The ^IfMine Mashup: MOOCs, Khan and Thinking Differently

Today starts a new series on the ^IfMine blog consisting of the benefits of collaboration and changing the education paradigm.

Children in Fort Smith Are Learning That Protecting the Environment Will Take More Than Awareness ..., 06/1972

MOOCs will not completely replace traditional education, just like not every course can be taught in the large-lecture format. They will, however, provide a better education to an audience that otherwise would not have access to it. -Scott Rapp

Mr. Khan advocates for a separation of universities’ teaching and credentialing roles… the playing field would be leveled between students pursuing different forms of higher education. Although students would not be graded in the imagined university he describes, they would compile a portfolio of their work and assessments from their mentors. -Alisha Azevedo

Economists study abstractions and numbers, instead of firms and people. He [Ronald Coase] doesn’t believe this can be fixed by tweaking models. An entire generation of economists must be encouraged to think differently. -Brendan Greeley

The United States education system has failed to recognize the significance of current events, and it needs a renovation. It is time to reevaluate the core concepts and standards of the system. -Matthew Resnick

How would you change education? Comment below and let us know. Don’t forget to sign up for the ^IfMine Beta, where you can collaborate on ideas and create your own portfolio of work.

Photo source: The U.S. National Archives (Flickr)

Meet The Team: Navarr

NAVARR: ^IfMine Profile

Title: Developer

Website: Navarr.me

Social: TwitterGoogle+

Bio: I’m a 21 year old student developer at Bowling Green State University. I started learning HTML and JavaScript ten years ago (while the Web was still young). With the support of Dr. Chao, I’ve become a proficient application developer for both Android and the Web.

^IfMine Project Highlight: Politish.org – An open political platform that allows anyone to run and promotes interaction with constituents and specifying solid reasoning for political positions.

When did you get your first computer? When I was in grade school, I spent a lot of time with my grandparents. As far back as I can remember, they had at least two computers: one running Windows 3.5 and another running Windows 95 (and then later Windows 98). So I was familiar and comfortable with computers early on in my life. As for when I got my first personal computer – I was in high school. I had essentially begged my mother for a laptop for Christmas and she got me a Dell Inspiron E1705 running Windows Vista (it’s arrival was hilariously on Valentine’s Day), a computer I continued to use up until December of 2011.

Describe your early experiences with the Internet: As I was a child at the time, my first experiences with the Internet were email and Neopets. My grandfather had Juno dial-up at first, so I spent little to no time on the Internet.

What do you do when you’re not using tech? This is a difficult question – I’m almost always using Tech! Those few times I’m not though, it’s because I’m actively participating in our school’s Japanese program, such as last year’s Ohanami Celebration, or BGSU’s Taiko Ensemble.

Also Meet: Our Team, Danielle & Anthony.

Have you signed up for the ^IfMine Beta? Click here, enter your email and we’ll contact you when it’s time to register.

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