Let's guide students to live more interesting lives
My favorite fiction author is Neal Stephenson. And while I have enjoyed almost every book he has ever written, one stands out as my hands-down favorite: The Diamond Age, or A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer.
It is science fiction in the vein of a Dickensian novel, following the life of a street urchin, Nell, who is taken under the wing of various members of the upper crust of society. Nell is also one of three girls, all of different backgrounds and upbringings, who is given a book, the titular Young Lady's Illustrated Primer. This book, built with nanotechnology, is an interactive and adaptive learning system: the platonic ideal of an individual learning plan and comprehensive curriculum.
The Primer, even in an age of advanced technology, is cutting-edge. More importantly, it was commissioned with a specific goal in mind: intellectually steer its reader toward living a more interesting life.
A more interesting life.
It is too late for him to change his children, so he is determined that his granddaughter not receive the same safe, standard education that he provided his children. The Primer is his solution.
We see examples of this grandfather's concerns and goal everywhere we look today. Look to the innovators. Look to those who have been wildly successful, who have seen the future and dedicated themselves to bring that future to the present. They have not lived normal lives. They have faced hardships. They have taken non-traditional paths. They have done things that no one else has done.
We believe that college is the key to any successful career, but we are surrounded by compelling counter-examples. Steve Jobs dropped out of college. Bill Gates dropped out of college. Mark Zuckerberg dropped out of college.
This isn't a modern phenomenon. Henry Ford was the son of an Irish immigrant who left the family farm to become an apprentice machinist, guiding his own education before being picked up by Westinghouse for his unique skill set. Thomas Edison was kicked out of school for being "addled" and, for a time, sold candy and newspapers to railway passengers to scrape by.
Needless to say, all five of these individuals went on to leave quite a mark on the world. Stephenson's book argues that they were able to leave their marks and so totally alter the world in which they lived because of, rather than in spite of, leading interesting and non-traditional lives.
An interesting life can be the difference between good and great.
The Primer is a fully gamified education tool. The story it tells is based in the lore of traditional fables, using well known archetypes (the trickster, the quest, the hero, the wicked step mother) to tell a sweeping tale starring the reader herself. Through her adventures the reader learns everything from the basics (socially: strangers are dangerous; physically: essential survival skills like fire building and map reading) to complex ideas like economic market forces, computer programming, diplomacy, and teamwork.
The Primer exposes the reader to classic literature and integrates their lessons and analysis into her personal journey. There is no math class or science class. There is no physics or chemistry. There is the organic exploration of the natural world in which the reader lives, driven by goals and obstacles presented along her journey.
The Primer is the ultimate individual learning plan (ILP) coupled with an adaptive, comprehensive curriculum. It can be both teacher and parent/mentor, dedicated wholly to the well-being and education of its reader. It adapts to its reader's abilities, delivering remedial content when necessary, presenting tailored challenges that push the reader to their edge of their ability.
It guides its reader to live a more interesting life, supplementing traditional education with something that is missing from classroom education: adventure.
The technology to build the Primer is that of science fiction. But there is nothing fundamentally insurmountable in the idea. Neil DeGrasse Tyson, famed proponent of space, education, and the sciences, is fond of pointing out that, so long as an idea does not violate the laws of science as we currently understand them, all that stands between it and its realization is hard work and inspiration.
Gamification can help guide students to live more interesting lives. Given the opportunity, I would work to make the Primer a reality.
