Help - Search - Members - Calendar
Full Version: Education in the Sixth World
Dumpshock Forums > Discussion > Shadowrun
bibliophile20
It's been a long running joke that the education system in America is so incredibly poor quality that modern day Americans can't find their own country (or Iraq) on a map. The sad part is that it's true; between geography test scores and public surveys, I can say that if you were to walk up to a random American on the street, there's a better-than-even chance that they won't be able to find their own city on a map of the USA.

So, here's the question then: How good is the standard of education in 2070? Now, I've read the Sprawl Survival Guide, I know that, when it comes to schools, you get what you pay for, but how good is the education that even the upper-middle class get? Are they dullards, shining only by virtue of the intellectual blackness around them (i.e. "in the kingdom of the blind, the one-eyed man is king"), or are they intelligent and informed?
Orient
Why would you need to find anything on a map? Much simpler to just say a few keywords to your comlink, and let it look up the info for you.

wink.gif

I sort of imagine that the division between public and private/corporate schools is amplified by 2070. There should be a pretty big education spectrum... I don't imagine that everyone's an idiot, but maybe the "intelligent and informed" thing really only applies to what they've been presented with. Maybe some people might be very informed, but view everything with a distinctly Renraku-schoolsystem bent. Maybe some people have studied a lot, but went to Stuffer Shack Managerial school, so their knowledge has limited application.

I dunno... I think this should be more of a judgment call by individual GMs and their presentation of the gameworld rather than any hard rule..
Kyrn
With virtual instruction, the wireless Matrix, and expert systems running educational software in simsense I don't see any reason why a relatively well-to-do family wouldn't be able to afford the kind of personal, hands-on, expert instruction that even the rich can only envy today.
I mean, the best teacher in the world could hold virtual classes and lecture a damn near infinite number of students at once, and hold multiple small classes around the world, back to back, for the richest or most promising (or most challenged, depending on the ethics of the instructor). Teaching aids would be truly multi-media and fully immersive, fully engaging students in ways we can only dream about now. VirtuaProf type software could provide one-on-one instruction at home (and guide pupils through insanely complicated homework). Thirty or forty grand in implants and bioware and a student's ability to learn is increased dramatically. Add in integrated and cross-referencing knowsofts and linguasofts (to provide faster reference to basic technical information when learning or to read Plato in the original Greek while contrasting to Faust in German) and the state of education for those who could afford it sounds, well, it sounds pretty damn cool honestly.
Penta
Kyrn: That neglects that it is probably a bad thing to implant anything in kids.

But even without implants, edtech in the 2070s would probably make RL teachers drool.

How I think education would work in the 2070s:

The divide isn't so much between public and private as between SINners and SINless. If you have a SIN, you go to school. If not, you're stuck.

The number of SINners is: A. Not growing so fast; B. Fairly constant. (The people who are growing in numbers? The SINless.)

This doesn't mean that public schools are great. They still have major issues. Inner city schools will still suck.

But. Suburban schools are unlikely to change much - IRL, for-profit schools have been tried. Apparently, it's not something that really works. In the meantime, virtual teaching methods and technology have a chance to take a bite out of costs for school boards.

Kids will still go to school - They need that for socialization and all the implicit learning that goes on in a classroom environment. But you don't really need the same Gigantic Buildings as you do today. You save enormously on materials costs - there's no way for kids to lose their textbooks, after all. You even save, to an extent, on staff salaries - you can actually handle 35-40 kids in a class at middle school or HS level, instead of it being insane like it is today.

Tech will still be donated by corps, out of enlightened interest - these are their potential workers, after all - but private foundations will also take on a huge role; not the corps, as many like to think. By 2070, this will define the difference between suburban and urban schools. Suburban schools, and the better urban schools, will have at least one charitable foundation founded by an alumnus, or parents of a former alumnus, that provides a stable budgetary base through endowments, and acts outside the governmental budgetary process to gather funds; parental donations to the foundation are encouraged the same way PTA donations are in real life - by the unspoken understanding that this is how the school pulls off what it does. Local businesses would donate too, because it's good PR. The worse-off schools are the ones that don't have those foundations.

I imagine that many schools, out of sheer inertia and parental pressure, will stick to the usual 180-day school year. This isn't so much a problem, because modern tech lets teachers do a lot more with the school day, especially in the higher grades. HS science labs in well-off districts are almost unrecognizable to 2007 eyes: Sophomore bio no longer bothers with frogs - instead, virtual humans are dissected in some districts, and the frog dissection lab is more like an autopsy. (Wonderful way of reinforcing why drunk driving is bad around prom time? Do said virtual human lab on a drunk driving victim.)

At the same time, though...Yeah. Hard-charging suburban parents do still pay for tutors and lessons and so on and so forth. Education is still, to a large part, based firstly on where you live, then on how much money you make.

That's the thing...I see the Shadowrun world, while different, as being similar in many ways to our own.

