1. Learning how to learn
Given the accelerating pace of change and disruption, we’re all going to need to be able to pick up new skills quickly and reliably.
Psychologist Herbert Gerjuoy put it like this:
Tomorrow’s illiterate will not be the people who can’t read; they will be the people who have not learned how to learn.
Reflecting on the expected rapid transformations in many sectors of society, pioneering futurist Alvin Toffler amplified Gerjuoy’s statement as follows:
Given further acceleration, we can conclude that knowledge will grow increasingly perishable. Today’s “fact” becomes tomorrow’s “misinformation.”
This is no argument against learning facts or data – far from it. But a society in which the individual constantly changes his job, his place of residence, his social ties and so forth, places an enormous premium on learning efficiency. Tomorrow’s schools must therefore teach not merely data, but ways to manipulate it. Students must learn how to discard old ideas, how and when to replace them. They must, in short, learn how to learn…
By instructing students how to learn, unlearn and relearn, a powerful new dimension can be added to education.
Introductions to Learning how to learn
Other recommended resources:
A Coursera course which is free to all students: Learning How to Learn: Powerful mental tools to help you master tough subjects. The course instructors are Barbara Oakley and Terrence Sejnowski. It is estimated to take 15 hours to complete.
1.1 Setting aside previous learning that no longer pertains
1.2 Learning and self-knowledge
1.2.1 The risks of overestimation of self-expertise
The Dunning-Kruger effect: “people’s inability to recognize their lack of ability”
Vital Syllabus 