The Illinois Model

Answers, facts, solutions, data, statistics have never been cheaper.

We used to have to go to the library. Or flip to the back of the textbook.

But now we visit Wikipedia. Or Google it. Or ask Alexa.

Answers are objective solutions to technical questions.
What's the capital of Montana?Who was the 27th President of the United States?What are the criminal arrest demographics in New York City?If one train left New York for San Francisco at 6am.....?When is and what's the path of the next solar eclipse? What report does our corporate policy require we complete for this...?What headlight bulb belongs on a 2003 Chevy Malibu?  Though they may be complicated, answers and solutions are exact. They have end points, where the question or problem is definitively satisfied. Like a final exam with 100 multiple choice questions.

And with artificial intelligence, robots, and machine learning, answers are becoming even cheaper, more accessible, and in-demand.

But advice is expensive. It costs …

There's no value in collecting blocks unless you're connecting them to build something awesome! I've been on the fence as to whether my Weekend Building Blocks is a worthwhile project. For the past two (2) months, I've been reading a lot of crap...hardly the stuff worth the effort of sharing. This week, however, was different. So...I'm resurrecting Weekend Building Blocks this week. Just don't expect it every Friday as I'd been doing. haha.

Finnish schools. All-of-the-Above. Sapien tools. Micro-lessons. Bad slide design.
Self-Managing for Complexity. Harold Jarche talks about preparing kids for the future, using Finland's education system as a case. Integration and phenomenon-based teaching are at the heart of the reform. Jarche also draws parallels to the modern workforce.Our secret formula for writing (effective) multiple choice quizzes.Joel Smith addresses problems with multiple choice format test questions. He then offers suggestions on how to craft…