Future of Learning Top Reads for week of Jan 20 2020
“Why Colleges Should Require a Gap Year,” by Jonathan Zimmerman, in The Chronicle of Higher Education
“A compulsory-service year would provide one very clear answer: We’re creating better citizens, and a better country. It isn’t just that required service would benefit our students, who would be exposed to the diversity and complexity of America. It would also make our nation a more decent and humane place, for everyone.”
Why does this matter to the future of learning?
On the whole this would likely be a net positive. That said, “compulsory” learning of any sort may be efficient but it’s not usually effective.
The Basecamp team co-founded SocEntEDU in part because serving the Common Good benefits most when students are invited—not required—to contribute, especially when they simultaneously explore fundamental questions.
When we’re tempted by notions like “compulsory service,” let’s remember the words of Antoine de Saint Exupery: “If you want to build a ship, don't drum up people together to collect wood and don't assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea.”
Let’s teach students to long for the fundamental questions that would lead them want to do a service gap year.
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“The Lesson to Unlearn,” by Paul Graham, on paulgraham.com
“The most damaging thing you learned in school wasn't something you learned in any specific class. It was learning to get good grades. […]
“For me, as for most students, the measurement of what I was learning completely dominated actual learning in college. I was fairly earnest; I was genuinely interested in most of the classes I took, and I worked hard. And yet I worked by far the hardest when I was studying for a test. […]
“I knew of course when I was a student that studying for a test is far from identical with actual learning. At the very least, you don't retain knowledge you cram into your head the night before an exam. But the problem is worse than that. The real problem is that most tests don't come close to measuring what they're supposed to.
“If tests truly were tests of learning, things wouldn't be so bad. Getting good grades and learning would converge, just a little late. The problem is that nearly all tests given to students are terribly hackable. Most people who've gotten good grades know this, and know it so well they've ceased even to question it. You'll see when you realize how naive it sounds to act otherwise. […]
“The result is that students compete to maximize the difference between learning and getting good grades. […]
“It's no wonder high school students often feel alienated. The shape of their lives is completely artificial.”
Why does this matter to the future of learning?
What if we asked teachers, parents, students, and alumni to discuss this—together?
What kind of conversation might ensue?
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”SunTrust Foundation Now Truist Foundation Awards $1 Million Grant to edX to Help Launch MicroBachelors Programs” (press release), on 3BL Media
“MicroBachelors programs are designed for adults who do not have a college degree and believe they need additional education to advance in their careers. The programs are affordably priced between $500 and $1,500 (roughly $166 per credit). They can be completed entirely online, allowing working adults to accomplish the coursework at their convenience. […]
“The first edX MicroBachelors programs are IT Career Framework from Western Governors University (WGU), which is recognized for credit by WGU; and Computer Science Fundamentals from New York University (NYU), which is pending recognition for credit by Thomas Edison State University (TESU). Additional programs from Arizona State University (ASU) are forthcoming, and edX will continue to add MicroBachelors programs and new credit pathways that stack into full degree options with other university partners in the future.”
Why does this matter to the future of learning?
Consider the MicroBachelors credential a “signal from the edge.”
If I were a parent with $900-1500 and a motivated teenager, why would I NOT take advantage of this? My child could graduate from high school with 1-2 years of college already completed.
Independent schools may be especially vulnerable to this innovation if its audience expands from adults to teenagers.
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