

Ask HN: If you could transform higher education, ... - michaelhart

Where would you start? What should go? What should stay? What matters? What doesn't?
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protomyth
I would probably start a parallel system starting with 13 year olds and teach
them the basics (reading, writing, math, science, history) through a program
focusing on a trade or craft (limited selection obviously). Something where
they can apply their knowledge in real world items but be taught the lessons
through a focus they were interested in. Then setup the college years to
broaden there knowledge and go into more traditional college subjects.

I guess if I ever get "really rich" I will try it privately.

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djb_hackernews
We already have those, they are vocational technical high schools. In my small
New England town I had the option of two different ones, one with a focus on
agriculture and animal husbandry and one more focused on the trades.

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protomyth
We have some like that this way too, but I was more thinking a focus on
general education via a liked craft. Something further into the academic side.

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ippisl
1\. solve the accreditation problem (either by alternative means of
accreditation that would be accepted by employers , or by changing college
accreditation rules).

2\. improving the social element in online learning, to make it comparable or
better than social element in offline learning.

3\. today , knowledge is much more externalized. computer libraries and tools
, outsourcing/crowd-sourcing , search engines and online communities enable
this. it will probably become more externalized. does this require a different
learning process ?

4\. self learning is important. how do you teach people the skills to
effectively self-learn ?

5\. in many tasks today, the barriers to performance are not knowledge but
psychological(things like motivation , concentration , attention to details ,
etc). is it the place of higher education to teach those ?

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michaelhart
You, my friend, clearly share my vision. Would love to chat! Please email me:
mh [/@t\\] kodu.co :)

Working on a startup, actually, covering a lot of the topics you provided. I
even applied for YCombinator. Really looking forward :) Hope to hear from you!

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thetylerhayes
I'd probably just hire Sir Ken Robinson to put a team together and come up
with a solution.

[http://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_crea...](http://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html)

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michaelhart
I love him! He's brilliant!!

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dpavlenkov
Here's what I do: go to www.mises.org, and search "education". That'll keep
you busy for a while.
[http://search.mises.org/search?q=education&site=default_...](http://search.mises.org/search?q=education&site=default_collection)

