Internet Changes Education. 'Cons' are obvious... here are the 'Pros.'

I was blown away by this video that I have attached! Maybe watching the video and possibly implementing the learning capabilities of the experiment will open our eyes as to how much smarter humans can become with the use of the internet?

I read all the time about how the internet and technology is ruining our lives. There's even a large thread a few away from this one that argues as such. It's my belief that us 'old timers' just have little to no idea of the great benefits the internet provides. We all learned from books, therefore limiting how much knowledge can be consumed. As well, books in schools are little more than a one sided statement/opinion. Intuition tells me that our current society and technologies would have advanced at an even quicker rate if the internet were available decades ago.

on.ted.com...

I know this experiment will greatly help decide on how I will choose for my children to be educated. I'd almost be willing to state that a child that has only a public school education, with no direction of their own, will be left behind in regards to smarts and intellect.

Thanks for your time, and Enjoy!

reply to post by ttobban


Thanks for posting that Ted video. I'm a teacher, of the spelling, reading, writing, math kind, and so am both threatened and inspired by the ideas in this video. What a dramatic change that would be! I don't see us getting there quickly, but I do think that change is occurring. Near the end of the video, he states that he wants to get a computer to every child. I'd be happy to see one in every class.

reply to post by ttobban


Thank you for posting this, it was very inspiring.

Neither the internet nor computers have ruined anything for myself or my family. Quite the contrary.
The day we got our first computer in our home was the day I started on the road of learning things that could let me escape the factory job I was doing at the time. Today I am a 3D artist working from home, and very pleased with it.

I thoroughly enjoy the fact that the answer to a multitude of questions that come up during my typical day are only a few keystrokes away. Learning truly is addictive.

Inspiring and nice. Thanks to share this video. I do like the idea of using computer in education. What I think is the technology is nothing in it self but the use of technology make it bad or useful Even with the common things there usage make it useful or useless like knife you can cut with it but what will you actually cut that does matter.


cert iv tae40110

Humanity is already far too dependent on technology for its most basic needs.

What happens when the power goes out? And doesn't come back on? Those stupid books are going to come in handy. Too bad no one will be able to write any new ones because people don't actually write anymore--they only know how to type.

"What's wrong with my HAND?!?! It hurts! I can't stretch it out! OW!"

"Yeah, that's called a cramp, man. It happens when you actually write things down with a pen for a little while."

reply to post by NthOther


If the power goes out, and does not come back on? Well, it's safe to say that people will adapt, just as they have to the abundance of power that is available to people now. I'd bet that will would take over in that scenario,and that writers cramp would fall to a level of not being relevant to the big picture at hand, if the lights were to go out.... "pun intended."

I wouldn't advise not learning to read a compass or how to properly hunt and gather essentials to live. But, writing? I fail to find a high relevancy of writing in survival skills.

Besides, you're holding the pen incorrectly if you get writers cramp at all! Maybe there is a proper pen holding technique on the interwebs for you to learn a more comfortable pen holding position?

Originally posted by ttobban


I know this experiment will greatly help decide on how I will choose for my children to be educated. I'd almost be willing to state that a child that has only a public school education, with no direction of their own, will be left behind in regards to smarts and intellect.

Thanks for your time, and Enjoy!

In the past or in the future "only a public school education" is a prescription for failure. There's no such thing as "only a public school education". It's the job of the school to teach a given curriculum, it's the job of the parents to supplement that education based on the individual child and what goals they have.

The school isn't there to raise the kids, it's there to provide them with a basic education, it's up to the parents to augment that education. 99% of the time, if the child is a failure, it's not the fault of the school at all, regardless of what the parents want to claim. The PARENT is responsible for raising the children, the school is there as a support structure, not the primary structure.

Of course with some of the lousy excuses for parents out there today, that's not always the case.

