3 ms·

Redesigning education - Brainstorm

5 points by mkuhn 17y ago

modelic3 17y ago
Is it possible to apply to YCombinator with the idea of starting a university because that would be totally awesome.
- mkuhn 17y ago
  I think it could be difficult to do within the assigned timeframe or the ressources that ar eprovided without completely rethinking the "University". Something in the style of Academic Earth but much more interactive and community oriented could be very interesting. The only problem is that the content is quite expensive to produce when it isn't available through existing institutions.
RiderOfGiraffes 17y ago
Not Found The requested URL /redesigning-education was not found on this server. EDIT: Hmm. Worked the third time of trying.
- mkuhn 17y ago
  Sry, I don't know why this is happening but since a few hours the Blog works on and off. I'm trying to fix it and already contacted the Posterous guys... The normal Blog URL should work: http://www.geekybusiness.com/ http://www.geekybusiness.com/ there you can also see the whole post unfortunately the comments also seem not to load.
  - RiderOfGiraffes 17y ago
    These things happen, I'm commenting not because it's a problem for me - I'll just hit reload every few minutes - but if you have customers they'll go "WTF: not working - I'm out ..." I've experienced this first hand. Small, insignificant wobbles that you personally wouldn't normally wory about on a web site and suddenly people go - "It doesn't work!". Deeply annoying, but true.
jonsen 17y ago
Is it even possible to brainstorm education design? How would you evaluate ideas? How do we define learning objectives? How do we measure learning outcomes? The problems with education are not solved by arbitrary discussions. Discussions will remain superficial until we have more consensus on the true nature of education, I think.
- mkuhn 17y ago
  So let's start there, what do you think is the nature of education?
  - jonsen 17y ago
    That's a big question. Ultimately human education is nothing but an evolutionary drive. You have to learn some basics to become a functional member of society. To survive and to keep society rolling. How an individual actually ends up being able to perform and actually performs is accidental to a high degree. The overall societal effect of this mass of arbitrary performers is a very complex phenomenon. To really study that we should look to the field of systems theory. And I believe the deep answers to this question can only come from systems theory.
    - mkuhn 17y ago
      You have a very interesting take on the topic. You start on a much lower level than I would have but I will think about it. Thanks for the inspiration.
jhaglund 17y ago
i think apprenticeship followed by certification will be the next "university". extract a course catalog from your social networks.
- mkuhn 17y ago
  Interesting Idea, in Switzerland we already have that but it isn't respected or appreciated as highly as a "pure" University degree. Maybe we have to see the differing purposes the two possibilities have 1. Apprenticship followed by certification is for people with "real world", jobs that work relatively hands-on 2. University in the classical sense is more about furthering the scientific background, pushing the boundaries of a discipline? What do you think?
  - jonsen 17y ago
    .. isn't respected or appreciated By whom? And on what premises? Ingrained cultural norms? Trying to reshape education you are up against strong forces.
    - mkuhn 17y ago
      The education is of a different level and people get a more practical view on the advanced topics. It isn't as respected because of historical isues but also because of the differing levels that the education through the differing paths (wants to) achieve(s). But I think you shouldn't compare Apples with Pears. I think the purpose of the two paths is different as explained in my last comment above. Officials in Switzerland and especially the OECD often claim that Switzerland has a too low rate of University Graduates but I don't necessarily think so, it is another angle from which the question on how to redesign education can be approached. One thing you're definitely right is that there are quite a few string foirces out there that like the status quo.
      - jonsen 17y ago
        Strong forces towards status quo equals high stability. Not necessarily a bad thing. If you want change think chaos theory. Find the trigger that makes the system jump to a new pattern of stability.
theblackbox 17y ago
here in the UK the government has pledged to getting 50% of school leavers through University Education.... average student debt is now ~£23K .... Ka-Ching!

5 points by mkuhn 17y ago

modelic3 17y ago

Is it possible to apply to YCombinator with the idea of starting a university because that would be totally awesome.

mkuhn 17y ago
I think it could be difficult to do within the assigned timeframe or the ressources that ar eprovided without completely rethinking the "University". Something in the style of Academic Earth but much more interactive and community oriented could be very interesting. The only problem is that the content is quite expensive to produce when it isn't available through existing institutions.

RiderOfGiraffes 17y ago

Not Found The requested URL /redesigning-education was not found on this server. EDIT: Hmm. Worked the third time of trying.

mkuhn 17y ago
Sry, I don't know why this is happening but since a few hours the Blog works on and off. I'm trying to fix it and already contacted the Posterous guys... The normal Blog URL should work: http://www.geekybusiness.com/ http://www.geekybusiness.com/ there you can also see the whole post unfortunately the comments also seem not to load.
- RiderOfGiraffes 17y ago
  These things happen, I'm commenting not because it's a problem for me - I'll just hit reload every few minutes - but if you have customers they'll go "WTF: not working - I'm out ..." I've experienced this first hand. Small, insignificant wobbles that you personally wouldn't normally wory about on a web site and suddenly people go - "It doesn't work!". Deeply annoying, but true.

jonsen 17y ago

Is it even possible to brainstorm education design? How would you evaluate ideas? How do we define learning objectives? How do we measure learning outcomes? The problems with education are not solved by arbitrary discussions. Discussions will remain superficial until we have more consensus on the true nature of education, I think.

mkuhn 17y ago
So let's start there, what do you think is the nature of education?
- jonsen 17y ago
  That's a big question. Ultimately human education is nothing but an evolutionary drive. You have to learn some basics to become a functional member of society. To survive and to keep society rolling. How an individual actually ends up being able to perform and actually performs is accidental to a high degree. The overall societal effect of this mass of arbitrary performers is a very complex phenomenon. To really study that we should look to the field of systems theory. And I believe the deep answers to this question can only come from systems theory.
  - mkuhn 17y ago
    You have a very interesting take on the topic. You start on a much lower level than I would have but I will think about it. Thanks for the inspiration.

jhaglund 17y ago

i think apprenticeship followed by certification will be the next "university". extract a course catalog from your social networks.

mkuhn 17y ago
Interesting Idea, in Switzerland we already have that but it isn't respected or appreciated as highly as a "pure" University degree. Maybe we have to see the differing purposes the two possibilities have 1. Apprenticship followed by certification is for people with "real world", jobs that work relatively hands-on 2. University in the classical sense is more about furthering the scientific background, pushing the boundaries of a discipline? What do you think?
- jonsen 17y ago
  .. isn't respected or appreciated By whom? And on what premises? Ingrained cultural norms? Trying to reshape education you are up against strong forces.
  - mkuhn 17y ago
    The education is of a different level and people get a more practical view on the advanced topics. It isn't as respected because of historical isues but also because of the differing levels that the education through the differing paths (wants to) achieve(s). But I think you shouldn't compare Apples with Pears. I think the purpose of the two paths is different as explained in my last comment above. Officials in Switzerland and especially the OECD often claim that Switzerland has a too low rate of University Graduates but I don't necessarily think so, it is another angle from which the question on how to redesign education can be approached. One thing you're definitely right is that there are quite a few string foirces out there that like the status quo.
    - jonsen 17y ago
      Strong forces towards status quo equals high stability. Not necessarily a bad thing. If you want change think chaos theory. Find the trigger that makes the system jump to a new pattern of stability.

theblackbox 17y ago

here in the UK the government has pledged to getting 50% of school leavers through University Education.... average student debt is now ~£23K .... Ka-Ching!