WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.620 Okay, let's unpack this. Imagine you take, like, 00:00:05.660 --> 00:00:08.859 elite, highly competitive powerlifters and total 00:00:08.859 --> 00:00:11.160 beginners who have never even touched a dumbbell 00:00:11.160 --> 00:00:14.000 in their lives. Oh, boy. And you shove them all 00:00:14.000 --> 00:00:17.379 into the exact same unstructured gym class, lock 00:00:17.379 --> 00:00:20.440 the door, and just tell everyone to, uh... Do 00:00:20.440 --> 00:00:23.519 fitness. Yeah, that sounds like a complete disaster. 00:00:23.760 --> 00:00:25.980 It's absurd. But I mean, if you really think 00:00:25.980 --> 00:00:28.359 about it, that is exactly how most organizations 00:00:28.359 --> 00:00:30.719 treat technology training. Oh, absolutely. It's 00:00:30.719 --> 00:00:33.240 spot on. You sit in a mandatory software workshop, 00:00:33.240 --> 00:00:36.159 and the dynamic is just incredibly predictable. 00:00:36.600 --> 00:00:39.659 Half the room is, you know, staring blankly out 00:00:39.659 --> 00:00:41.340 the window. Because they already know the system. 00:00:41.579 --> 00:00:43.380 Exactly. Completely bored. And then the other 00:00:43.380 --> 00:00:45.939 half is practically sweating through their shirts, 00:00:46.159 --> 00:00:47.780 frantically clicking around, just trying to figure 00:00:47.780 --> 00:00:50.280 out how to, like, Log in. Right. Just finding 00:00:50.280 --> 00:00:52.899 the password reset. Yeah. It is a massive drain 00:00:52.899 --> 00:00:56.759 on time and honestly, morale. So today, welcome 00:00:56.759 --> 00:00:59.359 to the deep dive. We are extracting the blueprints 00:00:59.359 --> 00:01:01.539 from a rural school district that actually solved 00:01:01.539 --> 00:01:03.859 this. Which is pretty rare, honestly. It really 00:01:03.859 --> 00:01:06.680 is. Our mission today is to break down a really 00:01:06.680 --> 00:01:10.359 fascinating post by Gary Ackerman from hackscience 00:01:10.359 --> 00:01:14.079 .education. It's titled elevating ed tech professional 00:01:14.079 --> 00:01:16.840 development. A great piece. Yeah. Now we're going 00:01:16.840 --> 00:01:20.439 to figure out how schools and really any organization 00:01:20.439 --> 00:01:22.799 can stop wasting your time with terrible tech 00:01:22.799 --> 00:01:25.819 training and instead, you know, build the dynamic 00:01:25.819 --> 00:01:29.180 engine for actual success. The beauty of Ackerman's 00:01:29.180 --> 00:01:32.799 piece is that it diagnoses, well, a universal 00:01:32.799 --> 00:01:35.700 pain point. Right. Because whether you're a classroom 00:01:35.700 --> 00:01:39.120 teacher, a corporate employee, or a project manager, 00:01:39.640 --> 00:01:42.579 you have felt the sting of a poorly designed 00:01:42.579 --> 00:01:44.760 training session. Oh, for sure. We've all been 00:01:44.760 --> 00:01:47.180 trapped in that room. Exactly. And Ackerman includes 00:01:47.180 --> 00:01:49.219 a direct quote from a curriculum coordinator 00:01:49.219 --> 00:01:51.420 in the source text that just captures this perfectly. 00:01:51.599 --> 00:01:53.650 What'd they say? The coordinator notes that when 00:01:53.650 --> 00:01:56.569 they offer these generic quote -unquote technology 00:01:56.569 --> 00:01:59.989 workshops, they get some high flyers right alongside 00:01:59.989 --> 00:02:02.409 absolute beginners. The powerlifters and the 00:02:02.409 --> 00:02:04.549 people who've never seen a dumbbell. Precisely, 00:02:04.709 --> 00:02:07.209 and the result. Faculty who make a genuine effort 00:02:07.209 --> 00:02:09.930 to attend, they leave feeling completely frustrated. 00:02:10.150 --> 00:02:12.710 Yeah. And that their time was entirely wasted. 00:02:12.810 --> 00:02:15.530 Which is brutal. It's the absolute worst case 00:02:15.530 --> 00:02:18.669 scenario for an organization. So to fix it, this 00:02:18.669 --> 00:02:20.909 rural school district partnered with educational 00:02:20.909 --> 00:02:24.150 technology experts to study this massive hurdle. 