"A child's learning is the function more of the characteristics of his classmates than those of the teacher." James Coleman, 1972

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Edu-Porn Brought to You by Freakonomics

The way sex porn works is to convincingly create simulations that have all the mechanical nuances of the real act with the soul missing.  That is how porn workers can finish their shift and then go pick up the kids and take their wives to dinner.

Same principles apply with edu-porn.  It, too, is market inspired and involves convincing simulations, just like the ones offered in the Freakanomics documentary that got shoved my way yesterday in an email.  And edu-porn, too, is looking for the most bang for the buck (never mind the pun, which, by the way, originated with the defense industry).

According to Steven Levitt, describing the plot line for the edu-porn segment of their new documentary, the "goal was to figure out can we cheaply and quickly move the needle at a school--can we get kids to achieve more as quickly as possible and spend very little money."

This, my friend, is edu-porn reform in a nutshell, so to speak.

Have a look at this clip, but I warn you it is XXX rated for sleazy exploitation of poor children, simulated alcohol consumption by minors, gambling promotion, and further destruction of the environmental conscience of minors (winners of the lottery get to ride in a stretch Hummer).  Yeah, that's right, baby. 

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