Our Kids Are Not an EdTech Experiment: The Day Educators Laughed at ‘Innovative’ Math

How a €20M-funded startup turned 35 + 27 into a convoluted process, and why 2,200 schools should reconsider

«The audience laughing because of how convoluted is the addition.» — Generated and edited by the author.

Is it possible to make an entire room laugh by explaining how to add two numbers? It turns out it is. This week, in a crowded auditorium at Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona, I did exactly that. I wasn’t trying to be funny — I was simply showing how 2,200 schools in Spain are now teaching kids to add 35 + 27. The laughter that followed wasn’t of joy, but of disbelief.

The Context

Academic performance in Catalonia keeps declining. PISA report after report shows it falling lower and lower. But for families, this comes as no surprise, rather it’s the confirmation they needed to demand change.

However, the truth is that this isn’t so easy to see, and often it’s very difficult to compare. Because, how can we evaluate whether the change is good or not?

While some say the numbers are important, others say they don’t measure correctly and that they measure needs that have disappeared. Indeed, many of these innovations promise that, despite today’s worse results, tomorrow they will be better prepared for the changing world…