In a 1980 presentation Steve Jobs asserted that man possesses the ability to manufacture tools to amplify his inherent abilities. This, he said, was exactly what they were doing at Apple: designing and manufacturing the personal computer to amplify the human brain.
The wide toolbox mind-set, which I have discussed on this blog, has its own amplifying power: it enables students to create human capital through the use of student-oriented infra-structure that facilitates self-directed learning relating to innovation, design, and entrepreneurship. Further, the cohort that adopts this mind-set learns how and what to learn in the context of the 21st century knowledge economy, as well as how to access certain tools to enhance their education. This human capital, along with entrepreneurship, might be the most important element for today’s students to create their own jobs, control their own labor, control the means of production and their intellectual property.
What is being described here is an adaptive strategy to cope with the change that is occurring at the macro-level of the economy in the relationship between labor and capital. There is an emerging view that you are responsible for your own professional development and periodically updating your skills and knowledge. At the university level, change is occurring in the relationship between student, faculty, and university administration: responsibility for what a student learns has devolved to the student. Students who are on the cutting edge of pedagogy, and are cognizant of the economic shifts occurring globally, have devised a way to fill the gap between what is required by the university to maintain their student status and what they desire and need to learn to be competitive in today’s global economy.
Here is a link to the Jobs 1980 presentation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJKlc4m5D50.