Stephen Downes

I think there's an interesting proposition in this paper, though implementation may be daunting and expensive and come with a surprise result. Here's the proposition: "Education desperately needs what other complex fields have - a way to safely explore 'what if' scenarios at every level of the system. We need simulations." Well, OK, but what would that take? "You need knowledge at more fundamental levels - basic patterns of human motivation, learning, and behavior that hold across different contexts." The surprise result? A simulation equipped with all this knowledge would be better prepared than most teachers. My observation is this: why, then, would we leave the job of teaching to the teachers? If the autopilot can fly the plane better than the human, put it on autopilot.