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).
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.
Last week, I and a few colleagues from KnowledgeWorks took a tour of the Sacramento New Technology High School [site] to see an example of an innovative and inspiring model of learning.
The New Tech Model
The New Technology Foundation is the fee-for-service school development organization that works with states or districts to design, launch, and coach New Tech schools (there are now 35). New Tech high schools are based upon project-based learning and team teaching, 21st Century skills, a strong ethos and mission, personalized learning outcomes, and a locally-developed curriculum. The technology component is a well-designed platform that supports the other elements; it includes 1-1 computing and a web-based portal that students, teachers, and parents use to record and check grades, maintain portfolios of work, view and complete assignments, and schedule classes. The model seamlessly integrates all of these components to produce a transparent, explicit, and authentic pedagogy.
The truly remarkable aspect of the New Tech model is its students. At the Sacramento school, which is 70 percent minority and 62% free/reduced lunch, there’s a 96% attendance rate. The students are engaged in the process, empowered to make decisions, and actually learning - and they are fully aware of that fact. They can explain their activities using terms like “rubrics” and “soft skills” and are versed in identifying for themselves what they want to learn and how to do so. The project-based approach and teamwork make them think deeply about group dynamics and organization. “We know what needs to be done,” and “you can’t just get by” said one student during the tour. And they feel personally responsible for success; another student told me, “At this school there’s no way you can tell your parents ‘the teacher didn’t teach me anything’”.
An example of this model in action was seen in the Physical Education / Health class, in which teachers from each of those subjects led students in analyzing their diet and exercise habits. Students were researching caloric content and burn rates in class and conferring with each other; the Health teacher noted that some of these students don’t get to eat breakfast regularly, so they all take turns bringing different foods to class to share. In the Physics and Math class, students were testing gravity and acceleration using inclined planes and meters, and plotting the results. The History and Government class was working towards a debate in which each student on a team would assume the role of a candidate for president.
The students and administrators admit that this model doesn’t work for everyone, but it only needs to work for those students that want it. As an option within a larger school district, students quickly learn whether it suits them and can return to a traditional comprehensive high school if it doesn’t.
Assessment
The proof, of course, is in the learning outcomes. New Tech students take the same standardized tests as any other public school student, and they do well, with tremendous improvements over the students in the same geographic areas attending the comprehensive schools. For example, in 2005, the Jefferson Parish High School in Los Angeles, CA, was one of the worst schools in California. In 2006, Los Angeles Unified School District launched four New Tech schools. Its 2007 report showed improvements at all schools across multiple measurements, including attendance, suspension rates, dropout rates, parent involvement, and state standardized tests - after just one year. This included Jefferson High School, one of the worst-performing schools in California; the New Tech school, Student Empowerment Academy at Jefferson High School, is considered a huge success story by the state and the local community.
Another measure of success is equity and access. The School Redesign Network [SRN], led by Linda Darling-Hammond of Stanford University, published a report in November entitled High Schools for Equity: Policy Supports for Student Learning in Communities of Color. It included the Sacramento school in its list of 5 outstanding examples of schools that work.
“These schools break the conventional links between race, poverty, and academic failure,” says Darling-Hammond. “Not only do their students receive an academically rigorous curriculum that prepares them for college and careers, they also experience learning opportunities that are culturally rich, socially and practically relevant, and responsive to their needs and interests.”
Analysis and Caveats
My own analysis of the model is that it’s a wonderful option and should be replicated widely wherever it can be supported.
Pros:
It’s not a prescriptive model; it allows for localization and tailoring and adaptation.
The New Tech Foundation provides heavy technical (implementation, coaching, etc) support for at least 3 years.
It offers very authentic assessment.
It allow failing schools to start fresh easily.
Students are aware of, and involved in, school philosophy, pedagogy, practices, etc.
There is seamless integration of model with pedagogy.
Cons:
It can be expensive. The computing technology and facilities remodeling (the model works best with double-sized classrooms) has to come from somewhere, either from grants or from public funding. States like Indiana and North Carolina and possibly New York are stepping up to fund them at the district level.
Technology refresh can be costly, (but the technology in use is nothing extravagent, and schools can easily survive 5 or 6 years without buying new equipment).
It often require MOUs with teachers, which can be difficult to get.
It can be difficult to scale; requires small schools and incredible concensus and relationship building (this isn’t really a fault of the model but of the American educational system).
This last point is perhaps the most difficult to address. Bob Pearlman, Director of Strategic Planning for the New Technology Foundation, told me, “If there’s the right climate, then we can get into the right set of partnerships”. Many states and districts are ready for change, but must corral all of the interested parties into agreement, and obtain funding.
