Our annual Spring Gathering is always a great time for students, faculty, alumni and friends to get together and network, socialize and learn from one another. This past weekend was a grand experience!
HAVING FUN IN KEMAH
On Friday night we had dinner at the Cadillac Bar & Grill on the Kemah boardwalk and sat on the deck while old and new reunited around Mexican food and margaritas. Afterwards some brave souls, led by Admiral Andy, took on the “Boardwalk Bullet” – a wooden and quite rickety rollercoaster providing an awesome, yet fleeting, view on the surrounding area.
For the whole of Saturday we were in for a special treat as Mike and Quyen Courtney accommodated us in a wonderful house on the Marina in Kemah. Not only the venue, but also the food matched the awesome content of the day!
TALKING ABOUT THE FUTURE
1. KnowledgeWorks: Meet Blockchain and its implications for education
We had a day packed with futures content starting out with Alumni Katie King, Jason Swanson and Mike Courtney (Aperio Insights) sharing with us the potential of Blockchain technology for education. They presented a forecast entitled “Learning on the Block: Can Smart Transactional Models Power Personalized Learning?” which is a KnowledgeWorks and Aperio Insights collaboration.
This team also had the task of introducing us to Blockchain which uses a fascinating encryption technology system to protect data. This technology has potential applications in many fields beyond the well-known Bitcoin system. Basically, the Blockchain is a ledger which utilizes a distributed verification method, rests on distributed authority (embedded in the network itself), is totally pseudonymous, and provocatively, provides a trust-less environment. Ironically, because it is trustless, the Blockchain can be trusted! Blockchain makes self-managing institutions possible, facilitating smart contracts which are trustworthy and secure.
After introducing the basic concept of Blockchain, they shared different scenarios based on the uncertainties of hierarchical vs. distributed authority and mainstream vs. non-mainstream adoption of Blockchain, and explored the various implications.
2. Teachur, the Blockchain and Decentralized Education
Closely connected to the theme from KnowledgeWorks, we had Josh Stanley and Ben Blair of Teachur discuss their experience using the Blockchain to certify the mastery of educational objectives. Teachur hosts a dynamic repository for learning objectives, assessment and pedagogy, and pathways to master anything, drawing from its community to open source all instruction and assessment and enables curated, personalized learning pathways to anyone.
There was a general sense that education in the future might be more decentralized, much more customized and stripped of many redundant layers of educational bureaucracy hampering access to quality education for many.
3. System Solutions for Poverty in the United States (the Kaufmanns)
We also had the Kauffman family share a systems approach to tackling the wicked problem of poverty. The inspiration came from their earlier work on “Project Interlock.” Morgan and his dad, Draper, have been working on this for a couple of years and if all goes well, will see their book on this topic published sometime next year! (Some of you might recognize Draper as the author of “Systems One: An Introduction to Systems Thinking” and Kaufmann’s Rules often used in Systems Theory classes). Needless to say, as Systems Thinkers, the Kaufmanns made fascinating and even some provocative suggestions not only related to tax, but impacting most of the STEEP categories. Some of the solutions were actually quite simple compared to present practices, and we hope together with Draper and Morgan, that their work will at the very least get a promising conversation going!
4. An online visit from Oxford (Wendy Schultz)
Closer to the end, we had Wendy Schultz join us online, presenting the research she is doing on Blockchain Futures. She uses the Sensemaker software to collect “a broad range of stories about possible uses of Blockchain and how those uses could transform society, the economy, governance, and other aspect of life.”
She gave us the opportunity to participate, discussing our stories in groups before submitting them. If interested, you are more than welcome and encouraged to participate here.
Our Presenters
Spring Gathering 2016 was a fascinating event and a great way to meet those sharing our passion for the future. Thank you, once again, to everyone who contributed! We hope to see y’all again next year in Houston, Texas.
