On a recent Monday night, a gaggle of 20-somethings crammed into a former Curves fitness center along the industrial edge of Carroll Gardens in Brooklyn. The storefront gym had been carved into two classrooms... It was just another school night at [Metafilter's* own] Brooklyn Brainery, a hipster schoolhouse started by a pair of underemployed polymaths, where students can learn abstruse subjects like the secret lives of bacteria, taught by teachers with few teaching credentials. Tuition is $5 to $30, enrollment takes place online and PayPal is accepted. [more inside]
posted by dersins on Apr 5, 2012 - 57 comments

'A Test You Need to Fail': A Teacher's Open Letter to Her 8th Grade Students
posted by Foci for Analysis on Mar 24, 2012 - 81 comments

An oldie but a goodie: David Bennabaum on learning how to program and be a sys admin at his high school in his youth.
posted by reenum on Aug 12, 2011 - 18 comments

144 sites for online education. Categories include science and health, business and money, history and culture, law, computer science, mathematics, and languages. [more inside]
posted by Bora Horza Gobuchul on Jul 18, 2011 - 19 comments

So you're me and you're in math class and you're learning about graph theory, a subject too interesting to be included in most grade school's curricula so maybe you're in some special program or maybe you're in college and were somehow not scarred for life by your grade school math teachers. [more inside]
posted by achmorrison on Feb 22, 2011 - 32 comments

When her son refused to do his school work, his mom had him stand out on a busy street corner with a sandwich board trumpeting his 1.22 GPA. [more inside]
posted by reenum on Feb 18, 2011 - 128 comments

Vimeo Video School is a fun place for anyone to learn how to make better videos. Start by browsing the Vimeo Lessons, or find specific video tutorials created by other members.
posted by netbros on Dec 20, 2010 - 4 comments

John Taylor Gatto's newest book, Weapons of Mass Instruction, is out today. Gatto, a former New York State "Teacher of the Year" (1991), is a critic of state education and compulsory schooling in general: "When you take the free will out of education, that turns it into schooling." [more inside]
posted by symbollocks on Dec 10, 2008 - 129 comments

Math Education: An Inconvenient Truth. How children learn (or: don't learn) math today. [more inside]
posted by davar on Sep 6, 2008 - 130 comments

PISA results are in. Finland and Canada high five and make awkward polite bows and gestures towards The Far East. For education policy Programme for International Student Assessment is the research about how 15-year old students are being educated. Briefings for UK and US. Results escape easy answers, but you might test your theory against interactive data tool. [more inside]
posted by Free word order! on Dec 4, 2007 - 47 comments