It's only when you look closer that you start to get a queasy feeling.
stevebugge
QUOTE (bibliophile20)
It's been a long running joke that the education system in America is so incredibly poor quality that modern day Americans can't find their own country (or Iraq) on a map. The sad part is that it's true; between geography test scores and public surveys, I can say that if you were to walk up to a random American on the street, there's a better-than-even chance that they won't be able to find their own city on a map of the USA.

So, here's the question then: How good is the standard of education in 2070? Now, I've read the Sprawl Survival Guide, I know that, when it comes to schools, you get what you pay for, but how good is the education that even the upper-middle class get? Are they dullards, shining only by virtue of the intellectual blackness around them (i.e. "in the kingdom of the blind, the one-eyed man is king"), or are they intelligent and informed?

Sadly the first part is far to true, and it doesn't have to be Iraq. I work at an international freight frowarding company and was rather dismayed yesterday when one of my co-workers identified Colorado as being on the east coast.

In 2070 education will probably be much less focused on general or well rounded knowledge and even more trade specific than it is now. Additionally the level of education required for basic employment will be reduced due to the advances in technology. ASSIST essentially turns what would today be somewhat complex tasks in to much more intuitive actions. However the advances in technology make education and information much more available to those who have a SIN and can afford access. The primary function of schools in 2070 will be to prepare young SINners to be good emplyees, with a secondary function of keeping children in a place where they can be easily monitored. There will of course be huge differences in curriculum between private, public, and corporate schools as well. Private will be training the elite of the future, so a well rounded education with an emphasis on leadership and problem solving will probably be the norm, and come with a premium price tag. Corporate schools will provide education to the next generation of corporate wageslaves so will have a trade and technical education that reflects the company's anticipated needs with an emphasis on efficiency and loyalty. Public Schools will have the role of educating SINners who do not work, or who work for smaller companies who do not provide an education program. They will do their best to provide basic skills and knowledge, and mostly do their best to keep them warehoused and out of trouble until they are legally adults and don't have to be there any longer.
Penta
One problem: You'd have to design curricula knowing precisely what you'll need...not one or two or even five years from now, but ten to twelve.

In case nobody's noticed, it's really hard for companies to forecast accurately one or two years down the road. Beyond that, it becomes more and more of a crapshoot.

Focusing so specifically would be brain-dead. Way I see it, you desperately want kids to have a "classical", well-rounded education...Because you have absolutely no idea what you might need by the time they're in the workforce.
stevebugge
QUOTE (Penta)
One problem: You'd have to design curricula knowing precisely what you'll need...not one or two or even five years from now, but ten to twelve.

In case nobody's noticed, it's really hard for companies to forecast accurately one or two years down the road. Beyond that, it becomes more and more of a crapshoot.

Focusing so specifically would be brain-dead. Way I see it, you desperately want kids to have a "classical", well-rounded education...Because you have absolutely no idea what you might need by the time they're in the workforce.

It's the Corporate Caste System coming in to play here. The children of the Elite Corprate Power Players go to Private Schools and get Classical Educations, the more rank and file get educated for things the Corp anticipates a need for in the future, even if the models may be inaccurate. which means they may run short in some areas and be overstocked in others, but at this level employees may be treated more like inventory or retrained or crosstrained later. The early training would not necessarily have to be skill specific, but would emphasize functional literacy (being able to read enough to do function in the Corp), concepts like deadlines, goals, following procedures, and corporate loyalty. At the Highschool age more specific skills like Accounting or Sales would be introduced based largely on the anticipated 2-4 year workforce needs. Things like Philosophy (other than the Corporate Philosophy), problem solving, Analyticial, Creative, and Critical thinking would be limited and probably even discouraged in all but the most talented candidates. The emphasis would be on a controlable, functional, workforce willing to follow the instructions put forth by the corporate leaders.
ruknabard
I think that a lot of education in SR4 would come from electronic classrooms and tutorsofts. This doesn't sound so bad at first, but think about the implications. Also, combine this with Stevebugg's thoughts up above and you've got a culture of overspecialized, job-ready idiot savants.

If you want a sample of the very bleakest view on future education, you should check out MT Anderson's "Feed"

It's technically literature for adolescents, but reads well and quickly if you're an adult. The essential breakdown is this: Modern man (and child for that matter) is fitted with a cranial implant that allows them to receive and view wireless communications/the internet (sound like a datajack to anyone?). Most people are fitted with them around 15yrs (and who wouldn't be in SR? They're cheap! And could be used by poor schools/homeschooling [knowsofts/tutorsofts]).

Because most everyone is connected from a young age, they tend to have dulled vocabulary, speak in cliches (worse yet, acronyms), and fashion their speech after the fad of the day. Connection to instant communication and search engines has also hobbled the agile mind, given that instead of remembering something you can just Google it in your head. Everyone in the novel is very...slow to say it nicely.

Its a good and quick read, but I haven't done it any justice here, its VERY distopian and meditates on the effect of instant "knowledge" (and the advertising that accompanies it).
This is a "lo-fi" version of our main content. To view the full version with more information, formatting and images, please click here.
Dumpshock Forums © 2001-2012