Hamilton Nolan | Gawker
Victory over America’s failing, overcrowded schools! In Florida, our nation’s smartest state, they’ve figured out a successful formula for bringing down class sizes: just let the kids be taught by a computer.
Hero Floridians who care passed an amendment limiting class sizes in the state. Oh, does that cost money? Buh? Not to worry: that amendment only applies to classrooms, not “virtual labs.” Solution: teach kids with computers!
Naomi is one of over 7,000 students in Miami-Dade County Public Schools enrolled in a program in which core subjects are taken using computers in a classroom with no teacher. A “facilitator” is in the room to make sure students progress. That person also deals with any technical problems.
You kids call the tech person if the robot math teacher starts acting squirrelly. Good luck in the global economy.
[NYT, photo via Shutterstock.com]
The original version of the story appears here: http://gawker.com/5736604/human-teachers-are-no-longer-affordable
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