Tag: education

Surveillance in our Schools – COVID-19 series

Posted on by Steve Sammartino

Google are grooming our kids. Yep, you read that right. As I type this my child is sitting next to me doing school work at home – thanks to the ‘free’ Google classroom software – on his Chromebook, with all his data being stored in Googles servers.

The world’s biggest Surveillance Capitalist is in the middle of creating a shadow profile for my boy. It doesn’t matter that he is not registered in his own name, doesn’t have a photo next to his profile or that his data is encrypted. Google can tell who he is, where he lives, what age he is, who his siblings are and pretty much everything they want to know through the data they gather. They can even build a biometric pattern of him by tagging his unique typing pattern.

Here’s what’s disturbing – at no point was I asked by the School or our Education Department to give consent to Google for my children to use their service. And the terms of services, as you can imagine, are heavily in Googles favour. There’s been no discussion that I can remember about bringing software into primary schools where the end users are below the age of reason, and the providers entire business model is based on surveillance.

Being concerned, I decided to perform some searches about the issue, ironically on the same companies search engine. My searches included:

Google Classroom – Google Classroom Issues – Google Classroom Problems

All of which yielded trouble shooting links from the same corporate giant. As I am sure you probably guessed, these weren’t the ‘problems‘ I was looking for, and herein lies the ‘issue‘.

Finally I searched Google Classroom In Australia and I was greeted with a link to an Australian Government URL which was essentially a PDF brochure from Google. I was astounded.

The problem of course is that the software they provide is very good, and comes at zero cost to education providers. But, there are better ways to provide our kids with the digital educational resources – and we need look no further than one of Australia’s best educational providers – The ABC.

The ABC is already our most trusted source of news, boasts our most visited news specific website and creates an incredible array of content across science, politics, art and culture. Our national broadcaster is something our government owns and controls and we all have a vested interest in maintaining. The ABC already offers school-aged children a broad range of entertaining and educational content in subjects ranging from maths to literacy to how to be media savvy. These have been widely used by schools to support learning, and even more so during the current closures.

So here’s what we ought do with our Aunty – the ABC – make it our National Digital Education Hub.

The ABC is well positioned to become a national provider of educational software platforms, live digital communications, and data storage. All of which would compliment what it already produces in various forms. The ABC could work closely with the education department to provide students with the digital resources we sorely need at all levels of education in Australia.

This is the perfect fit given the ABC’s remit over digital media in its charter and recent product evolution. It makes sense to utilise an existing and trusted Australian-controlled digital asset to replace services currently provided by a for-proft, foreign-owned business (such as Google) with a patchy track record in data security and nefarious designs on our personal data.

The services offered by Google Classroom – email, documents, sheets, slides,  cloud storage, file sharing, video sharing website, video chat and servers  – can all be replaced by local equivalents. In fact, the core product that Google provide to students are the simplest to build. Google Classroom tools are basic live to the cloud iterations of software we’ve had since the early 1980’s. Read here – very easy to make – not a secret. We have an opportunity to build them here and start exerting our digital sovereignty. Done well, and we could actually export the platform and licence it to other countries. Something which which would be well received in Asian markets given higher education is currently our country’s 3rd biggest export.

It’s time we got serious about our the digital side of education in Australia. And while this proposal might sound crazy to some, I’d argue we’d be crazy not to protect our children and build a system which might become a powerful fulcrum for our future.

The ATAR Disaster

Posted on by Steve Sammartino

I was once invited into a major university to lead a discussion on the Future of Education. I was excited by the prospect of exploring deeply and honestly what higher education is really for, and how it should look in the future. Ironically, I almost go chased out of the room by the same academics who invited me to challenge them.

The short version of the story goes like this: We started out by first workshopping what education was for. As expected we broadly agreed that it was for the enlightenment and betterment of society. To provide opportunities for people (students) to learn, grow and make a positive contribution socially and economically. They also agreed that purpose was more important than profit.

After this I then challenged them on why they even have an ATAR score? I continued, surely this is an outdated idea based on a model of scarcity which no longer exists? This is when things got ugly. They turned on me like I was the devil.

For those who don’t know the ATAR is a ranking system of students which is based on their academic performance in year 12. The rankings are then used to decide who gets into the ‘limited’ places Universities have for students in various courses. The more popular the course / university the higher the ATAR becomes to get into a course. To be clear, the ATAR requirment for courses is a popularity measure, not a minimum level of competence required to pass the University course. 

