I am currently taking an Entrepreneurship class (this prof does not wear Velcro shoes), and the book for this course – Crossing the Chasm – starts off by discussing the technology adoption life cycle. In this section, I read a most peculiar thing:

“Simply put, the early majority is willing and able to become technologically competent, where necessary; the late majority, much less so. When a product reaches this point in the market development, it must be made increasingly easier to adopt in order to continue being successful. If this does not occur, the transition to the late majority may well stall or never happen.

Programmable VCRs are currently in this situation, as are high-end office copier systems, and a whole slew of telephones which offer call forwarding, three-way conferencing, or even just call transferring.”

What?! VCRs are currently in a situation where the late majority have yet to embrace it? I re-read those sentences incredulously, as if I doubted that I had just read them. But the words are exactly as I typed them. I flipped to the front to look up the publication date. My heart sank. 2006.

This prompted me to think about why I am reading such an outdated piece of literature in a course that is supposed to teach people about being leaders in the high-tech industry. On a broader scope, I also began to think about the state of the way people are taught. Here’s what I have:

The education system is one of the few things that have not been revolutionized over the course of the past couple of centuries. In general, the way people are taught at school has remained the same from generation to generation: we go to class and have someone stand at the front to tell us things and ask us questions. Sure, the introduction of the Internet has made some changes, but the vast majority of people still learn in person.

Compare this to the transportation industry and you’ll see how technology has made it a whole new beast. No longer do we have coal-engine trains taking people from city to city. No longer do we see horses and carriages on the streets in abundance. No longer do we have huge wooden vessels that sail the oceans to bring people from continent to continent. Instead, we have light-rail (electric) trains, cars, and planes.

Similar comparisons can be made to a plethora of other industries (communications, finance, and manufacturing, to name a few). If we took someone from the 1800s and brought them to 2007, they would feel completely overwhelmed with the changes in the world. Until, of course, they step into a classroom.

Does this concern you a little bit? It certainly bothers me. I mean, how have we let the way we raise new generations of people to stay the same while everything else in the world is blazing ahead? You could say that the technique is tried, tested, and true, but that does not mean that we can do better.

That said, I have no idea where the education could or should go to make it better; I am no visionary in this regard and I can offer no insight about where to look. I’m just shedding some light on what I perceive to be a problem. So here’s some food for thought. Enjoy!

I’m bored. Presently, I’m in a lab at school, killing time before my night class. Doesn’t that sound fun? Admit it, you’re jealous.

In looking at my site, I guess that I’ve kinda let my post frequency drop over the past few weeks. I guess I’m boring, too 🙁

So until I have some fun plans for reading week to announce or some crazy thoughts from the Forum that I’m attending, I hope this quick, random hi will suffice. Sorry for being a bum! 🙁

For the past couple of days, I have been delighted by two wonderful naps. They’re kind of a guilty pleasure of mine, as I often feel like a bum every time I take one; but, whenever I peacefully wake up from one (read: not being woken up by anything else), I feel so right about it.

There mere fact that I am taking naps, though, would suggest that I am not sleeping enough at night. Which is true. I’ve gotten into a rather unfortunate habit of going to bed at around 1 or 2 while I have morning classes every day. I’d change this, but everything happens at night and it’s just too boring to go to bed at 10 or 11 every night. This is especially difficult with night class, which forces me to watch my favourite shows (24, The Office) on a time-shifted channel. This also especially true when all the fun stuff happens at night. Like Bomber. Tonight. (Read: Bomber tonight!)

So, for those of you who feel guilty about having naps, I say nuts to that!! Indulge away!