I apologize for not posting this sooner. After many months of attempting to post to and maintain multiple blog sites, I have decided to take my blogging in a new direction. I will now only blog on my racebannon.com site. Self-education is still a passion of mine and I plan to write about self-education, and learning in general, often. But I have many other interests as well and it’s not feasible for me to maintain multiple sites, each pertaining to one of my many interests. So please visit, bookmark and subscribe to my racebannon.com blog site. Over time I plan to move all of my existing posts from this site to racebannon.com with the plan to shut this site down entirely at some point in the future. I will delete posts from this site when I move them to racebannon.com. Click on the Self-Education and Learning category on my other site to view all posts that would have previously been posted here. To those who have visited here over the past year, many thanks. I hope you’ll continue to follow my posts on the other site. Be well.

Race Bannon

In a previous post I visited the question of what education is. However, as I’ve been writing a lot about self-education on this blog, today I again had to pause and think about exactly how I define what an education is. Is it a set of skills and knowledge that prepares us for employment? Is it more than that? If so, what else is it? If I am to continue writing effectively about self-education, I needed to square with myself exactly what I think education is or else all of my future writing will be muddled and unfocused.

As I pondered this, I did what I often do – searched the web. I found the first online dictionary definition somewhat concerning. “[Education is] the activity of educating people in schools, colleges, and universities, and all the policies and arrangements concerning this.” (macmillandictionary.com) Really, I thought? Is the delivery mechanism for learning, such as schools and colleges, really what education is? The entry went on to further define education as “someone’s experience of learning or being taught,” “relating to education,” “the activity of teaching about a particular subject,” and “the process of providing people with information about an important issue.” I felt these definitions lacking, but to be fair to MacMillan, virtually every dictionary I consulted had similar entries.

With all due respect to the dictionaries of the world that provide a vital and often unheralded service to mankind (I use them constantly), I felt I needed something more meaningful as a definition if it was to propel me to continue writing passionately about self-education.

We often hear of the “educated person” or “pursuing an education” and the dry, dictionary definitions I was encountering don’t seem to adequately explain to me what such terms mean. To me, education is more about personal development and self-improvement than anything else. Yes, it can have utilitarian usefulness for employment and other pursuits, but ultimately I think education’s greatest accomplishment is when it makes a person better in some way. Perhaps that’s why I think subjects such as philosophy and interpersonal skills deserve their rightful place alongside the likes of accounting and computer programming if the desired end result is a truly educated, well-rounded person.

So, here’s the definition I intend to keep in my mind as I write about self-education. Maybe you’ll find it useful too as your pursue your own self-directed learning.

Education is both the end result, and the process of, learning with the best focus of such learning on improving someone’s knowledge base, analytical capabilities and skill sets in order to improve both their personal and professional lives.

Admittedly, that’s a mouthful and sounds a bit academic. And it’s far from perfect. Perhaps I’ll refine the definition over time as I mull this over more. But for now, this is the definition I’m going to work from and if this definition serves you well also, please feel free to use it too.

I’d be interested in hearing your thoughts about what education is to you.

I find random learning a lot of fun. I love it when I’m presented with something to learn that I might not have otherwise sought out on my own. If you don’t engage in any conscious random learning, I encourage you to do so.

There are two ways I engage in random learning on a regular basis.

The first is Stumbleupon. This is a service that helps you discover and share great websites. You click their Stumble! icon and they deliver high-quality pages matched to your personal preferences. These pages have been explicitly recommended by your friends or one of millions of other websurfers with interests similar to you. I also get periodic emails from Stumbleupon alerting me to web pages targeted at my own interests. It’s amazing how often I’ve found their recommendations incredibly well focused on what I enjoy learning about.

Another great random learning mechanism I use is Wikipedia’s Random Article feature. Visit Wikipedia’s Main Page and click on Random Article among the left hand navigation links. You’ll be presented with a random article from Wikipedia’s vast repository of knowledge articles.

Do you have any other ways you engage in random learning? I’d love to hear about them.

This guest post is contributed by Mariana Ashley, a freelance writer who particularly enjoys writing about online colleges. She loves receiving reader feedback, which can be directed to mariana.ashley031@gmail.com.

One of the most important activities that a committed self-learner can engage in is reading. Of course, I don’t mean that self-learners should read just anything that grabs their fancy, though there’s certainly room for that sort of light reading every now and then; I mean that self-learners benefit the most when they pursue a targeted, focused kind of reading, one that combines their pleasures with their desire to learn more. The most successful readers create reading lists that combine these two factors, and they follow the reading list regularly.

