Learning finale: new edgeryders policies for a new model of education

Knowledge Collection Learning
, ,
1

Hi everyone!

As I’ve mentioned in a tweet yesterday, I’ve just completed reading all your amazing and compelling stories - and also the comments - in the “Learning” section.

Here’s a selection of some of them, and a list of objectives we can try to focus on. Feel free to add more in the comments, if you have any other ideas.

LEARNING

A New Model for Education

 
THE CLASSROOM ON THE WIRE: TEST DRIVING THE KHAN ACADEMY: HOW I LEARNED TO USE CONDITIONAL PROBABILITIES AND COMBINATION 
(http://edgeryders.ppa.coe.int/classroom-wire/mission_case/test-driving-khan-academy-how-i-learned-use-conditional-probabilities-an)

by Alberto

Khan Academy as a model for learning in new and engaging ways. Main benefits: Pausing / Going back and forth through media references / Questions via comments / Gamification

 
THE CLASSROOM ON THE WIRE: PEER TO PEER UNI

(http://edgeryders.ppa.coe.int/classroom-wire/mission_case/peer-peer-uni)

by Bridget
 
Exploring the alternatives to normal class learning. Peer to peer instruction and self-teaching as options for lifelong self-improvement.
 
THE CLASSROOM ON THE WIRE: DIGITAL LEARNING = OPEN LEARNING.
(http://edgeryders.ppa.coe.int/classroom-wire/mission_case/digital-learning-open-learning)
by Karl
 
Open University platform in the UK - an ispiring model cost and quality-wise. Digital delivery of education as a response to rising college fees.
 
FIRST LESSONS IN WORK: "THERE'S GONNA BE SOME CHANGES MADE"
(http://edgeryders.ppa.coe.int/first-lessons-work/mission_case/theres-gonna-be-some-changes-made)
by Adria
 
Adria's experience in Berlin and her thinkings about the meaning and importance of theorical knowledge, with an emphasis on organizational theories.
 
HAPPINESS AND EDUCATION: EDUCATION => .... => HAPPINESS?
(http://edgeryders.ppa.coe.int/happiness-and-education/mission_case/education-happiness)
by Florina
 
Florina shares an interview with one of her classmates, analyzing links between economic stability, knowledge and happiness.
 
REALITY CHECK: AMBIDEXTROUS AND TRANSCENDENT
(http://edgeryders.ppa.coe.int/reality-check/mission_case/ambidextrous-and-transcendent)
by Lyne
 
"Science is discovering that we are a thinking body, ie that every cell thinks. Every cell is a mind. Every cell has its own desires and communicates with every other cell. We have a body-mind simultaneously everywhere. If we project this to a larger scale, every citizen thinks for himself/herself, every citizen has his/her own desires and should be able to connect to All, and collaborate to processes."
 
HAPPINESS AND EDUCATION: "UNIVERSITY IS MY HOBBY" - INTERVIEW WITH PAOLA, ITALIAN STUDENT AND WORKER

(http://edgeryders.ppa.coe.int/happiness-and-education/mission_case/university-my-hobby-interview-paola-italian-student-and-worke-0)

by Giovanni
 
Giovanni interviews Paola, and she tells him about her story. Could learning be not only a necessity, but an hobby?
 
FIRST LESSONS IN WORK: MY FIRST INTERACTION WITH A JOB: WHAT'S GOING ON?
(http://edgeryders.ppa.coe.int/first-lessons-work/mission_case/my-first-interaction-job-whats-going)
by Amalia
 
Amalia shares her view about big (and-not-so-big) companies environment. She finds that a lack a motivation is a serius thread to personal growth and satisfaction.
 
HAPPINESS AND EDUCATION: KNOW THYSELF...LIFE LONG LEARNING AND THE SELF EDUCATED CITIZEN
(http://edgeryders.ppa.coe.int/happiness-and-education/mission_case/know-thyselflife-long-learning-and-self-educated-citizen)
by Michael
 
For Michael, "our responsibility (and membership) within our larger society can only be based on a healthy responsibility to ourselves." Self-learning and life-long learning are key topics for him.
 
REALITY CHECK: EVALUATION BROKE EDUCATION
(http://edgeryders.ppa.coe.int/reality-check/mission_case/evaluation-broke-education)
by Giacomo
 
Giacomo makes a list of all the skills that school education didn't provide for him, and that he managed to get during his lifetime experience. 
 
