"This is the first generation of people that work, play, think and learn differently than their parents,... They are the first generation to not be afraid of technology. It's like the air to them."
Don Tapscott
Have you seen the documentary The Future of Learning? I just can't shut up about this film. It inspired me with a renewed optimism about the future of education. It is easy to see around us powerful systems that fundamentally want to perpetuate themselves. I see the inertia to maintain the status quo in education on all levels. However many brilliant minds are working to create access to educational technology that has the potential to leap frog over resistent institutions.
My thoughts about the educational system are anecdotal as both an educator/artist and a parent. I just read a review on the Huffington Post that was critical of the film for selling a product (that's a stretch) and just regurgitating old ideas. I am quite sure there were no "new" ideas in this film. However, what I did find is a flow of information that was succinct and persuasive. Swedish telecommunications company Ericsson has produced this 20 minute documentary as is part of their Networked Society initiative.
The second time I watched the film I wrote down those ideas (not direct quotes) that seemed to be the most meaningful. It is this thread of ideas that I found so compelling.
The current educational system was built to create identical people. The system needed to produce soldiers and later factory workers. That concept is no longer relevent. Seth Godin
Knowing is an obsolete idea. Answers are everywhere. One can find an answer when it is needed. Students finding their own answers leads to better understanding. Sugata Mitra TED talk
Those who are successful are successful because they have failed more often.
Seth Godin
No one takes a standardized test for a living. So why is our educational system based on taking standardized tests? Seth Godin
Our idea is to provide courses from the best universities for free to anyone who wants to take them. We have 1.5 millions students in 196 countries taking 195 courses from 33 universities. Daphne Koller, Coursera TED talk
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| Coursera's stats |
Knewton is a website/software set up to create personalized courses. Courses that respond to the individuals learning styles and pacing. Jose Ferreira
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| Knewton Founder and Ceo |
Change children's educational opportunities, even just a little bit and you change the history of the world. Stephen Heppell Learning without Frontiers talk
Everytime I ask the right question, I get immediate engagement.
Sugata Mitra
Am I being naive? Are we approaching a time when access to digital tools will leave the nay sayers behind?
What did you think of this film?
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