Stephen Downes

In a LinkedIn article, Dan Meyer proclaimed the 'death' of Khanmigo. Not death in the sense of going away, but in the sense thjat nobody is using it. "For a lot of students, it was a non-event," Khan told Matt Barnum last week in Chalkbeat, referring to Khanmigo's release three years ago. "They just didn't use it much" This article examines that proposition. Why does the software go unused? "The recurring blind spot (is) EdTech's promises of frictionless scale. EdTech repeatedly promises low-cost, scalable transformation - but often repackages old models without solving engagement or economics." The argument here is that in order to scale a technology company needs "sustained marketing investment, institutional credibility, student support infrastructure, and retention strategies that go well beyond content delivery." All true - but as Glenda Morgan notes, the real issue is that these companies repackage the old model over and over again. See also this discussion in Learning Engineering.