Saturday, March 5, 2016

Techno-Montessorism - Educating Future Engineers

The New Yorker has an interesting profile of the Altschool - - think Maria Montessori meets Silicon Valley.  From the excellent Annals of Technology column - - Learn Different: Silicon Valley Disrupts Education by Rebecca Mead:

"The previous day, Otto said, a guest teacher had come in to lead several students in a 3-D-modelling project, using a Web site called Tinkercad. “We built little models online—some people built phone cases, or little towers, or yo-yos,” Otto said. “I built a toilet, because I thought it would be fun. It has lots of different components—you have the base, you have the seat, you have the back.” He clicked to the site and pulled up his model. “I was looking around at pictures of toilets online,” he said. “I think I want to make it a bit more shaped for your back. I also want really sanitary toilets. And I want to make it really comfy. I’m quite bony, and I’m small, and if they don’t have a cushion they hurt.” Eventually, Otto said, he planned to 3-D print his prototype: a model toilet, fashioned to his personal specifications and preferences."

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