On Deck Dinner Series: How We Learn — Education & Technology
“Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today”
— Malcolm X.
On Wednesday, August 15th we’re gathering a small group of founders (and prospective founders), educators and investors in London for a dinner and discussion about technology, the future of education, and opportunities to build it! 👩💻📈
This is the first On Deck dinner in London — a change from our usual ‘Meetup’ format. You can read more about what we’re doing here.
To host the discussion and help drive conversation, we’ve invited Alex Beard — Author, former teacher, and Director of non-profit group Teach for All. Alex has been traveling the world for the past few years studying the most promising educational practices and technologies. His resulting bestseller Natural Born Learners has been proclaimed a “user’s guide to transforming learning in the twenty-first century”, and is a riveting read.
Sounds cool, can I come?
We want to keep events super relevant for everyone who attends, and so heavily curate the guest list.
If you are building, or are thinking about building a startup in ed-tech, cognitive/behavioural sciences or related fields, you’re an educator with an eye on the future or investor with a focus on ed-tech — get in touch to request an invite.
If this isn’t you, but you know someone who might be interested, please forward this on!
Why does this matter?
Education is often held up as a silver bullet — the solution to so many challenges in a world of accelerating change and increasing automation. In this race against the machine, we currently hold an advantage in areas such as ‘Ideation’ — the ability to come up with new ideas, be creative or have a sense of purpose; ‘Complex Communication’ — the ability to write, listen or read in highly sophisticated ways; and ‘Large Frame Pattern Recognition’ — the ability to process a large amount of multi-sensory information, think critically and respond appropriately[1].
“Ideation, complex communication and critical thinking” in turn sounds like a decent blueprint for what to teach in schools. In reality, we rely on a system and curriculum designed for the industrial revolution, preparing a generation for a workplace that dated a generation ago. Progress is being made, but well intentioned efforts meet challenges across the spectrum, from entrenched interests and budget constraints, to concerns of over-reliance on technology and loss of core cognitive skills.
One thing we know for sure is that thoughtful applications of technology have a role in the future of education. To what impact, and how this transition will play out is in the hands of those passionate about creating change, taking the initiative to build ventures, test ideas, and lead from the front. This is who On Deck is for, and we’re excited to meet you.
[1] Heavily paraphrasing Eric Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee’s Race Against the Machine, as referenced in Natural Born Learners.
