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Open: How We’ll Work, Live and Learn In The Future

David Price (Goodreads Author)

3.89 · Rating details · 204 ratings · 32 reviews

What makes a global corporation give away its prized intellectual property? Why are Ivy League universities allowing anyone to take their courses for free? What drives a farmer in rural Africa to share his secrets with his competitors?

A collection of hactivists, hobbyists, forum-users and maverick leaders are leading a quiet but unstoppable revolution. They are sharing ...more

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Kindle Edition, 190 pages

Published October 2nd 2013 by Crux Publishing

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Feb 01, 2015 Chris Fellows rated it it was ok

There's an old joke about Tonto and the Lone Ranger. They've ridden into an ambush, and are surrounded by a vast number of hostile Indians. The Lone Ranger turns to Tonto and asks: "What do we do now?" Tonto replies: "What do you mean *we*, kemosabe?"

It's funny,[1,2] because when I started reading this book, I put it down near the beginning and didn't get back to it for a long time, because the author was too nice to the deeply flawed 'Occupy' movement. But by the time I made it to the end, my There's an old joke about Tonto and the Lone Ranger. They've ridden into an ambush, and are surrounded by a vast number of hostile Indians. The Lone Ranger turns to Tonto and asks: "What do we do now?" Tonto replies: "What do you mean *we*, kemosabe?"

It's funny,[1,2] because when I started reading this book, I put it down near the beginning and didn't get back to it for a long time, because the author was too nice to the deeply flawed 'Occupy' movement. But by the time I made it to the end, my main quarrel with the author was that he was so obviously part of the '1%'. He swans around the world from one continent to another. He name-drops Paul McCartney. He’s an Officer of the British Empire. He never seems to consider the cost of an innovation as a factor in its adoption. The subtitle says 'how we'll work, live and learn in the future', but @davidpriceobe doesn't really mean 'we'. This book doesn't say much about how the 99% will work, live, or learn in the future.

Technology has made possible all sorts of incredible potential changes in how we might do stuff. The subtitle suggests strongly that this book might be a futurological look at what those changes might be, but it isn’t: @davidpriceobe doesn’t consider the upside and the downside of what ‘open’ might mean, and the powerful economic and social factors driving our collective behaviour, and take a stab at predicting what this all might possibly mean for everyone in a few decades. Instead, he cherry-picks a few trends and innovations, gushes about the positive ones, and – to be fair – though he doesn’t dwell on them much, says just enough about the negative ones to scare the bejesus out of me.

The schools @davidpriceobe talks about seem to have a lot of neat ideas, and their students seem to turn out well. A lot of them also seem like they would be hell for introverts. As described, they are as rigid in their philosophies as any 19th century school, and as uncongenial for nonconformists. And I'm willing to bet that they are all also pretty expensive. And you know, at an experimental school where your parents pay a lot of money for you to go there, if you don't pull your finger out, you're gone pretty soon. So any cockamamie theory will work, since you’re selecting for the kids for which it will work. I went to a primary school that was a lot cooler and more experimental than any of the ones in the book – c. 1980. I know that young me would have been gobsmacked to hear that practically everyone in the world would still be going to rubbishy old-style 19th century schools 15 years into the 21st century. But older me is not sanguine about any government springing the bill for all citizens to go to a school like that anytime soon.

Similarly, the hivelike open workplaces the author describes, where (for example) the way employees spend their time is monitored closely enough that it makes sense to describe them being allotted 15% of the time to pursue their own projects are (1) appropriate, perhaps, for a few high-tech enterprises that employ a tiny fraction of the workforce, and (2) hell for introverts, again.

This book exists because @davidpriceobe is part of the 1%. By issuing the book in the book in this ‘closed’ format, he is modelling exactly the wrong behaviour, and clinging to the skirts of the late unlamented 20th century. An ordinary person would have just put everything he says in this book up on the internet, for free. The insights would have been just as good. But the penetration would have been much less, because the ordinary person would not have @davidpriceobe’s prestige. The economic value of this book lies only in its author’s position in the hierarchy. And at the end, I kind of felt like a rube having been suckered into paying for it.

