Chasing The Promise of Equitable Education

Featuring Rebecca Kemper, Ph.D., Researcher, The Center for Research and Evaluation at COSI, La’Tonia Stiner-Jones, Ph.D., Assistant Dean of Graduate Programs, Associate Professor of Practice, Department of Biomedical Engineering, The Ohio State University College of Engineering, and Kyra Schloenbach, Chief Academic Officer, Columbus City Schools, with host David DeWitt, Executive Editor, The Ohio Capital Journal.

What does equitable education mean in America, today and tomorrow?

In a few generations, American students have gone from one-room schoolhouses to attempting to keep up with a global economy moving at the speed of light. While technology advances at ever-faster rates, America’s educational institutions move at the rate at which students can learn, and the two are often out of synch. Across America, wide gaps also exist between students in terms of educational opportunities.

After 2010, America’s online audiences became more democratized than ever before, but many Americans students are unprepared or underprepared as they venture into the online wilderness. Are American students – and citizens – ready and able to distinguish fact from fiction in an online world where every source can appear reputable?

What is the role of critical thinking skills in ensuring that a free democracy can endure assaults of misinformation – and even outright fabrications – online? How can schools measure the technical literacy and critical thinking abilities of their students to know their instruction is impactful? Is student learning best measured by evaluating what students can create, versus what students know?

And what about gaming? How can games tell a story to their players, have their players go through the story, and emerge on the other side as better people? Can games be used to teach empathy and to build positive social skills, instead of inviting young people into a world of isolation?

Artificial intelligence is also presenting new ethical dilemmas to educators and employers. Should AI be used to track the emotional state of students? And what should educators do with this information?

The cost of educational inequity is a population that grows more divided, more susceptible to misinformation, and more dangerous to democracy. Join the Columbus Metropolitan Club and a panel of experts for a wide-ranging exploration of the future – and the promise – of equitable education in America.

JOIN US IN THE ROOM for this discussion on February 9th, in person audience seating is available. Please make reservations by Tuesday, February 8th. We cannot accommodate walk ins.

You can also still join us on the CMC YouTube Channel to view and participate in the community conversation during this livestream event. We encourage you to register and support CMC by purchasing a virtual seat – different levels of support are available when you register! When you register, you can submit questions in advance.

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