This post contains information from an interview with John Katzman today.
There was a TechCrunch story out today about John Katzman’s 2Tor.com business. They just finished Round C of venture funding with all of their partners and took in $32.5 million to “flip” the education model. The TC article was informative, but I think it overlooked or didn’t explain acccurately what Katzman is trying to do.
I called him up and just asked him to elaborate.
Katzman was to the point, and his commentary about what 2Tor.com is doing is really going to be the template for what teaching and education will be in the 21st Century.
“If [teaching] is just in one direction, if I am just telling you something, I can find more compelling ways to do that asynchronously rather than synchronously.”
Simple, right? With the advent of social media, video, and very simple to use online tools / technology tools like mobile phones, iPads and other devices, students are not compelled to be delivered a model for education that is just about pumping out information, consuming it, and spitting it out.
In fact, it might even be safe to say that we have not really seen what real knowledge looks like because we have not created a truly interactive, multi-modal and predictive education system. We are concerned right now with an education system that asks students to confirm that what the teacher says is correct, and that the student understands the veracity of the teacher’s truth, so to speak.
What happens when that starts to be pushed by the learner, and what the learner needs to know, rather than what the learner is told he needs to know?
Related Articles
- 2Tor Raises $32.5 Million Series C To Make Online Education Great (techcrunch.com)
- The Case for the Virtual Classroom (mashable.com)
Filed under: Digital Learning, Tech, asynchronous education, education, John Katzman, Princeton Review, social learning, Tor.com
