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Inspiration from Clay Christensen
Thank you for your inspiration, wisdom, and lessons on humility, Clay Christensen.
comment I think that’s the way it will work for us all. Don’t worry about the level of individual prominence you have achieved; worry about the individuals you have helped become better people. This is my final recommendation: Think about the metric by which your life will be judged, and make a resolution to live every day so that in the end, your life will be judged a success.
Waiting for Superman — Pledge to see the film
Looks like this is going to be an important movie.
A great infographic video from the creative studio Buck
TakePart: Participant Media - Waiting For 'Superman' - Infographic from Jr.canest on Vimeo.
If you're inspired, Pledge to watch the movie
Teach it or Lose it
Steve Blank, startup guru and author of Four Steps to an Epiphany, writes about an anecdotal experience that speaks to the importance of informal learning and mentoring that very few people seem to take advantage of.
I love this lesson learned:
comment If you don’t teach it or write it down, the accumulated knowledge of your career is gone.At BettrAt, we believe that one mentor's hindsight is another person's insight. It's hard to quantify knowledge, but in the case Steve talks about, the value of Tom's knowledge is clearly worth millions of dollars.
Going Deep to Learn — On “In Depth” Learning
I (Ash) just learned a little more about the Learning in Depth project.
Here's a description from their site:
"Learning in Depth: A simple innovation that can transform schooling.
This simple but dramatic program is designed to combat the superficiality of so much of students' learning and the unnecessary extent of ignorance so many students suffer at the conclusion of their schooling."
I'm interested in how this could inform our endeavor to create the definitive for-profit educational model that people enjoy using. When we started BettrAt as an academic initiative (The Electronic Learning Record), it was hard to envision seeing people sticking to just one subject for a very long time, and so the record could easily become an old dusty set of files that might have sat in someone's digital briefcase.
When we switched focus from a record of past experiences to establishing a database of future intent around personal interests, I always thought there was much more room for a set of "steady" interests that people kept around for a while. Some interests and skills are conducive to keep getting better and better without upper bound.
In reading about Dr. Egan's work, I wondered if there were parallels from "in depth learning" in what IDEO might call preparing "T-shaped" thinkers.
Via Eide Neurolearning blog.
comment 70:20:10
Charles Jennings, global head of learning for Reuters (known to most as the knowledge driven organization paragon), employs a useful 70:20:10 rule about organizational learning. Read all about it here.
comment
Too many learning professionals and managers are obsessed with transferring information into employees' heads, even though they know that the amount of information is growing very quickly and that the nature of that information is changing. They also know that people's work is constantly changing.
These changes mean that knowledge workers actually need less knowledge to do their jobs than they did a generation ago. Formal training is less effective as the amount of information increases and its shelf life becomes shorter.
"About 70 per cent of organisational learning takes place on the job, through solving problems and through special assignments and other day-to-day activities.
Another 20 per cent occurs through drawing on the knowledge of others in the workplace, from informal learning, from coaching and mentoring, and from support and direction from managers and colleagues. Only 10 per cent occurs through formal learning, whether classroom, workshop or, more recently, e-learning.
But most organisations invest at least 80 per cent of their training budgets in formal learning, where little of the learning takes place. And formal learning is also generally less effective than informal learning.
On video instruction and open educational resources
We use groups of people to contextualize models and content for us. As content and choices to learn ANYTHING proliferate, the scaffolding of our peers and mentors increases in importance.
Here's a great NYTimes article that discusses open educational content.
Joel Smith, vice provost and chief information officer at Carnegie Mellon, sums up the challenge:
comment Free lectures and open syllabi and reading lists are great if the goal is enrichment for people who are already successful in formal higher education. But if the goal is to truly give access to high-quality postsecondary education to most people, well, for that you need to do a lot more.Another quote:
Dr. Wiley says that models like P2PU address an important component missing from open courseware: human support. That is, when you have a question, whom can you ask? “No one gets all the way through a textbook without a dozen questions,” he says. “Who’s the T.A.? Where’s your study group?”