00:02:24.330 --> 00:02:26.849 And what did they find out? Well, they realized 00:02:26.849 --> 00:02:29.449 the traditional ad hoc approach to professional 00:02:29.449 --> 00:02:33.669 development, what educators call PD, is just 00:02:33.669 --> 00:02:36.789 structurally broken. Wow. Broken how? It relies 00:02:36.789 --> 00:02:40.110 on a one size fits all model that ultimately 00:02:40.110 --> 00:02:43.830 fits absolutely no one. Right. So to fix a broken 00:02:43.830 --> 00:02:46.710 system, we first have to diagnose the underlying 00:02:46.710 --> 00:02:48.969 mechanics of how tech is actually being taught, 00:02:49.030 --> 00:02:51.069 right? Exactly. We have to look at the gears 00:02:51.069 --> 00:02:53.509 turning underneath. And through their research, 00:02:53.689 --> 00:02:55.650 these school leaders mapped out three critical 00:02:55.650 --> 00:02:57.949 dimensions that govern every single training 00:02:57.949 --> 00:03:00.009 activity. This is where it gets really methodical. 00:03:00.150 --> 00:03:03.669 It does. Think of these dimensions like sliders 00:03:03.669 --> 00:03:06.120 on a soundboard. Oh, I like that analogy. Yeah, 00:03:06.159 --> 00:03:08.219 they dictate the exact flavor of a workshop. 00:03:08.719 --> 00:03:10.919 So the first slider is the focus on technology. 00:03:11.240 --> 00:03:14.699 And this ranges from completely decontextualized 00:03:14.699 --> 00:03:17.560 on one end to highly contextualized on the other. 00:03:17.819 --> 00:03:21.400 Right. And when the focus is completely decontextualized, 00:03:21.539 --> 00:03:24.680 we are talking strictly about the universal operation. 00:03:25.199 --> 00:03:28.360 of the hardware or the software, just the buttons, 00:03:28.520 --> 00:03:30.860 the training exists in a total vacuum. Got it. 00:03:31.219 --> 00:03:34.699 But on the exact opposite end, a highly contextualized 00:03:34.699 --> 00:03:38.159 focus means the training shifts entirely away 00:03:38.159 --> 00:03:39.960 from the raw buttons. It assumes you already 00:03:39.960 --> 00:03:42.199 know the buttons. Exactly. And it focuses on 00:03:42.199 --> 00:03:45.680 solving specific, nuanced teaching problems for 00:03:45.680 --> 00:03:49.039 very targeted audiences. So if the focus dictates 00:03:49.039 --> 00:03:51.860 what we're teaching, that immediately creates 00:03:51.860 --> 00:03:55.560 like a friction point about who is actually qualified 00:03:55.560 --> 00:03:57.419 to lead the room. Absolutely. Because the IT 00:03:57.419 --> 00:03:59.159 professional, you know, they know the software 00:03:59.159 --> 00:04:02.199 architecture intimately, but they don't necessarily 00:04:02.199 --> 00:04:04.460 know the students. Which introduces the second 00:04:04.460 --> 00:04:07.139 dimension, the source of expertise. Okay, slide 00:04:07.139 --> 00:04:10.280 number two. Yep. At one extreme, you have purely 00:04:10.280 --> 00:04:12.819 technology expertise. Like the IT department. 00:04:12.939 --> 00:04:15.560 Right. This is your outside vendor or your systems 00:04:15.560 --> 00:04:18.379 administrator. They know the back end, but they 00:04:18.379 --> 00:04:21.120 lack a background in pedagogy. Pedagogy meaning, 00:04:21.180 --> 00:04:23.680 like, the actual science of teaching. Exactly. 00:04:24.079 --> 00:04:27.180 The art and science of how a human brain learns 00:04:27.180 --> 00:04:30.220 a new concept. Now, in the middle of this spectrum, 00:04:30.540 --> 00:04:32.939 you find technology specialization. What does 00:04:32.939 --> 00:04:35.939 that look like? Think of these as your tech savvy, 00:04:35.939 --> 00:04:38.860 quote unquote, steward teachers. They bridge 00:04:38.860 --> 00:04:41.600 the gap. Oh, I see. Yeah, they speak the language 00:04:41.600 --> 00:04:43.699 of IT, but they also speak the language of the 00:04:43.699 --> 00:04:46.399 classroom. They're bilingual. Exactly. And then 00:04:46.399 --> 00:04:48.879 at the far extreme, you have teaching expertise. 00:04:49.019 --> 00:04:51.360 The veteran teachers. Right. These are veteran 00:04:51.360 --> 00:04:54.920 educators whose core competency is purely pedagogy, 00:04:55.339 --> 00:04:57.620 completely independent of whatever new gadget 00:04:57.620 --> 00:05:01.139 is sitting on the desk. It's kind of like asking 00:05:01.139 --> 00:05:04.100 the architect who designed the acoustics of a 00:05:04.100 --> 00:05:06.589 concert hall. to actually conduct the symphony. 