The future of learning, by Bob Cringley

I try to avoid "me too" posts, but this one is crucial reading for people interested in education, learning and "school" for two reasons:

1. Bob is consistently right. Sometimes his timeframes are off, but eventually, he's right.


2. Bob is an old fart and has come to the same conclusion that we in the unschooling community have come to not by analyzing educational policy or the psychology/philosophy of learning but purely through the lens of technology. Chances are that he hasn't read any John Holt.

I disagree with his thoughts for one reason:

1. Bob and I both agree that "successful" people in the coming years will be those who are good at finding out information they don't know, not at memorizing information. A likely positive outgrowth of this is a greater focus on analysis and critical thinking but he neglects to discuss how the presentation of information is rewiring our brains to prefer 3-second chunks and the rise of ADHD - which are current concerns of the medical "establishment".

I don't agree with his implication that technology is the only way that "generation z" is going to learn, and I'm generally more of a Luddite than Bob is, but his article is a good read nonetheless: http://www.pbs.org/cringely/pulpit/2008/pulpit_20080404_004650.html