It’s time to retire the blackboards and go back to the town squares.
Over the last 30 years, the United States has increased education funding dramatically: from around $11 billion to $77 billion (source: Dept. of Education) but it seems like we’re no closer to figuring out a solution to bettering the quality of educational.
Nothing about education is straight-forward, even its origins. Education “began either millions of years ago or at the end of 1770” says Dieter Lenzen (source: Wikipedia) and yet we’re still asking some fundamental questions about how to best approach it: how do you measure it? How do you scale it? Is it a right? Is it a privilege? How do people learn best?
The education field hasn’t changed much since its supposed origins in 1770, but technology has finally begun to shine its spotlight on those who seek a learning experience. The result has been a bloom of MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses), online learning tools, and so forth. But, I’m not sure if those hold the answer.