00:05:06.750 --> 00:05:08.470 Oh, that's a great way to put it. Like, they 00:05:08.470 --> 00:05:10.829 built the space for the sound, but they don't 00:05:10.829 --> 00:05:12.889 necessarily know how to make the music themselves. 00:05:12.949 --> 00:05:15.470 Right. You need both, but you wouldn't ask the 00:05:15.470 --> 00:05:17.970 architect to critique the violin section. No, 00:05:17.970 --> 00:05:20.389 you wouldn't. And this raises an important question, 00:05:20.449 --> 00:05:23.110 and it really points to the most profound revelation 00:05:23.110 --> 00:05:25.370 from the school leaders in the source material. 00:05:26.689 --> 00:05:29.189 When you look at how these workshops are traditionally 00:05:29.189 --> 00:05:32.490 built, the end user, which is the student, is 00:05:32.490 --> 00:05:35.209 almost entirely left out of the planning. Which 00:05:35.209 --> 00:05:37.730 sounds completely crazy when you say it out loud. 00:05:37.889 --> 00:05:40.230 It really does. I mean, the entire purpose of 00:05:40.230 --> 00:05:43.850 the educational system is the student, yet they 00:05:43.850 --> 00:05:46.350 aren't even factored into the tech training equation. 00:05:46.670 --> 00:05:50.370 It is a massive blind spot. So this third dimension, 00:05:50.990 --> 00:05:53.029 the role of students measures their presence 00:05:53.029 --> 00:05:55.790 in the process. The third slider. The third slider. 00:05:55.810 --> 00:05:58.509 It ranges from having zero direct consideration 00:05:58.509 --> 00:06:01.170 of students, moving up to planning based on, 00:06:01.610 --> 00:06:03.899 like, mere theoretical predictions of how students 00:06:03.899 --> 00:06:06.199 might act. Guessing, basically. Right, guessing. 00:06:06.560 --> 00:06:08.139 All the way to the other end of the spectrum 00:06:08.139 --> 00:06:10.759 where lessons are actively driven and adjusted 00:06:10.759 --> 00:06:14.180 by direct, real -world student feedback. Okay, 00:06:14.180 --> 00:06:16.220 so we have these three dimensions. How contextual 00:06:16.220 --> 00:06:18.920 the tech is, who is teaching it, and whether 00:06:18.920 --> 00:06:20.899 the students are even in the picture. Armed with 00:06:20.899 --> 00:06:23.300 those sliders, the district leaders realized 00:06:23.300 --> 00:06:26.379 they could categorize all tech professional development 00:06:26.379 --> 00:06:30.069 into three distinct learning experiences. And 00:06:30.069 --> 00:06:33.250 here's where it gets really interesting. The 00:06:33.250 --> 00:06:36.250 fatal flaw that almost every organization makes 00:06:36.250 --> 00:06:39.649 is physically mixing the first two phases together 00:06:39.649 --> 00:06:42.769 in the same room. Yes. Let's look at phase one, 00:06:42.910 --> 00:06:45.550 which the district calls training. The foundation. 00:06:45.689 --> 00:06:48.870 Right. It is highly decontextualized. The focus 00:06:48.870 --> 00:06:51.129 is exclusively on how to operate the hardware 00:06:51.129 --> 00:06:53.129 and the software. So we're talking about rolling 00:06:53.129 --> 00:06:55.990 out a brand new student information system or, 00:06:55.990 --> 00:06:58.069 you know, those interactive whiteboards. Exactly. 00:06:58.319 --> 00:07:00.459 Participants are simply learning which buttons 00:07:00.459 --> 00:07:04.680 to push. And the data used is totally fake. Like 00:07:04.680 --> 00:07:07.459 a dummy class roster. Yeah. So you can make mistakes 00:07:07.459 --> 00:07:09.600 without breaking the whole system. It's led entirely 00:07:09.600 --> 00:07:12.259 by tech experts and students are physically absent. 00:07:12.620 --> 00:07:14.620 Because it is so universal, training is really 00:07:14.620 --> 00:07:17.420 the only phase suitable for a massive diverse 00:07:17.420 --> 00:07:19.759 audience. Right. The whole school in the cafeteria 00:07:19.759 --> 00:07:22.720 type beat. Exactly. The source material points 00:07:22.720 --> 00:07:26.100 out something critical here. Every single teacher 00:07:26.269 --> 00:07:28.430 whether they're teaching AP Physics to high school 00:07:28.430 --> 00:07:31.050 seniors or finger painting to kindergartners, 00:07:31.509 --> 00:07:34.829 needs to know the exact same sequence of clicks 00:07:34.829 --> 00:07:37.250 to submit their morning attendance. Attendance 00:07:37.250 --> 00:07:40.230 is attendance. Right. And the core goal of phase 00:07:40.230 --> 00:07:43.470 one is finality. Once you learn those basic clicks, 00:07:43.670 --> 00:07:46.470 you graduate. You should never have to sit in 00:07:46.470 --> 00:07:49.069 that specific training session ever again. OK, 00:07:49.069 --> 00:07:51.029 I have to play devil's advocate here for a second. 