Content-type: text/html Downes.ca ~ Stephen's Web ~ 'Education Is a Human Thing' - but Covid-19 Will Push It Online

Stephen Downes

Knowledge, Learning, Community

I'm not exactly sure I would turn to Sebastian Thrun for predictions about the future of education, but Wired does, and this half hour video interview is the result. "In the past, Thrun says, school districts and university professors alike had been risk-averse. But he's convinced that the move to online learning forced by coronavirus will help naysayers realize that going digital could make it easier for some to learn. Adult education, Udacity's focus, seems like a good place to start." The focus on adult education reflects a recent publication from the Open University. "Over 40% of Gen Z and millennial learners and 33% of Gen X and boomer learners crave self-directed learning experiences...  94% of workers like to learn at their own pace (and) 58% learn at the point where they need it most." At a certain point we have to ask why we don't help young people learn using the tools and methods they will use for the rest of their lives, instead of providing the social equivalent of (as the report says) sheep dipping.

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Stephen Downes Stephen Downes, Casselman, Canada
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Last Updated: Apr 23, 2024 9:49 p.m.

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