Helping us move from DIY to DIT [Do it together]
CBTs (Computer based training) of days passed were rote, CD-ROM-ware that allowed a person to traverse through some content with minimal engagement from any outside party. If one were lucky, there might have been some educational games to make the medicine go down.
We're living in an entirely different world now -- Kids growing up digital (And adults adapting to digital experiences) are used to using our social graph to play games and engage (the Zynga platform made this a reality). These highly engaging and interactive experiences need to be matched in some way if people are going to use them for learning and to get better at something.
John Seely Brown coined the phrase "Do it Together" as an evolution of "Do it Yourself" or DIY. It's finally time that we're realizing how important it is to reflect and learn in small cohorts of individuals. Henry Mintzberg, renowned management thinker has created a program oriented around "Management by Reflection" for learning in small groups in the enterprise. The core ideas expressed in this article here will certainly increase in importance as we move from the information economy to to the conceptual economy. Learning organizations (and what organization doesn't need to learn anymore?) increasingly need to adapt the way their organizations are developing their teams internally, in ways other than CBTs and large classroom style instruction.
In coming up with BettrAt, we researched the fringes by looking at "extreme" learners like homeschoolers and adults learning in small groups. It's clear to us that many of the ways these groups interact will be how people learn in years to come.
The National Education Technology Plan and BettrAt
Earlier this month, The US Department of Education released its National Education Technology Plan.
The NETP is driven by two clear goals by 2020:
These points were extracted from the executive summary of the National Education Technology Plan:
comment - We will raise the proportion of college graduates from where it now stands [39%] so that 60% of our population holds a 2-year or 4-year degree.
- We will close the achievement gap so that all students – regardless of race, income, or neighborhood – graduate from high school ready to succeed in college and careers.
These points were extracted from the executive summary of the National Education Technology Plan:
Many students’ lives today are filled with technology that gives them mobile access to information and resources 24/7, enables them to create multimedia content and share it with the world, and allows them to participate in online social networks where people from all over the world share ideas, collaborate, and learn new things. Outside school, students are free to pursue their passions in their own way and at their own pace. The opportunities are limitless, borderless, and instantaneous.On formative assessments and ongoing means to provide "Just in time" learning support:
The challenge for our education system is to leverage the learning sciences and modern technology to create engaging, relevant, and personalized learning experiences for all learners that mirror students’ daily lives and the reality of their futures. In contrast to traditional classroom instruction, this requires that we put students at the center and empower them to take control of their own learning by providing flexibility on several dimensions. A core set of standards-based concepts and competencies should form the basis of what all students should learn, but beyond that students and educators should have options for engaging in learning: large groups, small groups, and work tailored to individual goals, needs, interests, and prior experience of each learner. By supporting student learning in areas that are of real concern or particular interest to them, personalized learning adds to its relevance, inspiring higher levels of motivation and achievement.
In addition, technology provides access to more learning resources than are available in classrooms and connections to a wider set of “educators,” including teachers, parents, experts, and mentors outside the classroom. On-demand learning is now within reach, supporting learning that is life-long and life-wide (Bransford et al., 2006).
When combined with learning systems, technology-based assessments can be used formatively to diagnose and modify the conditions of learning and instructional practices while at the same time determining what students have learned for grading and accountability purposes. Both uses are important, but the former can improve student learning in the moment (Black & William, 1998; Black et al., 2004). Furthermore, systems can be designed to capture students’ inputs and collect evidence of their knowledge and problem solving abilities as they work. Over time, the system “learns” more about students’ abilities and can provide increasingly appropriate support.On teaching:
In a connected teaching model, connection replaces isolation. Classroom educators are fully connected to learning data and tools for using the data; to content, resources, and systems that empower them to create, manage, and assess engaging and relevant learning experiences; and directly to their students in support of learning both inside and outside school.
