Dynamicland

Whenever digital curricula are discussed, they are typically discussed in the context of current digital media, i.e. small, rectangular screens and, if you're lucky, a physical keyboard and mouse.

Dynamicland presents an altogether more hopeful vision of the future of educational technology.

I highly recommend Bret Victor's talk on The Humane Representation of Thought to understand the possibilities for dynamic representations that draw on the entire range of human capabilities, not just an eye staring at tiny rectangles and fingers on a pen or keyboard.

It's not what you know

From 'It’s not what you know...' by Umberto Eco in The Guardian, 3 April 2004:

"We often have to explain to young people why study is useful. It’s pointless telling them that it’s for the sake of knowledge, if they don’t care about knowledge. Nor is there any point in telling kids that an educated person gets through life better than an ignoramus, because they can always point to some genius who, from their standpoint, leads a wretched life. 

"And so the only answer is that the exercise of knowledge creates relationships, continuity and emotional attachments. It introduces us to parents other than our biological ones. It allows us to live longer, because we don’t just remember our own life but also those of others. It creates an unbroken thread that runs from our adolescence (and sometimes from infancy) to the present day. 

"And all this is very beautiful."

Quoted in accordance with The Guardian and The Observer open licence terms.