Jeremy goes exploring and finds an interesting parallel universe of education bloggers... feels like a 'contact' moment :o) I had a play around and particularly liked the look of Brian's Education "a libertarian-inclined education blog run by Brian Micklethwait". Can see that there are some cross-links there to stuff I read too... a fun find!

[incorporated subversion]

I enjoy reading Jeremy's weblog, but I have to track the entries manually -- can't find the RSS feed!

Another feature of formal education that is missing from communities is the idea of review. Review by peers or by credentialed authority. Not that peers and credentialed authority are always right (look at Galileo's experience), but they are known and accountable.

I don't think it's "either/or" with formal education and communities. Both have their place. The challenge at the moment is to figure out the relationship between them. Communities sometimes figure things out ahead of the formal structure, but they have a hard time testing the ideas and challenges sometimes turn into shouting matches. Formal institutions can debate and test, but they aren't fast and they often have blinders of their own. Communities and formal institutions both have plenty of opportunity to put on gnostic airs, too: We know something the rest of you don't know, and we're not telling unless you know the secret handshake. Brrrr.

Got to head for the hospital again. More later.

9:56:40 AM