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Rebecca Winthrop

đŸ‘€ Person
224 total appearances

Appearances Over Time

Podcast Appearances

The Ezra Klein Show
‘We Have to Really Rethink the Purpose of Education’

There's a virtuous upward cycle. And there's lots of evidence to show that it often spills over. So Kia talks about doing these studios for a couple years, which really helped her re-engage and care about school. And then she went back and did some high school college credit courses, which were very traditional structure.

The Ezra Klein Show
‘We Have to Really Rethink the Purpose of Education’

There's a virtuous upward cycle. And there's lots of evidence to show that it often spills over. So Kia talks about doing these studios for a couple years, which really helped her re-engage and care about school. And then she went back and did some high school college credit courses, which were very traditional structure.

The Ezra Klein Show
‘We Have to Really Rethink the Purpose of Education’

And she said she didn't love the structure, but she had enough motivation to figure out how to bend the class to her interests. So, that's the best case scenario. It doesn't always spill over automatically. What you talked about when you said you enjoyed it, you loved it, you loved English, but you didn't give the teachers what they want, it's probably because you're a total explorer.

The Ezra Klein Show
‘We Have to Really Rethink the Purpose of Education’

And she said she didn't love the structure, but she had enough motivation to figure out how to bend the class to her interests. So, that's the best case scenario. It doesn't always spill over automatically. What you talked about when you said you enjoyed it, you loved it, you loved English, but you didn't give the teachers what they want, it's probably because you're a total explorer.

The Ezra Klein Show
‘We Have to Really Rethink the Purpose of Education’

And we do not reward engaging in school in a way that supports explorers in general. Some schools do. And that is what we have to change.

The Ezra Klein Show
‘We Have to Really Rethink the Purpose of Education’

And we do not reward engaging in school in a way that supports explorers in general. Some schools do. And that is what we have to change.

The Ezra Klein Show
‘We Have to Really Rethink the Purpose of Education’

I think we're on the same page. Schools exist. They're important. They're important for many reasons. We need to change what we do inside of them, particularly because of Gen AI, and we need to do it quickly. In addition to, I would say, regulating Gen AI so it isn't so massively in students' and young people's hands without being designed for that purpose.

The Ezra Klein Show
‘We Have to Really Rethink the Purpose of Education’

I think we're on the same page. Schools exist. They're important. They're important for many reasons. We need to change what we do inside of them, particularly because of Gen AI, and we need to do it quickly. In addition to, I would say, regulating Gen AI so it isn't so massively in students' and young people's hands without being designed for that purpose.

The Ezra Klein Show
‘We Have to Really Rethink the Purpose of Education’

I would say those are the two big things we need to do. But I don't think our goal inside schools when we're educating young people is to have a 100% personalized learning journey for every kid. What I think you're talking about is actually the ability for Gen AI to help teachers, which I think is very real.

The Ezra Klein Show
‘We Have to Really Rethink the Purpose of Education’

I would say those are the two big things we need to do. But I don't think our goal inside schools when we're educating young people is to have a 100% personalized learning journey for every kid. What I think you're talking about is actually the ability for Gen AI to help teachers, which I think is very real.

The Ezra Klein Show
‘We Have to Really Rethink the Purpose of Education’

I think there's a big difference and we need to make a big distinction between AI supporting educators in doing what they do versus going direct to young people.

The Ezra Klein Show
‘We Have to Really Rethink the Purpose of Education’

I think there's a big difference and we need to make a big distinction between AI supporting educators in doing what they do versus going direct to young people.

The Ezra Klein Show
‘We Have to Really Rethink the Purpose of Education’

Better at what?

The Ezra Klein Show
‘We Have to Really Rethink the Purpose of Education’

Better at what?

The Ezra Klein Show
‘We Have to Really Rethink the Purpose of Education’

But the question is better at what? So teachers do many, many things. Kids learn in relationships with other humans. We've evolved to do that. I do not think that we will go away from that or we may go away and then we'll be like, oh my God, that was a huge mistake and 10 years later go back. So there's a question around skill development and knowledge transmission.

The Ezra Klein Show
‘We Have to Really Rethink the Purpose of Education’

But the question is better at what? So teachers do many, many things. Kids learn in relationships with other humans. We've evolved to do that. I do not think that we will go away from that or we may go away and then we'll be like, oh my God, that was a huge mistake and 10 years later go back. So there's a question around skill development and knowledge transmission.

The Ezra Klein Show
‘We Have to Really Rethink the Purpose of Education’

That is one thing a teacher does. And I think that's what you're talking about. That is an area where I think technology can be good, can be really good. And actually, we see it even without generative AI. There's adaptive learning software that helps kids really learn to read. Which is incredibly helpful, especially if you have access gaps. You don't have good teachers. You have large classes.

The Ezra Klein Show
‘We Have to Really Rethink the Purpose of Education’

That is one thing a teacher does. And I think that's what you're talking about. That is an area where I think technology can be good, can be really good. And actually, we see it even without generative AI. There's adaptive learning software that helps kids really learn to read. Which is incredibly helpful, especially if you have access gaps. You don't have good teachers. You have large classes.

The Ezra Klein Show
‘We Have to Really Rethink the Purpose of Education’

You have substitute teachers that aren't trained on how to teach kids to read. So that complemented with... Things that motivate kids, get them excited, and see the relevance of what they're doing, which is often in person, could be a great thing to do inside the classroom. We see private schools doing that.

The Ezra Klein Show
‘We Have to Really Rethink the Purpose of Education’

You have substitute teachers that aren't trained on how to teach kids to read. So that complemented with... Things that motivate kids, get them excited, and see the relevance of what they're doing, which is often in person, could be a great thing to do inside the classroom. We see private schools doing that.