Back to my session at the University: After I asked about the ATAR, the attendees made lots of arguments as to why rankings and limiting numbers of students was absolutely vital. I remember this day like it has been carved into my brain with blood. So I thought I share some of the discussion which followed given that the ATAR numbers for 2019 were released just yesterday.

Academic Argument 1: Students with low ATAR’s wouldn’t be capable to pass the course they want to do.

My Counters: How do you know? Maybe the kids passion for the subject will motivate them more, maybe they are more suited to the independent study style and methods of assessment of Universities? If they do fail, so be it – why exclude them before they have a chance to prove themselves?

Academic Argument 2: We’ll end up with too many people in certain industries & areas of study.

My Counters: That’s fine – it’s a free market economy, why not let demand and supply sort out where things land, let the market decide. Economic incentives will naturally balance the market. In any case many jobs people will do 10 years from now don’t exist yet, and a large percentage of students never work in their area of formal study.

Academic Argument 3: Universities can’t fit every student that wants to study at it. Also, it would be too difficult to tutor the students, run ‘pracs’ and mark their work.

My Counters: University is like ecommerce now – we can run effective on-line versions of most courses. The size of the buildings is a limit in your minds, not our digital reality. Even so, why not have two divisions of study. On campus (those who got the ATAR) and off campus for those who didn’t make the cut. Most students don’t attend lectures these days anyway – it’s mostly done online and they submit work online. Surely a growing student base also creates employment opportunities for tutoring and marking? Why couldn’t we build new labs in alternative locations required for practical study as well?

Academic Argument 4: It’s not just the study, it’s the social element of the university, people learn from connections and being in the space.

My Counters: Let students self organise, provide forums for them to connect on, potential links with industry bodies. In any case, the environment might not be as important as you imagine.

Academic Argument 5: It would cost way too much to let every student who wants to go to University to get it.

My Counters: Expensive, yes. But hardly unaffordable. Education is our 3rd biggest export and our top 5 Universities alone have an endowment exceeding $10 billion.

You get the picture. This went on for the best part of an hour. It even got weirder at lunch, I had to sit at a table by myself, in fact some people got up and left the table I sat down at. I guess some people don’t like reality, especially when it may change how things might operate where they earn their living. I’m still glad I had the courage to do what I was asked. Mind you, I’ve had some terrific experiences presenting at Universities and even taught undergraduate students at Australia’s number 1 ranked University for a number of years. My views are not coming from some outsider who ‘doesn’t understand the system’.

Why this Matters

But here’s why I’m so passionate about the problems with the ATAR and its use for ultimate entry into Universities: It doesn’t just measure intelligence or effort. It’s really a measure of financial discrimination. The ATAR is a total disaster, designed to exclude, perpetuate false scarcity and maintain the power structure of higher education institutions.

No doubt, students with great year 12 results earn them. But the ATAR rankings by school look more like a rank for household income than anything else. In this country, we start the a process of financial discrimination from the first year of school. Just look at the top ranking schools for ATAR and the pattern is clear. Those with the most resources, get the best results. I don’t buy for a second that kids from less resourced back grounds couldn’t get the same results if they had the same access.

While we talk a lot about ‘A Fair Go’ in this country, we clearly ignore that when it comes to education. It’s a clear caste system, perpetuating generational advantage long before kids become independent economic agents.

My conclusion is that every single reason we restrict study isn’t for the students or the potential of society, but to maintain power structures in society and within educational institutions. Sadly, those with the power to change it are the beneficiaries of the existing system. If we really want to solve the massive problems we face as a society and ecologically, then we should probably aim to have as many educated people as possible and not restrict the opportunities to higher learning.

Reinvent Yourself

Posted on by Steve Sammartino

Both entrepreneurship and technology were once fringe activities. Saying you worked for yourself or you were an entrepreneur was often interpreted by the other party as admitting you were unemployed, or even unemployable, the last refuge of the unskilled and unwanted. So too with technology, that weird stuff nerds did late at night in garages with chemistry sets and soldering irons. Now these two activities are reshaping our economy and our futures, whether we pay attention to them or not.

We must all upgrade our skills in these areas if we want to remain relevant and independent in the modern economy. No doubt you’ve got used to having to upgrade your technology devices and software. Every time that message pops up on our screen, we should ask ourselves this;

‘When was the last time I upgraded my own software?

