In the twelfth and thirteenth-centuries, an extremely important development took place that would transform the nature of university education. Aristotle’s works were translated into Latin and rediscovered in the West. The philosopher’s systematization of logic, together with his empirical method of scientific observation, not only laid the foundation for the Renaissance, but forever changed what it was like to study at a university.
An equally pivotal event occurred again in the mid fifteenth-century when Johannes Gutenberg perfected the printing press. This invention allowed students to access a plethora of books that had previously been inaccessible. Once again, university education would never be the same again.
A similar transformation is again occurring in university education—one which promises to be just as significant, if not more so, to the two paradigm shifts already mentioned.
I am referring to the advent of online education.
The internet is not simply increasing the knowledge available to students. As with Gutenberg’s printing press, it is also changing how we think of the learning process, and the assumptions we bring to the teacher-student relationship.
While the full ramifications of this shift are not yet known, one thing is certain: online education is the way of the future.
As with any new tool, however, we need special skills to realize its full potential. When students began having access to Aristotle’s writings in the twelfth and thirteenth-centuries, they had to be given more than simply his writings to read; they had to also be taught how to read Aristotle and to interpret his writings in their context.
Similarly, when students started having access to more books in the fifteenth-century, they had to be taught how to manage all the new information that was suddenly at their fingertips.
Once again, special skills are now required for students to realize the full potential of online learning. Over the next few weeks we will be sharing a series of posts designed to help you make the most of your online learning experience as you prepare for the EPPP. We will be sharing some of the latest breakthroughs in neuroscience and what these discoveries can do to help you maximize your potential as you learn through the Taylor Study Method.