How Teachers and Students Built a New World

Andrea Li1, Zimmer Barnes2, Benjamin Hsueh-Yung Koo2

1Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA

2Tsinghua University, Beijing, China

Today’s society is marked by rapid technological advancements and innovations, unparalleled by any other time in history. New technologies become obsolete within a few years as better and faster and cheaper technologies are developed. In a similar way in the workforce, individuals unfamiliar with new technologies are rapidly being replaced with others, who are also in turn subsequently replaced, in a long chain of quick turnover. Going forward however, this system is not sustainable and necessitates a revolution in our education model [1].

A Problem-Solving Mindset

Instead of teaching a specific tool or piece of technology, modern education must match the evolving needs of today’s technological culture. A sufficient education must provide students with the proper mindset in solving problems, as opposed to teaching a specific piece of information. This type of teaching is in stark contrast with the rote memorization too commonly found in education, and instead encourages students to develop a problem-solving approach. Equipped with such a method of approaching problems, students will be empowered with the ability to tackle new challenges and problems, whether the content or technology is familiar or not. This is attributed to the universality of such a problem-solving mindset, which involves knowing how to approach a problem, go about acquiring the necessary information, and finally pulling together all relevant content to ultimately solve the problem. In other words, a modern education must teach students how to learn, and not simply what to learn. The first necessary feature of a sufficient education in our modern world is therefore the ability to impart on students a problem-solving mindset.

Social Physics and Team Synergy

Surprisingly, smart individuals do not necessarily make a smart group when self-organized. Much research conducted by Dr. Alex Pentland of MIT has indicated that good flow of ideas through a group is essential for overall group productivity and efficiency [2]. Every member of the group must be given the chance to voice his thoughts, and no team members can dominate discussion, regardless of intelligence or prior experience. Pentland’s research additionally indicated that an even number of men and women, as opposed to a more polarized gender ratio, helped the group make better decisions. All put together, we arrive at a quite radical conclusion. A group of hyper-intelligent men from similar backgrounds, with one member dominating the discussion as a leader, may not perform as well as a group of people, with equal numbers of men and women, from a variety of backgrounds, life experiences and IQs, all discussing problems and having a more or less equal time speaking and leading. This conclusion leads us to second basic requirement of a sufficient education; modern education must foster in each individual skills to work efficiently in a team setting. Challenges in the real world are almost always tackled and solved in teams, and these teamwork skills must not be overlooked in a sufficient modern education.

Active Engagement and Scalability

One of the primary methods of education, especially in higher education such as college and university, is the lecture-based format. This is in part due to the fact that lectures are easily scalable and can be just as easily given to a group of five or five hundred students. A fundamental problem with this education format however is that lectures place students in an extremely passive role. A modern education must therefore solve this problem by satisfying the third basic requirement: education must actively engage students while at the same time with respect to practical considerations, be scalable for an education for all. We have therefore arrived at a definition of three basic requirements for an education which satisfies the needs of the modern world: (1) empowering students with a problem-solving mindset, (2) fostering teamwork skills to maximize team synergy, and (3) actively engaging students in their own education, while still satisfying practicality considerations such as scalability. In the remainder of this paper, we discuss such an education model developed by Dr. Benjamin Koo of Tsinghua University in China known as the Extreme Learning Process (XLP).

The Extreme Learning Process (XLP) is a game-like environment that provides context for new technologies to be used, by participants of all backgrounds, in a professional manner that simulates the real world. This environment is a collaborative framework, where participants are challenged to create projects that demand the use of bleeding edge technologies, and in this way, learn by doing, not by rote memorization [3,4].

• XLP begins with an orientation program that consists of four stages. These stages force students to develop skills to explore, collaborate, and self-direct their learning. The beginning of this orientation is an early success. Students are given a mild challenge, designed to build confidence and promote basic team synergy.