‘When did I last download a new module to make myself more useful and more in demand in the marketplace?’

Upgrading our grey matter is no longer a choice. It’s a kind of ongoing economic hygiene check, in which small regular interventions ensure our long-term economic health. And it’s easy to do if we do it regularly. It’s a game of frequency, not depth. And the really good news? For the the first time in history, it’s not a game of resources. If you have an internet connection you have every resource you need at your disposal.

Maybe you’re scared? Maybe you think you don’t have the ability or potential to cope with our complex world? Well, I have good news about that too….

The most difficult thing a human being can learn is language; when it comes to computational complexity, natural language processing (computers learning human language) is still at the top. Therefore anyone can who is clever enough to learn to speak a language (everyone reading this), is also clever enough to upgrade their skills  and reinvent their career. And just like learning a language, or learning to walk, it’s about just keeping on and keeping on. You’ll see how a little bit often can have a huge impact later. Here we need to remember the law of relatively: everyone can, but most people won’t. Your success will depend on the effort you put in compared with others. So remember 2 things:

(1) You are capable of more than you know.

(2) Most people won’t bother.

Be the person that bothers. Your future it turns out, is mostly up to you.

– – – – –

* If you want an inspirational and informative keynote on the Future of Work at your next conference  – give me a hoy here – it’s my latest jam.

The Other 1 Percent

Posted on by Steve Sammartino

Ferrari sales in Australia are up 17% on last year. While new car sales are down 3 percent. A new Gulfstream private jet has a 2 year wait list. By all accounts the one percent are doing well. But there’s another 1 percent out there which doesn’t get nearly as much attention.

This is the 1 percent who take the time and effort to invest in themselves. The few who understand the gift technology has given us to transform. This is the 1 percent who:

  • Re-educate themselves on changes in their industry
  • Turn up to the free learning event on hot topics like  E-sports, Blockchain or Artificial Intelligence
  • Learn anything, for free, on-line
  • Do night projects
  • Start a side business
  • Tap into the world’s best thinkers who publish their ideas for free
  • Read the book and not just the blog post
  • Listen to podcasts instead of FM banter
  • Aren’t concerned about keeping up with the Kardashians

All of which have the very low price tag of allocating spare time differently.

These people realise that even though there are income disparities, an eroding middle class, and change which will disrupt jobs – they’ve also been given a choice. A choice to change and adapt with the market as it moves on. A choice to be the person who invests small and frequent amounts of time to know more, become more and reduce their income risk when that change finally hits. This other one percent are thankful for the dignity of choice to ‘upgrade our skills’ we’ve all been given, and they’re taking it.

And the others? Well, they just watch the next season of that tv show they watched last year, with those people fighting each other to win some cooking battle, get voted off an island or marry someone they don’t even know. They opt out of their life and start living someone else’s.

Sure, it’s tough when the rules of business, life and the market change. But it would be tougher if we didn’t have all the choices we do to do something about it.

Why the book is always better than the movie

Posted on by Steve Sammartino

This week one of my favourite fiction books ever got released as a movie – Ready Player One. While I haven’t seen it yet, I already know the book was better. It always is.

“The movie was better” – said no one ever.

If you’ve ever read a book that got turned into a movie, you know this is true. But why?

The movie steals away our imagination. We always overlay a story with our own personal experience. Our own layer of what something should look and feel like. When we hand this over to someone else, such as a movie director, much of what we saw turns out different. It’s an inevitable reality of all creative interpretations. We always prefer our imagined version better, as we should.

This gets interesting given much of what we learn today is through video. We are now far more likely to watch a video to learn about something, than to read about it. Even less likely to read it off screen.

Reading ‘the book’ however, gives us a sense of depth and personal interpretation which just isn’t possible with audio visual. Our brains just don’t have to work as hard to paint a picture of what is, and what could be when it is delivered in full form. Ironically, the benefit of new cheap educational technology delivering quick video on anything, makes the book more valuable than ever. Part of the benefit of the slow version is that it demands we stay inside the idea longer. Reading a book offline, requires us to to change gears mentally and do more than a shallow scan. We have longer to postulate the ideas being presented, more time for our own experiences to mash up and interpret the subject at hand. While video can do that, I don’t think it can do it as well. Maybe there’s now a case for slow ideas, just like there was for slow food?