In the same way, the economic value of a degree about stuff anyone can learn from YouTube and Wikipedia lies only in the issuing institution’s position in the hierarchy. MIT can afford to put all its lectures online for free, and people all over the world notice when it does so, purely because of its exalted place in the hierarchy of universities. Parents spend tens of thousands of dollars a year sending their children to private schools, here in a country (Australia) with perfectly good public schools, to learn things they could easily learn off the internet. The economic value there is prestige, and nothing else. To be honest I don’t know what the value of a primary and secondary school education is, in the world we live in. Keeping kids off the streets and crushing them into conformity and enabling two-income families to go on being two-income families, I guess. They ought to disappear.

So we will end up divided, I suppose, between a few people, mostly in India and China, who are actually useful and do things, a lot of people doing things that nobody really needs and being paid well for them because of societal inertia, an underclass of people who don’t have any skills that anybody wants and no motivation to acquire them, and a few people at the top actively interfering with what everybody else is doing and making it more difficult, and being paid the really big money for that. And that last group are going to be the ones talking at us, all the time.

Actually, I don’t know. I’ve got no idea how we’re going to live, work, and learn in the future. And I don’t feel any more informed or confident in my predictions after reading this book then before.

[1]: Not the joke about Tonto and the Lone Ranger. That's not particularly funny.

[2]: I mean funny 'strange', not funny 'ROFLMAO'.
...more

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Aug 23, 2014 Matthew Connolly rated it it was ok

"Open" discusses many fine subjects: collaborative, self-motivated learning; self-organizing, grassroots disaster response teams; better ways of doing business and building schools. These are all good things — when carried out in a positive way. Unfortunately, David Price's embrace of the good is exclusive and unquestioning. The "old ways" of doing business, education, and learning are all obsolete, stifling, and procrustean; the "open learning commons" that is replacing them is infinitely "Open" discusses many fine subjects: collaborative, self-motivated learning; self-organizing, grassroots disaster response teams; better ways of doing business and building schools. These are all good things — when carried out in a positive way. Unfortunately, David Price's embrace of the good is exclusive and unquestioning. The "old ways" of doing business, education, and learning are all obsolete, stifling, and procrustean; the "open learning commons" that is replacing them is infinitely superior and inevitable. I found Price's pooh-poohing of traditional practices to be somewhat grating and hyperbolic. It's true that educational systems have lost their way at the moment and are struggling to remain relevant, but to assert that making students sit in rows of desks "reminds students of their relative anonymity, and their place in the hierarchy" is a bit over the top.

A larger problem throughout the book is a near-complete absence of any mention of the negative aspects of the "open" movement. Price picks out success stories to discuss — innovative companies, hurricane relief groups, and experimental schools — but never brings up the times when the same principles that led to those successes led to equally notable failures. He speaks approvingly of the popular uprisings of the "Arab Spring" but fails to note that that same movement has nosedived quite badly over the past year. He recounts the story of an online group's successful location of a car thief, but ignores the fact that the group, by calling the suspect's employer to tell him that the employee in question "wouldn't be coming in to work today" (as he would be under arrest) crosses the line from helping the police to being presumptuous and interfering. He claims that his son taught himself the skills of Tuvan throat singing, which usually takes "years of face-to-face apprenticeship", in a mere three weeks by reading online tutorials — but he doesn't consider that what sounds the same to an amateur may sound very distinct to an experienced singer.

The book's treatment of major tech companies is particularly credulous. Google "have an unambiguous position on going 'open'" (yes, they do, but it's not what you think). "Less than one percent of eBay purchases result in fraud." (I don't know how many purchases eBay handles in a year, but I'll bet that 1% of that figure is a pretty significant number.) And Apple is barely mentioned at all, despite being the antithesis of "open" in many people's opinion. The iPad gets a cameo in a favorable comparison — is something "an iPad or a Sinclair C5" — but the iPad was developed in a "closed" process that flies in the face of many of the principles Price declares are necessary for success.

For these reasons, although I do approve of many of the "open" ideals, I can't consider "Open" very favorably. ...more

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Aug 28, 2014 Barbara rated it really liked it

Great book about the future of education and business. The ability to customize everything that we do in life, so it has meaning for our situation is changing the way society works.

