For most of us school was about absorbing what the instructor was saying and being able to recall it for a quiz or a test. If you’re a quick learning, or have photographic memory it’s a great system. But if you take time to process things it can be a bit challenging. Let’s consider what it would be like if you had some say in the tools you used to practice your learning, or if you had some say in your learning career and the direction you wanted it to go.

What if in K-12 you had been set on a course to learn how to find your strengths and weaknesses, pinpoint what you were passionate about, incorporate your strengths, weaknesses, and passions into projects you were doing in conjunction with what you were learning about? Then, what if you were encouraged to think critically and collaborate with others, either locally or using technology? And finally what if all this included figuring out how to find the people who had the answers you were looking for, no matter where they were on the planet? And what if your instructor was the mentor who helped you accomplish all this?

Seems far-fetched? Actually it’s not, the pieces have been gathering for a number of years, and slowly they are being put into place.   It’s no surprise that we learn and retain better when we are interested, passionate, and engaged. It is rather surprising that although we’ve known this for quite some time we’ve had the same teaching system in place for generations. Options for change were few, but with the dawn of Web 2.0 where discussions, collaborations, and sharing information across the world is now a reality new opportunities are realistically available. We just need to be open to and encourage the change. I had two very different children with two very different learning styles and if there had been a way to tap into their passions to engage them getting homework done would have been a much different game!

If you have younger children would this be something you would hope they get to be part of? Did you know you can help make it happen just by knowing about it, talking about it, expecting change, and supporting the change? All change done right takes time and evaluation, but I encourage you to educate yourself, collect your thoughts, then support change.

Here’s a link to get you started!

April 16, 2018