Micro-Learning: You Heard it Here First
In the interest of coining more new terms I thought I’d throw out something I’ve been giving a lot of thought to lately: Micro-Learning. What is Micro-Learning? It’s the 21st century ADD-version of learning brought to you by the same factors that now cause a bunch of us to consume a good chunk of our video on YouTube rather than television. These factors include the following:
1. Continual access to broadband - When you are connected to the Web and have millions of choices as to what to do with your time the notion of remaining engaged with a single piece of content for 2 hours let alone 20 minutes gets pretty challenged.
Sit at the back of any classroom in America where the kids have laptops and Net access and watch what happens the minute the lecture gets boring. Off go the kids to more exciting and engaging things. Good luck fighting that.
2. Bite-sized content mimics the way we interact and work - How many of you write multi-page letters to your friends? Today you’re much more likely to be writing a couple of paragraphs via e-mail or 60 character long text messages. Same goes for work interactions…the days of bloated corporate memos are numbered (this = good).
However when we approach learning it seems like most people are operating under the premise that the world hasn’t changed in 50 years. Lectures go on for way too long and learning cycles are way too slow. Shouldn’t learning at least make an attempt at preparing us for real life?
3. People thrive off of tight feedback loops - Read Senge’s Fifth Discipline for background on this. It’ll help you understand why the notion of final exams is ridiculously antiquated. You mean I’m supposed to sit in class and learn and not really know how I’m doing until the class is over and I have no opportunity to course correct? Really? Really?!
Bite-sized chunks offer the opportunity for people to learn a bit, get feedback, adjust course if necessary, learn some more. It’s the way the most successful stuff is built in the corporate world these days (see agile development) and it’s the people should be learning as well.
4. Synthesis not analysis is the future - Read Dan Pink’s excellent book A Whole New Mind for the back story here. The ability to analyze is becoming less valuable in a world that often outsources or automates. Instead, synthesis is where it’s at. The ability to pull together large amounts of disparate data and make sense of it.
This is where micro-learning shines. It’s why I love “learning” from blogs. I can pop back and forth in my RSS reader, take in a bunch of different things and sort it all out in my brain (or at least attempt to!). Very, very, very different from how I learned in college or b-school. And much more effective in preparing me for this new world we’re living in.
5. Time is tight - We’re all busier than ever. Most of us simply don’t have time to spend hours attending classes in person. And at the same time we need to continually learn more than ever (one of fav quotes is Drucker “continuing professional education of adults is no. 1 industry of next 20 years”). So we need ways to squeeze learning into those little gaps in our day. The half hour we’re waiting for our flight. The ten minutes in line at the bank.
That’s where micro-learning shines. For instance, right now I’d love to learn about SBIR grants. I’d happily pay one of the world’s top experts to teach me exactly what I need to know in 15 minutes. They’d enjoy doing it, make some quick cash and I’d have a very efficient way of getting important information to me.
A solid system for micro-learning doesn’t exist yet. Things like Wikipedia and Yahoo! Answers are getting us closer but we’re still a ways away. When micro-learning is a reality though the world will be a very different place. Looking forward to that day!
Ten Minutes Worth of Goosebumps
Education is going to change a lot in the coming years. Partially because we’re currently doing it all wrong.
Watch this video for an example of a school that’s doing it entirely different.
Two videos on the future of education
Here’s a great Cisco commercial showing a glimpse of the possibility of international, cross-cultural learning. How cool is this gonna be?
And speaking of children and the future, this will blow you away. Here’s the 13-year old CEO of Elementeo, a role playing game that helps kids learn chemistry. Incredible…
Here’s to the future.
What we’re reading
In the interest of open sourcing our business I wanted to share a few links that my good buddy Josh sent over. We probably won’t do this too often unless something really earth-shattering comes across our desks but every once in a while it’s fun to give y’all a peek under the kimono.
