I am not a very big fan of government regulated education but, I am also not saying that what is taught in schools shouldn't be learned, well some of it shouldn't be. However, everyone should have access to a decent education which is just not happening in the world.
Yes, I do understand that just about anything can be learned independently but, there are still some areas that require regulation and you want to be sure that there is a high level of training and the right training completed. Medicine and engineering come to mind.
One of my interest areas personally and professionally, is education even though I myself was/am a terrible student. Perhaps me not fitting well into the traditional school system is part of the reason I have an interest in making education more accessible by improving the content, especially the delivery method.
Learn to learn before learning to earn
One simple change would be for early years to be spent learning how to learn, discovering what works and what doesn't for an individual rather than focus on what to learn. A proficient learner is then able to stack information atop the learning infrastructure, much like a content platform can hold a diverse range without requiring significant changes to the platform itself.
But, lets suppose that learning how to learn is the norm, delivery of educational material becomes a key factor to create an equality of availability, something that a blockchain is perfect for considering the lack of censorship. Unfiltered, this can be quite useless but with the right search tools and interfaces, it is possible to tailor information accurately to the viewer.
Applied to education, it means that a student could have designed courses with verifiable information, filtered on relevance and confidence and grouped into fields of study at whatever level granularity required. It could even be used for the organisation of remote testing through various app types to ensure the est is performed by the right person.
An augmented classroom
Combine this possibility with advance in Virtual and Augmented reality technology (VR/AR) and it will in time be possible to have very high quality training delivered anywhere in the world with the lowest possible barriers to entry. I envisage at some point that a great deal of education will be performed on-the-fly over augmented interfaces that allow learning while doing or, overlays of lessons with a direct interaction with the environment.
This area is something I am quite excited about considering that my own learning for math was hampered by the teaching style that didn't connect the information to real world example. When one can not only see but experience math, the retention rate will skyrocket, as will the ability to apply it to diverse areas of interest. Add this to all lessons and school is not about memory, it is about living life with the tools to take personal agency and control.
Stuck in the middle with all
Education gets a bad rap, not because of what it is but more because of what it is not and what it is not is useful for individuals to take control of their learning based on their interests at the time. A classroom is a type of socialist idea based on an authority who knows what is best for the group on average, even if the individual results can swing wildly. By definition, it will crush some members of the group and raise others by design and chance and then runs the added oppressor that based in this, life position will be affected for better or worse.
Those that benefit from it think anyone can, those that don't think it is a waste of time at the best or get crushed by the system at the worst. I am in the latter section, someone who hasn't benefited greatly from what I learned however, I am also not completely crushed. I do not consider myself an idiot nor disinterested so, I wonder what would have resulted if given the tools to learn the things that interest me in a way that suits me.
Now, what happens when all children have access to fundamentally better real educational opportunities? Great things, we are not there yet. At the moment, masses of resources are spent to provide education in ways that barely affect the averages in result at all. I have mentioned before that the math skill when I finished high school hasn't changed much 20 years later, nor has the time it has taken to learn reduced. Considering that high school math hasn't changed significantly in the last 40 years, this is a terrible result based on resources sunk.
Breaking desks and taking names
Education suffers one of the greatest issues through a middleman problem in areas that no middleman need exist. Yes, there are some brilliant teachers out there but for the most part, no matter their lofty early intentions, most are tired, automatic and ineffectual.
Having great teachers shouldn't be a process of luck, it should be guaranteed and I think that this will be largely facilitated by AIs in combination with the AR/VR where the teacher becomes a personalized coach able to be sensitive to the individual student without having to pander to meeting averages. If an average person hires a personal fitness trainer, the goal isn't to stay society's average, it is to be above for at least currently, the average global fitness level is relatively poor.
But, society is a major driver of education and this is where blockchain technology can play a global role in taking the learning decisions out of the hands of an agenda'd authority and put it into the hands of learners with immediate requirements that education is able to assist. Decentralizing schools essentially means that everyone is able to be home schooled well without having to be completely reliant on the parent's abilities, even if the parent is willing.
However, the parent can also take an active role in this regard also (and likely should) as they are able to be supported in a multitude of ways that will help them support their child's development in ways that they alone would be unable to approach.
New models, new streams, new ideas
Of course, all of this decentralization empowers all kinds of opportunities for new models and business lines, revenue streams and opportunities for many interactions and discoveries that are impossible with the centralized approach. This includes access to quality information which in time, is going to be a massive driver of mainstreaming blockchain technologies as more and more are going to be looking for verified information as fakenews and FUD increase.
