explore how 43 Things can promote online learning

I think this is a great and exciting idea, but one year into 43 Things and I’m pretty ready to call it “done” and “worth doing”. The problem with schools are many and I do think that a more open ended approach to letting people try to “do” rather than “learn” is an important reform for schools to think about. With my daughter getting ready to enter the machinery of schooling, I do despair, but I also am humbled by the incredible presence and role schooling has in our society. How did we ever create such a beast? I wish I could find (and afford) a stable of individual tutors and provide my child the sort of personalized learning I think she deserves, but schooling is so much easier.

I’m probably being way too idealistic, in that I’m not even recognizing this difference between formal and informal learning. I’ve drunk too much of the age of the amateur kool-aid. As an employer, I’d much rather hire based on your blog than on your transcripts. I’m much more interested in what communication ecosystem you belong to than what university you attended.

Maybe it is premature to say that the formal online learning tools are clear failures – but I guess I’m working from that assumption.

I use a course management tool to manage my college courses – but it is for the most part moribund. I have richer exchanges with students in email and on their LJ pages (and now on 43 Things) than I have in our courseware program. And I don’t even really have a beef with the courseware program – its surprisingly good and feature rich – but it doesn’t touch any of the ways students and teachers already are using the internet. Most of my students use myspace far more than they use the university courseware.

Here are some of the scenarios I imagine students and academics using 43things:
- networking and signaling around research interests like this or this
- meeting like minds on big campuses
- tagging or creating goals with university affiliations like this
- organizing informal bird of a feather sessions or promoting conferences like this
- networking with alumni to learn about admissions process like this or this or

There are probably simpler, better ideas – but sorry if the title of the goals cast this in a more “formal” light – I’m thinking of very loosely joined pieces.

We’ve had a few people ask about “white label” versions of 43 Things for uses in companies or schools. I’m wondering if you smart people have thoughts on the benefits and drawbacks of how this might work.

Of the two, getting things working for schools seems more satisfying than helping firms. How might an educational institution use 43 Things? One thought I had early on was around retention. Lots of students pass through schools without really finding a connection. Another idea might mimic “easy group forming” or “birds of a feather” as is done at conferences. Last might be “discovery” of like minds over large geographies.

Paul – what are you thinking?