I often see articles such as "Five Things to Know about Brexit". Then, I see "100 Places to Visit Before You Die". Along comes "1000 Must Read Books". I expect to get a letter in the mail that says the government has enrolled me in Ongoing University and here is the link for the first day's homework, due tomorrow morning at 7:30 AM local time.
We all grasp that the chancellor of the local university does not know everything that all of the faculty members know. We would need several lifetimes to learn all that. We would each need several heads to learn all that. OK, maybe those in school now can promise to carry a handy computer or tablet that can connects to the internet. We can't require our young people to learn everything that is out there. Right now, there are reported to be 1.3 billion web sites. What if we require a student to learn what is on each? Figure it will take 3 and a half million years to spend one day on each. Even if only the top quality 1% are required, a lifetime of 35,000 years would still be required.
After lots of learning, how much do I really know? I used to teach statistics on television and I knew my stuff. But I am not sure I now know that same material. You can see there may be a knowledge leak! I knew but now I don't know! Who ordered that? Is this unacceptable situation Obama's fault? Trump's? Hillary's? Russian hackers?
It is something of a cheap shot but I sometimes fall back on this to assist in considering our own learning histories:
Did you learn an algorithm in 7th or 8th grade to calculate a square? Or was that for a square root? What is the difference? Maybe you don't care.
A 2nd grader was asked the other day why she wasn't trying to advanced sheet of problems. She said they were too hard. But while the parents are fearful and the authorities are recording her as an "average" learner, in college or later, that girl may spring ahead, once she gets turned on and challenged. Right now, she is not interested.
