Ask HN: If you could transform higher education, ...

10 points by michaelhart ↗ HN
Where would you start? What should go? What should stay? What matters? What doesn't?

8 comments

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1. solve the accreditation problem (either by alternative means of accreditation that would be accepted by employers , or by changing college accreditation rules).

2. improving the social element in online learning, to make it comparable or better than social element in offline learning.

3. today , knowledge is much more externalized. computer libraries and tools , outsourcing/crowd-sourcing , search engines and online communities enable this. it will probably become more externalized. does this require a different learning process ?

4. self learning is important. how do you teach people the skills to effectively self-learn ?

5. in many tasks today, the barriers to performance are not knowledge but psychological(things like motivation , concentration , attention to details , etc). is it the place of higher education to teach those ?

You, my friend, clearly share my vision. Would love to chat! Please email me: mh [/@t\] kodu.co :)

Working on a startup, actually, covering a lot of the topics you provided. I even applied for YCombinator. Really looking forward :) Hope to hear from you!

I would probably start a parallel system starting with 13 year olds and teach them the basics (reading, writing, math, science, history) through a program focusing on a trade or craft (limited selection obviously). Something where they can apply their knowledge in real world items but be taught the lessons through a focus they were interested in. Then setup the college years to broaden there knowledge and go into more traditional college subjects.

I guess if I ever get "really rich" I will try it privately.

We already have those, they are vocational technical high schools. In my small New England town I had the option of two different ones, one with a focus on agriculture and animal husbandry and one more focused on the trades.
We have some like that this way too, but I was more thinking a focus on general education via a liked craft. Something further into the academic side.