Fred Wilson is a venture capitalist and the mastermind behind Union Square Ventures. Ever since I heard about his brilliant Hacking Education gathering in New York a few days ago, I haven't been able to wipe the grin off my face.
Picture this: a room full of creative entrepreneurs, educators and assorted thinkers sitting around a big table for six hours and talking about how to change education. Disruptive innovation. E-learning. Online games and collaboration. Thinking about school and what it means, what it looks like. You've got my personal hero, Sir Ken Robinson is giving the welcome address, and the rest of the time it's just open for discussion.
Now add a live Twitter stream on a big screen, which allows those present to add their thoughts without having to demand floor time (can you picture this in a classroom for kids who aren't likely to raise their hands but have something very significant to ask or add?) There's a steady flow of Tweets from those in the room AND from those who are following these Tweets on Twitter.
I wish I could have been there, but frankly, I'm thrilled just knowing that it happened, I truly believe that we are reaching a critical mass in terms of new thinking about education, and we're about to hit the tipping point when the Old School approach to education is considered not only outdated but actually detrimental for most students. Bold!
And yet, as delighted as I am about the shift and the discussions among the edurati, there's something missing.
It's the parents. Because when it comes to hacking education, the biggest barriers won't be technology or teachers or government. The biggest obstacle to overcome will be the parents-or, more precisely, their fears about the future for their kids if they choose to do things differently.
I get it. I'm a parent of four recently-launched daughters (ages 18, 19, 21 and 22, including three college grads, one senior and one completing her master's in May) and I know how hard it is to let go of the standard approach to education. Even when I know in my head that this bold new option is better than that old one, I want some proof. It's hard to feel convinced unless you can look around and see stunning examples of success among those who've taken a different path.
What I think many ed gurus don't recognize is how scary it is for parents to risk feeling like, well, bad parents. You can show us the best tech tools on the planet, introduce us to the brightest tutors just a click away and yet we still worry, "What if my student can't get into a decent college because I decided to get all innovative and encouraged her to do homeschooling or skip the SAT or get a GED or study online? What THEN?" Even if we know that tuition is outrageous and that our kids could learn more easily and quickly online or by simply reading books on their own, we still feel like we have to nudge our kids toward a college degree or else we've FAILED them.
And so we do what everyone else is doing: we hang that scarcity banner across our kid's shoulders and say, "There are not enough spots in those colleges you like, and there's not enough money available, so you'd better get your butt in gear, mister/missy, and study for those tests or you'll never get in and get aid."
