Don Tapscott has some radical new ideas about education. Here’s a sampling (as related by ReadWriteWeb):

• “…the age of learning through the memorization of facts and figures is coming to an end. Instead, students should be taught to think creatively and better understand the knowledge that’s available online.”
• “…Google, Wikipedia, and other online libraries means that rote memorization is no longer a necessary part of education.”
• “Teachers are no longer the fountain of knowledge; the internet is…”
• “Kids should learn about history to understand the world and why things are the way they are. But they don’t need to know all the dates. It is enough that they know about the Battle of Hastings, without having to memorize that it was in 1066. They can look that up and position it in history with a click on Google.”

(These last two are quotes directly from Tapscott, by the way, and I need to go pick up this book. It seems awfully interesting – but for now the RWW report will have to do.)

That one item – “Teachers are no longer the fountain of knowledge; the internet is…” – is among the most terrifying concepts I’ve ever run across, by the way. Read more