The Sleeper Hits of Education
Photo by Robin Jonathan Deutsch on Unsplash
I admire a few educational efforts that have been unpopular or maligned but really strike the right population at the right time with the right learning. With today's announcement of Khan World School, I'll do these in somewhat reverse chronological order.
1. Khan Academy Videos.
Working as much in online education as I have done, these videos have the ire of faculty. I don't know why they've earned so much hate. There is some valid criticism of the teaching style out there but beyond that, not much bad can be said. Now the good stuff. Students LOVE them.
They are fast, to the point, easy to find, a direct clear animation & voice style.
So this all bodes well for Khan World School. Interesting to hear in the announcement that they are loading in a social component for live daily web conferences to talk about what the students want to talk about. That's interesting. (<- Code for: that's the place where it will first blow up but hey, let's watch.) I sincerely wish them well b/c I know LOTS of parents and students have been wanting a valid, proven, accredited model for years. If I had champagne, I'd toast them!
2. The Idiot's Guide or equally, The ____ Guide for Dummies book series.
Written specifically for adults with the assumption that a teacher is around but that the learner is not "getting it" the book excels at teaching what might be known as the "SME over the shoulder" method. One downfall? The book only has space (like textbooks) to teach each thing one way. So you'll pay ~US$25-30 for one extra method of teaching. If a learner had access to a tutoring lab, you'd probably get exposure to more teaching styles for a lot less money. Still, for remote learners, it's brilliant and helpful -- especially in the truly crushing topics for a learner.
3. Informal Learning codified by Jay Cross.
Informal Learning was my first "off the books" learning that I was exposed to in my Master's Degree and I loved it. Quickly, I was hooked and I followed it. I subscribed to Jay's newsletters (this was back in 2001?) I also put his advice into play when I started a job and was, right off the bat, invited to the hotel bar for Happy Hour the first evening. Now, I'm a social drinker at best and I also was jet lagged. But Jay's advice said "Go!" Boy, was he right! It always turned out like he said. I learned more in 1 hour in the hotel bar then at the entire in-person training event. I since returned the favor many times making sure that I gave out my best tips informally. I was sorry to recently learn that Jay has died. I really appreciated that he put words and formality, ironically, to such a great way to learn.