September 18: Wanted: Education Innovations Big and Small (LinkedIn)
It has long struck me that the basic problem with education (especially college education) is that we have long relied on a "content delivery" model – where a smart professor passed out information and knowledge to students. That's a system that focuses on memorization. In a Google world, that no longer makes sense. But the problem is making a transition to something else. What really is the purpose of a college education? And, assuming we can identify that, how do we morph such a huge system into that new model – especially when so many of us have lived our lives delivering content. When I give talks on teaching, I sometimes quote the line from a famous Paul Simon song: "When I think back on all the crap I learned in high school, it's a wonder I can think at all.” Invariably, everyone in the room nods their heads in agreement.
The problem is magnified by what I view as a lack of innovation in education. Think of the sheer number of professors working in the United States. Why are there not more innovative...