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September 2012
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January 2013

October 2012

Stop Stealing Dreams: Seth Godin on Education & School

DreamsThe older I get the more I take to heart the old Mark Twain chestnut: “I have never let my schooling interfere with my education.” In March of this year I created a post entitled Videos to help you rethink education, learning, & school. That list of videos included a provocative interview with Seth Godin. This month Seth put those same thoughts together in a new short-form presentation which he delivered at TEDxYouth@BFS. I heard Seth say many of the same things before. Yes, I can quibble about a few of his strongly asserted points, but for the most part I think he is spot on. Of course there are great teachers doing good work around the world, and there are even some outstanding schools. But it's also true that the very system of mass schooling needs to be questioned.



Head over to Squidoo.com to download Seth's "Stop Stealing Dreams" 30,000 word manifesto. Definitely worth your time.

The importance of doing
Confucius said "Tell me and I forget. Show me and I remember. Let me do and I understand." My favorite years in public school were spent in the elementary school years. Perhaps because there was a lot more doing throughout the day compared with the rather dull and passive experience of sitting and listening during the Jr. high and high school years. This short presentation below features Gever Tulley talking about the importance of tinkering.



Presentation Generation
Presentations and digital storytelling play a key role in 21st-century education. I share some of my thoughts about presentations today in this TEDxKyoto talk from earlier this Fall.