Self-Directed+Learning

Self-Directed learning is not a new concept, it is how people learned for millenia. It has, however, grown easier to learn by an order of magnitude. In the history of our planet, it has never been easier to educate yourself. In the field of education, teachers are starting to design their own peer-to-peer community based programs for professional development.

With the rise of the Unschooling movement many parents have decided to give extreme amounts of autonomy to their children when it comes to designing curriculum. While Unschooling is a controversial experiment, there are some fundamental concepts the advocates have brought to light.

1. Children learn best when they are engaged in the subject being taught. 2. Children learn best when the lessons are delivered in a fun and exciting way. 3. Children are naturally curious.

In Ivan Illich's 1970 book, Deschooling Society, the author talks about how high level self-directed learning was possible even with the limited technology of that era. Illich wrote about how people could record messages on tape recorders and exchange them with other people in a sort of barter system based on mutually agreed upon lessons. In 2010 we can do so much more.