Ever try training new employees? Imagine what those teachers have to deal with day to day with a whole room full of some of those idiots.

reply to post by kthxbai


I couldn't agree with you more... there have been signs on the wall for years that indicated a long term hindrance to pushing the levels of intelligence in our youth. It's apparent you understand the importance of a parents guidance and that guidance's reflection on education. High divorce rates and poor parenting still leave a good portion of our nations youth vulnerable to public programs though, unfortunately. It's sad to see these innocent youth fall victim to the 'No Child Left Behind Act' or the 'Race To The Top' initiative. Parenting is the biggest deciding factor in the success and levels of education. The internet is really a good tool to help parent our youth!

I shared this video as to share an optimistic awareness to barriers the internet alone can aid in breaking through. I guess a sort of 'thank you' for the internet and for the smart forward thinking parents involvement in awareness to this most important issue!

a reply to: ttobban

I'm commenting here because I want to come back to this conversation. I don't have time to read up and watch the video at the moment.

I am not a formal educator. I have a work history around management, business, and the corporate world. Yet my career has taken me back to the system I rebelled against as a child. I currently run a small school in the New England area.

My formal education ended a year into college. A couple years afterwards I became my own teacher. Since I have been autodidactic I have set a holistic goal of being an encyclopedic synthesist. Someday I hope to bring a larger personal application to all of my studies.

Recently I have been exploring Neurodevelopmental structures through work and making sense of it all in my own way. It is with my experience in the field for the last four years that I wish to contribute here.

See this thread later.

a reply to: IAMUnification

How awesome to see this thread resurface, and by someone with extra wrinkles in the brain at that! I am thankful for your efforts in education... I think of education as the single most important social entity.

I oddly have a similar history as yours... essentially self teaching myself. I guess I was picking up from a young age that I was bored by molding myself to the structure of school... had and still have an odd sense of discernment towards metaphysics in people. Not sure how... maybe due to a couple head injuries at a young age or what? I vowed that learning is what one does for another... education is what one does for their own gain. I also vowed to never pursue a degree... to prove that its not needed to have a positive influence on society.

I am still in search of the company that is hiring an inventer... and filling the void with a normal job in industrial service. I have a good handful of invention ideas, with a restructured educational system that's a school/community center/charity hybrid being one. I struggle to find a push of energy behind any particular invention due to my inabilities to optimize and build things. I have been constantly morphing my plans to make ideas more concrete, which has led to me putting focus into a non profit org that I would like to start. I am coming to be educated that its important that I build my career around my lifestyle and not vice versa. It kind of feels like I did in school when I involve myself more in the rat race of things.

The school idea essentially is based on being self taught as you describe. A way to mentor and generate the sparks that fuel education. I feel ivy league educations without the attainment of a high school degree can be a common place concept in years time. The video I linked here displays it perfectly. Just keep exposing children to difficult questions, when they surface with a concept just keep asking more questions. Accept questions and theories over answers so to speak.

I'd love to have your input on my concepts... especially when it comes to education. I love a valid reason to think my way through a possible obstacle that I didn't visualize. Most recently, funding of this school concept was brought up and has me a bit stumped. Anyway, thanks for bring the thread to light again... it's the only one I ever made. I look forward to your thoughts!

a reply to: ttobban

Not a lot of time to respond at the moment t but I thought I could list my response and get something out there.

1. I agree with you about education's importance. I am also scared of the idea because our traditional system is an adaptation of the Prussian military model and was designed to create factory workers.

2. I just want to say, don't let your pride or tenacity(stubbornness with a positive spin) get in the way of your aspirations. If the opportunity for some sort of credentialing comes up, take it. In any of our service models, industry or social, credentialing and reputation are of the utmost importance. If not your credentials attach to like minded people local to you that are credentialed and collaborate with them.

3. These schools are out there already. Feel free to re-create them or attempt to start from scratch. But I must say it's a lot of work. Far more complicated than private business creation. Google search "Learner centered education", there is a giant bureaucratic war being waged in the US on education. This is taking place in the Charter School movements. I believe lots of people see our current system as broken. These same people are creating schools of all sorts. Some take steps back, while others take steps forwards. All the while the current systems uses the failures of either side to reestablish itself as the only option.

