The Global Computer, the Datasphere User, and Design Education

Posted on April 1, 2008 
Filed Under Creative entrepreneur

by Ed Kuckelkorn

As the size and use of the global web continues to expand, it is becoming evident that the personal computer is turning into a little more than a terminal feeding at the global datasphere. As the form and structure of this info knowledge bank develops, it is taking on its own unique characteristics and defining how we receive information from this new medium.

Marshall McLuhan, one of the greatest media minds to date, wrote a visionary book in the 1960s titled The Medium is the Message, predicting the eventual outcome of communication technology in the 20th century. Another one of his books, The Global Village, predicted the computer datasphere as well. Both exemplify not only the content of the information, but the medium in which it was sent through and how it shaped our minds and thoughts. That is to say, that if we were to passively rely on the messenger of this new medium without critical analysis, society would turn into a nightmare of the “unimind”, in which everyone thinks the same.

The global datasphere provides infinite information to anyone with an internet connection. It soon becomes glaringly obvious that traditional education, which is based on memorizing endless categories of fragmented, linear information and then regurgitating it, is obsolete. Clearly, the greatest information storage system and extension of human memory is computer technology, which has liberated the human mind from the enslavement of old school education.

The challenge of new school education in the 21st century is not to memorize the books from the past, but rather teach students what to do with the infinite volumes of information available in the global datasphere. New school education emphasizes skills for analyzing, evaluating, and qualifying information. The next step in the process is to form the elements of the information into a completely new body of knowledge that can be applied to real world solutions in any endeavor. This new school approach to education requires the use of the right side of the brain, the center of creativity, intuition and visualization. New school education should not be about memorizing the past; instead, it should be about envisioning the future, and that requires creatively thinking about the big picture.

Design education is the exemplary educational vehicle for teaching creative thinking. It involves structure, freedom, and a synthesis of art, science and philosophy. Design is a unique area of study in which students learn to apply a specific procedure of thought and process and leads both to a new unified manifestation of the parts and elements. In other words, design is not merely a skill; it is in fact a critical way of thinking and lends itself to any problem-solving task in any area of human endeavor.

So what does the global datasphere user have to do with design education? The critical thinking process for design is the exact creative skill set needed to enable the net user to utilize the information elements in new and holistic ways, putting the individual in charge of the process. It then allows those individuals in charge to contribute and input new knowledge, which in turn continually enhances the synergy of evolutionary growth for human enlightenment. The process is not only important to the individual, it is important to the entire planet, because the challenges facing humanity need the brightest and most creative force of knowledge workers now more than ever.

As traditional education continues to fail, and as governments try to legislate their way out of this dilemma, it is obvious that only new school design education can produce creative individuals and leaders that can lead humanity into the 21st century. It is the new school design education and the rise of the individual free spirit and genus that will create future possibilities for our global humanity. Equality is not about equal income, it is about equal freedom of the mind. And now that everyone has access to global information, it is necessary to elevate human consciousness through enlightened education. That is what equality really means; it’s not about everyone being indoctrinated with the same politically correct propaganda. The new renaissance generation will overturn all obsolete institutions and bring real freedom and prosperity to the world.

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Ed Kuckelkorn is the President of Montecito Fine Arts College of Design in Monrovia, California. MFA College of Design has been providing new school design education since 1977, when Kuckelkorn founded the school. Today, MFA College of Design has enrollment of over 800 students .

 

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