When we tell people what we’re doing we often get questions like “Oh, kind of like Tutor.com or (insert your favorite other online education company here).” Those comparisons are interesting in that it’s great to get a sense of what people think is the current state of online learning. But at the end of the day comparing what we’ll build over the long-term to sites like those is kind of like comparing Facebook to Walmart.com. Not very meaningful…
My friend Farb introduced me to the concept of the Borg, a mythical creature that rapidly assimilates the collective knowledge of other Borgs. In other words, what one Borg knows all the Borgs know. It would be the equivalent of saying since you learned tie your shoes yesterday I now know how to. True knowledge amplification.
I love that concept but we’re probably a ways off from that. In the meantime there’s something more real on the horizon that’s very interesting: Social Learning Discovery Services.
Think about how the new Facebook stuff is working (click here to catch up). It’s a real interesting new paradigm for the discovery of content and applications. But here’s what I find really cool. Imagine if every time someone you knew learned something you were made aware of it. That ain’t Borg-world yet but it’s getting close. The funny thing is we’re getting there very quickly in so many other areas like music and movies. It’s only a matter of time before this permeates all areas of our lives.
That’s a good thing.
Life is social.
Online learning is about to be.
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Dave Trager
