Education is the answer (photo credit – unknown)
Let’s dream for a while. In response to the mass demonstrations in Brazil, the government has decided to give priority to education, and has chosen not to hold the FIFA World Cup in June. What would happen with the stadiums that cost a fortune, starting with the mythical Maracanã that has just been remodeled?
MOOCs from a historical – and magical – perspective
“No time to say hello, goodbye”. Innovators in education are these days like the white rabbit in Alice’s adventures in Wonderland: they jump from one innovation to the other and have no time to look backwards to validate their ideas and find inspiration from the past.
Let’s take the example of MOOCs, these “massive open online courses” that are presented as “the” solution for opening up education to all. We used to count students by the tens or hundreds in classrooms or amphitheatres. We are now designing a universal classroom with hundreds of thousands – perhaps millions – of students. Universities, students, professors, business angels, and policy makers have embarked on an adventure that should transform the way we learn and the way we teach.