Education 2.0: Knowledge on demand

From divedi.blogspot.com:

Wikipedia + blogs + Facebook (social networks) + podcasting + videocasting (YouTube) + Flickr + mobile (cell) phones + gaming + IM + VoIP = Education 2.0

“Rather than spending 4 years of your life taking a bunch of courses that may or may not really matter in your life once you graduate, you can choose your education on an ‘as needed basis,’ based on your unique interests and talents.”

I think this is an excellent idea, provided that the students are sufficiently self-motivated and resourceful enough to seek out the information they need. I remember reading an example somewhere that compared two different curricula for an internal company management course. The first way was a standard 16-week or so course with traditional teaching methods–classrooms, homework, grades, and a syllabus. The second way involved giving the students a set of objectives (the same that were taught in the first method), and then giving them open access to all levels of the company, where they were free to ask questions of anyone, and watch and participate in any procedures they deemed necessary. It turned out that the students in the second group were able to complete all of the objectives–and in only 2/3s of the time.

However, these were students on the management track–normally self-motivated, confident and resourceful types. I’m not sure if the second method would work for everyone. My boyfriend is a college teacher and he says that a large portion of his students in the computer lab spend the entire day on MySpace. Not networking to promote their band’s latest album or seeking out fellow videographers, mind you–they’re just being social, collecting friends, and keeping their profile updated.

I went to a few colleges before finally just striking out on my own and running multiple businesses, and it’s the best college course ever. I enjoy what I do, and because of this I stick with it even when things don’t go so well (unlike calculus, for example). When I hit a wall and don’t know how to do something, I seek out information about it, acquire what I need, and then go onto the next level. Sometimes I “fail” a test, but it only increases my knowledge in the long run by showing me now not to do something.

Unfortunately there are a lot of people who just want to have someone tell them what to do. One of the women I work with teaches at DePaul and she was amazed at the number of kids who basically just ask “Tell me what I need to do in order to get an A,” while she was expecting them to learn the think and ask questions.

In theory I think this is a great idea, as long as it accommodates less-motivated individuals and still helps them be a fully productive member of society.