How to prepare for Education 2.0

Graham Glass is an amazing educator.

In this interview that follows, he shares with us the future of education.

What is the future of education?

A free, online, modular set of learning materials that allows students to learn whatever they like, whenever they like, and assess themselves informally or formally.

These resources will be accessible via any kind of computing device, and delivered via smart systems that guide students through the education process. Teachers will become facilitators of learning rather than the primarily delivery vehicle.

Here’s my recent TED talk on “The future of education”:

http://grahamglass.blogs.com/main/2010/01/tedxmanila-the-future-of-education.html

What is the main goal of EDU 2.0 for School?

To allow schools to instantly set up a free online learning environment. The site is free and already has over 120,000 members.

Over 4,000 schools and universities are already using EDU 2.0 as their primary LMS (Learning Management System). It’s simpler and more powerful than older systems such as Moodle and Blackboard.

How are digital tools helping educate us?

Right now, digital tools are quite primitive and are mostly used to delivery raw content or to drill understanding of materials that were delivered in a lecture-style environment. In the future, they will become a lot smarter and students will learn directly from the systems (see 1).

What are the emerging trends that will change the schools, colleges and universities are run?

Sweden is the most advanced country in education because it has adopted a voucher system that encourages entrepreneurs to start schools.

Many of these schools are using a modular, online system for learning where students can study subjects at their own pace using a blend of lectures, self-study and group collaboration. I hope that countries like the US will take note of these kinds of innovations.

In addition, the explosion in OER (Open Education Resources) such as the free courseware from MIT will provide millions of students with free access to high quality materials.

What are the 3 top schools and universities that are leading the way in education innovation?

I think that the “Knowledge Schools” in Sweden are the most innovative schools in the world.

MITs open courseware is a leading source of OER. T

he Montessori schools have a great philosophy and allow students to learn at their own pace via set of pre-designed learning activities.

Tell us more about Adventure Learning? What’s it all about.

Adventure Learning is about allowing students to learn by participating in fun, relevant adventures.

Many adventures will be packaged as a kind of video game where students learn subjects without even realizing it.

For example, I’ve designed a pirate game that would teach most of K-12 math in a natural, fun way. I think that Adventure Learning will be the dominant learning approach in about 10 years time. I provided more details about Adventure Learning in my TED talk.

http://grahamglass.blogs.com/main/2010/01/tedxmanila-the-future-of-education.html

What’s your favorite book? Why?

My favorite book is “Atlas Shrugged” by Ayn Rand, because it shows that pursuing your own values is not only just good for the individual, but usually also for society. It also has a great plot!

Who are your personal heroes? Why?

I keep a list of my heroes on Facebook.

Here are some of them: Milton Friedman, Madame Curie, Douglas Hofstadter, John Locke, Benjamin Franklin, James Burke and Imogen Heap. Generally speaking, they are all incredibly creative, talented, and hard working.

What are YOU hungry for?

My #1 goal is to create innovative solutions to tough problems. I’m currently focused on education, but I also have a strong interest in Artificial Intelligence and hope to contribute to that field as well.

About Graham Glass

I’m a fun-loving software entrepreneur who’s currently focused on online education and how to use technology to fundamentally improve the way we learn. I hope also to contribute to the field of artificial intelligence and cognitive science. I live in San Francisco and was born in the UK. I have a BS and MS in Computer Science. I currently run three startup companies — EDU 2.0 for School, EDU 2.0 for Business, and EDU 2.0 Technology. I sold my last company, “The Mind Electric”, to webMethods in 2003.