4. A lot of my more future pointed work is not able to be discussed outright. I'm not bound by a non-disclosure or anything, it's just that we worry about being walled-in socially before we have momentum. I would be happy to discuss or give feedback on any structural concepts through u2u messaging. Anything that comes of it you could post freely in whatever ways you would like.

5. My personal pedagogy is that we all want to succeed. Nobody chooses to act without a desire, so establishing goals is foremost. Followed by designing an application that will act as proof of achievement. Next, determining what is lacking(knowledge or skills) in the individual to achieve the application. Then the development of skills and knowledge through exploration, practice, and rigor. Finally, following through on the application and asking for feedback from experts brings the learner to a stage where they can self reflect and reestablish the goal.

a reply to: IAMUnification

For your esoteric mindset:

Consider the Egyptian diety Kheper. A god of becoming, transformation and rebirth. I can't site a source for this so... Good luck finding it? But, I once read something that tried to explain the name in parts.

Kh as "what I was"

The transitive e as "thinking or reflecting"

The P or F as "action, doing, being, or who I am"

R as "to become or will become"

The diety operated in cycles and was responsible for pushing the sun's orb through the sky. It played a crucial part in what I would describe as the development of Ra.

a reply to: IAMUnification

Thanks for the reply again, and sorry for the long delay in response.

While I fully agree with your credentialing thoughts, my history has led me to participate in self social experimentation... of the lifelong variety. Along with choosing to be self taught, I chose to avoid moving in the direction of the masses so to speak. I have refused social media participation for personal uses... have refused self funding education... which has consequentially led to pretty much an overall anti social status in society. Being educated from a different standpoint offers input from unique angles, yet offers the existence of having to quarantine the 'abnormal' input to have any chance to be taken as credible... history of attempting otherwise lead to standstills. With concepts that vary greatly from the norm, I choose to wait to be included in the joining of like forces/energies so as to avoid the hardships of having to re-normalize myself into the birthed efforts.

I will list a bit of my school system idea here in public since it is an education post, and I don't want any credit and would more so wish to see it exist. Any input offered/taken whether it be in public or private, I would appreciate of course. I do wish to succeed yes, but not personally. I am more impressed by millionaires that give away their fortunes, and envision success as contributing to those conductive forces of nature mentioned previously... positive influence on future societies far outweighs financial values.

Well, off to the concept of the school... some have told me it is a socialist concept, but most fail to realize my concepts operate without title and free of channeling efforts... I believe in expending channels. Not to mention... this concept is entirely VOLUNTARY.

First, brick and mortar entities are built in pairs in communities... purposely paired in rich/poor sectors. Our children shall grow knowing more about the secluded class sectors throughout the country, and decide for themselves more how future generations influence these rich and poor sectors. Start with one pair, then as the system grows a new set of centers are added to the network. By network, I mean top educators moving their lesson plans to an internet based application so all children can access the same level of education at a higher rate. Teachers are paid per level of impact and student participation. There is no reason that all children be able to access information equally and that our top educators are millionaires for their success in the learning of youth. Teachers that don't make the educational impact can be shifted to youth community service organization. As the educational network goes about its workings, the charitable/community service aspects of the school are implemented into the network. While focus is put in areas to improve students lives personally, fees for network participation are paid in community service efforts. I believe that the children would have an idea on where to focus community service efforts once they can see for themselves where services are needed. Maybe an enrolled student is suffering a hardship at home and another child in the network learns of the hardship and wishes to put efforts in that particular community service? The key is opening the door for children to know what exists beyond their personal being! Children would have a lot better idea of what they would like to spend their adult years doing if they grew up and got to college age with say 2,000 hours of community service to their credentials. Children would feel closer to home/community upon entering the work force and be less likely to build off of self serving initiatives... more likely staying within the network for future generations.

