Non-Degreed Learners

Ranked #20,204 in Culture & Society, #410,814 overall

It's More Important to be a Good Student than Go to a Good School

Some of the most educated and accomplished people in American history have become so without a college degree. Their biographies show that almost anyone, regardless of social background, can become highly educated. Education is for everyone, not just the wealthy.

This lens will help those who are commited to self-directing and self-regulating their own education. I will also show, in this lens and others, how those motivated to self-educate can get college credit for their efforts when a degree path makes sense.

The Mental Discipline

I publish my findings in the mental discipline category on my blog. The ongoing theme of my writings, derived from studying non-degreed learners, is that students should take personal responsibility for their own education, and be weary of becoming dependent on any educational system.
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Non-Degreed Learners in the 1700s

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Non-Degreed Learners in the 1800s

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Non-Degreed Learners in the Early to mid 1900s

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Non-Degreed Learners in the Present

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The Learning Formula

Non-degreed learners show a consistent pattern in how they learn. They use a remarkably flexible framework with striking results. The following equation can be used to estimate your level of expertise.

EXPERTISE_FORMULA

The Psychology of Learning

Those wishing to self-educated should get the following book to further understand the learning process.
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SQUIDOO: A Platform for Open Source Education

Squidoo has the power to aggrigate useful technologies and information to create education road maps. Squidoo is a tool that can facilitate affordable education for almost everybody. In order for that to happen, it's up to us--the experts--to share what we know. To succeed we must:
  1. Be unselfish: The things we've spent a lifetime of blood, sweat, and tears struggling to master are exactly what we need to share. If we have expertise, we can't hold it back.
  2. Ask the experts we know to build lenses.
  3. Expand society's definition of "educated" beyond the term "college educated." After all, where would we be without Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, Thomas Paine, Frederick Douglass, Abraham Lincoln, Mark Twain, Thomas Edison, The Wright Brothers, Walt Disney, Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, and Michael Dell?

ARE YOU LENSING TO ME??!!

Let's SQUIDOO some learning lenses

A good learning lens, in my opinion, can be used like a class syllabus. It should give a learner the tools he or she needs, and the suggested the order in which to use the tools. A good lens will encourage all three components of the learning formula. I'll add more as I find them. For now, here is my first crack at one:
Learn to be an Illustrator
Here is my example of a learning lens.
The Personal MBA
Business schools don't have a monopoly on worldly wisdom. If you care more about increasing your effectiveness at work than a diploma and a few lines on your resume, the Personal MBA is for you
How to Mentor through Lenses
This lens exists as a repository of the best practices about creating learning lenses.
Self-Educate. Get Credit.
This learning lens exists to provide guidance for those who would like to study U.S. History on their own yet gain college credit for their efforts. The History of the United States I exam covers early colonization of America up to 1877.

Other Lenses to Check Out

Here are some links to lenses of like-minded LensMasters on Squidoo. Well . . . I don't know if they agree with me, but I agree with them! I'll add more links in the future.
Metacognition: Thinking About Your Own Thinking
Crystal King's lens on metacognition.
The Power of Self-Learning:Constructivism
Crystal King's lens (Go Crystal!) on constructivism.
Finding Inspiration
Rajesh Setty's lens on reading.

by

GannonBeck

I am an illustrator living in Virginia. I am an advocate of learning, mentoring, and sharing knowledge.
Get my book at Schoolless Lens
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