Possibilities for the Future
I believe in the future forecasted by the Map of Future Forces Affecting Education. Therefore I believe in the New Technology model, because the students we met were prepared for it better than any other students I have ever met. At present, they are flourishing in Feral Cities and VUCA Communities. They are well-versed in Personal Digital Media and Media-Rich Pervasive Learning. And they live and breathe Personalized Learning Plans - in a sense, they partner with their teachers to become their own Learning Agents. They take all of these skills into a future of globalization, cooperation, collaboration, and rapid evolution, and I have no doubt that they will adapt and succeed in the world.
Conclusion
There is no one-size fits all model of learning that meet the needs of our students. But if we can embrace a learning economy that offers options and values meaningful, personalized learning over mass market education, the New Technology model could be a big piece of the puzzle. The systemic change is the toughest part of the problem, but it is clear that there are solutions that work if we have the courage to try them.
I and my colleagues at the KnowledgeWorks Foundation would like to thank the following people for our wonderful tour:
Bob Pearlman and Mark Morrison of the New Technology Foundation
Paula Hanzel and Kris Williams of the Sacramento New Tech HS
our three student Ambassador tour guides
and the amazing student Ambassadors on the panel that gave us their time and insights
For the second time in one year, I have visited New Tech High School in Sacramento. Without getting into the details of why this is such an amazing school, let me just focus on one reason – because the students understand the concept of learning better than most adults, including many education policywonks, education leaders, parents, and, dare I say, some teachers and principals.
I asked a simple question to a group of students, “What would be different if you weren’t attending this school and were at another school?” The first answer simply inspired me, “I wouldn’t be learning.” Many of the other students spoke with similarly related comments, not comments like “I would have a basketball team,” “I would have a prom,” or the numerous other things that reflect the cultural icon of an institution called “high school.”
I wondered if this student really knew what “learning” meant (like I do?) and her follow-up answer was just as simple and inspiring as her original answer,. “I can apply what I know.” She added, “I know when and how to use [knowledge].” I asked the other students to define learning and here were their answers:
Ability to talk with others and speak in front of others
Learn now to be organized to plan things out
Understand what I don’t know
Know how to set goals
Have an attitude of ‘can do’
That I need others to learn
That I need to collaborate to make something good
How to work in a team
How to balances schoolwork and personal life
Comfort with technology
Ability to multi-task
To have self-discipline
To be accountable and responsible for my own learning
I loved the last one equally as much as the first. Students talked about coming home from [former] schools and saying, “My teacher didn’t teach me anything.” Here at this school, “I can’t blame a teacher for not teaching me.” That is because at this school, teachers are coaches and facilitators, or as the KnowledgeWorks Map calls them, “Learning Agents”. Through project-based learning, teamwork, and technology as a tool, they have to take responsibility for their own learning. More importantly, they recognize that and embrace that. The school also uses rubrics developed loosely on the 21st Century Partnership outcomes (perhaps why some of their definitions of learning sound familiar). They shared how much they liked the rubrics. They felt they gave clarity to what was expected of them and made them take responsibility.
Applying knowledge and taking responsibility for learning. Simple, profound, and what all public schools like this one should be doing. As we have an expanded learning economy, many of our students and families will take responsibility for their learning to a new level and that may be in a school or out of a school; in a public system or in a private system. The question becomes: Why can policymakers and education leaders not mobilize around this definition of learning and ensure that all of our students can have equally as compelling learning experiences as the students at New Tech High in Sacramento.
Monica Martinez is the Vice President of Education Strategy at the KnowledgeWorks Foundation.
Education Week has an article from the Associated Press that talks about a shortage of books in Minnesota and other parts of the United States:
Textbook shortages are a national problem and the issue has been raised recently in New York, California, Illinois and Texas. In Minnesota, the money for textbooks comes from the same budget as the building repairs, supplies and equipment. St. Cloud has in recent years tapped into reserves from that budget to maintain class sizes, programs and services.
If only we had a worldwide network with information and resources these schools could tap into…
It’s amazing that neither the people quoted or the author of the article ever mention the obvious solution of web-based content. There are plenty of free resources available from Curriki, Open Education Resources Commons [OERCommons], Rice University’s Connexions, Textbook Revolution, and many others. And there are online textbooks available from most of the major education publishers, such as Pearson and Holt Rinehart and Winston.
In 2007, our species passed an interesting milestone in our cultural development: over 50% of us now live in urban areas. People continue to move from rural areas to cities, and rural areas continue to urbanize.
This migration to the city has generated some fascinating social phenomena in the Map areas of Urban Wilderness and The End of Cyberspace:
Parkour and Ninja
New forms of physical movement that adapt human forms of movement to the urban landscape are emerging.
