Gannon Beck

Schoolless: Using Open-source Learning to Build Expertise and Pursue a Degree Gannon Beck

Eventually, we all find ourselves schoolless. Some become schoolless when they drop out of high school, and some only after they graduate from college. Be it sooner or later, when traditional educational doors close to us, how do we go about the task of lifelong learning? We can unlock the answer by studying those who have found themselves schoolless prematurely. Some are quite notable. Steve Jobs dropped out of college after one semester. The Wright brothers never attended any college after high school. Abraham Lincoln found himself schoolless after about one year of formal schooling. Benjamin Franklin had about two. Frederick Douglass had none at all. It is from these biographies that lessons are gleaned about how one can successfully overcome a lack of access to formal education. Add to their biographies the latest psychological research into learning, as well as the lessons from the open-source movement, and what is left is part inspiration and part guide to fulfill one's intellectual potential.