00:07:51.129 --> 00:07:53.610 Go for it. Separating learning the buttons from 00:07:53.610 --> 00:07:56.699 writing the lesson. Sounds great. in a sterile 00:07:56.699 --> 00:07:59.560 laboratory setting. Sure. But in the real world, 00:08:00.259 --> 00:08:02.579 who has the time to attend two separate workshops? 00:08:03.259 --> 00:08:05.600 It's a fair point. Why can't we just learn the 00:08:05.600 --> 00:08:08.699 software while we build the lesson? Isn't that, 00:08:08.699 --> 00:08:10.699 I don't know, infinitely more efficient for a 00:08:10.699 --> 00:08:13.860 busy professional? Well, if you try to be efficient 00:08:13.860 --> 00:08:16.019 that way, you trigger what a principle in the 00:08:16.019 --> 00:08:19.180 study called the toxic mix. Toxic mix. That sounds 00:08:19.180 --> 00:08:22.139 intense. It is. To understand why it's toxic, 00:08:22.339 --> 00:08:24.079 we really have to look at the brain's working 00:08:24.079 --> 00:08:27.220 memory and cognitive load. A human being simply 00:08:27.220 --> 00:08:30.420 cannot simultaneously encode new motor and spatial 00:08:30.420 --> 00:08:34.440 tasks, like navigating a bizarre new user interface. 00:08:35.100 --> 00:08:37.960 Or remembering where a specific drop -down menu 00:08:37.960 --> 00:08:40.879 lives. While simultaneously performing high -level 00:08:40.879 --> 00:08:43.440 abstract synthesis, like designing a nuanced 00:08:43.440 --> 00:08:46.039 curriculum. Exactly. You just can't do both at 00:08:46.039 --> 00:08:48.190 once. Think about the last time you had to learn 00:08:48.190 --> 00:08:51.610 a massive new software update at your job while 00:08:51.610 --> 00:08:54.120 under a strict deadline. Oh, it's a knife. That 00:08:54.120 --> 00:08:57.059 absolute panic you felt. Your brain was redlining 00:08:57.059 --> 00:08:58.919 because it was trying to map the software and 00:08:58.919 --> 00:09:01.620 do the high level work at the exact same time. 00:09:02.059 --> 00:09:04.220 That is the toxic mix in action. And that is 00:09:04.220 --> 00:09:06.440 precisely what this research aims to eliminate. 00:09:06.940 --> 00:09:09.580 A veteran teacher trying to build complex grading 00:09:09.580 --> 00:09:12.019 rubrics will just shut down if they are simultaneously 00:09:12.019 --> 00:09:14.799 forced to figure out basic logging credentials. 00:09:14.960 --> 00:09:17.039 It's like you cannot write a brilliant novel 00:09:17.039 --> 00:09:19.240 if you are actively struggling to remember where 00:09:19.240 --> 00:09:21.299 the keys are on the keyboard. That's a perfect 00:09:21.299 --> 00:09:23.279 analogy. You learn the keyboard first in phase 00:09:23.279 --> 00:09:26.000 one. Right. Then you move to phase two, which 00:09:26.000 --> 00:09:28.419 the district calls planning. So phase two is 00:09:28.419 --> 00:09:31.559 where the actual music gets made. Yes. Planning 00:09:31.559 --> 00:09:35.080 is the application phase. The magic of pedagogy 00:09:35.080 --> 00:09:37.940 enters the equation here. Teachers collaborate 00:09:37.940 --> 00:09:40.379 to prepare activities that use the technology 00:09:40.379 --> 00:09:44.279 to accomplish very specific curriculum goals. 00:09:44.700 --> 00:09:47.220 So the sliders have moved. The dimensions have 00:09:47.220 --> 00:09:49.840 shifted entirely. The technology is now highly 00:09:49.840 --> 00:09:52.720 contextualized, which means the audience narrows 00:09:52.720 --> 00:09:55.120 down significantly. Yeah, the source gives a 00:09:55.120 --> 00:09:57.320 perfect example of this narrowing. You would 00:09:57.320 --> 00:09:59.340 never have the whole school in a phase two planning 00:09:59.340 --> 00:10:01.480 session. No, it'd be a waste of time. Only the 00:10:01.480 --> 00:10:03.700 English and history teachers might attend a workshop 00:10:03.700 --> 00:10:07.039 focused on, say, advanced digital bibliography 00:10:07.039 --> 00:10:10.039 tools for long form research papers. Right. The 00:10:10.039 --> 00:10:11.539 kindergarten art teacher does not need to be 00:10:11.539 --> 00:10:14.299 there. Exactly. Their context is entirely different. 