Basis of the revolution.

We live in a time with unprecedented access to information. A simple search on Google’s search site for any rudimentary term will provide millions of links to the desired term. But it hasn’t always been this way. A brief examination of the history of education will confirm that the last ten years are truly phenomenal in the amount of information available to us.

Prior to the advent of writing, education was accomplished orally and with a very specific purpose. Families would pass down oral traditions in order to provide cultural and social context to children. Ritual and religious philosophy were also passed on orally in order to maintain the moral teachings. For example in non-literate African societies, learning was by initiation, observation and repetition of what parents did. Another example is the training of children on the influence of spirits in averting sickness, death and pestilence. Other education was passed on to facilitate agricultural and vocational acumen and was accomplished orally or by example. The result was that the society was trained in the areas needed to keep everyone gainfully employed, appropriately socialized and culturally acclimated

There have been three huge developments that have impacted education. The first was reading and writing. No longer was information only shared orally. It became possible for many people to have access to the written word. The second was the printing press with movable type. This accelerated the spread of information to the masses. The final revolution is the Internet. Now information is absolutely available on demand.

Despite these three events which I am calling revolutions, the educational and training world has not made similar changes. I think we are in for a major revolution as the world starts to adapt to the concept that information is available to the masses. I love the concept of learning and education. I hope to see the pedagogy keep up with the access to content. I hope you'll join me as I explore issues in training and education in this blog.