What if... learning LEGO?

LEGO bricks.png

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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Christian Talbot