

Fred Wilson on Disruption - coglethorpe
http://www.avc.com/a_vc/2009/05/my-google-talk-on-disruption.html

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chubbard
Education could use some disruption. But, I remember quite often kids at my
school talking about the futility of learning subject X. I want to be Y, and
I'll never use subject X. It always bugged me when I heard that. I knew I
wanted to be a software developer when I grew up, but it turns out writing
well and having excellent communication skills make the real difference in my
line of work. At the time, had I thought the way my peers thought, I don't
think I would have made good choices about my education. Let's be honest kids,
on a whole, aren't known for making great choices.

On the flip side I think getting kids interested in a single subject, and
allowing them to go deep within that subject at their own choosing could spark
them to get interested in other subjects. But, where's the balance? There are
some basic things kids need to learn.

The problem is with education is that if you pick a poor model for educating
you're affecting people's lives for a very long time. Poor choices made at the
early levels have life changing impact. Do it incorrectly and you can hurt the
potential of people later on down the road. And, I think there in lies the
true chance for disruption. How can we change the system so it's more
forgiving for poor choices?

The disruption that's already happening is getting adults back to school. The
trade school side of education is already doing this in a significant way.
Phoenix, Strayer, ITT Tech, etc are all disruptive tech. They are targeting a
segment that typical university systems are ignoring. They are also teaching
very practical subjects, or subjects not offered by the big 4 year
institutions. It's less based on research and more on practical knowledge.
But, by going up the value chain they could really change the face of higher
education. But, what if everyone continued to go to school through out their
lifetime? A big question is what is proper certification? If everything is
a-la-carte how do you certify someone? Should that be set of the educators or
industry?

Now fast forward to Business Week's recent head line stating 3 Million job
openings during this recession, but they can't be filled due to lack of
skilled applicants. There in lies the real reason to get adults engaged in
lifetime education. The more fluid we can make the workforce the faster we can
recover from these down turns, and the more employable people will be moving
forward. If you're not going to be employed in one field for 40 years make
sure you can work in many different fields.

