[iDC] Discussion: The Edupunks' Guide

[Anya Kamenetz]

Quoting Mike Caulfield, quoting Jim:
*
*
*"I often take credit... for this concept of Edupunk. I put out a term. And
within 24 hours Mike Caulfield had theoretically made that term relevant,
 and [he] actually exploded it. I took all the credit, but actually Mike
Caulfield made it sensible."* -- Jim Groom, May 12, 2010, in his
introduction to my plenary at UMW Faculty Academy.


On Thu, Aug 4, 2011 at 5:58 PM, Stephen Downes <stephen at downes.ca> wrote:

>
> For the record, Jim Groom didn't "help" coin the term 'edupunk', he coined
> it, pure and simple, by himself, not "helping" some undesignated other.
>
> The major popularizers of the term were probably Gardner Campbell and
> myself, which is why we were the ones on the SXSW edupunk panel eith Jim.
>
> We have our disagreements, but I think we'd all agree that if Jim says a
> use of the term is incorrect, it probably is.
>
> -- Stephen
>
>
>
> -- Sent from my Palm Pre
>
> ------------------------------
> On 3 Aug 2011 9:09 a.m., Anya Kamenetz <anyaanya at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Hello all!
> I was asked to try to start up a discussion for this week. This happens to
> be the week that my new e-book is being released, titled The Edupunks' Guide
> to a DIY Credential. It's the first-ever book underwritten by the Gates
> Foundation, and a follow-up to my 2010 book DIY U. Where DIY U made
> historical, economic and political arguments about the future of education,
> this is a guidebook. The premise is that learners who are curious and
> lacking in resources (money, time, physical access to a campus) can use the
> guide to create the future of education for themselves right now, by writing
> a personal learning plan, recruiting mentors and a personal learning network
> of peers, participating in online communities, and using open courseware.
> There are also profiles of a variety of institutions, organizations, and
> networks that specialize in catering to the needs of learners who are
> nontraditional in some way, and helping them to do all of the above and in
> many cases receive accreditation for learning done in nontraditional ways
> and contexts. The writing style is simple and assumes little prior knowledge
> of anything, even Google.
>
> As a guidebook, the arguments made by this book are implicit. One is that
> anyone can be an edupunk, as long as they feel their needs are not being met
> by the current education system. Among those who have objected to this
> appropriation of the term is Jim Groom, who helped coin it (although Mike
> Caulfield, another person instrumental in popularizing the term, agrees with
> my usage).
> Another is that rather than engage directly with reforming the system,
> change can be made by learners pursuing their own goals with the resources
> available to them now. One of the more prosaic changes I'd like to see is
> for colleges to review their prior learning, portfolio credit, and transfer
> credit policies to allow more students to receive credit for learning
> achieved in open environments. I believe this might happen if more students
> were aware of the options and petitioned their colleges to accept these
> credits.
>
> You can download the PDF here:http://www.scribd.com/doc/60954896/EdupunksGuide and
> an e-reader compatible plain-text version here
> http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/77938. In a couple weeks there will
> be a better-looking Kindle version and an EdupunksGuide.org<http://edupunksguide.org/> site
> with community features launches in September.
>
> I'd love to hear what people think about the implicit arguments I've
> articulated here and anything else you find worthy of note in the book
> itself.
> Thanks so much,
> Anya
>
>
> --
> *New ebook! *The Edupunks' Guide <http://goog_1627357189>*
> <http://diyubook.com/2011/07/now-available-for-free-download-the-edupunks-guide/>
> Fast Company column* Life In Beta<http://www.fastcompany.com/user/anya-kamenetz>
> *Tribune Media column* The Savings Game<http://www.tmsfeatures.com/columns/business/personal-finance/savings-game/>
> *Book* DIY U: Edupunks, Edupreneurs and the Coming Transformation of
> Higher Education
> <http://www.amazon.com/DIY-Edupunks-Edupreneurs-Transformation-Education/dp/1603582347>
> *Blog* DIYUbook.com <http://diyubook.com/>
> *Twitter *@Anya1anya <http://twitter.com/#%21/anya1anya>
>
>


-- 
*New ebook!** *The Edupunks'
Guide<http://www.scribd.com/doc/60954896/EdupunksGuide>
*
Fast Company column* Life In Beta<http://www.fastcompany.com/user/anya-kamenetz>
*Tribune Media column* The Savings
Game<http://www.tmsfeatures.com/columns/business/personal-finance/savings-game/>
*Book* DIY U: Edupunks, Edupreneurs and the Coming Transformation of  Higher
Education
<http://www.amazon.com/DIY-Edupunks-Edupreneurs-Transformation-Education/dp/1603582347>
*Blog* DIYUbook.com <http://diyubook.com/>
*Twitter *@Anya1anya <http://twitter.com/#%21/anya1anya>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mailman.thing.net/pipermail/idc/attachments/20110804/7ea7a89b/attachment.htm