Clayton Christensen, a professor at Harvard University and the author of The Innovator’s Dilemma and The Innovator’s Solution, has a new book out focused on education. It’s called Disrupting Class: How Disruptive Innovation Will Change the Way the World Learns [amazon].
The book predicts that by 2019, half of all high school classes will be taught online. This change will occur because new public and private organizations that start by adopting new technologies and methods to serve “nonconsumers” - people that the current system does not serve well - will eventually gain more market share in the Learning Economy.
For more information, check out this review from Education Week (sorry, you’ll need to create a free login to view the complete article).
Maker Faire is a two-day, family-friendly event that celebrates the
Do-It-Yourself (DIY) mindset. It’s for creative, resourceful people of
all ages and backgrounds who like to tinker and love to make things.
Maker Faire was attended by kids of all ages this weekend. And this year, for the first time since it began in 2006, Maker Faire offered a sneak preview to 500 teachers, students, and homeschool families during Education Day on Friday [my preview post].
Maker Faire embodies a few Map trends besides Do-It-Yourself. The homegrown, grassroots aspect of many of the projects point to both A New Localism and Distributed Innovation. One of the themes of Maker Faire is that if you can’t open it up and change it, it’s not yours - there’s a definite preference for open-source software and the ability to open everything up for tinkering and modification, suggesting Open Economy Principles and Deep Personalization.
I took a video camera to Education Day and went back for more fun and learning on Saturday. Here are a few videos and photos of events and exhibits:
In this video, kids play with a walking, talking robot that really loves their attentions:
This quick video shows an example of one of the homemade costumes on display by attendees:
In these two videos, several hundred spectators gathered to watch a pair of labcoated Makers drop a whole bunch of Mentos candies into a whole bunch of 2-liter bottles of Diet Coke to create a beautiful and messy display of physics in action. Part I includes the introduction and explanation, and Part II is the demonstration.
Part I:
Part II:
Every corner of the San Mateo fairgrounds held some new, weird, clever surprise - from the steampunk tractor and house on wheels to power tool drag races to robot wars to giant tesla coils and homemade musical instruments. And everywhere I looked, kids were running, skating, pedaling, and motoring from one wonder to the next.
Unfortunately, the same kids (and adults) that eagerly spent their weekend engaged in experiential learning are the same kids that are bored at school studying some of the same topics. With money channeled towards satisfying standardized experiences, few schools are able to provide learning experiences that are personalized, creative, engaging, and interactive.
The founders of Maker Faire recognize this problem. From the press release:
With budget cuts hitting schools nationwide, classes like shop, art and home economics are sadly disappearing,” lamented Maker Faire founder Dale Dougherty. “As a result, today’s students are less capable of working with their hands. These hands-on skills are absolutely vital to engineers, scientists, mechanics, chefs, and hundreds of other essential professions.”
Maker Faire combines the best elements of science fairs and live demonstrations, and invites spectators to get hands-on and become Makers - creators and shapers of their world and of their learning. These are the children that will flourish in a future of VUCA Communities and Extreme Diversity, and successful in the future that no child passed through our industrial press of education can hope to match.
As one high school student asked, “This is so much fun. Why can’t we do this kind of stuff every day?”
Hang in there, kid. You can do this kind of stuff every day - but you’ll have to wait until after you take that test and get out of class. Or until Maker Faire 2009.
I attended Maker Faire Education Day today! I’ll post more about this event on Monday, with more images and photos of students engaged in messy, loud, hands-on learning. For now, here’s an interview I shot with Sherry Huss, Director of Maker Faire:
Maker Faire 2008 Bay Area is this weekend, and comes to Austin, Texas in October. It’s fun for all ages.
I apologize to readers of the KWF blog; I’ve been on the road quite a bit lately and haven’t had time to post much. This week I was in NYC for the American Educational Research Association annual meeting - notes coming soon.
Meanwhile, here’s a low-res photo of this giant billboard I spotted in Times Square:
Click on the photo to get more information about this attack on the power of teachers’ unions.
The Infinite Thinking Machine has a great post on using open source software and the power of web 2.0 to advance digital equity (it’s also a great primer on the topics).
ITM advocates advising students on available commercial, web-based, and free tools that they can use in and out of school; students can also benefit from a list of public sources of high-bandwidth internet access, such as libraries, community centers, and free hotspots.