00:10:14.559 --> 00:10:17.259 And because the focus is now on curriculum, the 00:10:17.259 --> 00:10:20.200 expertise leading the room shifts too. Planning 00:10:20.200 --> 00:10:23.240 is led by teaching experts. Not the IT guys anymore. 00:10:23.440 --> 00:10:25.960 Right. It's often mediated by those technology 00:10:25.960 --> 00:10:28.080 specialists we mentioned earlier, the ones who 00:10:28.080 --> 00:10:30.720 speak both languages. Exactly. The educators 00:10:30.720 --> 00:10:33.759 are creating, assessing, and editing actual materials 00:10:33.759 --> 00:10:36.700 they will deploy in their classrooms. In phase 00:10:36.700 --> 00:10:39.259 two, the technology is forced to bend to the 00:10:39.259 --> 00:10:42.039 teaching needs, not the other way around. I love 00:10:42.039 --> 00:10:44.759 that. So planning is essentially getting these 00:10:44.759 --> 00:10:46.840 polished materials ready for the real world. 00:10:46.899 --> 00:10:50.120 Right. But as the source notes, planning relies 00:10:50.120 --> 00:10:53.159 entirely on predictions. The teachers are building 00:10:53.159 --> 00:10:55.500 lessons based on their best assumptions about 00:10:55.500 --> 00:10:57.500 how the students will interact with the bibliography 00:10:57.500 --> 00:10:59.620 tool or the interactive whiteboard. It's all 00:10:59.620 --> 00:11:03.000 hypothetical at this stage. Exactly. So what 00:11:03.000 --> 00:11:05.000 does this all mean? Does a perfectly planned 00:11:05.000 --> 00:11:08.980 tech lesson actually survive contact with real, 00:11:09.299 --> 00:11:11.580 unpredictable students? What's fascinating here 00:11:11.580 --> 00:11:14.539 is that the answer is almost always no. No. A 00:11:14.539 --> 00:11:17.700 perfect plan rarely survives contact with reality. 00:11:18.200 --> 00:11:20.600 And this introduces the final, and really the 00:11:20.600 --> 00:11:22.840 most innovative phase identified by the district, 00:11:23.159 --> 00:11:26.279 phase three, which is design. Design is the iterative 00:11:26.279 --> 00:11:28.740 process, and it happens strictly after the lesson 00:11:28.740 --> 00:11:30.779 has been deployed with the students. Wait, wait, 00:11:30.879 --> 00:11:33.080 the lesson is over, the students have gone home, 00:11:33.159 --> 00:11:35.279 and now we are back to the drawing board. Yep. 00:11:35.419 --> 00:11:38.409 Why didn't phase two catch the errors? To understand 00:11:38.409 --> 00:11:41.210 why predictions fail, we have to look at a psychological 00:11:41.210 --> 00:11:43.509 concept known as the curse of knowledge. The 00:11:43.509 --> 00:11:45.710 curse of knowledge. Adult experts suffer from 00:11:45.710 --> 00:11:48.889 this constantly. When you know a subject or a 00:11:48.889 --> 00:11:51.490 software interface deeply, you literally lose 00:11:51.490 --> 00:11:54.090 the ability to remember what it feels like to 00:11:54.090 --> 00:11:57.210 not know it. Oh, wow. Yeah. Teachers suffer from 00:11:57.210 --> 00:11:59.610 the curse of knowledge when planning tech lessons. 00:12:00.009 --> 00:12:02.389 They assume a navigation path is intuitive just 00:12:02.389 --> 00:12:04.690 because it's intuitive to them. But to a 10 -year 00:12:04.690 --> 00:12:07.549 -old, it's Greek. Exactly. The reality of the 00:12:07.549 --> 00:12:10.470 classroom is that educators routinely, inaccurately 00:12:10.470 --> 00:12:13.350 predict a tool's effectiveness. I mean, the students 00:12:13.350 --> 00:12:15.629 will always find the one distraction you didn't 00:12:15.629 --> 00:12:18.330 anticipate. Always. They'll find the hidden chat 00:12:18.330 --> 00:12:20.850 function, get completely derailed, and just ignore 00:12:20.850 --> 00:12:23.590 the actual assignment. Or, on the flip side, 00:12:23.970 --> 00:12:26.509 the tool makes the lesson vastly more efficient 00:12:26.509 --> 00:12:28.669 than the teacher expected. And suddenly, they 00:12:28.669 --> 00:12:30.629 have 20 minutes of dead air at the end of the 00:12:30.629 --> 00:12:33.860 period. Exactly. That disconnect is why phase 00:12:33.860 --> 00:12:36.220 three is mandatory, not just a nice -to -have 00:12:36.220 --> 00:12:39.899 addition. In design, the focus shifts slightly 00:12:39.899 --> 00:12:42.600 back toward finding generalizations and troubleshooting 00:12:42.600 --> 00:12:44.860 tips that can help across various classrooms. 