Here are some likely hypothetical revelations children in a network of such can experience:
* Seen on the networks giving back section, a little one demands their parents get some food over to their friend across town that has not had a good meal recently. Parents are encouraged to participate in the growth of their child and learn with the children essentially.
* Who was my math teacher last year, now helps students navigate their way to through the 'Mock Stocks' program of which simulates wall street activity and lets children practice with fake currency... even competing for prizes. Maybe Lebron James comes and plays basketball in the center of the winning student?
* I used to think of police as being the ones that arrest bad guys, but at our school they chaperone my friends and I to the local park to learn about trees and pick up some of the litter that gathered... protecting and serving us. I think I may want to spend more time spending community service hours in parks since I enjoy making them cleaner.
* Maybe Ivy league schools are changing their minds on acceptance of students? A local student maintained a decent educational profile, but has so much experience in community service and helped lead an installation aspect of the network that lead to 11 million dollars raised for awareness of a particular matter. A full scholarship, without a standard high school diploma, issued so as to endorse the continuation of good deeds. Universities are in fact the best places to establish research concepts into reality.

I agree application development is needed to move forward, but its tough to find a collective to do so. I have kind of committed my unborn children to this learning style if and when they arrive in my life... not sure its fair to them since I am adding them to my anti-conformity ways, but my children will decide their learning path more than they will follow a curriculum. Since a network like this does not exist, I will commit my career to implementing this learning path for my children on my own. Did you mean what's lacking for the individual on the receiving or giving end to achieve the application? I agree with the application development being focused on thereafter, but I get the feeling I am going to be more of a grass roots campaign with this and passing the methods onto my offspring.

A bit of these concepts stem from the belief that adults are set in their ways/established as life experiences and environment conditions manifest over time. So, the feedback in success of the program would not be felt for 20+ years... around the time it takes for a generation to start their focus' on their adult work life. Seeing the conductive forces continue to re-circle and continue the feeding of the networks movement. Its a system that almost asks of the administrators and parents of the school students to just sit back, open doors for incoming questions, and help move them towards the answers they thirst for. I always value positive feedback, but I hope the feedback comes from a place of not wanting to spread individual agendas based on their own experiences. I value negative feedback as well, but I believe children can fix problems better than adults given prejudice inputs are avoided.

I will stall on the rambling for a bit. Feel free to send a note and chat u2u too... I don't keep a social circle really, and its not often I come across a like minded person that has also stepped out of the educational norms in their past.

I have always been a supporter of change. When it comes to online education, there are more pros than cons. But there are a few things that might not be the same. For example, writing a college paperetc.

a reply to: penmypaper

Thank you for the reply, and it cracks me up how this information age has swooped in to shift from a basis of storing information in our brain, to using that space to more efficiently access the information of which we are in search of.

I am content with the business of selling college papers. Information is a commodity stream of endless varieties, of which college papers are just one. For instance, I view the college experience (scholarships aside) as a buy-in to the corporate engine. Show a degree to an employer, and an employer sees one who needs to pay back a debt of which requires a steady expenditure of time to pay back the debt of school. Aside from that, it also is nothing more than an indicator that a person is trainable... the book knowledge aspects are a far secondary to money inspired employers.

So, someone like me sees this as investment opportunity. A growing portion of students in college are satisfied with the degree and care less and less about the GPA attached to the experience. Buying a college paper thus becomes a subtle form of buying a degree. I won't write that paper, but I will be glad to use a speech to text software program to efficiently speak/write a half-arsed decent paper to get a passing grade.

Doesn't it feel to be odd and or misused technology to not source the best educators to as many students as possible? We use these amazing internet capabilities to talk crap about one another ever so efficiently, but god forbid we use it to educate our youth properly. Instead, we still use the paper book/brick & mortar schools... hoping our 1% of best teachers change the world 24 students a year at a time.

It's ok to me in the end though... I am becoming the change that I want. I am in efforts to put public school systems out of business, and I will help the best of the best teachers providing results become millionaires for their contributions to the future generations to come after them. I plan to assist in cutting the paths for which ivy league scholarships are granted to students of which never used a traditional report card/GPA platform prior to scholarship offer. These students will establish resumes by being entrepreneurs of successful companies for years prior to college entry.

It's time we made our teachers to have the wealth and notoriety of the Snooky's & Kardashian's of our society and culture!