• The second stage of the orientation provides the exact opposite, challenging the students’ confidence in their skills. Much innovation involves failure, and the intent of this stage of XLP is to cause students to experience that failure in an environment that feels safe. They are given a complex task so students must reach for effective collaboration.

• In the third stage, students have confidence in their abilities, but have a deeper respect for the abilities of others as well. This is where things get complicated, as they then form a miniature society, complete with a legal and financial system. This helps create a system that meets the needs of everyone in a meaningful way.

• The last stage of XLP orientation is for students to present the results of their collaboration. In this presentation, they demonstrate the massive amount they’ve learned over the eighty-hour orientation.

文件:Extreme Learning Process (XLP) workflow.png

Figure 1. Extreme Learning Process (XLP) workflow

The four-staged orientation program is followed by a potentially unlimited number of XLPs in a variety of fields and areas, such as engineering, technology, biology, chemistry, and many more.

This orientation subsequently results in a cycle of many more long-term XLPs, in a wide variety of fields and areas, meant to be repeated multiple times over the course of a year and hopefully throughout a lifetime of learning (Figure 1).

1. Transdisciplinary. By creating an inclusive environment in tackling a multidisciplinary challenge, individual minds are opened up to fresh perspectives. From law students to computer science majors, from medical students to art majors, all students must engage to meet the demands of a setting with so many complex facets. This exposes students to many different ways of thinking in many different fields and disciplines to provide an overall richer learning experience.
2. Collective Self-Directed Learning. Dozens of researchers and educators alike are promoting the benefits of students directing their own learning, learning outside the paradigm of educators teaching students, and acting collectively to study the ideas they want. This model is not only permitted and encouraged in XLP, it is systematically executed by having every learning programs co-designed by students and relevant instructors.
3. Scalability. Due to the flexible nature of XLP, the program can easily modified to accommodate group size, number, and age. By using a distributed workflow and compatible organization architecture, XLP is furthermore accessible to anyone. These two key features allow XLP to be extremely ready for change and easily scalable to a large audience or group of participants.
4. Decentralized Evaluation Scheme. Educators are shifting away from rewarding students for arriving at the correct answer, towards rewarding students for following a logical train of thought. XLP does this as well, and goes further by rewarding students for pro-social behavior. Instead of law, market, and cultural constraints existing outside of the educational model (students tutoring other students, for example), these fresh concepts can be incorporated into all classes, regardless of subject matter.

文件:Lessig’s four behavioral constraints and applications to XLP .png

Figure 2. Lessig’s four behavioral constraints and applications to XLP

These four factors (law, market, architecture, and cultural norms) make up Lessig’s four constraints, and as applied to XLP, provide a framework through which students can interact and be evaluated.

These institutionalized motivational mechanisms fall into four main categories, defined by Lawrence Lessig’s four behavioral constraints: (1) law, (2) architecture, (3) market, and (4) cultural norms [5]. XLP simulates these behavioral constraints in the following ways (Figure 2):

• Law: In the XLP sandbox, participants write their own constitutions and establish rules on copyright, lawsuits, and personal liberties. Judges are appointed to mediate disputes. This infrastructure is necessary to regulate crowd behavior in a relevant way.
• Architecture: XLP extensively uses modern digital architecture. This includes Github to share code and documents, distributed file systems, big data analytics to examine learning behavior, Blockchain technology to create a digital trust system, as well as readily available online tools for research, language learning, data visualization, 3D modeling, and more.
• Market: XLP uses the cryptocurrency Bitcoin to familiarize students with this technology, as well as establish market forces within the sandbox. All supplies are accessible through a capitalist model of distribution, and this model shapes how the challenges are faced and overcome.
• Cultural Norms: XLP promotes group problem-solving and collaboration to unleash the maximum potential of each participant, thereby promoting productive idea flow and the effective use of tools in a way that is relevant to each participant’s learning process [3].

These four social constrains provide a realistic and operational context for students to explore and to experience collective self-directed learning, and this context means that these tools become instantly useful and relevant to their life experience, regardless of their discipline.

