CathyAnderson on Education, Technology and Open Education

Michael J. Trout has a vision for the future of education.  He is driven by a desire to provide education to all …Learning Anything, Anytime, Anywhere…in order to address the concerns that he feels may destroy humanity.  Fundamentally though his plan does more to address and improve our basic quality of life..providing education builds human capital and it is human capital which improves our quality of life and drives our economy.  Michael is creating a shared vision inspired by his passion for learning, his desire to excite and inspire individuals to learn comes through in his videos, which you can access on Face-book. Michael has developed a shared vision, including all in his passion for flattening education.    You will be inspired by his enthusiasm for “Learn Anything, Anytime, Anywhere…”  and his vision to flatten global education.  The website for Michael’s EDUIT (Education Using Information Technology) describe the plan and vision more in-depth.

Michael encourages us all to  Imagine ..”     a world where everyone participates in a flat education system, challenging themselves and others, and winning awards and prizes for applying themselves, no matter what their social, economic, geographic disposition is…We can and we will build it.”

Michael is proposing that other education organizations and entities link with him to provide the Flatten Global Education conference in 2010.  I think that is a great idea!  To get major players in the field of education to sit down together and discuss and define the future of education, how to provide open source materials globally, how to most effectively use the technology we have available, and identify barriers and remove them.  I think the time is now for us to put aside the competitive differences that have driven us to develop a fantastic knowledge base of educational materials, research, and tools to starting engaging in collaboration to determine how to best use these resources to improve society and brainstorm how to use them effectively.

I have been trying to keep up with Michael for the last couple of months..he knows I am a “Second Lifer” and that I advocate for virtual worlds as a learning venue..to put it simply he does not seem much sense in that, that being said on most points of education Michael and I agree, primarily that providing education, knowledge and the tools necessary to easily educate everyone may very well be necessary to address some of the possible coming global crisis from global warming, oil shortage,  global economic disparities,  and,  I also believe, pandemics.  Michael questions whether or not we have the “educated talent” to address these global concerns, to do research, to develop solutions to the issues that will be facing humanity within the next 20 years.  As I ponder this I interpret his vision to mean that we need to build a “social network” of scientists, engineers, and other professionals who collaborate within their disciplines but all across disciplines to address these global concerns.  We have the smart kids in this world .. we just need the platform to engage them in learning, working together and solving the world’s problems of tomorrow– today! A universal education platform will tie these young people together to learn from each other as well as to learn from a broad spectrum of multimedia resources readily available via the web  and the today’s brilliant talent who are leaders in making the world a better place.

In addition to tapping into the vast array of multi-media resources available on the web Michael also intends to use simple games to motivate learners.  These games will be designed around the objectives of the course or learning goal.  These interactive games will enhance a student’s learning by their participation and collaboration with others.

The eSingularity or eRevolution is built upon a platform that will be ubiquitous, simple, and will provide learning to all. Building a such a platform comes with a price, but a price that is much cheaper than going to Mars or wars that could come about because we don’t have the tools in place to develop common understandings and communication tools to work together on shared concerns.   Michael envisions this as a “macro solution” which provides access to open source materials, videos chunked for “rapid learning,’ short clips driven by learning objectives, can be accessible within limited bandwidth, provide mobile/cell phone access, and some game based learning.

The cornerstone of Michael’s vision is that global education must be flattened to allow everyone to learn anything, anytime, anywhere–>for free.  His vision is a shared vision as he has and continues to gain people who are joining him in this initiative.  Search for more information on the Web by doing a search for eSingulairty -Trout, find the Facebook page by search for Eduit, follow him at twitter.com/eduitorg, find the Linked in group, e3.0.

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