In a world where most people prefer fast and shallow, the big opportunity has opened up for those prepared to stay longer, explore a little deeper and do the work.

Steve. 

How to future proof your kids

Posted on by Steve Sammartino

There’s lots of things we can do to future proof our kids. On the top of my list would be this: Don’t condition them to into thinking they’ll get a job when they grow up.

The reason is simple – A job is only one source of potential revenue to sustain life.

This isn’t to say that jobs are bad, just that while they are young we should be introducing the concept of economics. The first concept is that we need revenue when we grow up, and a job is just one source. Imagine asking your kids this:

What will your major revenue source be when you grow up?

Their first question will be, your guessed it – What in the heck is revenue? And this invites an important conversation that opens their minds for the rest of their life. A decent answer might be this: Well, revenue is a word that describes all of the different ways we can get money for helping people. A job is just one of those ways, but there are many more. And some are more rewarding, some easier, some harder. Here are some examples Johnny and Mary:

  • Profits from selling things, or owning a business
  • Commission which can be from selling something for someone else
  • Fees for doing projects
  • Freelancing selling your skills one task at a time
  • Rents for people using things you own – like a building
  • Dividends which is money when you own a portion of a company, Like the toy shops we go to – Did you know you can own part of that toyshop!?!
  • Royalties from letting someone use your idea, like if you drew the first picture of a cartoon character
  • Licensing which is when people pay you to use something you own in another country

The list is endless, unlike the number of jobs which are about to be replaced by AI, Automation and offshoring.

You could explain all the examples above, using just one of their toys, say Lego. Shops make profit selling it. Professional Lego builders work as freelancers. The shop the Lego is sold in is rented by the person that owns  the building. Lego pay licensing fees to Star Wars to make Darth Vader. Shareholders in the Lego company share in profits from people buying lego. You get the pattern.

This will show them many possibilities. Kids are super curious about the world, and they’ll never see money in the same way again. They’ll start to see economics and different ways they can participate. More importantly though, they’ll be thinking about systems, and how to position themselves into owning the factors of production, and not being them. If we do this, we give them a chance at being the architects of their own future, and not a bricklayer in someone else’s.

Blog readers in Melbourne – I’m inviting you as a reader to The Lessons School Forgot – Live – to celebrate the launch of my new book. 

Hope to see you there, Steve. 

Why it's never been a better time to start a business

Posted on by Steve Sammartino

Lift off!

It’s ironic that governments around the world are clamouring to support large companies via the promise of jobs given that this is the greatest time in human history to start a business.

Anyone who has a had a crack at starting a venture knows the idea is the easy bit. Ideas are bit like water, absolutely vital, but there is no shortage. The hard part has always been gathering access to resources, and then compiling the resources into a system of revenue. Just think through what we needed in the past to make a business a reality:

Finance – without rich parents, friends or some security for the bank it was over before we started.

Manufacturing – how the heck would you build a facility to make stuff? There was no ‘open factories’ just a little while ago.

Retail – other than opening a store, it was difficult to get on the shelves. Especially in small volumes. Stores wanted mass market products, support by advertising.

Promotion – advertising was barely affordable other than bills posted on local walls. Newspapers, radio and TV – all too expensive for a startup.

It’s no wonder we got told to get a good education, go to university and get a stable job with a multinational corporation. Which, is still an option…. but personally, I think we are all capable of more than that. I think the gift of access we’ve all been given via technology is too precious to waste. Just look at all the barriers to entry which have now crumbled in less than a generation:

Alibaba has more than 4 million factories we can access to get a our dreams made into a physical reality.

E-commerce stores have never been easier to set up, no tech skills required.

We can connect with customers on a zillion platforms – Ebay / Etsy / App store / Facebook / Instagram / Youtube and endless others

We can get funded based on the strength of our work, passion and ideas, not how rich our contacts are.

We can access freelance workers easy on line, work from home or anywhere, and we can start part time, an hour a day instead of wasting the night watching TV shows which teach us how to make a better soufflé .

Why this matters: A.I. is coming and it WILL remove many jobs including white collar work – so we need a rebooted entrepreneurial ethic to invent our own financial futures and create new industries.

If you want more inspiration on your possible future – then check out the first chapter of my upcoming book – The Lessons School Forgot –  you’ll totally dig it.