A MUST-SEE for Every Educational Administrator in the World

http://www.classroom20.com/video/a-mustsee-for-every

"A MUST-SEE for Every Educational Administrator in the World" caught me by surprise. I wasn't sure what to expect, given the title of "A MUST SEE" video, but the content actually was compelling. Understanding that the world is changing, growing and morphing into something new and technologically amazing every few months is something the educational hierarchy does not want to acknowledge. Doing things the way we always do things is the mantra of the education system. However, this college kid, or college dropout may not make the big splash he is attempting to make with this six minute video. The education world does not respect, nor listen openly to the opinions of others unless they have letters after their name- letters with meaning like, BA, MA or the much more important letters, PhD.

His historical description of the importance of education to society over the centuries, and the class system which was born of that system is still in action today. Acquiring a respectable occupation does require some work in a formal educational institution. A high school and college graduate does have a much better chance of obtaining a more lucrative occupation than a dropout. Yes, there are many cases where people do not obtain a diploma or a degree, and still become extremely rich and famous, but this is not the norm. In most cases, the space on job applications for educational experience cannot be filled in with “self taught online.”

What this young man states about knowledge becoming free is the truth to a point. The internet does allow individuals to learn on their own beyond memorizing facts in a classroom. The fact that the "powers that be" will most likely sweep this video under the rug and forget about it is actually quite sad. Perhaps the rigor of undergraduate education should include more free dialogue with classmates. Maybe the digital age should begin to take over more classrooms. However, the point where the lines become fuzzy, and formal education wins, is when the facts students memorize lead to an educated comprehensive specialist in a field as opposed to a knowledgeable runner-up on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. Yes, you can teach yourself many things via the internet, but there are many things you cannot teach yourself. For example, is it possible after reading online journals and articles or watching some “how to” videos on the internet that one can become competent enough to perform surgery? Of course not! My point is no matter how compelling this young man is in his video, there is a need for formal education.

What this student of the world seems to long for is the conversation and dialogue in education which often takes place in graduate level classes. As a pre-kindergarten teacher, I know my students must learn the basics- letter recognition, phonemic awareness, counting and number properties before they can move on to deeper, and more interesting subjects. They must learn the letter to sound out the words. They must learn the words to understand the sentances. The same logic for education in college applies. Students must muddle through the boring, memorization of standard class work to understand the free thought of higher levels of education. Institutionalized education provides a clear cut path to knowledge. The free world of the internet is also wild and untamed. Institutionalized education helps students learn how to learn. Institutions teach students how to determine what is wild and untamed from what is enlightening and important.