Seth Godin's Ideas for Revolutionizing Education

1. Homework during the day, lectures at night.

2. Open book, open notes, all the time. Memorization isn't needed.

3. Access to any course, anywhere in the world, anytime you want to take it.

4. Precise, focused education, rather than mass, batched stuff.

5. No more multiple choice exams.

6. Measuring experience instead of test scores.

7. Cooperation instead of isolation.

8. The teacher's role transforms into coach.

9. Lifelong learning

10. The death of the famous college

TedTalk

Comments

[tony sheng]

i've got to tell you, as the father of a 9th and 6th grader both in public school, that all of this is right on.

my older daughter, last year as an 8th grader, had to memorize the periodic table of elements for a grade. in the year 2011. i was incensed.

my younger daughter, is in a 'flipped' classroom for science, like #1 above - it has been an amazing experience.

just read this last night - wow.
http://www.shirky.com/weblog/2012/11/napster-udacity-and-the-academy/

[Josh Christophersen]

Godin, brilliant, as usual.

[Chris Oakes]

Interesting. My 4th grader just completed 7 performances as the lead character in a 90+ cast community production of Seussical the Musical. It took incredible commitment and discipline. But his worth to the state and nation will be measured next spring based on his answers to a hundred or so questions on a statewide test?
Something's. Not. Right.

[Wesley L. Handy]

I'm not sure about some of these. Oversimplified pragmatism in my opinion. For instance, memorization (not just and never for regurgitation, but rather for long-term memory and retention) may be the most important thing anyone could do towards training and disciplining their mind. Memorization, done in a fun way, may be the most important thing you could do for you child at a young age. You want your daughter to love math and excel at it later in life, teach her to love it when she is 4, 5, or 6, and help her memorize rules and equations. Not only will she love math later, she will have the tools to be a scientist. Never forget that mathematics one of the principle languages of science. Memorizing the periodic table and learning Latin are other great tools. If you want to be a ship without a sail, unable to produce anything of lasting value, then memorize nothing.

[Ben Arment]

great feedback

[Lisa DeLay]

A friend of mine just had to cram for a CLEP test to create educational material for an education portal (they are subcontracted by online institutions to teach basics in history, math, etc to those seeking more education. Think 8-9th grade material .....in 1987).

Tons on minutia and facts and dates for the CLEP test. Talk about being 50 years behind! As if Google wasn't here and any important date could be found in 2 seconds.

How strange to not be vetting teachers for critical thinking and applying the principles of the breath of their knowledge...and instead asking them to barf up spot on dates of the Boxer rebellion and so forth. It boggles the mind.

Eduction model usually don't have to change to survive like businesses or other enterprises do. It doesn't have to make sense or be efficient. It just lumbers along.

However, the dinosaur can't make it forever. Economics will impose, and instead of just giving student BS work to do and handing over a graduation certificate to stay afloat and keep enrollment numbers high enough (like what has started to happen in the last 15 years)...other models might take over.

Seth, is so common sense on this that he seems visionary.

Great stuff, Ben!

[Carrie Starr]

I feel completely affirmed in my counter culture style of teaching.

No tests. No lectures. Workshops. Cooperative learning. Presentations and projects solving real world problems. Experience based learning where I am the coach and my students are the heroes.

I guess I'm ahead of my time. =)

[Ben Arment]

full disclosure - Ains and I are self-educating our kids to incorporate much of this