What if learning were like playing with LEGO bricks?

What if we could play with learning units much smaller than "courses" (because courses must fit into a quarter, trimester, semester, or year)?

What if we could combine and recombine these smaller learning units like LEGO bricks?

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Inspired by this from the always-genius Seth Godin: "Why does a class last an hour? [...] Could it be that the default lesson length has something to do with the cost of switching rooms, which makes it inefficient to have really short lessons? [...] Perhaps length is a function of switching costs and bureaucracy structure..."

Also inspired by this quote from "Established education providers v new contenders," in The Economist: "Universities can become more modular, too. EdX has a micromasters in supply-chain management that can either be taken on its own or count towards a full masters at MIT. The University of Wisconsin-Extension has set up a site called the University Learning Store, which offers slivers of online content on practical subjects such as project management and business writing. Enthusiasts talk of a world of 'stackable credentials' in which qualifications can be fitted together like bits of Lego."

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Each Wednesday we share a "what if" scenario. These are not suggestions as much as provocations.

If you have a "what if" scenario you would like to share, just send an email (and indicate whether you would like it attributed it to you).

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What if... learning LEGO?

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