As one of those readers, someone who is constantly looking out for great books to read, I’ve benefited from eventually creating a system of my own, which I use to organize my yearly reading. I’ve pulled some lessons I’ve learned from making this system and put them into a list of tips that can help you create your own focused reading lists.

Follow a Reading Routine and Calendar

I tend to organize my reading lists into three month chunks, simply because I really liked the semester calendar from my college days. Feel free to organize your own reading calendar however you’d like; the important thing is that you read regularly and often. I try to read for one hour a day in the evening after dinner.

Pick an Interesting Theme

Each reading ‘semester’ I pick a theme that will guide my reading. Two years ago I went to Russia for vacation, so for three months before the summer trip, I themed my reading list around Russian literature and culture. Another year, I somehow became fascinated by the First World War, so I made a reading list that grew out of Barbara Tuchman’s The Guns of August. It’s usually best to make this theme connect to some aspect of your life: an upcoming trip, a subject that could help your career, interesting relationships, or subjects that you’re passionate about.

Read a Variety of Books

You’ll also want to read a variety of different kinds of books. Don’t only read novels. Don’t only read self-help books. Try to spread your reading around a theme, selecting books from all areas of human knowledge: biology, fiction, philosophy, and so on. As a personal rule, I try to read three books at a time: one contemporary fiction, one classic literature, and one non-fiction book from a rotating discipline, such as history, philosophy, psychology, and so on.

Organize Your Reading List

This tip will try to keep you from having dead periods in your reading. How often have you stood in front of a bookshelf and couldn’t decide what to read next? I’ve done it many times, so I decided one day to organize my reading list so that I would know what book I should read next. This keeps me from losing focus in my reading, and it also forces me to make interesting connections between the books I read.

Keep a Reading Journal

Finally, you should keep a reading journal with you when you read. That way you can write down your thoughts about the book as you read or after you’ve read, and you can track how long it took you to read the book. The journal will be a record of your learning progress through each reading ‘semester,’ and it will help you plan out your future reading lists.

I read this post on TechCrunch today about OpenStudy. OpenStudy is a new startup virtual study group for students studying mathematics, writing and English, history and much more. From what I can tell, they combine the elements social media, online gaming and learning in a way I find quite clever.

Check it out. And if you know anyone studying those subjects who might want some support and interaction with other students, let them know about it.

A couple of days ago I posted Do It To Do It on my LifeMaximo blog. As I was reading Joe Robinson’s book Don’t Miss Your Life: Find More Joy and Fulfillment Now I was struck by how often the author mentioned lifelong learning as an important component of a happy and fulfilled life. In fact, he contends its a necessity for optimal living.

Not only does the author suggest that lifelong learning is important to a happy life, but the learning itself must be the focus of your intention, not some external payoff. “The learning itself has to be the goal…” says Robinson. This is so important. We must enjoy learning for its own sake to fully enjoy the learning process.

Check out the post and let me know what you think.

In my Thank You Letters As Writing Practice post today on my new Write Speak Show blog I commented on how writing such letters can act as motivation to write regularly and thereby improve writing skills. But since the post is about learning to write better and that’s related to self-education, I thought I’d alert my readers here to the post. Let me know what you think.

In recent weeks I’ve heard a lot of discussion on television, radio and social media about whether it’s worth the cost and time to attend college. What’s at the heart of these discussions and why are they becoming more prevalent? The answer is money.

As with so much in life these days, cost often becomes the factor that influences a trend. Raise the price of gas, people drive less. Raise the price of cigarettes, people smoke less. Raise the price of a college education, and more people will reconsider going to college. Alternative paths to an education and career are now rising to the top of viable education options. The price of a college education is climbing dramatically and that is putting it out of the reach of a significant number of people.

The University of California system recently raised the cost of student fees by 32%. 32%! That’s an incredible jump in cost and no one seems to think such increases are going to slow down anytime soon. The University of California is not a unique situation. Soaring costs are happening in higher educational institutions across the United States.

What this means is that alternative ways of obtaining an education are going to rise in popularity. I think this is a good thing. For too long the Holy Grail of education has been the traditional college education to the exclusion of any other seriously considered options. I think the current atmosphere of escalating college costs combined with the exponential increase in the pace of new knowledge and skills needed to remain competitive in the modern workplace is creating a perfect storm for change.

