I’ve been trying to figure out how to write about Amplify Learning for months. It’s complicated, Forbes reports. Mashable’s story describes Amplify as the cash hungry villain: News Corp’s bid to profit off children. The New York Times’ coverage read like an informercial; retelling that same old congratulatory story of free market innovation. NPR covered Amplify when they first announced the tablets, quoting CEO Joel Klein, “We don’t have a political mission — none whatsoever. What we’re doing is developing materials in math and science and the English language arts — designed by leading experts.” How should I write about Amplify? Should I take a political stance? Or, should I evaluate the orange tablets simply as a digital learning technology, out of context? Do I bracket out the fact that this particular edtech company is owned by News Corp?
Read more [1]