I’ve been interested in new models for learning since I was a fifteen-year-old student at Walnut Hills High School in Cincinnati, Ohio.

George Leonard taught me how to think about the future of learning in his book, Education and Ecstasy. In 1968, he wrote a scenario called Visiting Day 2001 A.D. He modeled how to think BIG. I read it when I was 16.

I configured my first 2400 baud modem in 1985 to get on the internet with the motivation to become a global citizen and communicate directly with people in the (then) Soviet Union.

I had one of my first Future of Learning epiphanies when I loaded the hypercard stack Manhole (Cyan, Inc., 1988) and navigated a rich and playful immersive world. I glimpsed the potential of the personal computer to transform how we learn.

I love comics. My avatar, Cyberneticia Cela, is a comic character brought to life in a virtual world. I share some of her adventures here.

I have been blessed with extraordinary mentors. My daughter Zohara is one of the wisest of my mentors, and the most fun.

I am happiest in deep nature.

I founded Haven: an Edge-ucation Matrix for self-directed and aspiring self-directed young people and their families. DIY support in Community. I work locally in the San Francisco Bay Area at my Berkeley office, on the California Central Coast in Morro Bay and San Luis Obispo, and online.

I am an advisor to:

Project Happiness

World Prayers Project

JeepNeed

NFTE – Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship Bay Area

Powerful Learning Practice

Here’s an excerpt from the Powerful Learning Practice interview.

If you had the power to make an immediate change to our educational system, what would you implement?

Put more emphasis on well-being and happiness than on grades and testing. Look at Finland’s school system, not as THE model, but as a model with insights to offer. They focus on well-being first and their students and teachers are excelling. The country of Bhutan is on to something with their move to put Gross National Happiness indicators above Gross National Product in importance.

What is your favorite quote and what does it mean to you?

The best way to predict the future is to invent it.–Alan Kay

Alan Kay was a maker long before #maker and #DIY started trending. The future is hands-on. I’m dedicated to collaboratively prototyping and iterating learning futures that place a high value on well-being, happiness, compassion, choice, self-direction and social justice.