Matt Micciche, Head of School
Friends School of Baltimore
The world needs what our children can do.

Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Thomas Friedman Looks at MOOCs and their Implications for Education

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/06/opinion/friedman-the-professors-big-stage.html?ref=todayspaper

MOOCs (Massively Open Online Courses) are all the rage in educational circles these days, as NYT columnist Thomas Friedman notes in his column.  Millions of people are taking advantage of some of the best professors in the world offering their lectures for free.  This represents an incredible new stage of technological development and an astonishing expansion of access to knowledge and information.  I agree with Friedman that this is all part of the shift that has been underway from the traditional educational model that prized the acquisition of discreet facts over all else to the emerging model in which application of knowledge takes precedence.  This shift is reflected in the Teaching and Learning at Friends School Paradigm which seeks a balanced experience of skills, knowledge, and habits of mind.