U.S. schools may join inexpensive-laptop project - Bottom line is that it’s going to be tough to scale world-class education without the use of technology. Get a laptop and a broadband connection in front of someone though and you can change their life. We’re convinced of that. It’s definitely not *all* about technology but technology will play a huge role in this. Go read The End of Poverty if you have any doubt about that.
P.E. classes turn to leg-pumping video game - I think this is a harbinger of things to come. Compare the innovation in the video game industry to the innovation in the education industry over the last couple of decades. I’d venture to say that innovation in video gaming is advancing at least 100x faster than in education. Go look at Spore for proof of that. If traditional education doesn’t innovate (it currently is showing no signs that it will) you’ll start to see outside approaches encroach. Heck, if kids would rather play DDR than dodgeball and it’s more effective at achieving stated goals then why not let them? Bucking the trends here for the sake of nostalgia isn’t going to work or benefit anybody.
Calculators tell teachers which pupils need help - This is where technology can really rock it. In a normal classroom you have a teacher and say 30 students. Only a few of the students are actually on pace with the teacher. A bunch are bored silly because the material is too easy and a bunch are struggling to keep up. That fundamental problem with traditional education has existed for centuries. Technology has the opportunity to radically change this. It’s going to be a lot of fun playing a part in making that happen.
Have a great weekend everyone!
Empowering Entrepreneurs
Just had to share a quick story. A friend recently gave me a couch when he moved and I needed to get the couch from Marina Del Ray to my apartment in Brentwood. I needed someone with a truck who could help me move. Of course this being LA I know a grand total of zero people who drive pick-up trucks. So where did I turn? Craig’s List of course.
I found a guy there who owned a truck and who showed up tonight and helped with the move. But it turned out to be a lot more difficult than I anticipated due to the stairwells in my apartment (note to self: always measure couches before attempting to move them). What I thought would be 30 or 45 minutes turned into two hours of sweat-inducing, oh-shit-I’m-not-sure-we-can-do-this labor. In the end we were able to get it into our living room. My guy and I celebrated (I think we might have even high-fived?!) and I gave him a solid bonus for the extra effort.
Why am I telling you this?
Well before my guy left he told me his story of being an entrepreneur and finding all of his clients on Craig’s List. When he told me this I could see the fire in his eyes and even as I write this I have goosebumps. Craig’s List, like a number of other sites (eBay being another notable example), has been successful in large part because of the fact that it has created entrepreneurial opportunities for thousands of people. Without Craig’s List I would not have been able to find my guy and he would not be able to find the jobs he’s able to find to support himself.
Empowering entrepreneurs is exactly what we’re going to do here at Education Revolution.
There’s a generation waiting in the wings that can make their livelihood teaching other people. Not in a stifling, bureaucratic setting but rather in an entrepreneurial setting where they are given strong incentives to innovate, to be creative and to do their darnedest to serve their customers.
Whenever I come across a story of a website serving to empower an entrepreneur I can’t wait to get to market and start doing the same for thousands of people. It’s gonna be amazing.
Interesting convertible note question
So we’re finalizing our convertible note right now and there’s one sticking point we’re trying to figure out. One of the provisions of our note is that the majority interest holders in the note have the right to waive a provision of the note. Let me give an example of how this might play out (entirely hypothetical). Let’s say we have the following note holders:
Bob - $200K
Mary - $150K
Sam - $50K
Natasha - $100K
Let’s say that at the end of the term of the note we haven’t raised our Series A financing yet (unlikely but possible :)). Some of the note holders are fine with setting a valuation on the company at that point and converting the note to equity. However, let’s say that Sam is against this. There are two possible scenarios that emerge:
#1 - With our current amendment in place the note holders vote on the conversion and since Sam is in the minority the note converts to equity.
#2 - If we remove the amendment then we’re unable to change the terms of the note unless everyone agrees to it. Under that circumstance Sam’s disagreement means that the note does not convert.