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Sep 13, 2019 Fabio rated it really liked it

I read it in few step and always found learning on this book about learning. The concept of open learning breaking all barriers is not new, but we realise that today is a reality (and this book is already few years old; showing a good foresight from the author).
«Open» is impacting all aspects of our society and life, with benefits and risks, you need to know both to navigate in this rough sea.... ...more

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May 24, 2018 V J rated it it was amazing

Everyone should read!

So nice to read and understand a book that is not academically over stated. This should be part of a teachers, parents and employees CPD, leisure etc reading time - this has informed my own teacher journey vastly!

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Feb 09, 2015 Pang rated it liked it

Shelves: ecomics-finance, nonfiction, 2015

The way we’re learning and how we are as a part of the society have been evolving for the better part of the last 30 or so years. Since the birth of the internet, there are more information being shared across the globe every second of every day. The author argues that the “institutions”—societal governance, the economy, industry, the environment, our education system, and much more—are under scrutiny because we have found new ways to connect and share information. “[W]e no longer need the The way we’re learning and how we are as a part of the society have been evolving for the better part of the last 30 or so years. Since the birth of the internet, there are more information being shared across the globe every second of every day. The author argues that the “institutions”—societal governance, the economy, industry, the environment, our education system, and much more—are under scrutiny because we have found new ways to connect and share information. “[W]e no longer need the doctor to tell us what is wrong with us, or the salesperson to tell us which product to buy, or the educator to tell us the answer. We can help each other come to those conclusions.” We have become an “open” society, and these institutions need to make changes to accommodate this new phenomenon. At first, he got my attention. I was nodding along in agreements. But as I read on, I just couldn’t help but feeling that his arguments were falling apart. And as other readers suggested elsewhere, he never discussed the downside of "open."

Price made his arguments in three different areas: education reform, workplace engagement, and society as a whole. For the society, he said that we need to be motivated in order to fuel innovations and to drive social learning. And one of the ways to motivate each other is to share everything: do it yourself, do it now, do it with friends, do unto others, do it for fun, and do it for the world to see. Price made it sound like the “open” concept is a brand new way of learning. Information has always been out there, and we always have access to them. It’s called library. I think what he means is that the information wasn’t available at our fingertips, but now they are. It’s exciting to share our opinions and ideas among those with similar minds like yours. And these people don’t have to be anyone who you know personally. If you’re an outcast at school, you can still find friends online. Suddenly you’re belonged. But it’s not a new idea that people like to belong. It’s just that now it doesn’t take a whole lot of effort.

Price talked about his personal experience of when he was diagnosed with Atrial fibrillation (afib). He said that the a-fib community online was able to provide him answers and supports that he needed especially when his doctor had failed to do so. But I think taking information online at face value is quite dangerous. Who are these people providing their opinions online, and what have they done to proclaim that they are expert in such subject? You might have opinions, but that doesn’t make you an expert, especially when it comes to illnesses. I think that as a society we’re walking on thin ice here if we just believe everything on the Internet. Take the current topic of vaccination or climate change. On another hand, Price talked about what happened when someone stole a car from one car enthusiast. The owner alerted his community of car enthusiasts, and those guys got on the Internet to track down the thief! They got his name, went on to his Facebook page, got to his boss, and even got his home address and went to confront the thief themselves! In the end, they got the car back. While I see the merits, yet I’m far from suggesting it as a proper solution.

I won’t go into his suggestions for open learning in education and my opinions on that subject. Let’s just say that he presented some good points, but I think they were too thin, perhaps due to the fact that the book wasn’t the proper platform to discuss education reform.

And, as far as open learning at work is concerned, my personal experience is mostly opposite to the picture that Price had painted in his book. Almost every job I’ve been at all encouraged learning. There were brown-bag sessions to share learned experience from projects or what not. Most of my employers encouraged me to learn and grow. Some offered to pay for me to get additional degrees, if they were job related. I also have worked in teamwork settings, so collaboration hasn’t been quite a problem with me and my work places.

