Is an idiot with an iPhone still an idiot?

How far back was the 20th century?

I was recently shocked to realise how far ago was the 20th century... not in terms of time, but in terms of lifestyle and reality: I sometimes feel that live in a completely different dimension!

Last summer, I'm talking with my 16 year old cousin, back in Mongolia, during a family trip.

Do you remember having to do research for a school project? I remember very vividly going to the library and browsing the paper index by topics in a dusty set of wooden drawers. Once I find the right references, I write a couple of them on a piece of paper, I go through the allies, collect the book and final step: the photocopy machine. You copy the pages you need, and then you come back home, highlight them and now we can start working! 

If you have this memory, that makes us part of the "old world"... I'm not joking: a 16 year old will have never experienced that and never will!!

If you're 16 and you have a school project, as the teacher tells you about the assignment, you pull out your mobile, go simultaneously on Google, Wikipedia and Twitter and within minutes you have more info you'll ever be able to ingurgitate.

Learning information has become a useless skill!

Any idiot with an iPhone has access to more knowledge than Newton could have ever dreamed to have.

And there is nothing wrong with that: access to knowledge has become more democratic and there is no point remembering so much information as there is exponentially more new knowledge out there every day. There is no way we can learn it all. 

The most important is the learn how to get access to the knowledge you need when you need it. 

We ought to stop teaching our youth to remember stuff and must focus on learning what to do when you don't know what to do (a.k.a resourcefulness):

• who can help you?
• where can you find the resources (knowledge, money, time, people) to learn what you need to move forward.

The future's right here

This weekend I came to Bath to do some work with the rest of my amazing team: Ruben and Seb who actually make everything happen in Seeducation!

After a long day of work, we're at the pub and hit a disagreement about the size of Belarus. Is it a tiny country or a big one? 

I'm sitting between the 2 of them, and they both pull out their iPhones. I look at Ruben on the left: 

He's gone on Google Maps and is searching for Belarus and can see straight away it is nearly as big as Poland. 

On my right, I see Seb going on Wikipedia and finds within seconds that the total area of Belarus is 207,600 km2.

Both of them found the answer using the same tool and within the same amount of time. I believe that both answers are equally valid, yet what amazes me is the incredible difference between the methods and results each of them got.

If this doesn't show that we all think differently then I don't know what does.. 

If we think differently, we learn and work differently. In both work environments and education, we need to make sure we help the individual thinking, communication and learning styles.

We need four complimentary education systems

In England and Wales, there are 77,060 charities that have "education" in their name, objects or activities. We already cater for so many different learning styles and interests... so why is our system to backwards? Look at a Brief History of Education and you will be shocked by how forward thinking we were 150 years ago.

We must bring together our expertise and provide a platform to nurture the great education projects that already exist. We must make it easy to access knowledge, experts, and learning opportunities.

We imagine a 15 year old going on a website that is between Facebook, YouTube and Wikipedia where s/he can find all the classes, courses and opportunities available for him. He can look at all the courses available in his area, watch a video from the class and see the feedback from previous students as well as the projects they have done if relevant.

He books on the different classes, and signs a "contract" acknowledging he understands the requirements and expectations. All learning material can be transferred easily between classmates and teachers. Timetables can be created and managed automatically online and synchronised with mobile phones. 

Schools, universities, academies, art schools all have their programmes available on this platform. Charities and companies can also apply to provide learning opportunities in their areas of expertise. This reduces pressure on schools and universities, and give students a wider range of options to satisfy their needs.

 If you like this idea, share this article and make a comment to this article or tweet your thoughts with the #openeduc hashtag.

If you know how to make a platform like we have discribed, please contact us here.

We look forward to reading your thoughts! 

Thanks.

Noam