Futurist Thomas Frey Curiosity-Driven Education

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"Understanding the Word Stream In 2008, Roger Bohn and James Short, two researchers at the University of California in San Diego decided to do a study to determine the amount of information people have entering their brains on a daily basis. They added a rather interesting twist to the study. Because of the varying forms of information, and the difficulty in comparing video to magazines and newspapers, they decided to convert all information into one standard form of measurement – words. Based on their final 2009 report, the average person in the U.S. has 100,500 words flowing into their heads on a daily basis. And this number is increasing by 2.6% per year. So where are all these words coming from? In rough terms, 41% come from watching television, 27% – computers, 18% – radio, 9% – print media, 6% – telephone conversations, 4% – recorded music, and smaller amounts from movies, games, and other information sources. As it turns out, the average American spends 11.8 hours every day consuming information. Many other countries are posting similar numbers. People today are being exposed to far more information than ever in the past. Buried deep within the “other category,” constituting far less than 1% is formalized education."

Some interesting discussion by Thomas Frey
- "Buried deep within the “other category,” constituting far less than 1% is formalized education.
- Even for students attending college, their classroom studies constitute a relatively small percentage of the information they are exposed to on a daily basis.
  
  In the midst of this vast river of information we have flowing into our minds is a certain pedigree of information coming from scholarly people, constituting our formal education.
- Are Colleges Pricing Themselves Out of Existence?
- But as students progress it becomes less about learning necessary skills and more about learning desirable skills, some of which hold questionable value in today’s rapidly evolving world.
- However, many non-school organizations are presenting information in similarly comprehensible formats for far less money. Think webinars, workshops, and non-accredited training centers.
- In 2009, a study done by SRI International for the U.S. Department of Education concluded that students in online learning conditions performed better than those receiving face-to-face instruction.
- We do it by creating systems that empower our curiosity."