Wednesday, March 07, 2012

The Purpose of School and the End of Paper

One of my favorite authors is Seth Godin.  His content and style is all about motivation, about innovation, about challenging the status quo.  Among his books that I have read, Tribe, and Linchpin. You can check out his website HERE.  His most recent free e-book I read is Stop Stealing Dreams.  You can download it free HERE.  Here are a couple lines from this book, which is all about education, its purpose and effectiveness in a world that has changed:

In the connected world, reputation is worth more than test scores. Access to data means that data isn’t the valuable part; the processing is what matters. Most of all, the connected world rewards those with an uncontrollable itch to make and lead and matter.


In the pre-connected world, information was scarce, and hoarding it was smart. Information needed to be processed in isolation, by individuals. After school, you were on your own.


In the connected world, all of that scarcity is replaced by abundance—an abundance of information, networks, and interactions.

All of this is extremely interesting to me, particularly as it relates to the education of my kids, specifically, my oldest, Daniel.   What, really, will best prepare him for life in the future?  A life connected with his Creator and Redeemer, certainly.  And a life that is able to excel in a radically changed world.

I'm also interested in what Godin terms "the end of paper."  I am in the process of (finally) writing a book.  How does the technical revolution impact writing and publishing?

Well, enough rebel-rousing for one day!!

Quote of the Day: The gospel is never about everybody else; it is always about you, about me.  The gospel is never truth in general; it's always a truth in specific.  The gospel is never a commentary on ideas or cultures or conditions; it's always about actual persons, actual pains, actual troubles, actual sin; you, me; who you are and what you've done; who I am and what I've done. -- (Eugene Peterson.  Leap Over the Wall:  Earthly Spirituality for Everyday Christians.  p.185



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