Lou Guenier: An Educational Revolution for a Digital World
The education structure and the way we teach are among the rare fields that haven’t gone through a major innovation for the last couple of hundred years. As the world is undergoing a digital revolution, we still teach the same way we used to in the past millennium. The educational system we have now is only at the first stage of Webb’s Depth of Knowledge where it should be at the fourth.
Recently some effort has been made towards modernizing the education system, but even though the education system is a step further, it still has major limitations. 42 is an example of an innovative and disruptive educational system based on Bloom’s revised taxonomy that is entirely project-based, uses peer-to-peer learning and correcting, and changes the teacher-student relationship. This kind of novel approach is a first step, but still has limitations.
Working towards the goal of innovating education, a seemingly upside-down education model could be applied to MIT’s education structures and programs, including residential education, open education, and strategic education initiatives. With a scalable educational model, global impact becomes a possibility.
Mr. Guenier served as Pedagogical Director at 42 Silicon Valley, an innovative engineering college, developing curriculum and working as a software engineer. He was also a Buddhist monk for 14 years. To learn more about Webb's Depth of Knowledge, please refer to the APS introductory guide.
For the student perspective, read Yuliya Klochan's (MIT '18) blog about Guenier's xTalk.