The Future of Education

While the McClintock “Modest Proposal” debate continues, the future of education is being shaped completely outside the educational system.

I believe that ultimately the forces involved with school reforms, on both right and left, will be swept away by new paradigms.

At the Games, Learning, and Society conference in Madison, Wisconsin, James Gee talked about how games and technology will supplant the current educational model:

“The solution to these problems is in our face — popular culture and the games industry. “We have a lot to learn from these despised industries form how to solve these crises.” Think about your high school biology textbook — did you take it to the beach to read it. Unless kids, starting at home, get ready for the complex demands that schools will make on language, you will not be prepared. Yugioh cards — these are much more complex than what you’ll see in textbooks. [Ed: this is so true–understanding the rules of MTG is like grasping a complex statutory scheme.]
The game industry has already set a standard of how to educate people so that they can become innovators.”

The current educational system is an outdated monopoly that is failing our kids. Alternatives are becoming available. And there’s no way to put Humpty-Dumpty back together again once he’s fallen off that wall.

If I were more creative, I’d be thinking about how to create truly enjoyable games and virtual worlds that serve and educational purpose. The potential market is staggering, especially if you consider the global market outside the United States.