When this gets applied to information for education, it means that material can go through various testing and scientific peer review processes in order to ensure that the best possible is able to be accessed with a high rate of confidence. This doesn't necessarily exclude other information, but with an AI that trawls and compares at a deep level, a confidence rating could get applied. Right now, the algorithms aren't there for it, nor is the computing power but one day, both will be available.
And this is where I think the largest gains in decentralized education can be made as authority has convinced us that it is all about formal education and taught us that what they teach us is the best that can be learned. It is a manipulation that puts us in the position of grateful servant to an oppressive master and our parents send us willingly to join the rank and file.
Stepping beyond borders
This unlearning doesn't happen over night but, it is already happening, we are here doing it now. How many people have joined up here and while finding ways to earn, have come across information and people who have inspired a rethink about the fundamentals of society, the way it functions and, who it currently serves.
A healthy future for our children is not for them to be producers for a narrow band, it is about them becoming their fullest expression of themselves and having the chance to use it to do the best they can in their world for both themselves and the communities they will inhabit.
The insidious nature of centralized education is apparent in a common phrase they use to signal their virtues as they kill and maim for their own gain; we need to win hearts and minds. No assholes;
We need to FREE hearts and minds.
It is our job as a global community to build the tools and space required so that my child, your children and all children will have the opportunity to live and breathe freely as they explore just how good they can be. Education matters.
Taraz
[ a Steem original ]
Very good piece... It's actually noted that education is the best legacy.. The learning to learn before learn to earn is incredible point... I wish our government can see this and make use of ur point.. Education is indeed needed and should be decently given as you said.... I love this.. African education system would really improved and benefits children alot even adult........ Keep it up Sir
Posted using Partiko Android
One thing going for the traditional classroom is that there are no distractions such as mobile phones and tables allowed there. If you had every kid sitting home at their computer trying to learn on their own, I suspect most of them would fall behind assisted by AI or not. What percentage of their time would they be playing games or hanging out on social media as opposed to actually doing any work?
It depends what they have already learned I guess.
What do you mean? That if what they are taught is known to them they will become bored and that if it's something new they will do their work?
I have two teachers in the family and they say that today's kids tend to have poorer work ethic than kids 10-30 years ago. Their attention span is often shorter, they complain more and fail to take responsibility more often.
Today's kids, particularly teenagers, tend to be glued to their mobile devices providing a constant stream of entertainment and social interaction which is why 4-6 hours of practice a day in sitting still without distractions and focusing on their work even if it's a little boring is exactly what they need. Instead of being left on their own devices(!) at their computers at home, the kids would probably benefit from mindfulness training as part of physical education, for example.
Today's school is not some static institution unwilling to reform itself. Especially the upper echelons of education management in today's Finland are filled with reform-minded idealists. Computers and gamification are touted everywhere and there are all sorts of reform movements afoot, some making sense and some not. In teachers' professional journals reforming teaching is a constantly raised topic.
According to the new national curriculum, the pupil is "central". It is interpreted in various ways but quite often headmasters (or more typically headmistresses) consider it to mean that school ought to cater to the whims of the pupils in comprehensive school or particularly students in secondary schools. The situation resembles a slow-motion cultural revolution akin to Mao's China with the top level management having their heads in the clouds, some of the most impudent students given too much leeway (even secondary school students tend to be quite immature) and "old authorities" a.k.a the teachers who are still held responsible for maintaining peace and order in class being crushed in between.
As said. It is what they have learned. 85% of the brain structure is developed by age 3 which includes a lot of the skill frames that support learning. Perhaps if their parents had been better educated, they wouldn't have been so quick to sit them in front of a TV or put a device in their hands.
The children from 30 years ago would run and play and jump. This prepared them in a different way. The children today are encouraged to be consumers. Blaming the children is like blaming the car for running out of fuel.
The current garden we have created for most children is the playground at a McDonald's restaurant.
I don't think you could keep teenagers away from the wireless devices found everywhere in our society even if nobody under seven years of age were allowed to touch them. The young and the old seem to be using tablets and mobile phones alike.
Nobody is blaming the children. What I'm saying is that having the kids sit too much at the computer at home instead of participating in traditional classroom education at school would only make that situation worse. Are you saying that parents are at fault for not making it feasible to have the children homeschooled by AI's on their computers because they've given them too much screen time at an age too young?