I downloaded this book for free and have no regret reading it. I only regret that I didn’t have someone reading the book with me, whom I can have discussions over the topic. The subject is exciting and thought provoking. Our world is definitely heading for changes in how we take in the information and process the information. We all have steep learning curve in front of us, though I don’t think “all this would represent a paradigm shift—an irreversible economic, political and societal off-axis tilt.” At least not to the extreme that the author was suggesting.

"The for-profits will collapse because shareholders are demanding profit. Whereas, the not-for-profit model has desirability, sustainability, feasibility and inevitability on its side. This is an emerging international trend. My hypothesis is that 'for-profits' will become uneconomic over the next 40 to 50years. Wouldn't it be nice to shift to a not-for-profit economy where purpose drives our primary outcomes, in terms of business?"

...more

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Jun 26, 2017 Tracy Jaconette rated it it was amazing

Open is a must read as we look toward improving student engagement and moving education forward.

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Aug 14, 2014 Joseph rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: e-books, reading-challenge-2014

“Driven by Technology, and shaped by common values, going “Open” has transformed the way we live. It's not so much a question of if our workplaces, schools and colleges open, but when.”

Some of what David Price discusses in Open: How We'll Work, Live and Learn in the Future, has been a hot topic for decades-particularly concerning the issues of education, and student engagement. Price does predict a dreary future for the traditional education model, although, I am not quite sure whether his ideas “Driven by Technology, and shaped by common values, going “Open” has transformed the way we live. It's not so much a question of if our workplaces, schools and colleges open, but when.”

Some of what David Price discusses in Open: How We'll Work, Live and Learn in the Future, has been a hot topic for decades-particularly concerning the issues of education, and student engagement. Price does predict a dreary future for the traditional education model, although, I am not quite sure whether his ideas would work much better in the long run.

Price eloquently explains the recent shift in business processes from being secretive giants that trust no competitor, to a growing network of businesses that are collaborating with each other, and sharing information in order to grow ideas more freely. Meanwhile, major universities are opening up popular courses to the general public free online, through the growing MOOC (Massive Open Online Courses) curriculum, allowing everyone the chance to learn new skills, primarily in tech and science.

With the abundance of information that is available to everyone online, a social and economic shift is taking place, with those who understand the new paradigm joining in the benefits, while those who ignore its power being left behind, on the wrong side of a digital divide of sorts. And as much as I found this book interesting, David Price offered me only one side of the story-namely his. What he doesn't bring up very often are the cons of an Open system.

There are quite a few loose ends dealing with trademarks and creative ownership that should be addressed more closely, rather than simply announcing that open sharing of all information is the future. That said, I found this book very interesting-I recommend it to anyone interested in the future of Business, Education, Technology and Economics.

One fact that is made abundantly clear from reading Open, is that the future is changing as fast as new technologies are, and those that do not (or cannot) assimilate will be stuck in a bygone era, unable to compete. ...more

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Mar 28, 2016 Mary Karpel-Jergic rated it really liked it

Shelves: education

David Price does a good job of pulling a lot of divergent thinking together from a range of sources to make a compellingly optimistic account of how we will live learn and work in the future. Rooted in the lifestyle changes brought about by the internet and digital technology the book offers interesting insights, suggestions for action and sent me off in a flurry of activity searching for more information from the sources that he cited. I do wish that the book had an index but fortunately I make ...more

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Feb 01, 2017 Brandon rated it it was ok · review of another edition

As someone who was educated both in the US (Elementary) and the U.K. (Secondary) this book should have appealed to me. These two countries are the focus of the authors vision for the future of an 'Open' society and how it will effect education the workplace and society as a whole. But I found myself time and again nodding my head in disapproval to the world that David Price tries to envision. His 'open' society of shared ideas between people was too idealistic and naïve for me to buy into. It's ...more

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Oct 29, 2013 Skylar rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, first-reads

It's hard to say what I think about this book. I wasn't quite sure what I was getting when I won a copy in the Goodreads giveaway, but it sounded interesting.

