Pioneering Education 3.0
The future of learning in an abundant age
Our changing world needs a new educational paradigm.
That’s why my cofounder Dan Sleeman and I are focused on pioneering “Education 3.0” We’ve built top online learning programs for 7,000+ students in 75+ countries. While doing so, we noticed a pattern:
Education 1.0 was about Knowledge. Knowledge was the scarce resource in a pre-Internet world. Universities were gatekeepers of precious books and lectures. Colleges would brag about the number of volumes in their library, and the unique knowledge sets of top professors. Students sought higher education to land a good job, build a sturdy career, and move well through the world as a learn-ed person.
Education 2.0 was about Skills. The internet democratized knowledge. Evaluating and applying knowledge became more important than memorizing. Online and offline programs began to emerge to teach the skills necessary to thrive in a digital world. Skillshare + Udemy covered lower-end skills, while CBCs served the higher end. Universities added critical thinking, problem-solving, and project-based learning to their offerings.
Education 3.0 is about Agency. An agentic mindset is necessary to thrive in an ever-changing world. Knowledge acquisition is a fading relic. But even lots of skill-based learning is an AI update away from suddenly becoming obsolete. Today’s learners must first learn how to navigate a world of endless opportunity and eroding institutions. This takes a few forms:
- They must look inward, to understand their abilities and interests
- Then, they must look outward, to see the most attractive opportunity in the ever-changing fitness landscape
- Finally, they must execute self-selected, self-motivated, publicly-shared projects to demonstrate skills and attract opportunities.
Following this three-step process will allow them to develop the meta-skill of agency required to thrive personally and professionally in an abundant AI world.
Now let’s talk about this framework applied to outcomes:
Education 1.0 – Before the Internet, top academic institutions (ex: Ivy League) were finishing schools for the elite. They trained future bankers, lawyers, professors, and politicians. As gatekeepers of specialized knowledge, they chose who could enter this rarified air, and who was left out. Students gained credentials while becoming well-rounded citizens. Education for its own sake was taken seriously. Upon graduating, degrees granted students entry into high-status, decades-long career tracks.
Education 2.0 – Top universities shifted from “intellectual greenhouses” into efficient sorting mechanisms for high-status careers. Idealistic learning gave way to optimization. Deep knowledge and well-rounded learning gave way to portable strategic thinking with practical applications. Philosophy and literature were replaced by business and economics degrees – reliable entry tickets into corporate hierarchies. The Ivy League became a farm system for industries like management consulting and finance.
Education 3.0 – The world has flipped from top-down to bottom-up. Opportunities abound in an abundant world, ready to be seized by those with legible skills and the internal drive to grab them. Top institutions – academic, commercial, media, governmental – fade in importance by the day. The shifting landscape belongs to creative, agentic doers. Institutional authority is rendered obsolete. Instead of seeking expertise and status-signals, top performers will thrive in communities of like-minded partners and collaborators. These groups will continuously co-learn and co-evolve to seize the opportunities presented by accelerating technologies + their endless new affordances.
In Education 3.0, learning is Bespoke at Scale, driven by bottom-up communities of practice.
We call it “Encultured Learning.” Adaptability, agency, and collective learning are core values.
Our new company, Act Two, is built upon the Education 3.0 principles that we’ve developed. Learn more here