As the entrepreneur scenario #1 is the most favorable because it leaves more flexibility for the company to do what is in its best interest and the interest of the majority of the note holders. However, as an investor I can see why #2 might be preferable to #1.
I’m sure there’s a way to preserve the flexibility while being fair to all of our investors. We’ll be discussing this with our lawyer soon and posting a follow-up. In the meantime feel free to comment away.
26 Ways to Get Attention
The one question we get from everyone who knows the consumer internet space well right now is “how do you get distribution?” i.e. how do you get product adoption?
The consumer web space is saturated right now, which means that attention is at a premium. In order to get that attention, it’s not enough to have a great product.
Jon and I had some ideas, but until Friday had never put them down on paper. Over lunch at Real Food Daily we put our brains together to brainstorm on how to get good traffic.
In an hour, we came up with 26 ideas, some so-crazy-they-just-might-work. It was really beneficial to be out of the office and focus on a core piece of the business… minimizing distractions is good, and being in the flow state when solving a problem is one of the best feelings you can have during the work day. 
Next step: prioritize based on the 80/20 rule (where do we get most output for the least input) and execute.
(And no, we can’t share the list with you yet… 
)
What Tiger Woods can teach us about education
I had a great conversation on Thursday with someone about the notion of applying best practices to education. Historically best practices have not been applied in any meaningful way in the field of traditional education. Teachers in one district often don’t know what the best teachers in their district do let alone teachers in other districts, states and countries. All that has the potential to change in the coming years. And given that we’re likely moving into a world of entrepreneurial education the question is whether as the generally collaborative nature becomes increasingly competitive won’t teachers want to hoard their “secrets.”
I don’t think they can nor will they want to (if they’re smart).
Think about Tiger Woods.
Before Tiger came to the PGA the average tour pro was a bit more slothful than they are today. They weren’t spending nearly as much time in the fitness trailer or on the range. Tiger comes to the Tour and radically changes it. Now people are hitting the weights, shedding pounds and dialing in their flexibility. While Tiger Woods tries to keep his workout regimen a secret I’d be shocked if most Tour pros didn’t have a pretty good clue as to what he’s doing. And you know what? They’re still no Tiger.
Having a Tiger Woods in golf raises the bar for everyone. The sport has become more compelling as players drive the ball further and score lower. Tiger faces increasing competition from people who he inspired to get closer to their true potential. But no one sheds tears of pity for Tiger nor should they. Because in the end he relishes the fact that he has helped push the game to another level even if it means he has to work harder to stay on top of it.
Education will eventually go in the same direction. Tiger-esque teachers will emerge (it’s already happening in South Korea) who realize that by getting really, really good at what they do they’ll be able to reap rewards that are more comparable to what superstars in other industries achieve. And what this will do is raise the bar for everyone. As competition emerges in an industry that has seen precious little it’ll be really fun to see the results. And just as importantly, the impact those results will have on students.
Blogging lawyers rock!
Yokum Taku, our lawyer and a partner up at WSGR is blogging now. And it’s really good. Check it out here:
Here’s what I love about this. Lawyers of Yokum’s caliber aren’t cheap. If you’re running a start-up and trying to keep costs low it might not be the right fit. But you can learn from Yokum (and hopefully the many other lawyer bloggers who follow in his footsteps) for free.
But doesn’t this devalue Yokum’s services?
Au contraire mon frere.
When they first starting televising professional sporting events the common argument against doing so was that people wouldn’t go to the games anymore. After all, why pay lots of money to drive and sit in a nosebleed seat when you can lay on your couch and watch the game for free?
Just the opposite happened.
As more people became exposed to sports the demand for scarce goods (tickets) increased even though the game was available to everyone for free.
People will discover Yokum through his blog and want to hire him. He’ll be able to charge more for his time and WSGR will benefit from the exposure. In the end, everyone wins. And in the process, entrepreneurs will benefit by having even better access to important information.
Yes indeed, this Grand Unified Theory On the Economics of Free makes a lot of sense.