Without a doubt, a college education is the right choice for many. But when that is not a viable option for someone, or when someone’s life or professional goals don’t necessitate a college eduction, self-education can prove quite valuable.

Technology marches forward at an amazing pace. And it’s technology that’s going to continue to revolutionize the opportunities for self-education. What will continue to be the primary driver for the democratization and accessibility of education is technology.

For example, examine a technology like MyEdu that lets college students design, manage and navigate their higher education by enabling them to rather easily pick the best professors, design a class schedule that works for them, balance their work and social life, and more. Imagine the effort all of that would have taken just a few years ago. Now, through the power of technology, a student can do it all with the click of a mouse. Maybe they can use the time saved to spend more time learning.

Yes, MyEdu’s technology is focused on college students, not necessarily specifically self-education, but I’m sure similar technologies will be developed that offer the same type of functionality to self-educators. And technologies exist today that are already revolutionizing self-education. Open source software. Powerful search engines. Massive databases and archives. Social media. E-Learning. Video on demand. Free recorded lectures and presentations (check out TED, my favorite learning resource). Wikipedia. Networked groups. Highly portable computing power. The list is long and growing larger every day, offering the self-educator more ways to learn better.

I call this trend the emergence of Self-Service Education. Students will increasingly pull education to them rather than waiting for educational institutions to push learning content out. Students will identify what they want to learn and technology will empower them with the tools to deliver the appropriate learning directly to them without the need for intermediaries.

What I wonder about is when the tipping point will be reached. At what point will the predominance of learning take place in this manner with formal, institutional learning loosening its grip on its historically monopolistic approach to how we educate people? There’s no way to know. Formal education will always be with us, and it deserves its rightful place among the education options. But self-service education is here and its growth will continue to challenge formal, classroom-based learning until the optimal balance between informal and formal learning occurs. I wonder what that balance will look like? It’s an exciting time for education and an exciting time to be a self-educator.

Today I was scanning TechCrunch (great site to keep up with current technology news and trends) and I read an interesting post, McGraw Hill Gets In On the Mobile Education Market. The post mentioned two items of interest.

First, within the context of the United States’ lackluster performance in science education lately, the author pointed out Scitable, Nature Publishing Group’s free online science library. If you have an interest in science, this appears to be a great learning resource.

Second, the post mentioned McGraw Hill’s entry into the mobile education market. The author appears somewhat skeptical of mobile learning, but I consider it an important part of the world’s learning future. Why not learn on the go? Learning can take place anywhere and be facilitated through many venues. So mobile learning on a phone, tablet or laptop makes sense to me. Over time I believe self-educators will be provided with many mobile learning delivery options that can enhance one’s self-education efforts.

Another related post on TechCrunch today, Scitable.com Goes Mobile, describes a just released mobile-friendly version of the Scitable site. When Scitable announced their new mobile version, they mentioned that their “…mission is to democratize access to science education” and I think that’s a great mission.

Check out the posts and let me know your thoughts.

I hear a constant refrain on many fronts that somehow technology is the enemy of true education. However, I see so many upsides to technology and how it can be used to promote more and better education. Sylvia Martinez’ post, Your Brain Might Freeze That Way, expresses my frustration with complaints about technology better than I can. Read it and let me know what you think.

While reading Seth Godin’s book, Linchpin: Are You Indispensable?, I was struck by the brilliance of something he said. Godin believes schools today should be teaching just two things: (1) solving interesting problems, and (2) leadership. How beautiful is that simple directive?

Isn’t solving problems what education is all about? How does the universe work? What forms the foundation of an ethical society? How can I make that computer do what I want it to do? How much is 46+89? All problems. In the pursuit of the answers, we learn.

Add in the concept of teaching leadership and it’s the complete educational package. We want people to lead good families. We want people to be leaders in their communities. We want good business and political leadership.

When you embark on your own self-education adventures, keep these two simple guidelines in mind. What problems do you want to solve in your life? What problems do you want to solve in the lives of other people? What type of leader do you want to be? How can you lead change in your family, among your friends, in your community, in your business, and in your country.

Identified problem that you want to solve can be great rudders by which to steer your learning. They provide a target that removes the extraneous and allows you to focus on the important information and skills you want to learn. If you take the time to identify a specific problem that you want to solve, this can instantly make quite clear exactly what self-education you need to pursue to meet that need in your life.

Give it a try and let me know how it works for you.