Clark Aldrich is brimming with ideas and loves to present them for free. I think Alrich's willingness to put his ideas out for free is because he has so many of them; and knows that his ideas will sell him better than being associated with a blog or two (or twenty). He seems to be quite the pioneer. His scope is both macro and micro - his knowledge stemming from his experiences in trying out his ideas and his willingness to share those ideas. His book, Simulations and the Future of Learning, is a good example of this. It is not a book that simply presents the end result of concepts learned through experience based upon claimed authority. His book instead allows the reader to experience the process and it's results through the unfolding, changing strategy of development. I'm learning as much about leadership as I am about the kinds of questions that need to be asked to make a good virtual learning experience as an observer of the development of "Virtual Leader". The reason this book educates is that the very necessary process of discovery to find and develop the right set of interrelational objects is the same process that all educational games must also experience. We learn to ask ourselves the right kinds of questions.
I first learned of Clark Aldrich from a link on Dr. Deason's Facebook about a recent, profound idea of his called MESH. He says
"Formal education institutions exist in their current form only because tests and other forms of assessment are so poor. If there was a perfect assessment system, someone could just prove what they know, regardless of how they gained the knowledge. This would render the concepts of four year college and graduate school with their archaic diplomas and transcripts instantly obsolete."
It is similar to an idea I presented to FS a few years back on how students could navigate their education with 3D. What if colleges competed for courses? Students could choose the best classes from the best schools - like a smorgasbord instead of a package meal. Free market college! One could save money by getting general classes covered at cheaper schools, and could spend more money on the more specific classes from the best schools.
Similar ideas are explored by my brilliant collegue, Andrew Barras and are presented in his blog Education Stormfront. Both blogs are worth checking out.
