Lot of talk about education circulating around Connect. Here are some of my thoughts. Feedback? =)

Right now, it seems as if the word "education" is too readily associated with "school."

There are so many other ways to learn. Practically everything I know about business and tech I taught myself at home (and I'm sure this applies to a lot of other people on Connect). Which just goes to say that people can learn through everyday life, media, literature, jobs, etc.

So why aren't these self-taught students receiving any "credentials" for their work? Why should it be a lot more impressive and appear more trustworthy to say you got a Bachelors in Computer Programming than to say you taught yourself how to code computer software when you got home from your job?

I think the word "education" needs to be perceived differently. Instead of associating it mainly with school, it should be, quite frankly, thought of as something that can be accessed everywhere.

What makes Education Everywhere work is instead of receiving a grade or a degree, a student will build his/her own Portfolio of Studies. Studies could include anything (ex. The Use of Electrophoresis in Biotechnology, Analysis of the Steve Jobs as a Company Figurehead, Design & Development: [Your Application Name Here], Timeline of the American Civil War, Trigonometric Functions and their Purpose, Business Techniques learned from [Job/Internship], etc.)

This Portfolio is thereby given to prospective employers who can hire based on not only a person's resume but what they learned from each job, class, and more. Ultimately, it will lead to a higher quality workforce because employers can truly see a potential employee's abilities before hiring.

?

So, this is a bit of a mind dump, brainstorm, thinking cap moment, etc

Is the problem something you believe should be solved?

How would you solve the proposed issue?