Episodic and ineffective professional development is replaced by professional learning that is collaborative, coherent, and continuous and that blends more effective in-person courses and workshops with the expanded opportunities, immediacy, and convenience enabled by online environments full of resources and opportunities for collaboration.1 On "an infrastructure of learning":
It frees learning from a rigid information transfer model (from book or educator to students) and enables a much more motivating intertwine of learning about, learning to do, and learning to be.I was really excited by the idea that the NETP seeks to rethink basic assumptions about education. Creating cohorts of learners based on the things that they're excited by or motivated around is an exciting proposition. While BettrAt is an important platform, I'm realizing that in order for it to be adopted and really used to its greatest potential, group/school administrators and officials have to be able to change how they currently operate. When I used to work in healthcare IT and saw hospital automation systems, I would watch users like nurses use completely outdated and manual processes that they were accustomed to and then use the computer to transcribe their work. Needless to say, most of the gains in productivity are not only lost, but new waste/friction/potential for mistakes are created. This is common across lots of IT/change management work, but when it works well, it's something to marvel at. I hope that when people look at adopting or changing their school to the NETP, they really do rethink basic assumptions about class sizes and the relationships between teacher and student. The US DOE focus on Grand Challenge Problems outlines a series of R&D initiatives that we will continue to contribute to. Here's the White House Grand Challenge on education that we think we've nailed. Educational software that is as compelling as the best video game and as effective as a personal tutor; online courses that improve the more students use them; and a rich, interactive digital library at the fingertips of every child.
Formal vs informal education, by Joi
I keep meaning to hat-tip to startup hero, Joi for this wonderful post on Formal vs Informal education but I kept forgetting until I looked through my recent bookmarks today.
The good parts:
comment Despite my completely dysfunctional relationship with formal learning, I've been able to learn enough to run companies, give talks and be allowed to go to some of the same conferences as my sister.
We were discussing formal learning versus informal learning and how I probably survived because I had the privilege of having access to smart people and mentors, the support of an understanding mother, an interest driven obsessive personality and access to the Internet. I completely agree that improving formal education and lowering dropout rates is extremely important, but I wonder how many people have personalities or interests that aren't really that suited for formal education, at least in its current form.We wonder that too. A lot.
Or... is the answer to make formal education more flexible and capable of supporting a wider spectrum of types of learning to enable people like me to "make it through the system"? Oddly, as my informal education has finally started to reach limits in certain areas, I find myself increasingly reaching out to formal education institutions for the rigor and depth that I need to explore my areas of interest.Hmm. Maybe our graph from the blog post yesterday is pertinent?
Pilot participant in GS Troop 21812: “Can we use this for school stuff too?”
Yesterday, we started a new group of pilot participants on using BettrAt. We had several girls trained on how to use BettrAt for their informal interests. We were excited to see how enthusiastic they all were with using the site for the things they cared about. People are usually visibly excited when we talk to them about BettrAt, but it was a great reminder to us of the importance of integrating informal interests with formal. This might seem like a small and trivial point, but when we say that BettrAt is a way to get better at your Career, Hobbies, and School, we really mean it. Why go to a million networks and a million places when you can keep track of your goals and progress, plan your next steps, and get better together with the other people you trust all in one place?
We tried to make sense of this with a diagram.
Often times, people have lots of informal interests that they're really passionate about. They find them relevant and enjoyable, and they spend time on them everyday. Since they're informal, most of the time they don't have projected goals or a plan for how to get better at these things. Sometimes they keep a diary or a record, but it's not the norm.
On the other end of the spectrum are formal interests (like the stuff you learn in school). These have rigid structures - goals and plans around them. Most of the time, these revolve around assessments. For example, someone might say "I am learning Chemistry so I can pass the AP Chemistry test. I am passing the AP Chemistry test so I don't have to take it in college".
Yesterday, a pilot participant raised her hand during the demo and asked "Can we use this for school stuff too?" That's exactly the point. If you use BettrAt for stuff that's fun and relevant to your life, you'll use it for stuff that's in the past been considered abstract/dry and purely assessment motivated. We know there are people who are motivated to take their informal interest up a couple (or several) notches by providing some structure around it. If these people didn't exist, we wouldn't have personal trainers, support groups for dieting, or tutors.
Of course, we're assuming the purpose of school is to learn stuff, not to just pass tests. Right?