Unlearning 101

Master Unlearning

The following paragraph is from a review of Cathy Davidson's new book, Now You See It:

Ms. Davidson notes that our schoolmaster-led classrooms and grading customs look pretty much as they did not just in the last century but in the 19th century. She contrasts this with Duncan Germain's classroom at Voyager Academy, a charter school in North Carolina, where learning is made to resemble a collaborative game. Self-organized teams engage in a contest to build the best bridge out of Popsicle sticks. Along the way they learn for themselves not just principles of engineering but also strategies of management—just what they need to thrive in the new world of work. Students in such a setting, Ms. Davidson writes, "are mastering the lessons of learning, relearning, and unlearning that are perfectly suited to a world where change is the only constant."

If Ms. Davidson's name sounds familiar it is because I wrote about her in this post in 2009: Cathy Davidson on Unlearning.

My question to you, though, is this: Are you mastering the lessons of unlearning?

If not, you might want to start with my new book, Higher Unlearning: 39 Post-Requisite Lessons for Achieving a Successful Future.

 

 

Unlearning the University of Today

Last evening, I had the pleasure of participating in a strategic planning session with the senior management team from one of the world's largest online universities. 

I began my session by noting how Cisco (just yesterday) announced that by 2015 -- or in just 4 short years -- the number of network-connected devices will quadruple to 15 billion -- or twice the world's population! Moreover, by 2015, 1 million video minutes will traverse the Internet every second. (In case you're wondering, this is the equivalent of 674 days of content pulsating around the globe in one second.)

Next, I noted that although the e-Book only become popular with the creation of the Kindle three years ago, e-Books are now out-selling paper books on Amazon.com. This is a significant shift in consumer behavior in a relatively short period of time.

Third, I noted that Salman Khan, the founder of Khan Academy, only began tutoring his nieces online in 2006. Today, he has over 2,200 online tutorials and over one million students access his site every month -- for free.

The bottom-line is that society has witnessed a startling amount of progress in a short period of time and the future is only going to accelerate.

To prepare for this future, I then asked the group this question: Imagine your university wasn't yet established. Instead, imagine the future school logo read "Established in 2022." What would such a university look like? Who will the students be? How will they access and share information? What is the role of the teacher? 

To those of you who say this is a frivalous or meaningless exercise, I'd counter that if the role of educational establishments is to prepare students for the future, it is only appropriate that they do the same thing for themselves.

Interested in some thoughts on the future of education? Check out these older posts:

The Future of Education is Getting Shorter

The Future of College is $99 

The Future of College 
Unlearning College and University 
The Future of Education is Now 
Teach Unlearning in Kindergarten

Questioning Higher Education

"If Harvard were really the best education, if it makes that much of a difference, why not franchise it so more people can attend?"

This excellent question -- which I would categorize under the art of asking a new question -- comes compliments of Peter Thiel, the co-founder of PayPal, who believes there is a serious "bubble" in higher education. (Personally, I agree and have written so about it here and here.)

Regardless of what you believe the merits of a 4-year college education are, I encourage you to read this article on Thiel's ideas. In addition to posing the above question, I like how Thiel is willing to challenge the idea that if you get a college education (even at elite university such as Harvard) that it will necessarily provide you with safety and comfort in the future.

Equally provocative is Thiel's comment that "so many people unquestioningly accept the conventional wisdom of getting a four-year education there is little to no counter-narrative."

And why is a counter-narrative necessary? Because society didn't have enough counter-narratives during the Internet and home mortgage bubbles--and a lot of people ended up getting burned.

P.S. If you are wondering just who might get burned consider the recent unemployed college graduate with a $150,000 debt.

Interested in other areas in which higher education institutions might need to unlearn? Check out these older posts by Jack Uldrich:

A Futurist's Perspective on Education

Unlearning the Four-Year College Education

Is the Future of College $99-a-Month?

First Year Disorientation

The New York Times recently published this article A Campus Where Unlearning is First discussing how the American University in Cairo is trying to encourage students to think for themselves.

The university doesn't approach the concept of unlearning as I do in my many unlearning strategies but I love the president's idea of replacing a first-year orientation with a "disorientation." 

Among other things, I would encourage the university to do during this session is instruct students on how to question the wisdom of experts, replace 'no doubt' with 'to know doubt," mix up your mind, grow from your inexperience and lose sight of the shore.

It has long been my policy that we should teach unlearning beginning in kindergarten but if we can't do it there perhaps the next best strategy is make "disorientation" a standard feature during the first year of college. It is a skill that will serve them well the rest of their lives.

Unlearning the 4-Year College Education

A college education is typically four years. Is there any reason why this length must remain the norm? The answer is a resounding “no.” Last year, I suggested the future of college may be $99 a month.  

A few innovators are now offering college courses using a new, “all you can consume” model. In other words, instead of paying for courses individually (and by the credit hour), some on-line institutions are allowing students to take as many courses as they want within a specified time frame. This model allows students to finish college much sooner and on their own timeframe—rather than some artificial schedule.

There is an another reason why I believe this model is closer to what the future of education will look like. This past weekend the New York Times ran an interesting article entitled The Children of Cyberspace: Old Fogies by Their 20s.

The gist of the article is that technology is now moving so fast that it is creating “mini-generations.” For example, a college student who grew up in the FaceBook era now looks hopelessly outdated to her Twittering high school brother. And, not too soon, the brother will look equally clueless to his 7th grade sibling who is sure to adopt Kindle or whatever the next, new innovation may be.

One huge implication of technology acceleration is that the shelf life of some (but not all) knowledge is getting shorter and shorter. Why then spend a semester—or worse four years—learning something which will soon be obsolete?

Many courses will, by necessity, need to become shorter and high schools, colleges and universities must acknowledge this reality by offering courses more in tune with the future. This means shorter—but likely more intense—courses.

Rhetoric aside, education will also become a truly life-long endeavor; and unlearning will become just as critical as learning in the future.

Related Posts

The Future of College is $99 
The Future of College 
Unlearning College and University 
The Future of Education is Now 
Teach Unlearning in Kindergarten