Re-Engineering Education -

Abstract

An Outcomes Based, Open Source Approach

These essays apply the principles of business process re-engineering to education with the goal of creating a fundamentally different system, one that – like amazon.com – could not have existed prior to today.  This proposed system incorporates the concepts of continuous quality improvement, adaptation to different learning styles, and – most importantly – a fundamental change in the underlying educational paradigm. 

The current paradigm is inputs based – schools put forth a defined quantity of teaching that results in a spectrum of learning by the students.  The proposed paradigm turns this on its head by creating an outcomes based approach – the students are required to demonstrate a minimum level of learning across all required subjects, and the teaching resources must vary according to what will accomplish those minimums.  In order for such a proposal to be economically and politically viable, it must do so without raising costs, which in turn requires that the repetitive parts of what teachers do now must be automated. 

The focus of a re-engineered education system needs to be on this principle of outcomes based education, and all aspects of the educational eco-system that will allow it to flourish.  The critical components constitute a 3-legged stool:

• Automated delivery of instructional content and real-time, continuous assessment

• Outcomes based, established via continuous assessment

• Open source instructional content, separated from assessment

Continuous, real-time assessment can only be implemented with technology. Similarly, only technology can reduce the effective cost of textbook publication to zero, and allow multiple simultaneous approaches to the same concepts for the same cohort of students. The technology may be required to implement the 3 legs of the stool, but it is tactical only. The strategy of the approach rests on these ideas and the principles from which they are derived. In particular, without all 3 legs it will not fulfill its purpose and full potential. 

Ultimately, the proposed re-engineered system could, in at least in principle, allow any motivated student to acquire a complete education from primary through graduate school without any required input from a salaried teacher.  More realistically, the role of teacher will change from one who imparts a block of knowledge uniformly to a group into one who motivates and mentors individuals, many of whom will have varying levels of achievement, interest and motivation.