In Parkour, practitioners attempt to get from one place to another in the most direct way possible (for example, jumping over a fence instead of going around it). It originally stressed economy of movement and simplicity, but like many art forms, it has become more stylized and complex over time and with growing popularity. In the past two years, parkour has hit the mainstream news and entertainment media. Videos, such as this one, show amazing feats of acrobatics and risk-taking:
Parkour was also used in the opening scene of the 2006 James Bond film, Casino Royale, in which the secret agent leaps off of buildings, climbs cranes, and scales walls by launching his body through the air, and in a few Nike commercials.
The most recent interesting (and educational) example of parkour is the Dangerous Ground project, in which a practitioner traversed the 50,000 square meters of Central London without touching the ground to bring attention to abandoned landmines.
In related news, for much of 2007, a ninja burglar has been on the loose in Staten Island, stealing from residents and evading police. To date, the ninja has pulled off approximately 18 robberies.
Alternative Reality Gaming, Live-Action Role Playing, and Geocaching
While not strictly confined to urban areas, new forms of gaming that combine the physical world with the a fictional element are perfectly suited to cities and populated areas.
Live-Action Role-Playing (LARP) is an extension of role-playing games (RPGs) such as Dungeons and Dragons and GURPS. In LARP dice and statistics are demphasized in favor of live theater-style action. Players act in character and play in physical settings.
Alternate Reality Gaming (ARG) uses the physical world as a game platform and overlays fictional and sometimes media elements to create a game. For example, the World Without Oil game created a real website with fake updates on a dwindling oil supply; players were invited to create stories about the effects and post them on their own sites. Cruel 2 B Kind is an assassin-style game using weapons of kindness; players are texted instructions as they hunt unknown targets in populated areas. Geocaching is the 21st century’s version of a scavenger hunt, with clues embedded in both the physical and the virtual world. Players travel to physical locations using GPS or other navigation tools to seek information and objects that other players leave behind.
These examples of gaming in urban areas fits well with the Map trends of Serious Games, Urban Computing, and First-Person View of Geography.
Found Sound, Christo, Urban Camping, Smartmobs
Urban areas have always produced new and adapted art forms, such as found art, rap music, and graffiti. Today, there are numerous new and re-emerging forms shaped by steel and asphalt.
The percussion troupe Stomp uses found objects in urban settings to produce its music. Blue Man Group does humorous and satirical rock-and-roll and percussion performances in much the same way.
The artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude are famous for their installations in both city and rural areas, but the common theme is that they are built on a large scale and designed to call attention to the physical features of the setting. Their installation in New York City’s Central Park was called The Gates and featured saffron cloth arranged along the footpaths.
A small number of city dwellers now engage in urban camping - setting up a tent in the middle of a busy city, not because they need places to sleep, but to reclaim the urban commons (and simply for fun). Urban campers have set up tents in the middle of Times Square in New York [flickr], and some clever urban campers made a tent disguised as a car cover that they “parked” on a street in Baltimore.
Finally, a variety of social cities play host to regular smartmob events such as pillow fights, cardboard fighting leagues, zombie marches, Santacon, light saber battles, and other innocuous gatherings. Recently, Ron Paul supporters have mobbed television news camera crews during the primaries and caucuses, inflating their perceived support.
These are all examples of urban forms of performance art (whether intended or not) and they all need cities to flourish. Check out the Map trends of Smart Mobbing for more information.
Conclusion
Changes in how we live, work, and play should have an impact on how we learn and how we integrate education with the real world to make it
authentic and meaningful. Cities are our melting pots and our source of dynamism, so let’s take advantage of these qualities. The good old-fashioned field trip has fallen out of style; let’s bring it back. Let’s invite local artists to explain how they view and use the local environment. Find a partner school somewhere on the other side of the planet and do cultural exchange. Encourage our students to explore the world outside of school on their own.
We must also ask ourselves how education and youth can shape and contribute to society. Get students involved in local government and see what kind of impact they can have. Encourage them to participate in local community service projects, either as part of their coursework or outside of school.
As more people live in cities and interact with more people during their daily lives, we need to tap - and contribute to - the resources and cultural opportunities of the local community and the wider world.
USA Today calls Brad Pitt and his efforts to help rebuild New Orleans an “Action Hero”.
It’s very generous of him to donate his time and his money to call attention to a positive action, but why does it take $22.5 million and Brad Pitt to build 150 pink houses?
It is our responsibility as citizens to step up and start these kinds of reconstruction efforts ourselves across the country. We have immediate needs in New Orleans and long-standing needs in feral cities like Detroit. Many governmental, non-governmental, private, business, and individual organizations are out there (for a good list of charities, check out GiveSpot; for volunteer opportunities, try VolunteerMatch). Go find one that works for you.
Update 12/11/2007: Brad Pitt is on Larry King Live on CNN right now promoting the project.
