Latest News and Comment from Education

Sunday, May 25, 2014

Stephen Krashen Blog 5-25-14: The problem is not a lack of technology. The problem is poverty.

SKrashen: The problem is not a lack of technology. The problem is poverty.:





The problem is not a lack of technology. The problem is poverty.


Comment on "Education Needs to Change as Fast as Technology," by Zack Sims. Posted at

http://www.forbes.com/sites/techonomy/2014/05/23/education-needs-to-change-as-fast-as-technology/


Mr. Sims hasn't done his homework. He points out that the "US is ranked by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the U.S. is 31st in math achievement, 24th in science, and 21st in reading." But a number of studies have shown that when we control for the effect of poverty, our students rank near the top of the world.

Mr. Sims also has a great deal of faith in flipped classrooms. But there is no research supporting this faith.  This technology is being pushed on classrooms without proper research.

The problem is not a lack of technology. The problem is poverty. The US child poverty rate is 




Stephen Krashen Blog 5-24-14
SKrashen:Free Advertising for DuolingoSent to the Japan Times, May 23, 2014Contrary to the impression given by The Japan Times's free commercial for Duolingo ("Duolingo chief shakes up language learning," May 23), there is no clear evidence that Duolinguo is effective in teaching foreign languages. The only research study done assessing the impact of Duolingo, which was funded by Duoling