It isn't in the usage, it is what they are using them for.
I am saying that in the future, what people imagine as education now (even the 'cutting edge') could look fundamentally different than what people currently think. For starters, the AI is going to make many of the jobs school trains for redundant and if things go really well, there will get to a point where people do not need to educate for work, they educate for enjoyment. It is not a 2 years or 4 year project run by a government hoping to be elected again.
Yes... There's supposed be a new way of learning that will help them to stick and glue to it.... For example, the virtual game graphics will attract so much a kid than just white pages and plenty write up..... Graphics and knowing what encourage children to study should be noted for both school and parent.... Or what do you think?
Posted using Partiko Android
This reminds me of a talk I watched a while back by Jim Kwik. He has quite the interesting backstory of how he got to where is today. (check out a video on about him on YouTube on Inside Quest) They talk about how a major problem with our school system is how children, and adults for that matter, are not taught how to learn or recall information. He gives a few examples on the show that I have helped me out and I was HORRIBLE in school.
There is so much more I would like to talk about this topic but I must be off to work soon.
The current Government regulated system of Education is becoming obsolete and just plain dangerous. Not only from an archaic perpective, but because of the massive brainwashing happening now
I think it has been largely obsolete for a while now considering future requirements but, it takes society time and pain to learn.
Undoubtedly, education at a global level must be rethought, restructured and, most importantly, adapted to the needs of the population. Education is the tool that humanity has to perfect itself, in terms of optimizing production of goods and services, at any level to guarantee quality of life.
It is not enough to transmit knowledge, it must be put at the service of those who need it and, above all, it must be disseminated in the contexts where it applies, through an optimal process of didactic transposition ...
lovely Baby. hihi
What you've just shared is really incredible. I love the part of unlearning what we have always known and learning what is really important and relevant. Keep up the good work my friend.
There are great alternatives to traditional and centralized systems of education, however they get far too little attention. I love the concept of democratic education (sudbury schools etc), children tend to be quite happy there and it produces good results.
But seemingly given children freedom by itself is seen as harmful in our society, otherwise one would expect those concepts to already have catched on...
The problem is that most of the schools teaching no real use information. If l'm not going to use this knowledge in real world then does it even make sense to learn?
Proper mate. My father was teacher and damn fine one to, but even he said often that there too many things that do not get enough attention in schools as not a large enough part of the population get to go to university. Two of the things he mentioned was finances and politics.
Those who understand proper finances will know when they're being screwed by the government and will then be able to understand that if you voted them in, you can vote them out.
Education is a must in any child's life, but as the world is changing drastically and will do more soon there must be more emphasis placed on teaching what is needed for progress and yes Medicine and engineering is right up there with it as we must engineer cleaner ways of living while engineering better medicines at the same time.
What else is really needed?
I agree with you. On the mathematics side I was good but never reached my potential as real world examples would have helped. I found I would read the question and be able to give the correct answer but got marked down for now calculations. What is the point I got it right. Don't ask me how but I did but can't put it on paper how. I started to lose interest after that but will thrash most people on calculations without a calculator.
I absolutely agree with this article. I have always found that the education system is so square, too fast for some, too slow for others and all around lacking of real significant content.
And yeah it has a little of socialism, or even comunism, in the sense that they expect that each individual shares the same abilities and learning rate. Einstein once said, "Everyone is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid." So the way that schools teach doesn't really fit with the characteristics of many people.
There's different types of intelligents and each person have different combinations of those, so a more personalized approach would allow that everyone could reach their true potential.
I think I read once about the 'Spectrum project', which aboards all of this as an experimental educational model and I just think it would really bring a positive impact into our society if this became something worldspread.
Definitely, this article is so on point. We need to start thinking out of the box and letting that both the teachers and the students invest their passion and effort in creating a really efective learning process.
Education is so important that I think the same as you, which should be complemented more from every field starting by focusing everyone's interest in learning to learn first and then a whole world would derive where the person would know what to learn, for what and why. Let's take this issue to a level where it reaches the regulatory bodies and the interest it requires is created.
If you would like to support the educational community by delegating to @steemiteducation, please click on any of the following links. This will ensure that more teachers are supported on a daily basis.
100SP 200SP 300SP 400SP 500SP 750SP 1000SP 2000SP 3000SP 4000SP 5000SP 10,000SP 25,000SP