“These adaptive learning systems (the new teaching machines) do not build more resilient, creative, entrepreneurial or empathetic citizens through their individualized, standardized, linear and mechanical software algorithms. On the contrary, they diminish the many opportunities for human relationships to flourish, which is a hallmark of high-quality learning environments.”
What is the purpose of education? It isn’t to blast through the content. It is to build a better world with empathetic, critical thinking citizens who are able to shape a society that is fulfilling, ecologically sustainable, and just. So far the blended classroom system is simply one of many tools available to a teacher (and Rainbow teachers certainly takes advantage of some blended learning); but there is zero evidence that blended learning improves even traditional content-oriented learning, much less that it meets loftier goals. Beware of the slippery slope.
Blended Learning: The great new thing or the great new hype?