Education Now

What fascinates me most about any given century or era is the people that come to represent it. Undoubtedly, one of the people that has come to define the 17th century is Sir Isaac Newton, father of the telescope, calculus, the three laws of motion, and hundreds of other ideas that have come to define our lives. As I studied Newton and his influence, it amazed me how many areas of expertise he had claim to. I couldn't get over how amazing the breadth of his research was and how influential he was, not just in science, but in mathematics, religion, and astronomy.

Now, I understand that Newton is not a good representation for people of his age, he was revolutionary and an absolute genius, but his amount of knowledge made me think about the average people that were his contemporaries. In that age, a persons education spanned a wide humber of subjects, and was inclusive of skills like art and music and lengthy historical understanding. Knowledge was compacted and could be called upon at will in a persons mind, as far as I understand. Now though, because of this digital age and how much access we have to information, I feel that the way we learn has completely changed.

Education over time, even in the course of my lifetime, has shifted exponentially away from that kind of compacting knowledge. I now feel very confidant in the fact that my education is not functioning to give me certain facts, but to enable me to get the information I need to function in society and to be a contributive citizen. I hardly think, now, about the fact that I can find whatever I need on the internet in seconds. We have developed a kind of technological intuition; without instruction, we are able to figure out how to do almost anything on our own and are able to troubleshoot and fix problems without even breaking a sweat. My cultural agility isn't based on what I know, but how fast and how accurately I can get the information needed. Creativity is a much larger part of our culture now than 400 years ago, as is our willingness and eagerness to share what information we know and join the global conversation. Information is no longer static, it is alive and changing.

On an eternal level, I can't say which of these two types of learning is better. I really think that sometime in the next 10,000 years, we will have to master both. We will need to be able to think quickly and to compile information, but we will also need the patience and the determination to memorize and to know a lot of information and to understand history. But still, I really feel lucky to be living now. I love the fact that we learn the way we do, I appreciate so much our abilities to learn and adapt so quickly and love being connected to the other side of the planet through my computer screen. I can't wait to see what the future brings in the area of education, and how technology will integrate itself more fully in the classroom.