Ad Hoc Ideas for Changing the World

A long time ago, actually several long times ago, I thought that writing daily would be a good idea toward developing writing ability. The invention of the blog has realized this thought where simple self-discipline failed. Here, I get someone to read these occasionally, which appears to be enough. Had I had an English teacher that used this, I would have been a much better writer, and perhaps even choosing a different profession.

Another idea I’ve had and not implemented is what I call a narrative database. Using the old Apple card (I think it was called) concept, where knowledge was divided into what were the equivalent of index cards or screen-fulls, and then linked together in some coherent manner. By restricting a card’s content to one topic, one could accumulate information that could be combined in numerous ways to generate great volume, hopefully of publication quality. The real advantage would be the ability to initiate links that would otherwise be nonexistent.

A simple such system can be implemented on the blog by categorizing the various entries into topic headings. I’m beginning to accumulate enough to do so.

Basically, this blog is a learning experience, as well as a great source of personal enjoyment. I love writing these entries, regardless of whether they turn out to be valuable to anyone. And that’s enough.

Another idea I have not seen is the electronic equivalent of the popular 1960s programmed learning. Books on various topics were written where a chunk of information was presented followed immediately by a multiple-choice question. If the question were correctly answered, the reader was directed to go ahead in the book. If incorrectly answered, the reader was redirected to either an alternate presentation of the same topic, or a regressive lesson should an answer indicate non-mastery of a previous topic.

With multimedia presentation capabilities, it seems this idea could be expanded in effectiveness that would accelerate student progress beyond what is not considered possible. If these were designed for a large audience, the thought and effectiveness testing could be used to further increase effectiveness, even continuing to collect feedback from testing over the internet, thus allowing attention to be directed to areas of greater difficulty or insufficient challenge. In other words, continually improving.

Under such as system, students could progress at their own speed, converting extra time into greater progress, with the system assuring mastery at each level, repeating sections as needed. Further, such courses can be made available for life-long learning on the internet so adults can always be working to improve themselves and their earning capacity.

Interesting potential, I think.