00:12:45.059 --> 00:12:48.139 But the most vital shift is bringing the student 00:12:48.139 --> 00:12:51.759 dimension to the very center. The mechanics of 00:12:51.759 --> 00:12:54.899 design require heavy, active collaboration between 00:12:54.899 --> 00:12:57.940 the teaching experts and the technology specialists. 00:12:58.580 --> 00:13:00.679 Let's drill into that collaboration for a second. 00:13:00.730 --> 00:13:04.169 If a lesson bombs, why do you need both the IT 00:13:04.169 --> 00:13:06.330 person and the veteran teacher in the room to 00:13:06.330 --> 00:13:08.830 fix it? Because when a lesson fails, the team 00:13:08.830 --> 00:13:11.309 has to diagnose the root cause of the failure. 00:13:11.669 --> 00:13:14.070 Was it the tech or the teaching? Exactly. Was 00:13:14.070 --> 00:13:16.110 it a failure of the technological infrastructure? 00:13:16.389 --> 00:13:18.950 Did the Wi -Fi drop? Did the server timeout because 00:13:18.950 --> 00:13:22.129 30 kids logged in simultaneously? Right. Or was 00:13:22.129 --> 00:13:24.090 it a failure of the pedagogy? Did the digital 00:13:24.090 --> 00:13:26.549 format actually increase the cognitive load and 00:13:26.549 --> 00:13:28.950 make the reading comprehension harder than it 00:13:28.950 --> 00:13:30.889 would have been on physical paper? That's a huge 00:13:30.889 --> 00:13:33.289 distinction. The solution for a server timeout 00:13:33.289 --> 00:13:36.169 is vastly different from the solution for a poorly 00:13:36.200 --> 00:13:38.879 reading assignment. And you can only figure out 00:13:38.879 --> 00:13:41.240 which one it was by capturing actual student 00:13:41.240 --> 00:13:44.340 reactions. It's forensic analysis. Exactly that. 00:13:44.639 --> 00:13:46.840 Teachers conduct debriefings with the students 00:13:46.840 --> 00:13:50.360 immediately after the lesson. The entire goal 00:13:50.360 --> 00:13:53.940 of Phase 3 Design is answering one highly specific 00:13:53.940 --> 00:13:58.490 question. How can this pedagogical plan be improved 00:13:58.490 --> 00:14:01.470 for these specific students. It creates a continuous 00:14:01.470 --> 00:14:03.629 logical loop. It really does. Training gives 00:14:03.629 --> 00:14:06.070 you the raw mechanical foundation without the 00:14:06.070 --> 00:14:08.269 pressure of performance. Yes. Planning gives 00:14:08.269 --> 00:14:10.889 you the targeted contextual application of the 00:14:10.889 --> 00:14:13.590 tool. And design ensures that you are actually 00:14:13.590 --> 00:14:16.750 iterating based on reality, rather than the assumptions 00:14:16.750 --> 00:14:18.870 of a teacher suffering from the curse of knowledge. 00:14:19.029 --> 00:14:21.389 It's brilliant. But taking a step back here. 00:14:21.820 --> 00:14:24.340 Why does a school's leadership team need to be 00:14:24.340 --> 00:14:27.539 so incredibly rigid about dividing their professional 00:14:27.539 --> 00:14:30.259 development into these three exact buckets? Like, 00:14:30.279 --> 00:14:33.580 why enforce such strict labels? Why be so pedantic 00:14:33.580 --> 00:14:35.720 about it? Well, if we connect this to the bigger 00:14:35.720 --> 00:14:39.200 picture, it is all about creating what the researchers 00:14:39.200 --> 00:14:42.779 call conceptual artifacts. Conceptual artifacts. 00:14:42.960 --> 00:14:45.139 That sounds like something you'd find in an archaeology 00:14:45.139 --> 00:14:47.559 museum, not a staff meeting. It does sound deeply 00:14:47.559 --> 00:14:50.299 academic, I know, but it's an incredibly practical 00:14:50.299 --> 00:14:53.620 organizational tool. OK, unpack that for me. 00:14:54.039 --> 00:14:56.620 A conceptual artifact is simply a standardized 00:14:56.620 --> 00:14:59.659 shared understanding and a shared vocabulary 00:14:59.659 --> 00:15:02.899 within a group. When an organization lacks these 00:15:02.899 --> 00:15:04.980 artifacts, communication breaks down immediately. 