Jan. 22, 2021

Failure to Disrupt Book Club with Dan Meyer

Failure to Disrupt Book Club with Dan Meyer

For TeachLab’s sixth Failure to Disrupt Book Club episode we look back at Justin’s live conversation with regular Audrey Watters and special guest Dan Meyer, the chief academic officer at Desmos. Together they discuss the work of Desmos and the section of Justin’s book on the “Curse of the Familiar.”

“From our perspective, for us, we are not trying to subvert the school day. We're not trying to get learning outside of the four walls of the classroom. We're not trying to upend schooling and turn everyone into home schoolers. I'm not judging those necessarily, but I'm just saying, we know what we're not trying to do, and we're actually really eager to use the four walls, we understand that there are things that are possible when a bunch of people are together in a room that is impossible during asynchronous experiences. There's this sometimes collective effervescence, it's why we used to go to movie theaters, or why sports are interesting to watch in person, versus on TV. It's that bubbly champagne like feeling when you're all together. So we know what we're trying to change and not trying to change.”

- Dan Meyer

For TeachLab’s sixth Failure to Disrupt Book Club episode we look back at Justin’s live conversation with regular Audrey Watters and special guest Dan Meyer, the chief academic officer at Desmos. Together they discuss the work of Desmos and the section of Justin’s book on the “Curse of the Familiar.”

“From our perspective, for us, we are not trying to subvert the school day. We're not trying to get learning outside of the four walls of the classroom. We're not trying to upend schooling and turn everyone into home schoolers. I'm not judging those necessarily, but I'm just saying, we know what we're not trying to do, and we're actually really eager to use the four walls, we understand that there are things that are possible when a bunch of people are together in a room that is impossible during asynchronous experiences. There's this sometimes collective effervescence, it's why we used to go to movie theaters, or why sports are interesting to watch in person, versus on TV. It's that bubbly champagne like feeling when you're all together. So we know what we're trying to change and not trying to change.” 

- Dan Meyer

 

In this episode we’ll talk about:

  • Dan Meyer’s edtech story and teaching experience
  • Success of Quizlet
  • Curse of the Familiar
  • Combat vs. Co-opt schooling
  • Desmos’ approach
  • Community in edtech
  • Creating a low, welcoming floor
  • The business of edtech
  • Assessment in online learning

 

Resources and Links

Check out Dan Meyer’s blog!

Learn more about Desmos!

Watch the full Book Club webinar here!

Check out Justin Reich’s new book, Failure To Disrupt!

Join our self-paced online edX course: Becoming a More Equitable Educator: Mindsets and Practices

 

Transcript

https://teachlabpodcast.simplecast.com/episodes/bookclub6/transcript

 

Produced by Aimee Corrigan and Garrett Beazley

Recorded and mixed by Garrett Beazley

 

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