My parents often remind me of how lucky I am; how I have had many more opportunities than they did when they were young. I think it is natural for older generations to have such sentiments. After all, there are many like my parents who have built up their life from humble beginnings with a promise in their hearts; that they would see to it that their children would have what they could never have. Many in my generation owe great thanks to the progressive will of the people who brought us into this world. In the past, it is this progressive will that has largely contributed to the growth of society. However, there is a second force that has always held the promise of a better life, and that is technology.
Undoubtedly technological growth has enabled social growth ( a better standard of living , etc). The key point is that technological growth is not steady, it is accelerating, and this means the potential for social growth too is accelerating. At this point I should add a cautionary note that my statement is general, off course it can be argued that not all technological advancements are accompanied by beneficial social changes. Social structures and institutions are subject to a lag relative to technological change, one such structure is "education".
As a student - now for many years, I have grown to be a critic of the current structure of education. Although a lot has changed in terms of the subjects students now have the option of studying, methods of teaching are 'narrow', outdated and inefficient. We still largely follow an ancient system of several students and a teacher in a classroom that is part of an institution like a school or university, following a fixed learning timetable. The system is 'rigid', in that it is unable to accommodate for individuals; their different learning rates, styles of learning, and their interests and aptitudes. 'Rigidity' of the type described makes the teaching system inefficient. What are the consequences of this ? Not only are students not learning as well as they could, but many become bored of learning because the system is not suited to them and they therefore, develop a great dislike for it. I believe there are many who walk among us today who have sadly never reached their full potentials thanks to a system that was unsuitable for them. In the past, perhaps this was inevitable, but with the advent of new technology, we no longer have an excuse.
A new and better system would need to be 'flexible'. It would have to accommodate the individual and allow him/her to reach their potential. We also have the opportunity to build a much 'broader' system ( as opposed to 'narrow'), by this I mean it can reach out to more people. Finally, the system should better prepare its students for the modern world. Now that we've laid down the ground rules, the big question is; how can we build such a system ? What would the system be ? Its specific and features. I believe the key ideas required for the restructuring of Education, already exist. Take a look at the Khan Academy ( www.khanacademy.com ), it may well be a sneak peek into the future.
The video introduces some interesting ideas on Education reform. If you've ever tried learning a subject with the aid of a good video tutorial, I'm sure you will agree that learning in this way is so much faster and easier than having to read a fat textbook. Learning by video is like listening to a teacher talk with the added advantage that you can replay anything you failed to understand the first time. I will try to avoid repeating the points made in the video, but I will add that such a method of learning has the advantage of allowing passionate students to accelerate their own learning in the subjects they find interesting; they don't need to wait for the subject to be taught in a traditional school. The fact that a whole schooling system can in essence be moved to a public domain like the internet means that so many more people will be able to access this material ( tutorials, questions and exercises) and this makes the system much "broader". On the subject of making the system "broader", I do acknowledge that it is unreasonable to expect everyone to have access to a computer with an internet connection at home. This problem however, is not without solution if we are willing to improve the facilities provided in places like public libraries. Libraries should not be the abode of the extra geeky individual, rather they should be key institutions in society where students can go to have access to not just a vast selection of books, but the facilities to educate themselves via terminals connected to a schooling system ( of which the closest current example may be the Khan Academy). I'm not banishing the idea of a physical schooling institute, indeed that must remain, however, its role can be modified. School teachers need to be "regulators" - checking the progress of each child and making sure they're on track, this idea was mentioned in the video, but there's more; students often get bored of a subject when they can't perceive the short term relevance of the subject matter, it is hard to remain motivated by the benefits that education promises to offer in future years - that time scale is just too long. I believe students need to be introduced to the entrepreneurial spirit of thinking and doing things. If programming is learnt, teachers should help kids organize themselves into groups that are perhaps given the task of designing an elaborate program, the mathematics they learn should be brought out of the abstraction of theory and into the world of practical application, the wonderful connection between math and physics needs to be communicated across to students and they should be encouraged to come up with their own deductions and inventions - and I'm not taking about carrying out standard experiments, there's no room there for creative thinking and so it is boring. There is great satisfaction and joy to be derived through creative thought and enterprise, unfortunately many students today have never had the privilege to experience such emotions.
We have really got to understand that people learn in different ways and thrive in different environments. Although some students may thrive in a competitive environment full of exams and inter-student competition, other students may find such a system utterly demoralising and may slowly lose their self esteem and confidence. Such students may be tempted to "give up", and may consequently refrain from applying themselves fully to their studies, from there the situation can only get worse. Let us not allow these students to give up. We develop at different rates, some start of as slow learners but have the potential to improve a lot in the future, let us not discourage such individuals so early that they never get the chance to blossom. If a teacher comes to realize that a competitive environment is not conducive to the learning style of the student, then they should have the option of sheltering the student from such pressures and personalizing his/her schooling through video learning and flexible timetabling so that the student's confidence is preserved ( confidence is so very important for success ).
These are just some ideas for a better Education system. Studying should'nt be separate from fun and enjoyment, only then can it be truly effective. Just imagine a world in which everyone enjoyed learning, how much more productive would such a world be ?! and how much happier ?! I think it would be a vastly better world, let's consider building a better world with this new formula for Education.
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