On the relevance of education...

Of course education is relevant,

because we have to learn things in order to survive in society and in life.

But, in particular, if we’re looking at the workplace,

what kind of things we can, we need to do in the workplace,

education is relevant because we have to learn the skills

we need both in the workplace and in society at large.

And, in particular,

we need to know what kind of skills we need to use in the workplace,

not just what things we know,

but how we use those things we know when we do a job of any kind.

And as more and more jobs become knowledge-based,

we need to use information and communications technology in our jobs,

then we need to know not just the skills in using technology,

but also the skills in how to apply that technology to solve problems.

How to make products better, how to communicate better with our clients,

how to relate better with other people using the technology.

So technology is integrated with all these things,

we have to use technology in order to develop the skills we need,

and the skills we need require us to use the technology, so the two are interrelated.

The most important thing we have to do is to change the assessment system.

The assessment system is focused on knowing things,

knowing facts, and facts are important

but they have to be integrated within a wider base of knowledge.

What we have to move towards is testing skills,

assessing skills, and particularly intellectual skills.

How can we find information, apply it and use it to solve problems.

So is not about knowing, is about doing,

but doing with knowledge.

And so that’s where education comes in,

because you have to have knowledge, you have to know about things,

you have to know facts.

But they have to be, the facts are a means to an end,

not the end in themselves.

And unfortunately, our exams at the moment

are focused on facts and things and not on knowing and understanding.

And the best example of that is science,

you can know that if you mix two chemicals together you get an output,

but that doesn’t make you a scientist.

A scientist is somebody who tries to understand how the world operates,

and what the principles that guide that,

and use these facts and evidence in order to answer those questions.

So a good scientist is not somebody who knows facts,

but who knows how to answer questions about how the world works.

That’s what we have to assess in our students:

Their ability to understand how things work, how to solve problems,

how to know the underlying rationale behind things

and not just what the facts are.

We spent far too much time testing facts,

and far too little testing real understanding.

And this is where technology comes in again.

Technology is very important and it enables us to collect information,

analyze it and apply it.

And again, the technology is not the important thing

but enables us to put that stuff together,

and use information in a relevant and appropriate way.