What makes the stoke different from all the other companies in education?
Our goal is not, and never will be, to go after or appease “educators”.
We strive for sustainability, but we’re not hunting for profit.
At our core, we are totally dedicated to passionate learners.
We think those learners, whoever they are, make the best teachers. Part of our core is to give teaching tools early on, to anyone who loves to learn, so they can better share that joy of discovery.
Whether you’re seven or seventy-five, Stoke is working to help you share what you do. We’re matching you up with people who think like you to keep you motivated, and suggesting you collaborate with those who are a little different, to help you grow. We’re helping you experiment with new ways of thinking and understanding and remembering. We help you keep tabs on your progress with your goal. We’re like the cross-fit of education- always varying your experience to keep you engaged.
Learning is a lifestyle.
“If you can’t apply it to real-life, it was a wasted experience.” You can take this sentence and go wash a hog with it! The definition of what can be “applied in real life” is mind bending. Can quantum mechanics be applied in real life? How about Ruby-On-Rails, or any other programming language?
Thousands of successful people didn’t know exactly how to make their invention or idea work, but kept trying anyway, usually because they were enjoying the process. The Stoke is here to help you find out if someone else might have had your idea before you, is working on it in parallel, or wants to collaborate!
Traditional education is broken, and it’s becoming irrelevant.
All that said, we strongly believe in tools you can apply to your everyday life. You don’t have to go much further than asking your nearest teenager to find out what’s wrong with our standard model for learning. If you don’t understand, checkout Lockharte’s Lament (PDF) for a great critique of today’s state-of-the-union in education.
A lot of our core content is made of of building blocks (principles) you can apply to succeeding at any tough challenge- and let’s face it, most people’s lives are pretty challenging. You’re probably not going to add to mankind’s understanding of the universe if you’re so overworked you can barely get out of bed in the morning.
Cliff-notes version: If you have fun, learn to roll with the punches, and strive to do well, you will succeed (at least statistically speaking). Stoke is here to help.