The engineering projects that XLP students can engage in are often quite advanced. One previous XLP engineering challenge was the hypothetical discovery of a new island. Students were invited to create a plan for how this resource should be utilized. Participants crafted a massive model of the island to showcase the portfolio of resources represented and how these resources could be best developed in a way to benefit everyone [6].

In another XLP session, the challenge was to create an atomic-force microscope. For reference, this technology was first developed as recently as 1986. Within the eighty-hour orientation, students had established their Constitution and sandbox society; as well they built a completely functional atomic force microscope. Educators and industry experts in this field were surprised to discover that this was developed on such a tight budget. The model that these high school students had developed inside four days proved simpler, cheaper and more accessible than decades of research by top engineers, scientists, and billion dollar companies [6].

What does the future look like for XLP? First and foremost, XLP needs to become extremely modular so it can be reproduced in new schools, new situations, and new countries. This will require the writing of a comprehensive manual which is accessible to a wide variety of learners and educators. Furthermore, toolboxes should be developed specific to the type of XLP challenge so that learners have all the equipment needed for success.

Once the manual and toolbox are complete, XLP is ready to be set up in a wide variety of Chinese universities, high schools, and technical colleges. From here, XLP can take a language and national leap, crossing over into international universities in countries such as the United States, Brazil, and Russia. Feedback collected on the efficacy of these programs will be critical moving forwards as XLP is modified and optimized based on the different contexts in which it is implemented.

Where does XLP go next? Could XLP be used to establish accessible, scalable learning for those not even enrolled in traditional higher education? Independent of universities, there is the incredible rise of hackerspaces and makerspaces around the world, and this opens up wonderful possibilities for hackerspace collaboration [7]. Could XLP also become more accessible for students before high school in primary education? Could XLP be used to make science and engineering more accessible to women and girls? Could it be used in the Arab World or Sub-Saharan Africa? These possibilities emerge as challenging but manageable iterations of XLP. With the proper feedback and implementations of new concepts, XLP could become extraordinarily flexible and meet the needs of students in any nation on Earth.

We are poised at a unique time in history, where rapid technological advances necessitate a paradigm shift in what education is. An historic number of people are between the ages of eighteen and twenty-six [8]. The window on their formative years is closing, and they deserve equal access to a modern education as demanded by the evolving modern world. The Extreme Learning Process (XLP) provides this necessary education by fostering a problem-solving mindset, promoting teamwork skills, and actively engaging students while at the same time satisfying scalability requirements. XLP truly is a novel way of approaching education, and by making use of bleeding edge technologies in a complex environment, students are able to learn from each other. Going forwards, XLP can be adapted to fit the needs of other schools, both higher and primary education, and in China as well as internationally, to work towards solving the global grand challenge of providing education and personalized education for all.

[1] "How Machines Are Advancing at an Exponential Rate." MIT Technology Review. 26 Feb. 2014. Web. <http://www.technologyreview.com/aroundmit/525151/how-machines-are-advancing-at-an-exponential-rate/>.

[2] Pentland, Alex. Social Physics. Penguin, 2014. Print.

[3] Barnes, Zimmer. UNESCO and XLP: “Education for All” More Vital Than Ever. Gitbooks, 2015. Web.

[4] Koo, Benjamin. Extreme Learning Process. QS Stars, 2015. E-book.

[5] Lessig, Lawrence. Laws of Cyberspace. 3 Apr. 1998. Web. <http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/works/lessig/laws_cyberspace.pdf>.

[6] XLP - Extreme Learning Process - a Video for QS Star E-book. 2015. Film. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=narykXLUWI0>.

[7] List of Hacker Spaces. 11 May 2014. Web. http://wiki.hackerspaces.org/List_of_Hacker_Spaces>.

[8] "UNESCO Education Strategy 2014-2021." United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, 1 Jan. 2014. Web. <http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0023/002312/231288e.pdf>.