Paulo Blikstein works 鈥渁t the intersection of education and technology,鈥� but his allegiance is clear.
鈥淧eople say technology makes things cheaper and more efficient, so automate education,鈥� says Blikstein, Associate Professor of Communications, Media & Learning Technologies Design. 鈥淏ut we don鈥檛 need more automation in education; we need less. The best use of technology is to creatively augment what teachers can do, not replace them.鈥�
Paulo Blikstein, Associate Professor of Communications, Media & Learning Technologies Design (Photo: TC Archives)
Blikstein creates tools to help children learn STEM subjects by doing, making and building. He created the first open-source educational robotics platform and the first program to bring maker education to schools 鈥� the FabLearn project, now in 22 countries on four continents.
He studies these tools in vivo to validate broader learning theories. In 2015, with his then-students Richard Davis and Bertrand Schneider, he placed high school students with no formal engineering and design training in a maker space. They soon acquired behaviors and problem-solving skills 鈥渞esembling those of experts.鈥�
We don鈥檛 need more automation in education; we need less. The best use of technology is to creatively augment what teachers can do, not replace them.
鈥� Paulo Blikstein, Associate Professor of Communications, Media & Learning Technologies Design
Blikstein attended a progressive Brazilian elementary school led by the daughter of Paulo Freire, author of. After studying engineering in college, he earned a master鈥檚 in Media Arts & Sciences from MIT and a Ph.D. in Learning Sciences from Northwestern University.
Teaching at Stanford University in Silicon Valley, Blikstein became wary of technology鈥檚 potential uses in education. 鈥淎ny discussion of EdTech must address the Silicon Valley mythology of 鈥榞ive us your data, because we鈥檙e the good guys, we wear hoodies,鈥欌�� he told a recent TC conference. 鈥淔ilmmakers use technology to tell otherwise impossible stories; doctors, to heal in unthinkable ways. Similarly, teachers should use technology to teach kids to build AI, not to deliver 19th century Orwellian-style education. We want more humanity in the classroom, not less.鈥