Why School? TED ebook author rethinks education when information is everywhere.
The Internet has delivered an explosion of learning opportunities for today’s students, creating an abundance of information, knowledge, and teachers as well as a starkly different landscape from the one in which our ideas about school were born. Traditional educators, classrooms, and brick-and-mortar schools are no longer necessary to access information. Instead, things like blogs and wikis, as well as remote collaborations and an emphasis on critical thinking skills are the coins of the realm in this new kingdom.
The man makes some good points, but I immediately had two questions.
1- Wiki?? Seriously?? We are prepared to use Wiki as a source to replace schools? I don't even let my daughter quote Wiki as a source in her 7th grade papers. Sure, I recommend that she search it, but only to get the list of sources on the bottom of the page.
2- Education is only one function of schools. The other important function is socialization- teaching one how to deal with different personality types. I've known a few home-schooled kids and while they were very well read and educated they were also sadly lacking in the basic social skills. They just had no experience in being a part of a huge, varied community.
Let's face it- we all learned who we are and how we deal with the nastier type of person in high school, not when we got into the business world.
