the traction of improving education is to make learning things easy.

This is dead wrong.

Learning is hard. Banging your head in desperation against a wall - repeatedly - without hope for relief - hard. You cry in despair, doing one exercise after the other. Until forever and ever - until - you get it.

And then you have achieved mastering the lesson. But only by working through exercises, thinking, reasoning about possible solutions, talking to your peers, taking a break, sweat and tears, failing, falling, getting yourself up and going again - going the hard way.

There is no easy way - Think Bruce Lee training kind of hard way.

Easy is for dumb computers - you know the type. simple instruction set. Execution of given command path - without thinking, no personality, no ingenuity, no soul required.

The way they teach math in schools, art, history, humanities and STEM. You just need to pass tests. Given command paths. To be executed flawlessly.

Understanding is not required, just obedience.

And that is what our education system is made for - obedient executors of society - sheeple.

Depriving a child of the opportunity of tackling a hard problem is the worst abuse you can do to a developing mind.
By dumbing down the goals to achieve - nobody uses math in their real life, you are not gonna need it. History is gone - why bother. The meaning of a poem ? What would that be for ?

Another form of abuse is to abandon a failing student - certifying the failure as if it were the students fault, taking all the chances from a young life just because a test was not passed. Throwing away the hopes and opportunities which might have been realized if only there had been someone to help along the difficult path.

And that is something "turning education around" is not going to achieve - if the only thing that is going to change is that we do no longer employ a teacher per 30 students per hour but one recording of one teacher for all mankind once for all eternity.

The chance of online education, of transforming the way we learn is about community. Remember programming before stack overflow and google ? I do. I made a living from solving problems which are just one google away nowadays. (just glad that still nobody noticed yet... <eg>)

Learning should be fun, not easy - in a way like going on a raid with your clan- kind of fun and hard. There should be pride and recognition by your peers and families for achieving a goal - and the support to struggle with learning.

Like the MMORG players do. Actually, the point in developing a successful game is about balancing frustration and joy. That is what is needed for education.

But in most cases the failing of students is just due to the basics.

Having a meal when hungry basic.

Having security and safety in your life basic.

Having someone to confide in basic.

Having the opportunity to be allowed to sleep basic.

Having the feeling of being accepted, wanted, loved basic.

So how to transform education ?

Get the basics right.

Education is a basic human right and duty, not a personal investment into your future which is only for the rich.

challenge the students.

Make them work together.

Support and accompany them on their journey.

Be proud of the students achievements.

It takes an entire village to raise kids. (said to be an african proverb...)