Interview Archives - Sebastian Waack

John Hattie told us the story underlying the data of his huge meta study Visible Learning. There is an enhanced role for teachers, because students seek feedback. And feedback works best when you think first of feedback that is received not given. Together with my colleague and co-author Regine Berger we interviewed John Hattie about “Visible Learning”. We were especially interested to know how to implement his findings schools. And also how to best train the teachers. You can also read the Interview in German on www.visiblelearning.de.

john-hattie-interview-visible-learning-WAACK-ORG

Is Visible Learning equally good for all ages?

Which age specific differences should schools consider when implementing visible learning?
I was interested in 4-20 year olds and for every influence was very keen to evaluate any moderators – but found very few indeed. The story underlying the data seems applicable to this age range.
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Clay Shirky, who popularized the concept of cognitive surplus, the time freed from watching television which can be enormously productive, talks in an interview about the risks of social media and broadcasting yourself on the internet. Shirky provides the following example: “The employer says: ‘Anything that is accessible to me is also acceptable to me.'” While in the real world there is a notion of privacy in public spaces (e.g. listening in the neighbors’ conversation in a restaurant is considered wrong), this notion lacks in the semi-public semi-private sphere of social networks and the internet. Shirky concludes that unless we find a better solution than the existing one, we will “have robbed young people of something that they won’t even know they are missing, because they never leave the web of surveillance.”