00:15:05.500 --> 00:15:08.080 Someone sends out a calendar invite for a technology 00:15:08.080 --> 00:15:10.720 workshop. Right, and nobody reading that email. 00:15:11.120 --> 00:15:13.919 knows what it actually means. Exactly. Is it 00:15:13.919 --> 00:15:16.600 training? Is it planning? Do I need to bring 00:15:16.600 --> 00:15:18.519 my curriculum notes? Am I learning the buttons 00:15:18.519 --> 00:15:21.360 or writing a test? Right. And that ambiguity 00:15:21.360 --> 00:15:24.039 is exactly how you end up with the dreaded scenario 00:15:24.039 --> 00:15:26.379 you mentioned at the very beginning. half the 00:15:26.379 --> 00:15:29.000 room surfing the web, while the other half sweats 00:15:29.000 --> 00:15:31.759 over a login screen. So by giving these phases 00:15:31.759 --> 00:15:35.139 distinct names and rules, you completely eliminate 00:15:35.139 --> 00:15:37.860 the ambiguity. There's a really impactful quote 00:15:37.860 --> 00:15:40.820 from a principal in the source material who experienced 00:15:40.820 --> 00:15:43.679 this shift firsthand. Oh yeah, the discrimination 00:15:43.679 --> 00:15:46.840 quote? Yeah. They said, I used to see all technology 00:15:46.840 --> 00:15:49.179 workshops as the same, but now I discriminate 00:15:49.179 --> 00:15:51.620 them and we are all using the same vocabulary. 00:15:52.039 --> 00:15:54.600 We know what to expect which is huge. That is 00:15:54.600 --> 00:15:58.120 a massive operational upgrade It means if a tech 00:15:58.120 --> 00:16:00.559 specialist wants to host a workshop They cannot 00:16:00.559 --> 00:16:03.039 just send a generic blast to the whole staff. 00:16:03.159 --> 00:16:05.139 No, they have to be specific They have to explicitly 00:16:05.139 --> 00:16:08.559 state this is a phase two planning session. The 00:16:08.559 --> 00:16:11.679 intended audience is history teachers You must 00:16:11.679 --> 00:16:14.960 already possess phase one baseline skills to 00:16:14.960 --> 00:16:17.659 attend. It standardizes the expectations across 00:16:17.659 --> 00:16:20.320 the board. It's so clean. There is an established 00:16:20.320 --> 00:16:23.019 framework in educational theory called TPACSEC, 00:16:23.399 --> 00:16:25.919 which stands for Technological Pedagogical Content 00:16:25.919 --> 00:16:28.379 Knowledge. TPAC, okay. It's a model explaining 00:16:28.379 --> 00:16:30.860 how teachers effectively integrate tech into 00:16:30.860 --> 00:16:33.419 their classrooms. And the source briefly notes 00:16:33.419 --> 00:16:36.159 how perfectly this new district typology aligns 00:16:36.159 --> 00:16:38.360 with that theory. How so? Under this structured 00:16:38.360 --> 00:16:40.940 approach, phase one training strictly handles 00:16:40.940 --> 00:16:43.919 the baseline technological knowledge. It's just 00:16:43.919 --> 00:16:47.559 the raw tech. The TK and TPAC. Right. Then phase 00:16:47.559 --> 00:16:50.100 two planning and phase three design are where 00:16:50.100 --> 00:16:52.759 teachers actually synthesize that tech with their 00:16:52.759 --> 00:16:55.759 pedagogy and their subject content. The PCK. 00:16:56.000 --> 00:16:58.779 Exactly. It bridges the gap between high level 00:16:58.779 --> 00:17:01.419 academic theory and the boots on the ground reality 00:17:01.419 --> 00:17:03.840 of a Tuesday morning staff meeting. It really 00:17:03.840 --> 00:17:07.619 is a brilliant way to untangle a very messy not. 00:17:07.819 --> 00:17:10.039 And I want to connect this directly back to you, 00:17:10.059 --> 00:17:12.279 the listener, right now. Yes, because this isn't 00:17:12.279 --> 00:17:15.099 just for schools. Exactly. Even if you are not 00:17:15.099 --> 00:17:17.180 an educator, even if you don't work anywhere 00:17:17.180 --> 00:17:20.900 near a school, the core lesson here is universally 00:17:20.900 --> 00:17:23.640 applicable to how we absorb new information and 00:17:23.640 --> 00:17:25.960 manage teams. It applies everywhere. Whenever 00:17:25.960 --> 00:17:28.019 you are learning a new digital tool, or maybe 00:17:28.019 --> 00:17:30.240 you are a manager rolling