Alternative World Education (AWE)
Mission Statement
A new hub for Worldwide Education that connects all online education systems together into one easily accessible interconnected platform.
Principles for AWE- Education should be:
Open to all
Affordable (Paid for by the UN, governments, corporate scholarships or donations)
Global - Easily able to create a profile and access all content from anywhere
No Age Restrictions
Self Paced - Opt in or out at any time (no artificial or unnecessary barriers)
Collaborative
Includes various options for Advisors, Mentors, Colleagues and Study Buddies
Integratable with all respectable online education platforms
Customizable and Divergent Paths
Ever-Evolving Current Content
Respectable
Course completion certificates and degrees honored and respected by companies and governments around the world.
Mediated regularly to ensure relevant content for all career paths and that all course completions are fairly adjudicated and awarded
Coordinate with corporations and educational institutions to certify and approve content and ensure biases are transparently managed as much as possible.
Strongly encourage respectful interactions with all associated parties. Discourage hateful speech or overly partisan/conspiratorial content wherever possible.
Enjoyable
Gamify as many aspects of education as possible to encourage participation and attention.
Cordial competitions of all kinds for individuals and groups should be encouraged wherever possible. (debates, essay writing, math tests)
Rewards for progress through course paths and competitions should be clear and substantial. (Scholarships, Prizes, Prestige, Exposure, Access to Limited Resources, Access to Careers)
Classify content in a fun meaningful manner. (Ie Use the four categories of the elements to visualize and identify content easily, (Fire for Personal Growth, Water for Social growth, Wind for Mindful/Philosophical Growth, Earth for Career Oriented Growth)
Potential Hub Design:
Follow a Tree of Life (Yggdrasil) pattern for education with various types of courses available at any point in the tree.
Qualifications for various types of Careers (Fruits) can be attained by following through various paths from the Roots (Reading, Writing, Arithmetic), through the trunk (Elementary Education) and large branches (Secondary Education), to the various smaller career branches (Post Secondary).
Many different badges and tracking mechanisms to group and classify different types of courses by elements can give people a quick overall view of where they are compared to others on a similar career path.
Fire - Languages, Mathematics, Science,Basic Foundations for personal progress. Also employs the competitive drive that pushes all of us to be better. (The ‘Spark’ for all future learning)
Water - Social Studies and Arts (Flows through and connects all of us together)
Wind - Humanities, Political Science, Philosophy, Critical Thinking, Advanced Technological Science (Lifts us off the ground and allows our imaginations and technology to soar forward)
Earth - Specific Career Training (Creates the fruit of our labours for the sustenance of society)
Action Items:
Step 1 - Connect with any interested people or groups willing to help with the initiative. (Khan Academy, Skill Share, MOICs, Online Schools)
Step 2 - Create a website highlighting all the goals and plans and allow people to sign up to volunteer to build some form of prototype hub.
Step 3 - Look for trial courses/career paths to start with that don’t require actual accredited education. Build up more awareness and support over time.
Step 4 - Continuously garner more support from Governments, Schools, and Corporations to add more internationally accredited education options and eventually form a globally funded all-encompassing education system accessible by all.
Step 5 - Save The World - by creating a much fairer more enlightened and empowered society that can get to work solving all the other major problems in the world highlighted in the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals
