A new Higher Education Model

As I mentioned in a prior journal entry on a new higher education model; BFU is considering how to best implement the idea.

This new college model does not even need BFU, except perhaps as some form of middleman. There is a lot to consider, this entry is a first rough outline. Here is the most pertinent paragraph from that prior journal entry.

You can even self teach yourself by reading sixty or more related non-fiction books and doing an in depth review of each one in a blog. Put the blog's URL net address on your resume. Adapt the BFU course directions if you want a bit more structure. To consider yourself a knowledgeable renaissance person in your field, keep learning.

Lets put a bit more clay on to the sculpture.

• Find a mentor in the field you wish to enter; someone that won't mind asking and answering questions.
  

• Get your mentor to review each entry so you can improve it.

• Create multiple choice questions and/or review points on each chapter you have read and add those to your blog post.

• Correct the entry, then have your mentor acknowledge your work in the comments.

Pay your mentor well, but remind him he will profit not only by all the direct work he does with you, but by others being able to judge the excellence of his efforts to assist you. Negotiate everything you can think of upfront until you both are satisfied.

Ask your mentor to emphasize where you have failed to improve. This is not like archaic institutional schools where the goal was a high grade. If you are desiring to learn -- failure with insightful correction is a much better teacher than steady success. For that reason you should seek opportunity to exceed what you think is possible. Stretch yourself.

You will have done more thorough work and learning than in most college degree programs. Anyone wishing to verify your knowledge can read the blog you created. You will also be able to review your learning by referring to what you have written.

Show depth and flexibility by also blogging on books, seminars, and courses outside your immediate area of study. These will probably not need your mentor's acknowledgment.

This will not help you win a cubical in a warehouse like bureaucracy - but that is probably not what you wanted anyway. Any opportunities you discover will be with compatriots that want to work with people of determination and achievement. That can be a very good thing.

Diplomas are losing value as they become common and as bureaucracies shrink. A diploma is a dead document representing past compliance with inflexible regulations. Your blog can be a living document that displays your continued growth. You can do this even if you already have a degree.

If you wanted to start a company and change the world where would you look for fellow innovators; to those with a five year old degree and experience in a cube farm, or to those striving constantly for understanding and wisdom and then acting on what they learn?

So would I.

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