WHERE EDGERYDERS DARE: AN OLD MODEL FOR EDUCATION
(http://edgeryders.ppa.coe.int/where-edgeryders-dare/mission_case/old-model-education)
by Gelada
 
A long, strong pointed view about education and teachers themself. Do we actually need change?
 
REALITY CHECK: BASIC SKILLS OR EVEN SKILLS FOR SUCCESS
(http://edgeryders.ppa.coe.int/reality-check/mission_case/basic-skills-or-even-skills-success)
by Andrei
 
According to Andrei, "University should not be mere a place of intellectual torment. Conversely, it should be an environment stacked with opportunities at every step in terms of skills development."
 
REALITY CHECK: USING THE MONOPOLY® BOARD GAME AS AN IN-CLASS MULTICULTURAL SIMULATION IN INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS COURSES
(http://edgeryders.ppa.coe.int/reality-check/mission_case/using-monopoly®-board-game-class-multicultural-simulation-international-b)
by Andreas
 
I think that the title says all :-)
 
REALITY CHECK: PROTOTYPING ENVIRONMENTS AND FINDING GOOD PEERS
(http://edgeryders.ppa.coe.int/reality-check/mission_case/prototyping-environments-and-finding-good-peers)
by "k"
 
"We are learning junkies, because that's how we survived. "
 
REALITY CHECK: WILL ROBI (7, GYPSY) BE GOOD IN SCHOOL AFTER THE REFORM?
(http://edgeryders.ppa.coe.int/users/gyulavamosi)
by Gyula
 
"The current system (structure, methodology applied) gives a perfect framework to separation of kids from one another where practices of discrimination have become widespread."
 
----------
 

BASED ON YOUR MISSION REPORTS, I'VE MADE A LIST OF THE MAIN GOALS THAT WE SHOULD ARCHIEVE WITH OUR POLICIES:

 

1) Ensure full access from anywhere AND FOR ANYONE in the world to high-quality education; promote creative and cultural development on a personalized level, in order to unleash the personal potential of everyone;

2) Promote lifelong learning and making sure that those who pursue this "lifestyle" are rewarded curriculum-wise;

3) Include new methods of education involving new technologies and media;

4) Make collaborative efforts the de facto standard in public education;

5) Devolpment of personal skills useful and common in a new open, shared society;

 
 

Now, I need your help to translate all this in good, useful, concrete policies. I have a couple ideas, but I'd like to hear from YOU first! :-) I'm sure you'll provide some great ideas. Let's get creative!

2

A concrete example of how to unleash the personal potential

Small suggestion: You should include links to each of the mission reports you listed. (you can edit your report).

That’s a tough one! Ultimately, it could lead to an attempt to boot an educational reform.

I noticed that I’m listed there. Thanks! Since it’s fairly overwhelming, I’ll take it small pieces a time, if you don’t mind.

"Unleash the personal potential of everyone".

Yikes. No kidding! This is a very noble goal!

I consider it is the most important of all. Ideally, if everyone had the freedom and the opportunity to achieve their full potential, society would radiate prosperity and peace.

For your information, I wrote about this, about the connection between achieving one’s purpose and prosperity, in my post about Neal Gorenflo. Our mission in life, our biggest purpose, is to find our true identity. When this happens, one awakes. “Your vision will become clear only when you can look into your own heart. Who looks outside, dreams, who looks inside awakes.” — Carl Gustav Jung. The purpose in life is intrinsically linked to happiness (‘happiness in education’… happiness in everything).

HOW TO TRANSLATE THIS INTO CONCRETE

The most striking example I know is how Dr Deepak Chopra raised his 2 children. He told his children, from a very young age, before kindergarden, “I do not want you to worry about money. I do not want you to worry about performing in school. The only thing that I want you to focus on, is finding the thing that you can do, that noone else does. Do not worry about anything else, I will support you financially. Just focus your attention on this one thing.”

Chopra’s children grew up in happiness. They had the best results in class. They completed their education and now, they both are very successful financially. He didn’t have to support them financially, they found their own way, they made the transition to adult life.

So, the MAIN lesson to teach, is:

YOU ARE HERE FOR A REASON.

This could decline in a profusion of applications.

The sub-lessons that go with this (what helps to unleash the personal potential):

EVERYTHING IS POSSIBLE

If we think that we cannot do it, the dream, or project, will probably not happen. When the fear of the unknown is replaced by faith and self-confidence, there is no limit to what we can do or be.

WHEN YOU MAKE A CHOICE, YOU CHANGE THE FUTURE

EVERYTIME YOU WISH OR WANT, YOU PLANT A SEED

BE OPEN TO LIFE AND ENJOY THE RIDE

That’s it for now. Thoughts?

