🍎 The OpenEd Weekly: 8/18 – 8/23

Happy Friday!

Well, we’ve made it through another week of questioning everything we thought we knew about education. If you’ve been following along, your brain might be a bit sore from all the mental gymnastics. Don’t worry, unlike Simone Biles, you won’t be graded on your performance.

We’ve covered everything from why LeBron James would be a D student to why treating education like a one-size-fits-all commodity makes about as much sense as Spotify only offering one playlist for every subscriber.

In this edition: 

• What if we graded LeBron like a student? 🏀
• The great unbundling of education 🎓
• Redefining “back-to-school” for open learners 🏠
• AI, edupreneurs, and brain-boosting audiobooks 🤖

Let’s recap the madness, shall we?

Grading LeBron James: A New Perspective on Academic Success

Matt Bowman challenged our traditional grading system with a provocative question: What if we applied academic standards to sports legends? A few data points:

• Roger Federer won 80% of matches but only 54% of points (F)
• LeBron James’ all-star stats would earn mostly F’s – maybe a few D’s
• Even Simone Biles’ unprecedented Olympic success rate would earn her a failing grade

The lesson? Rigid grading scales often fail to capture real-world excellence. Matt introduces competency-based education (CBE) as a potential solution that better reflects the way people learn and succeed in the real world.

Read Matt’s full blog post →

The Great Unbundling: Customizing Education for the 21st Century

In our latest podcast episode, Michael B. Horn, co-founder of the Clayton Christensen Institute, discusses the “unbundling” one-size-fits-all schooling is becoming obsolete.

Highlights:

• The daunting challenge of customizing education (and why many parents default to a single provider)
• How Education Savings Accounts (ESAs) are opening doors… but also creating decision paralysis
• Why Utah parents are more comfortable with the ‘mix-and-match’ approach

The future of education is already here; it’s just unevenly distributed.

Watch the full episode or read the summary →

Redefining “Back-to-School” for Open Learners

As traditional schools gear up for fall, we explored how open educators can create meaningful transitions and learning spaces without rigid schedules.

Ideas we loved:

• Creating cozy reading nooks or nature observation spots
• Starting the year with educational gifts (homework caddy, anyone?)
• Creative ways to capture learning goals and aspirations

Remember, it’s about inspiring curiosity and joy, not recreating a classroom at home.

Read more and share your own traditions →

Quick Hits: AI, Edupreneurs, and Audiobook Benefits

From our “tl;dr Tuesday” segment:

• [Watch] Why AI won’t replace humans in tech (but might make jobs more interesting) – (OpenEd podcast)
• [Listen] Meet Nasiyah Isra-Ul: 25-year-old homeschool grad turned edupreneur (LiberatEd podcast)
• 5 ways audiobooks boost learning (and give eyes a much-needed screen break) (The74million.com)

Catch up on Tuesday’s quick bites →

That’s a wrap for this week! We’d love to hear your thoughts on any of these topics. What resonated with you? What challenges or inspires you about the changing face of education?

Wishing you a weekend full of curiosity and learning,

– Charlie (the OpenEd newsletter guy)