Justin Reich

Director, Teaching Systems Lab and Associate Professor of Comparative Media Studies/Writing, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Failure to Disrupt: Why Technology Alone Can't Transform Education

2021 Simon Distinguished Lecture
November 16, 2021

Understanding barriers to adoption and effective implementation is critical to a better future for education and education technology. In this lecture, MIT Professor Justin Reich looks through the history of instructor-guided courses like massive open online courses (MOOCs), algorithm-guided tools like adaptive tutors and peer-guided spaces like networked learning communities. He argues that education technology has never sweepingly transformed schools, but a determined “tinkering” approach to continuous improvement can guide the way to better ecologies of education.