An Entrepreneur Uses Technology to Facilitate Self-Directed Learning (w/ Jim Flannery)

Entrepreneur, disability rights activist, and advocate of self-directed learning. Our guest today, Jim Flannery, is all of these. Jim is a former high school physics teacher who now advocates for self-directed learning and is the creator of the Peer Unschooling Network, a digital community for young self-directed learners. His latest project is an app that teaches young people how to thrive without school called, Curricu-Dumb: what teachers can't tell you. Gina and Kevin sat down with Jim for a wide-ranging conversation about everything from how he came across self-directed learning, his experiences creating spaces for self-directed teens, and the role of technology in learning.

1:55 - How Technology Affects the Need for Reading and Literacies: “We are speculating about what the future is going to be like. But do we really know?”
12:37 - Jim’s Winding Path from Entrepreneurship to Self-Directed Learning: “So, I went and taught, and I was like ‘Wow, it is actually worse than I thought.’”
20:32 - The Trial and Error of Creating Open Source High School “Instead of it always being that we have young people who are made to feel helpless… why not allow young people to lean on each other for support?”
26:56 - From Open Source High School to the Peer Unschooling Network: They wished that it was easier to find and meet other young unschoolers.”
34:33 - Unschooling as a Different Way to Learn and Socialize: “We think of social skills in such a limited way.”
38:26 - Learning as a Deceptively Social Process: “It could be just as powerful for me to say ‘I found this book that was really cool; you might want to check it out,’ and hand you the book.”