The beginning of the book was one of the most powerful things I've read in a long time and completely challenged how I think about our economic changes and how we should approach the world. I'm one of the over-educated and long-term unemployed he writes about as being the victims of an economic shift we haven't been prepared for by our ...more

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Nov 12, 2013 Skylar rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: first-reads

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Jul 22, 2014 Dave Versace rated it really liked it

A clear-eyed look at modern education and business practices that advocates convincingly for corporate information sharing and teaching systems that encourage collaboration, self-direction and personal motivation. I didn't agree with all its conclusions, but its premise of approaching reform of both education and business to respond to the rate of change in the modern world is laudable.

Rigid testing processes, inflexible curricula that don't account for different rates and modes of learning, ...more

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Feb 24, 2014 Paul rated it it was amazing

Heng Swee Keat, Singapore's education minister sets the scene - "The educational paradigm of our parents generation, which emphasized the transmission of knowledge, is quickly being overtaken by a very different paradigm. This new concept of educational success focuses on the nurturing of key skills and competencies such as the ability to seek, to curate and to synthesize information; to create and innovate; to work in diverse cross-cultural teams; as well as to appreciate global issues within ...more

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Nov 12, 2013 John Wood rated it liked it

Shelves: thelibrarything

With the increasing abundance of information available on the Internet, the way we learn new things is changing in many ways. The author discusses many aspects of this revolution and how it affects business, schools and individuals. He discusses the conglomeration of information available in what he calls the Global Learning Commons, the acronyms SOFT (sharing, open, free and trust) and MOOC (Massive Open Online Courses) and other concepts. We find out about the shift from learning being ...more

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Apr 22, 2017 Laurence To rated it it was amazing

Shelves: non-fiction

Most informative and thought-provoking! Well-written narrative filled with fascinating facts.

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Dec 07, 2014 Alison rated it really liked it

Lots of good thoughts and ideas. A couple points stand out for me: (1) "Companies can’t mandate learning, because engagement"--a pre-req of learning--"can neither be bought, nor instilled." And neither can schools, politicians, parents.... (2) The author asks the reader to consider the "most significant learning experience you can recall from your youth"--this may have taken place in formal education (school/college) or informally. Results: "usually happened outside of school, involved a mentor, ...more

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Aug 20, 2016 Trevor Gibb rated it it was amazing

This is a bold and brave book in its reach. The internet, a key facilitator in the disintegration of the traditional, linear Gutenberg technologies and their dominance in cultural/social fields, has kicked open the doors to how we Create and how we perceive and experience Work, Life, Learning, Capital, Politics etc. We are living in the age of the total-field, we are the networks we create, and they are breaking down our top-down systems. With the instantaneity of everything, there are ...more

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Oct 18, 2013 Nikki O'rourke rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I have read David Price's blogs for a while and found him:them inspiring and motivating, so was really looking forward to reading Open.
I have found it a really optimistic book, looking at the new technologies from the perspective of the good they can do and the opportunities they open up to both students and educators.
The examples of how these technologies have already been used as a force for social change, and how business has adopted approaches illustrates how the education system is lagging ...more

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Feb 06, 2015 Dee Renee Chesnut rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2015, ebooks

This ebook was free when I downloaded it to my Nook library.
I recommend it to all readers who are aware of change, and who are trying to keep up with change because our "learning lies in the telling of the story."
These are some take-aways for me:
"...while the social value of knowledge would soar, ...its economic value would plummet."
The five core beliefs for hacks are sharing, openness, decentralization, free access to computers, and world improvement.
The six imperatives of social learning ...more

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Feb 04, 2015 Mary Rhodes rated it really liked it

I liked the book, Open. The relevance for teachers, learners, and GoodReads is emphatic. The premise is that we learn through technology avenues and communities, such as GoodReads. Open source material, free access to abundant knowledge and resource, and the power of online movements are other themes. I appreciate my venture into this world through GoodReads.

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Aug 18, 2016 Jamil rated it it was amazing

David Price’s book is essential reading for anyone who wishes to understand the changes in the way information and knowledge will be transferred and accessed in the future. The content is keen and incisive, and written with an energy and passion that can only come from an expert within the field. Important ideas well evidenced by the author. Highly recommended!

