The passing of Steve Jobs earlier this month generatednumerous tributes to the Apple icon’s simple solutions to technology’s mostintractable dilemmas. Two recent blog posts apply Jobs’ thinking to some ofeducation’s greatest challenges, and come up with very differentinterpretations.
In a post on Education Next, Jay P. Greenepulls together comments by Jobs on school vouchers (positive), teachersunions (negative), and digital learning (not a magic bullet). In an ASCD EDgeBlog, teacher Kelle Stewart suggests that Jobs’ most important legacy foreducation is his commitment to innovation: “Perhaps the best homage we can allpay to his legacy is taking a vow to think differently. We shouldn’t be forcedto keep buying these so-called solutions that really only cause us more pain.We should stand up and fight for what we know will work best for us and for ourchildren.”
Greene’s post, “Steve Jobs on Education” can be found online here,and Stewart’s piece, “Think Differently about Reform,” here.
