🍎 The OpenEd Weekly: Rethinking Education from LeBron to "Back-to-School"

Happy Friday!

Well, we've made it through another week of questioning everything we thought we knew about education. If you've been following along, your brain might be a bit sore from all the mental gymnastics. Don't worry, unlike Simone Biles, you won't be graded on your performance.

We've covered everything from why LeBron James would be a D student to why treating education like a one-size-fits-all commodity makes about as much sense as Spotify only offering one playlist for every subscriber.

In this edition:

Let's recap the madness, shall we?

Grading LeBron James: A New Perspective on Academic Success

Matt Bowman challenged our traditional grading system with a provocative question: What if we applied academic standards to sports legends? A few data points:

• Roger Federer won 80% of matches but only 54% of points (F)

• LeBron James' all-star stats would earn mostly F's – maybe a few D’s

• Even Simone Biles' unprecedented Olympic success rate would earn her a failing grade

The lesson? Rigid grading scales often fail to capture real-world excellence. Matt introduces competency-based education (CBE) as a potential solution that better reflects the way people learn and succeed in the real world.

Read Matt's full blog post →

The Great Unbundling: Customizing Education for the 21st Century

In our latest podcast episode, Michael B. Horn, co-founder of the Clayton Christensen Institute, discusses the “unbundling” one-size-fits-all schooling is becoming obsolete.

Highlights:

• The daunting challenge of customizing education (and why many parents default to a single provider)

• How Education Savings Accounts (ESAs) are opening doors... but also creating decision paralysis

• Why Utah parents are more comfortable with the 'mix-and-match' approach

The future of education is already here; it’s just unevenly distributed.

Watch the full episode or read the summary →

Redefining "Back-to-School" for Open Learners

As traditional schools gear up for fall, we explored how open educators can create meaningful transitions and learning spaces without rigid schedules.

Ideas we loved:

• Creating cozy reading nooks or nature observation spots

• Starting the year with educational gifts (homework caddy, anyone?)

• Creative ways to capture learning goals and aspirations

Remember, it's about inspiring curiosity and joy, not recreating a classroom at home.

Read more and share your own traditions →

Quick Hits: AI, Edupreneurs, and Audiobook Benefits

From our "tl;dr Tuesday" segment:

• [Watch] Why AI won't replace humans in tech (but might make jobs more interesting) – (OpenEd podcast)

• [Listen] Meet Nasiyah Isra-Ul: 25-year-old homeschool grad turned edupreneur (LiberatEd podcast)

• 5 ways audiobooks boost learning (and give eyes a much-needed screen break) (The74million.com)

Catch up on Tuesday's quick bites →

That's a wrap for this week! We'd love to hear your thoughts on any of these topics. What resonated with you? What challenges or inspires you about the changing face of education?

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Wishing you a weekend full of curiosity and learning,

– Charlie (the OpenEd newsletter guy)