A reader who calls himself “Gitapik” shares his experience with the introduction of new technology into the special education programs for which he was responsible in New York City public schools.
He wrote:
As a former tech guy for our five District 75 special education sites in Brooklyn, I had quite a ride on this tech roller coaster. I was in on it from the beginning.
I applied for and received multiple very large state grants in technology. Once the money was received, I would choose, order, and facilitate installation of what technology went where in all the sites. From classroom computers, iPads, laptops, Attainment Stations, and Smartboards to full scale labs. It was a very big undertaking.
This also included conducting professional development classes and individual training session sessions…very often to an unappreciative audience.
My sales pitch was always the same: this is a wonderful tool for you to incorporate into your standard every day teaching methods. You can turn it on and off in order to create interest and spur on new ideas. I would even give examples of how I, a teacher, would do a class, using the different devices.
This would’ve been all well and good if it hadn’t been so naïve on my part. I witnessed firsthand how the technology went from being a tool for the teacher to the teacher being the tool of the technology. Might sound like a catchy phrase, but looking back on it I can’t help but see it for what it was. A planned takeover of the school systems.
I could go into specifics, but this is getting pretty lengthy as it is.
Michael Mulgrew, the president of the United Federation of Teachers in New York City recently endorsed the use of AI in the classroom. He said he had met with top officials who had assured him that teachers and administrators would have a voice in how the technology would be applied. I would like to have his ear, knowing what I know. It’s the same sales pitch as was given to me. They just want to get their foot in the door
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Technology stopped being tools for teachers once administrators started mandating its use in ways that good teachers knew were faulty. They took away our texts, our novels, our science labs, our creativity. They mandated computer generated timed assessments, while at the same time destroyed creative writing opportunities.
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I notice that he never mentions graphing calculators and other related techology. Since 1990, their introduction has been the greatest improvement in teaching and learning math. But it’s not a good idea just to throw the tech at the teachers and paras; there has to be LOTS of staff development opportunities.
From 1994-2000, I obtained grants from Texas Instruments for two 1-week institutes in each of those summers. They supplied expert classroom teachers and all the class materials.
Neither do I recall this fellow’s name and don’t recall that he ever attended a workshop or other session sponsored by the UFT Math Teachers Committee, one of dozens of professional committees under the UFT umbrella. Many subject matter professional committees are also affiliated groups of their national organizations.
I will write to you at greater length about this topic when I have more time. (Right now, it’s almost 11:30, but I haven’t yet had time for breakfast.)
Bobbi Roberta M. Eisenberg Committee Leader UFT Math Teachers Committee
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Mulgrew is not someone New York City teachers should trust. He is the same person that sold out the healthcare of retirees. Big Tech always paints a rosy picture to assure teachers that they will enhance education, and AI is not that much different from already failed cyber instruction. which, by the way, my grandson has been subjected to for years in Texas. He is a bright young man, but his education has been impeded by an over reliance on technology in the Texas public schools. There is no doubt in my mind that he would have been better off in a school district where qualified humans drove the instruction. Instead, the teachers in his school district have been subjugated by it. Technology is a useful tool when it is deployed by qualified teachers based on curricular needs. It cannot replace human engagement and interaction despite what Big Tech claims, and they should ignore the idyllic picture that Big Tech will paint to get in the door to launch a hostile takeover. “Come into my house,” said the spider to the fly.
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Today Melania Trump introduced a robot and announced that we need robots to educate our children.
No doubt a Trump family member has invested in an edu-bot company
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Barron went to fancy private schools with small classes. He was not taught by a robot.
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I would think that if people wanted to sell their children, they would, at the very least, want to make a little bit of money off the dastardly act.
The age of people being centaurs is coming to a close. (I can’t take credit for the analogy; I read it in The Guardian.) It will soon be the case that humans no longer have human heads and bodies as fast and strong as horses. Soon, if not already, people will be robot heads with human bodies.
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