Lawrence Lessig, professor at Stanford Law School, champion of the free software movement, icon of participatory culture, and creator of engaging presentations, has been drafted to run for the open seat in the 12th District of California (vacant since the death of Tom Lantos).
Yes, drafted. The masses of digerati that reside in the area began an online campaign to draft Lessig. Harvard law professor John Palfrey started a Facebook group (which just passed 2500 members yesterday,) other fans have started a myspace page (now with 32 friends,) and still others launched a website.
Lessig recently ended his long-running campaign for reduced legal restrictions on copyright and trademark, and has turned his attention to corruption in the American political system. This video, released Wednesday, announces his Change Congress initiative and the three principles that he believes politicians must embrace:
No Money from Lobbyists / P.A.C.s
Ban Earmarks
Publicly Financed Elections
The video also announces that he will make a decision on whether to run by March 1st. In it, he praises the likely successor to the seat, State Senator Jackie Speier, for her excellent record, but says that she is a the perfect example of a good person operating in a broken system. The video closes with a plea to let him know if he should run on his own website, Lessig08.
This is an excellent example of the Map trends of Participatory Democracy, Institutions for Collective Action, and Open Economy Priniciples. These are all trends that support growth of open standards and inexpensive tools for education and learning and lead to An Expanding Learning Economy.
It’s also a good lesson for education reformers on how to use the power of the Grassroots Economy to promote change. There’s no lack of good ideas out there, but it will take a substantial effort to get public support to get them implemented on a systemic scale.
03/01/08 Update: Lessig has decided not to run for Congress.
03/05/08 Update: I’ve just finished watching Lessig give the evening keynote speech at ETech2008. I’ll post a link as soon as one is available.
Note: KnowledgeWorks does not endorse specific candidates for public office.
One of the best examples of media-savvy youth, the Midwest Teen Sex Show [MTSS], is seeking an intern:
We seek an intern to help with production 1 to 2 days a month, along with some basic email/schedule management throughout the month. Shoots take place one weekend a month in Chicago.
Candidates do not need extensive experience but should be energetic, creative, willing to work hard, and located in the Chicago area.
Responsibilities include:
-coordinating production schedules
-determining prop/costume needs
-moderating website comments
-organizing audience emails
-assisting director with lighting and audio on shoot days
-performing research for show topics
-coordinating interviews with media
-keeping actors focused and happy
Camera or motion graphics skills are a plus. If you are talented in front of the camera, we could use you as well.
Unfortunately the show is a labor of love, so we are unable to offer a paying position at this point, but we’ll teach you everything we know about video production and of course feed you.
And we have fun!
Via their twitterstream, I’ve learned that they also expect the intern to help with laundry and babysitting
On Thursday, you can tune into the live webcast of the Web & Where 2.0+ conference, an arts intensive hosted by the Northern California Grantmakers. It features a great lineup of guests speaking on the ways in which social media can help various sectors.
This day long Arts Intensive will reflect on the changes being led by digital culture. We will examine how foundations and organizations might want to position themselves to achieve impact within the digital cultural space. With a myriad of different speakers from various sectors, we will contemplate many of the emerging questions evolving from digital media and culture. This interactive program is designed to encourage participant engagement and discussion.
The power of the grassroots economy, coupled with the online financial tool PayPal, media-savvy youth, and 15 male teachers with a cause… it doesn’t get any better than the Ugly Teacher Beards of Jordan-Elbridge High School [JEHS] fundraiser…
Being that we are people of high moral standards as well as examples to our students and our communities, we felt we had to have a cause to promote while growing facial hair. We have collectively decided to ask fellow staff, students colleagues, friends, neighbors and spouses to help us vote on the ugliest beard.
Unlike Dick Cheney, these people know that if you can’t beat ‘em, you should join ‘em.
The office of Vice President Dick Cheney is seeking to block the release of videotaped depositions given by two aides who witnessed a physical encounter between an Iraq war opponent and Cheney.
In a motion filed Saturday, Cheney’s office contended that the videotapes could be used to invade the privacy and embarrass two aides called to testify about the encounter in a civil lawsuit.
The motion for a protective order expressed particular concern that both aides’ faces could wind up on YouTube.com.
