Sunday, March 17, 2013

Book Review #16: Hacking Your Education

Mind = Blown

That is the best statement I can say in relation to the book Hacking your Education: Ditch the lectures, save tens of thousands, and learn more than your peers ever will by Dale J. Stephens and published this year. I found out about the book from @joesabado's Goodreads list and am glad I did!

Stephens begins the book by recounting his own experience dropping out of school in the fifth grade, and then out of college in his freshman year, to become an unschooler.  This book is not in fact a call to action, asking everyone to drop out of school.  Instead, the author encourages readers to create their own intentional learning opportunities, whether within the post-secondary system or not.

Stephens offers several suggestions for those looking to 'hack' their education, from broadening social networks, to taking out books from the library, and hopping on a place across the globe.

I think that working with students, we often hear them complain that they don't really know what they want to do, and are only in schools because that's what is expected of them.  This book encourages those students to take some time to figure out why they are in school, and determining whether that is the best way to achieve the goals they have in that moment.

I highly recommend this book to anyone and everyone, as we all know that learning is a lifelong process, and it's never to late to start!

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