Most of them have done their best with what they had in the way of curriculum, professional development, and the students who show up in their classroom. They should be happy with the good scores. And happy to have survived. They can learn from this year and move on.

Most of all, remember that the AP exam is one test on one day. Using it as a determination of success for the teach or of the student would be a huge mistake. Life is a marathon not a sprint. Most students will not know for years how much they really learned. It’s usually more than they think after the exam.