It’s Not Me. It’s You.
July 28th, 2013 § Leave a Comment
Chalktips is a publishing platform that lets users create and share slideshows and booklets. We currently have 2,000 users. We marketed this specifically to educators. Although we are still going to keep the site running, we decided to focus all our efforts on our other startup, MagTag, which caters to fashion and e-commerce. We had to stop catering our work to educators after attempting to market Chalktips to the education community.
I still believe in Chalktips and what it stands for, but the current educational system is not ready for it. Here are the reasons why. I’m keeping it short:
1) There is a disconnect between who chooses what software schools use and who actually uses it.
2) There are very few teachers and students willing to try something new.
3) Publishers have bundled textbooks with all sorts of web enhancements that publishers are doing more of the lesson planning than the teachers.
4) In the last few years, those who have fundamentally challenged education are usually not educators, Salman Khan, Peter Thiel, Bill Gates. And those who are in education are usually researchers from MIT, Stanford or Ivy Leagues.
Two instances made us completely dedicate our efforts to a startup unrelated to education:
1) I was in a panel on education and technology. I mentioned Pinterest as a way to organize images and lectures. I received incredulous but polite looks and the rest proceeded to talk about Blackboard enhancements.
2) One of my students suggested to her teacher that she use Chalktips after the teacher complained about the publisher managed software she was using. The teacher said that she had no time to learn something new.
I have never felt so liberated. Educational institutions are not evolving fast enough. The software used by most schools lack the dynamism and interactivity that real world technology offers.
by 
Artificial Intelligence and Automatic Essay Scoring
April 5th, 2013 § Leave a Comment
My reaction to a NYT article on the use of artificial intelligence to grade essays:
As an educator, I appreciate technology that provides students a quicker way to get feedback, but this software only reinforces students’ frustration with essays: no one reads them except the professor. Most are written to be read by one person. Artists are able to share their work, but for most majors that require writing, assignments are meant to be forgotten. This is exactly the reason why students who major in these fields graduate without a portfolio of their work.
My husband and I developed https://chalktips.com/ to solve this problem. We wanted to make essays and school work for college students engaging and shareable. Students publish booklets and slideshows as part of their assignment. Students can tweet or share their work in Facebook or Tumblr.
Last semester as part of the final, I had professionals from different fields comment on student work, and the feedback from students was amazing.
Using AI to comment on essays might be efficient and probably comparable to having ONE person grade an assignment. But it doesn’t make use of the power of community. It also does not address the fundamental problem with essays: after it’s graded, so what?
We currently have 1,400 users with more than 2,500 booklets and slideshows published. Students are embracing the platform. Of course, I’m a community college teacher without the clout of MIT professors. But we’re hopeful that more students start demanding that they are given assignments that have utility after the course is over.
by MagTag.me
March 25th, 2013 § Leave a Comment
FashionTech
We presented MagTag at a FashionTech event 2 weeks ago. Fashiontech is such a departure from Chalktips and Edtech. There is an energy and enthusiasm that I don’t quite get from teachers and educators in general.
by Chalktips Update
January 24th, 2013 § Leave a Comment
The Shallows
August 25th, 2012 § Leave a Comment
“The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains” provides a sociobiological analysis of how the internet’s structure is altering the way we consume information, our neural paths, and emotional depth. Carr argues that this shift from linear consumption of information to a staccato-like attention span is a return to earlier evolutionary survival skills:
“Our fast-paced, reflexive shifts in focus were once crucial to our survival. They reduced the odds that a predator would take us by surprise or that we’d overlook a nearby source of food. For most of history, the normal path of human thought was anything but linear.” (Kindle Locations 1127-1128)
Unlike other forms of media, the web is designed to distract. The web relies on short-term memory, which Carr laments as endangering our ability for schematic thinking–the foundation of in depth thought.
“The Web has a very different effect. It places more pressure on our working memory, not only diverting resources from our higher reasoning faculties but obstructing the consolidation of long-term memories and the development of schemas.” (Kindle Locations 3298-3300)
Aside from our intellectual abilities, Carr argues that the net “reroutes our vital paths and diminishes our capacity for contemplation, it is altering the depth of our emotions as well as our thoughts.” (Kindle Locations 3763-3765) Over stimulation and the bombardment of information does not give us the space to reflect.
Carr takes on a technological determinist argument. Citing Veblen and Marx, Carr strongly supports the causal relationship that technology leads to social change. In the process, Carr dismisses human agency in his argument. People are passive consumers of technology.
Interviewing scholars, professionals, and intellectuals, Carr discovers that avid consumers of knowledge have succumbed to the web’s distraction. People rarely read an entire piece of literature and we have resorted to skimming.
This book reminds me that the shifts in my reading habits are the new norm. As I prepare for my Fall 2012 courses, here are some questions that the book raised for me: Should I expect students to read the whole text? No. Do I expect them to be able to articulate arguments and ideas from the readings? Yes.
Did I read the entirety of the “The Shallows”? Here’s my honest answer. I tried reading it from my computer. I got so distracted, so I read it on my iPad. I read it my patio in the middle of the night. I skimmed a few chapters, but read the entirety of some. I finished it in about 3 hours.
by Inspired by Success
April 14th, 2012 § Leave a Comment
People who teach at community colleges face a professionalization dilemma: we are not quite the renowned professors in 4-year universities, but in terms of credentials, edge high school and kindergarten teachers. This ambiguous position is evident in the way we are addressed, compensated, and the profession’s prestige level. Students use a variety of titles to address us: Mr./Ms., Teacher, Instructor, and Professor. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, post-secondary teachers make on average $62,050 and high school teachers $53,230 (2010). In terms of occupational prestige, professors score a 74, secondary teachers 66, and pre-K/Kindergarten teachers 55. (1)
In assessing the social value of occupations, economists and sociologists differ. While economists focus on the value of labor and wages through supply and demand, sociologists focus on barriers to entry in a profession.
