1/ My thesis:
Education is transforming from a finite to an infinite game as it moves online
Education is transforming from a finite to an infinite game as it moves online
2/ Traditional education was a finite game:
What are the pre-reqs?
What are the course dates?
What are the grad requirements?
What’s on the test?
What is my grade?
What certificate do I get?
None of these questions make sense in an infinite game
What are the pre-reqs?
What are the course dates?
What are the grad requirements?
What’s on the test?
What is my grade?
What certificate do I get?
None of these questions make sense in an infinite game
2/ For education as infinite game, relevant questions are:
Who will I become?
What kind of people are part of this community?
What does the instructor believe in and stand for?
What is the transformation I will experience?
What will become possible for me?
Who will I become?
What kind of people are part of this community?
What does the instructor believe in and stand for?
What is the transformation I will experience?
What will become possible for me?
3/ These are open ended questions that actually have to be answered by the student ultimately. They all depend on how much you put in. They aren’t nicely packaged answers to be delivered and then tested on
4/ Actually, the purpose of the course is to help the student answer these questions. The entire experience is a free answer question, not multiple choice
5/ This explains why a lot of things no longer make sense:
Credentials
Completion rates
Testing
Standardized curricula
Pre-defined tracks
Credits
Degrees
The goal is to keep the learning going forever, so all mechanisms to force an outcome are losing moves
Credentials
Completion rates
Testing
Standardized curricula
Pre-defined tracks
Credits
Degrees
The goal is to keep the learning going forever, so all mechanisms to force an outcome are losing moves
6/ Also explains why previously minor things are now paramount:
Personality/perspective of instructor
Substance/practically of material
Taking action and applying learning
Community, online & in person
Coaches and mentors
Ongoing lessons & examples
Feedback from the real world
Personality/perspective of instructor
Substance/practically of material
Taking action and applying learning
Community, online & in person
Coaches and mentors
Ongoing lessons & examples
Feedback from the real world
7/ Basically, online education is synonymous with community. Except that doesn’t mean you just launch a FB group, call it a “learning community,” and call it a day. We need instructors with strong points of view, because there has to be substance at the core of the community
8/ No one wants to join some group just to hang out. You have to solve a real problem just to be on their radar. They come for the solution to a problem, and then stay for the community (the ones that are really into it, who you should focus on)
