Eric Slaats, the Steve Jobs in the Fontys world, spoke at TEDxVeghel
Educating for an unknown future
“Mass production of knowledge dates from previous centuries. The teacher supplies knowledge, the students reproduce it. The class room resembles a factory from the days of the industrial revolution. But the world is undergoing radical changes very fast. We have to prepare students for a future that is, as yet, unknown. To educate them for professions and challenges that are equally unknown. This means that the way education is organised is going to change,” according to Eric Slaats.
Steve Jobs in the world of Fontys
Eric is a man, father, partner, eager to learn, enthusiastic, spontaneous, musical, musician, guitarist and also teaches at Fontys Faculty of ICT. He writes books and currently he is researching the behaviour of neural networks in a financial environment. Eric is inspiring and innovative and that makes him very suited to speak at the first edition of TEDxVeghel. He is always searching for the next innovation, the next step in the field of education. Searching enthusiastically for support, nationally and internationally, and always searching for improvements in education in distinguishing ways. He considers tomorrow, the day after tomorrow and the need for employees that companies will have tomorrow. "His drive, his passion, this way of looking ahead whereby he considers his most important stakeholder, his students, is totally understandable. He is highly regarded by his students, and to be honest, also seen a bit as the “Steve Jobs in the world of Fontys””, Ellen Minkels, initiator of TEDxVeghel, remarks.
TED
TED is an American non-profit organisation that offers a platform where ideas, which are worth it, can be shared. They have created a licence model to offer their ideas a broader public support and have created TEDx. The x stands for voluntary but under the strict rules of the TED brand.