Sociological concepts, such as Max Weber’s closure theory, explores how institutions restrict access to certain positions which leads to labor stratification.
“Social closure… occurs wherever the competition for a livelihood creates groups interested in reducing that competition. These groups try to monopolize advantages and maximize their rewards by closing off opportunities to outsiders they define as inferior or ineligible (Weeden 2002, 58).”(2) A mechanism that leads to closure, for example, is accreditation and licensing.
Identifying an occupation’s level of prestige and professionalization influences legitimacy of authority. If students perceive community college teachers as underpaid professionals rejected by 4-year universities, then we have lost a fundamental component of respect in the classroom. I feel this in my interactions with students. When they find out that I finished my Bachelor’s Degree at an Ivy League, I worked in publishing, or that I am a co-founder of a tech start-up, students seem excited and thrilled. Somehow, this makes up for my current profession.
Why will students believe me when I try to inspire them to aim high, when they look at my work as a compromise? Will success in other fields outside of academia prove to be more inspiring for students?
In my lecture on women in the workforce, I showed Sheryl Sandberg’s (Facebook’s Chief Operating Officer) Ted presentation on the unequal representation of women in corporate America. She pointed out the bias in assessing women in powerful positions and encouraged women to be more assertive. People clapped after the 14-minute video. In a class of 80 students wherein 4 males and 1 female usually dominate the conversation, women from every corner of that lecture hall participated enthusiastically. It was the most energetic class this semester.
I’m not the only educator who now has to continually compete with cell phones and tablets for attention. I have witnessed students play video games and chat on Facebook while renowned lecturers deliver impassioned lectures at prominent 4-year universities. When I asked students why they weren’t paying attention, the general consensus is that they can find most of the information online.
Calls for reforms on our educational system are missing this elementary problem: teachers need respect to do their job, and in a society that values professionalism and monetary accomplishments, community college teachers, no matter how brilliant, are just not as inspiring.
I want to offer a solution. We need professionals to teach more. Invite people who are in various professional fields applying knowledge learned in college, into the classroom, and the theories and exams will make more sense.
Ingersoll, Richard M., and Elizabeth Merrill. 2011. “The Status of Teaching as a Profession.” in Schools and Society: A Sociological Approach to Education. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Weeden, Kim A. 2002. “Why Do Some Occupations Pay More Than Others? Social Closure and Earnings Inequality in the United States.” The American Journal of Sociology 108(1):55–101.
by It Starts with Oprah and Ends with Oprah…
April 9th, 2012 § Leave a Comment
Oprah inspires the world in many ways. She encourages people to dream big and to follow life paths. Here is a quote from the One: “I’ve come to believe that each of us has a personal calling that’s as unique as a fingerprint – and that the best way to succeed is to discover what you love and then find a way to offer it to others in the form of service, working hard, and also allowing the energy of the universe to lead you (O Magazine, September 2002).”
Oprah’s outlook embodies the values of post-materialism. Coined by Inglehart, post-materialism refers to a shift in cultural values from an emphasis on “economic and physical security” to values that emphasize “self-expression” (Inglehart 2008, 130). This shift permeates life decisions such as marriage and careers. Society encourages us to think with our hearts and to prioritize emotional satisfaction. Parents advice the young that money can’t buy happiness, and our educational institutions attempt to provide a well-rounded education to feed the spirit and not just the mind.
I live my life by this post-materialist adage, and it seems to work for me, but does it work for everyone?
According to the Gallup Well-Being Index, life satisfaction hovers below 50%. This dissatisfaction is also evident in the work force. According to Amabile and Kramer (2011), workers generally feel unhappy with their job and feel unmotivated. For a post-materialist society, this is a social failure. Part of the problem is that abstract advice such as “follow your life path” triggers an emotional awakening, but it also expands choices. One is given unlimited choices without concrete ideas on how to turn abstract goals into a profession. People are confused.
I currently teach an upper-level sociology course, wherein a majority of the students are sociology majors. When asked about their career goals, about 80% want to be social workers and their motivation is that they like to help people. I am encouraged by the fact that so many students want to lead a life centered on assisting other people, but disturbed that the group has such a limited view of exactly what it means to help society.
Does each person have a calling? Yes, but it takes more than abstract ideas for the calling to materialize. It’s time for our social institutions, from family to schools, to provide specific examples to abstract ideas. I envision a conversation at home or in school to go like this:
Advisee: My calling is to help people.
Advisor: Good, there are many ways to help. Let me tell you about these people, their professions, and how they changed the world: Jonas Salk, Gandhi, Nicholas Kristoff, Aun San Suu Kyi, Oprah…
Work Cited:
Amabile, Teresa, and Steven Kramer. 2011. “Do Happier People Work Harder?” The New York Times, September 3. (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/04/opinion/sunday/do-happier-people-work-harder.html).
Inglehart, Ronald F. 2008. “Changing Values among Western Publics from 1970 to 2006.” West European Politics 31(1-2):130–146.
by