out a massive new software 00:17:30.240 --> 00:17:34.000 system at your corporate job, remember to ruthlessly 00:17:34.000 --> 00:17:36.480 separate these phases. Don't do the toxic mix. 00:17:36.680 --> 00:17:39.660 Do not try to do it all at once to save time. 00:17:40.099 --> 00:17:42.500 Separate the training, which is just learning 00:17:42.500 --> 00:17:45.579 the spatial layout and the buttons from the planning, 00:17:46.140 --> 00:17:48.279 which is actually applying that tool to your 00:17:48.279 --> 00:17:51.059 quarterly goals or daily tasks. And never forget 00:17:51.059 --> 00:17:54.019 the design phase. Oh, never. You have to iterate 00:17:54.019 --> 00:17:57.039 and improve the process based on real world feedback 00:17:57.039 --> 00:17:59.059 from the people actually clicking the buttons. 00:17:59.180 --> 00:18:02.160 If you mix the mechanical buttons with the big 00:18:02.160 --> 00:18:04.779 picture strategy, you're just going to frustrate 00:18:04.779 --> 00:18:06.910 everyone in the room. and trigger that toxic 00:18:06.910 --> 00:18:10.230 mix. Exactly. It serves as a blueprint for respecting 00:18:10.230 --> 00:18:12.430 people's time and their cognitive limits. But 00:18:12.430 --> 00:18:15.970 you know, there is one final, highly provocative 00:18:15.970 --> 00:18:18.750 detail hidden right in the byline of Gary Ackerman's 00:18:18.750 --> 00:18:21.450 post that completely flips this paradigm on its 00:18:21.450 --> 00:18:23.410 head. The disclaimer at the very top of the page. 00:18:23.650 --> 00:18:27.019 Yes. Ackerman explicitly notes in the text, I 00:18:27.019 --> 00:18:29.920 had AI create this post based on a chapter I 00:18:29.920 --> 00:18:31.960 wrote a few years ago. Wait, really? The whole 00:18:31.960 --> 00:18:35.079 thing? He used artificial intelligence to synthesize 00:18:35.079 --> 00:18:36.980 and generate this entire framework about how 00:18:36.980 --> 00:18:39.279 humans should learn technology. That is wild. 00:18:39.339 --> 00:18:42.619 And that leaves us with a massive looming question 00:18:42.619 --> 00:18:45.900 to mull over. If artificial intelligence is now 00:18:45.900 --> 00:18:48.599 fully capable of generating the very conceptual 00:18:48.599 --> 00:18:51.160 artifacts we use to learn, how is phase three 00:18:51.160 --> 00:18:54.569 going to evolve? Exactly. this time talking about 00:18:54.569 --> 00:18:57.410 human teachers actively diagnosing failures and 00:18:57.410 --> 00:18:59.670 adjusting lessons based on student feedback. 00:19:00.230 --> 00:19:02.450 But what happens when the educational technology 00:19:02.450 --> 00:19:05.490 itself becomes so advanced that it adapts to 00:19:05.490 --> 00:19:08.710 a student's feedback in real time? Oh wow. Like 00:19:08.710 --> 00:19:11.089 if the software analyzes a student's confusion 00:19:11.089 --> 00:19:13.769 metrics, realizes they are struggling with a 00:19:13.769 --> 00:19:16.710 cognitive load, and instantly bypasses the teacher's 00:19:16.710 --> 00:19:18.670 planned lesson to offer a newly generated one. 00:19:18.769 --> 00:19:20.809 The tool is doing the phase three design all 00:19:20.809 --> 00:19:22.990 by itself. It's cutting the human out of the 00:19:22.759 --> 00:19:25.539 When the machine is capable of iterating on the 00:19:25.539 --> 00:19:28.359 fly, diagnosing its own pedagogical failures, 00:19:28.900 --> 00:19:31.480 and rewriting the curriculum in real time without 00:19:31.480 --> 00:19:33.799 human intervention, Who actually becomes the 00:19:33.799 --> 00:19:36.299 teaching expert, then? The whole dynamic shifts 00:19:36.299 --> 00:19:38.359 entirely. I mean, you might end up with those 00:19:38.359 --> 00:19:41.240 elite power lifters and absolute beginners in 00:19:41.240 --> 00:19:44.279 the exact same room. But the room itself just 00:19:44.279 --> 00:19:47.240 perfectly, invisibly adjusts the gravity for 00:19:47.240 --> 00:19:49.680 each individual person. That is something to 00:19:49.680 --> 00:19:51.700 deeply consider the next time you are staring 00:19:51.700 --> 00:19:54.259 at a generic login screen wondering who designed 00:19:54.259 --> 00:19:56.519 the workshop. Thanks for joining us on this deep 00:19:56.519 --> 00:19:56.759 dive.