Cringly on education

Interesting article by Robert Cringley called, War of the Worlds: The Human Side of Moore's Law. He writes about how technology is forcing education to change and how the institution of education is resistive. His basic premise is that technology could by-pass this whole education thing if there were a standard way of certifying knowledge. For instance, if I can prove that I have the skills and I have a document to prove it and I can get it in alternative ways to sitting in a classroom, why do I need to go to school?

Here's a brief quote:

"I've written about this for years and nobody ever paid attention, but ISO certification is what destroyed the U.S. manufacturing economy. With ISO 9000 there was suddenly a way to claim with some justification that a factory in Malaysia was precisely comparable to an IBM plant on the Hudson. Prior to then it was all based on reputation, not statistics. And now that IBM plant is gone.

Well reputation still holds in education, though its grip is weakening. I know kids from good families who left high school early with a GED because they were bored or wanted to enter college early. Maybe college is next."

[Image: Sheldon, Dick. "Children in the school house." Library of Congress. 1938?. Library of Congress. 26 Mar 2008 .]