Education for the Twenty-First Century: Organizing Information

While the scientific definitions of information and knowledge may be very different, the reality is that in most respects, information = knowledge. It's true that information doesn't have a human element, but knowledge does.

However, the value of "formal education" has significantly dropped as information has become widely accessible through the internet. No longer do you have to go to a college to learn how to do a variety of tasks. Does this mean that professionals who are highly skilled at their trade are no longer useful? Actually the contrary is true. With the wealth of knowledge and information out there, only those who are really good at what they do will be able to get to the top of success in their particular field. But, what it does mean is that to simply learn, you no longer need to go to college and get grades. You can design your own course of learning and develop a body of knowledge that is yours and yours alone. Of course, what you do with this knowledge is up to you. You could use it to develop your own company or you could simply use it to help out your own community. Whatever it is that you do with the knowledge that you learn, just remember that knowledge is only as good as it's application. And of course I haven't even gone into the specifics of how knowledge can be used for good purposes or even for evil purposes.

The subject of knowledge and learning is a subject that I won't cover in one simple blog posts but will take time to formulate and bring to a developed idea the fact that knowledge is out there and more accessible than at at any other time in recent or known history.