3

Goals on track!

(Links fixed and more stories added, thanks for the tip :slight_smile: )

It’s ok with the small pieces. I think that the list of issues (or maybe it’s better to call them “goals”) will be useful if not directly here, at LOTE. If we can find proposals that match most of the list, I think we’ll be on the right track for a real education reform :slight_smile:

About what you wrote, I can’t agree more about personal potential. I have a theory about societies, individualism and collectivism, related to income, happiness and other factors. It’s an huge one and I haven’t got a lot of data, so it’s not scientific-proof. But my instincts tell me that it could be right.

I see a correlation between individualism (without connotation, positive nor negative) and economically rich and mainly stable societies, while I see an inverted trend in poorer countries (strictly economically speaking).

My guess is that individualism is inevitable in a society where the most basic and medium needs are satisfied (see Maslow’s pyramid, as an example), and it’s not a product of this specific period of history.

In my view, individualism is a huge opportunity, and not a problem; here in Italy - maybe also due to religion - there is a deep… caution against individual thinking. It’s percieved as a threath to the status quo. You must be aligned, or else you’ll be excluded. That’s nonsense for me, since we then glorify people who break the rules (in good and bad ways)

I think we could try to be more than that. By archiving our personal potential, we can be really focused on improving society, not as and imposition, but as a natural instinct.

Sorry for my bad written english again, I hope i’ve made myself clear. If not, I’ll try better in Strasburg :slight_smile:

4

Open Source University

I’m actually working with a friend on an open source university model.

Here’s what I already wrote about on edgeryders :

http://edgeryders.ppa.coe.int/share-your-ryde/mission_case/write-or-die

The main idea of it is to provide a place with production capabilities and to allow anyone to come and produce anything for a cheap cost.

This lab will encourage creativity, learning and sharing in a sane and autonomous place. We are designing it to be a place where you can live and work, eat, learn and share knowledge with various people.

Ultimately we want to build something like an open source university, where every knowledge and skills will have a place. Somewhere you can learn anything the way you like. You could spend the morning in the field, learning perma-culture, breeding, tracking… and spend the afternoon learning economics, management, programing…

 I love all kind of art as well as science, and to me, both are equally important and complete each other. Art feeds the soul, allows to express the untold when science stimulates our imagination and makes wonderful things become reality.

I'd like to live in a place where every talent is rewarded, promoted, encouraged. 

The place I’m thinking about is a balance between public and private life.

In that place, there is no intellectual property, but everyone can have its secret garden.

There’s common places to eat, work, share, and private places where you can be alone, retreat, meditate…

I think it can give you a clue about the project.

It will use massively internet and virtual tools to share and access knowledge, but also to monitor students…

It will also use a tool similar to demopolitique to organise community life

I’m working on a documentation concerning organisation, economical, human, educational aspects.

My friend has a nine pages documentation about technical and more practical aspects.

We have already “started” it in a garage with one of my brothers. They already have built from old desks their own workbenches. A few days ago, they spent the afternoon building a 3D printer (http://makerfarm.com/) while i was cutting through a piece of mahogany wood to build an electro-acoustic lap steel. While i was working on it, i could hear them talking about extrudors, motors, wires, cables. It was just amazingly funny to learn lutherie and watch more technical stuff just a few meters from me.

The model we’re working on is quite complicated to summarise easily as we have taken a lot of things into consideration but feel free to ask any question.

5

Very interesting!

That’s very interesting, Nirgal.

Just a couple of issues come to my mind. What about teachers? You think that self-learning will work with everybody, even if they’re not as motivated as others?

6

Tools and environment

Teachers will have tools to follow each students by sharing their observations : what he likes, what he’s good at, what he wants or doesn’t want.

The project is possible in actual society, we have already considered many ways to adapt it to economics, environmental and technical needs.

It’s not about forcing students to be curious, it’s about creating a place where you can do a lot of things that would usually need a lot of studies in schools and so. The overall project is inspired by fab labs, it just get a bit further.

7

Policy suggestion

A simple policy that would not be hard to implement, but would help to create much of what is being discussed:

A grant program: many small ~1000 euro grants (a few hundred at least). Application is max one page, simple checking to ensure that there is a real (not necessarily even good) idea.

Available to anyone with an education project. Obviously advertised as possibility to teachers.

This would fit into models the EU is used to, would not involve a huge amount of investment, but could enable a lot of great work.