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On the relevance of education...
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Of course education is relevant,
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because we have to learn things in order to survive in society and in life.
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But, in particular, if we’re looking at the workplace,
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what kind of things we can, we need to do in the workplace,
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education is relevant because we have to learn the skills
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we need both in the workplace and in society at large.
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And, in particular,
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we need to know what kind of skills we need to use in the workplace,
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not just what things we know,
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but how we use those things we know when we do a job of any kind.
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And as more and more jobs become knowledge-based,
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we need to use information and communications technology in our jobs,
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then we need to know not just the skills in using technology,
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but also the skills in how to apply that technology to solve problems.
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How to make products better, how to communicate better with our clients,
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how to relate better with other people using the technology.
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So technology is integrated with all these things,
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we have to use technology in order to develop the skills we need,
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and the skills we need require us to use the technology, so the two are interrelated.
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The most important thing we have to do is to change the assessment system.
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The assessment system is focused on knowing things,
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knowing facts, and facts are important
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but they have to be integrated within a wider base of knowledge.
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What we have to move towards is testing skills,
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assessing skills, and particularly intellectual skills.
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How can we find information, apply it and use it to solve problems.
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So is not about knowing, is about doing,
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but doing with knowledge.
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And so that’s where education comes in,
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because you have to have knowledge, you have to know about things,
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you have to know facts.
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But they have to be, the facts are a means to an end,
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not the end in themselves.
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And unfortunately, our exams at the moment
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are focused on facts and things and not on knowing and understanding.
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And the best example of that is science,
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you can know that if you mix two chemicals together you get an output,
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but that doesn’t make you a scientist.
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A scientist is somebody who tries to understand how the world operates,
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and what the principles that guide that,
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and use these facts and evidence in order to answer those questions.
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So a good scientist is not somebody who knows facts,
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but who knows how to answer questions about how the world works.
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That’s what we have to assess in our students:
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Their ability to understand how things work, how to solve problems,
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how to know the underlying rationale behind things
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and not just what the facts are.
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We spent far too much time testing facts,
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and far too little testing real understanding.
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And this is where technology comes in again.
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Technology is very important and it enables us to collect information,
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analyze it and apply it.
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And again, the technology is not the important thing
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but enables us to put that stuff together,
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and use information in a relevant and appropriate way.
