More than anything this is post will be stream of consciousness so bear with me and ask any questions if you need to.

I have recently been introduced a heap of information about using technology in education to improve quality and to decrease costs.  This video by the RSA was one of the pieces that really got me introduced to the topic, you can watch it here.  The gist of it is basically that education is still set up on principles that worked when it was initially designed–to create people capable enough to function in society and work in “good” jobs.  The system is a cookie cutter approach to getting every one “up to speed” or on a somewhat educated level so that they can work for other people.  For this purpose, the current educational system is doing great!  It puts out thousands of college grads every year who didn’t apply themselves for a second, skipped lots of class and never were forced to creatively or critically use the information they were putting in their noggins.    But what is the real goal of earning an education?  I as well as several other people (all smarter than me) think it should be about LEARNING how to THINK.

It wasn’t until I finished going to school (undergrad) that I realized how ineffective my past 16 years of education had been.  When I really reflected on how I operated all of those years I almost wanted to chuck.  I am really good and regurgitating information from power points onto a scantron and then forgetting everything I just did and for MOST colleges in the US that is all it takes.  Actual learning is not happening, just memorizing.

I think it’s a problem.

There are some great minds tackling this Jerome Bettis sized problem.  One of the proposed ideas to change education and take a stab at making it more effective is the idea of a Reverse Classroom.  The idea here is that much of the lecturing is done by the professor beforehand in the form of videos outside the classroom, then the students spend time doing what would typically be homework in the classroom.  The model is flipped.  Be lectured to on your own time at home and then come and sharpen your skills (whatever the subject is) in the classroom with other students and the teacher there to ACTUALLY TEACH.  Its brilliant.

One of the best resources I found on the entire internet is Khan Academy.  It is a database of teachings on a bunch of different subjects that you can watch for free.  With this technology some schools have implemented reverse classrooms and the results have been incredible.  Its more personalized, more hands on, and more effective.  My question is can this be applied to higher levels of education such as Medical School or Physical Therapy School.  I think it’s an interesting idea.

What do you think?  Leave a comment below or Tweet at me @zduhammy

Shout out to my friend Ryan Patton at the University of Arkansas, who is just a student finishing up his undergrad but he has taking his education into his own hands and is now working with the university to reform their approach to the basic sciences using technology like this.  Check out some of his videos here.