Beyond the Classroom

Column for week of February 17, 2014                        

     Learning is as old as the human race.  Without
knowledge and skills survival is impossible.  Without learning
we would have no knowledge or skills.  Learning is as natural as
breathing.  It isn't even imaginable that a living, conscious
individual will not learn.

     The best education is the one that provides the individual
with the knowledge and skills he needs most.  Only the
individual can decide what knowledge and skills are the most
valuable to him.

     The knowledge and skills that best serve the achievement
of the individual's goals are the most valuable to him.   Every
person endlessly seeks to increase his satisfaction.  Each needs
to acquire the knowledge and skills that best further that goal.

     Experience tells us that some methods provide education
more effectively and efficiently than others.  That which is
effective for one may be nearly useless for another.  One size
fits all well serves almost no one.

     So, why is our school system built around one size fits
all classrooms?  Does anyone doubt that individual tutors
focusing on the needs of each student would provide the best
formal education?  There is one simple reason why our ancestors
turned to classroom education.  They couldn't afford individual
tutors.

     Classroom lock step education sacrifices quality to reduce
the cost.  Up to a point a clumsy, inefficient formal education is
better than no formal education, at least for some students. 
Those who have the motivation and ability to seek out
knowledge and learn on their own, would be better off if they
never saw a classroom.

     Usually, even in the classroom the teacher isn't the
primary source of knowledge.  Other people have accumulated
far more knowledge than can one classroom teacher.   Those
others write books, make videos, etc. from which the students
learn most knowledge taught.  The classroom teacher's biggest
jobs are to motivate, evaluate, and provide direction.  In my
experience they usually mostly rehashed the text books.

     To maximize the quality of learning we must replace
classroom education.  We now have the tools to move beyond
the classroom.  We can essentially provide almost every student
with the equivalent of a private tutor who leads each student up
a learning path tailor made for that student.

     Government is the most conservative of institutions.  It
clings tenaciously to the past.  To break out of the classroom
mold and soar into the future we must break the unholy alliance
of politicians, traditional administrators, classroom teachers, and
unions.  They will fight to the death (either ours or theirs) to
retain their vested interests in keeping us under the grip of
nineteenth century schools.  The most they want to do is put
bells and whistles on the antiquated classroom horse and buggy.

     Computers only do what we tell them to do.  The
"magic" of computes is that they do what they do with incredible
speed and for an incredibly low cost.

     Computers can endlessly record and analyze the progress
of each student and tailor the student's assignments to cover only
that which the student needs to learn and hasn't.  This will mean
the end of useless, boring, busy work that mostly covers what
the student already knows.  It will also mean the end of students
being left behind because they aren't keeping up with the rest of
the class.   "No child left behind" could become a reality, rather
than just the name of a counter productive law.

     The core of the teaching will come from a few excellent
teachers who provide the input for the computerized teaching. 
Everyone can have complete access to the world's best teachers
who will provide personalized teaching that even the best of
tutors couldn't provide with the old technology.

       And, for whatever it is worth, those excellent teachers will
serve millions of students and be paid like movie stars and 
athletes.  Still, each student will be able to purchase their 
services for a few dollars. Education will be far better and cost 
less.

aldmccallum@gmail.com
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Copyright 2014
Albert D. McCallum