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Jun 27, 2016 Celia rated it did not like it · review of another edition

I thought this book would be about now sites like Goodreads take away power of the critic and how the internet is making government more transparent.

The focus of the book is online learning and I just found the book boring.

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Feb 09, 2015 Sue J rated it it was amazing

A good look at what is happening and should be happening in our schools,universities and businesses. Education cannot remain static. The book gives food thought. All educators should read this book!

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Sep 02, 2015 Kevin rated it it was amazing

Awesome in site into learning and work. Really hit home since I'm currently under employed, and using open learning to gain more knowledge.

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May 09, 2015 Kevin McShane rated it it was amazing

Really an important read for educators. Clear argument for dumping test mania and thinking about what kids will need to thrive in the future.

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Jun 22, 2016 Anastassia rated it it was amazing

Great insight on how the education system needs to evolve to build and serve the modern society

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Aug 17, 2015 Haiko Meelis rated it it was amazing

Shelves: change

Many very useful insights into the impact of "open" on education. But actually many of them can be applied to other aspects of life.

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Apr 24, 2015 Lori Gibbany rated it really liked it

Makes a lot of great points about how learning should be and is changing

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Dec 06, 2014 Sophie Patrikios rated it liked it

Skipped some of the bits about education but generally found it useful and interesting.

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David Price is a writer, consultant, speaker, and trainer. He is a Senior Associate at the Innovation Unit,in England, and Director of Educational Arts. He consults with organisations and schools, and has led a range of ground-breaking, innovative, educationprogrammes. He has given talks all overthe world, and written extensively. In 2009, he was made an Officer of the British Empire by Her ...more

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“When President Obama asked to meet with Steve Jobs, the late Apple boss, his first question was ‘how much would it cost to make the iPhone in the United States, instead of overseas?’ Jobs was characteristically blunt, asserting that ‘those jobs are never coming back’. In point of fact, it’s been estimated that making iPhones exclusively in the US would add around $65 to the cost of each phone – not an unaffordable cost, or an unthinkable drop in margin for Apple, if it meant bringing jobs back home. But American workers aren’t going to be making iPhones anytime soon, because of the need for speed, and scale, in getting the product on to shelves around the world. When Apple assessed the global demand for the iPhone it estimated that it would need almost 9,000 engineers overseeing the production process to meet demand. Their analysts reported that it would take nine months to recruit that many engineers in the US – in China, it took 15 days. It’s these kind of tales that cause US conservative media outlets to graphically describe Asia as ‘eating the lunch’ off the tables of patriotic, if sleep-walking, American citizens. If Apple had chosen to go to India, instead of China, the costs may have been slightly higher, but the supply of suitably qualified engineers would have been just as plentiful. While China may be the world’s biggest manufacturing plant, India is set to lead the way in the industry that poses the biggest threat to western middle-class parents seeking to put their sons or daughters through college: knowledge.” — 3 likes

“The erosion of trust in public school systems has had catastrophic consequences, and will take decades to put right. As we’ve seen, attempts to make schools ‘more accountable’ for their test scores leave teachers torn between what psychologist Barry Schwartz calls ‘doing the right thing and doing the required thing’. The right thing is to teach students through personalised, flexible methods, according to their needs, interests and aspirations; the required thing is to ‘turnaround’ test scores, by ‘teaching to the test’ or, worse, ‘gaming’ the system. Successive US federal administrations have sought to improve school standards through high accountability. The pressure this puts upon schools at risk of closure and teachers – with test scores linked to pay rates – is intense. During 2011/12 a series of allegations emerged of inner-city schools in New York, Washington DC, Atlanta and Philadelphia ‘cheating’ on student test scores in order to hit accountability targets. Undoubtedly a case of fear producing wrong figures. The result of doing the required thing, above the right thing, is what Schwartz describes as a ‘de-moral-ised’ profession. The double tragedy is that, in addition to the pressure put on teachers – 50 percent of new teachers in the US leave the profession within their first five years – there’s growing evidence that the over-reliance on standardised testing fails to improve academic learning anyway.” — 1 likes

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