[iDC] Discussion: The Edupunks' Guide

Mon Aug 8 17:03:26 UTC 2011

Hi Philipp,
Thanks for weighing in. What do you see as being the most feasible
sustainability models for a learner-driven future of education? In other
words, how do we do it on our own, without the corporations? A few ideas:
-Do individual teachers charge for teaching, helping you put together a
learning plan, evaluating your learning, or some other service?
-Do peer-driven networks strike out for public funding? National and state
governments seem inclined to support at least the production of open
educational resources.
-Do they form development teams to continue to solicit private donations and
foundation grants on an ongoing basis?
-Should a network strive to produce and sell valuable intellectual property
or other products as part of its learning activities?  (a workshop model, a
design collective, a small press publishing house)
-Or is the best bet to keep the whole enterprise small scale enough that
everyone, learners and facilitators can do it in their free time, while
supporting themselves through other means?
a

On Mon, Aug 8, 2011 at 12:53 PM, Philipp Schmidt <philipp at p2pu.org> wrote:

> It might be useful to discuss what the academy delivers today rather
> than the ideas behind it. My feeling is that a lot of what Anya speaks
> about resonates with the original principles and values of the
> university - and a culture of learning.
>
> The university is a crucially important institution in our modern
> history, but it has many challenges and resists change. I'd rather see
> this change coming form self-learners and edupunks, than from
> corporations trying to maximize revenue within the current structures.
>
> P
>
> On 8 August 2011 03:08, Simon Biggs <simon at littlepig.org.uk> wrote:
> > Hi Anya
> > Given that teaching is only a proportion of what education is about, and
> > undergraduate teaching a small proportion of that, I wonder how you see
> the
> > larger socio-economics of education working?
> > The main work of higher education institutions is research, the making of
> > knowledge. Most of the work involved in this is undertaken by academics
> and
> > research students (who will be the next generation of academics). Whilst
> > there are questions to be answered, as to how efficient universities are
> at
> > doing this work, this is and will remain expensive work. In the US this
> work
> > is paid for by a mixture of corporate and state funding. In Europe the
> > investment overwhelmingly by the State.
> > Research is done for is own sake but also contributes to the cultural,
> > economic and industrial development of a society. It also provides the
> > context for the teaching of undergraduate and postgraduate students. If
> you
> > are an undergraduate at an institution that is not research focused you
> may
> > not be aware of how central research is to higher education but even in
> > teaching oriented institutions there is usually some research going on.
> > Generally, although not always, the more research going on in a
> department
> > the better the department. There are many factors involved in why this is
> > so, a major one being the money that research brings in, paying for
> > resources and the academics who will, when not doing research, do some
> > teaching.
> > For research focused institutions it is not unthinkable that teaching be
> > removed from their activities. Undergraduate teaching, at least in the
> UK,
> > is generally unprofitable, if not loss-making. Not having to spend
> resources
> > on teaching could save some institutions a lot of money and allow them to
> > get on with their main work, research. If self-education was to become a
> > successful movement, that resulted in most students deciding to not
> attend
> > university, many institutions would not find this a problem and some
> would
> > financially benefit.
> > However, to remove teaching from higher education is to miss the point of
> > what higher education is about. The university is about creating a
> culture
> > where the making and sharing of knowledge is the focus. Students benefit
> > from studying in an environment where the people who develop and
> implement
> > the infrastructure around them are the experts in their field - not just
> > knowledgeable of the subject but determining the extent of that subject.
> > Even when students have little direct contact with these people they are
> > nevertheless benefiting from being in the same environment. Similarly,
> > students bring new ideas and priorities into the institution, constantly
> > renewing the environment, sometimes in very unexpected ways. Some of them
> > will progress to be the next generation of academics.
> > If one considers learning to be the only function of education then your
> key
> > question could be reasonable and the sort of answers you propose might be
> > viable. However, as education is about so much more I wonder how you
> propose
> > to assure the future health of a sector of our culture that many would
> > accept is essential to the overall health of our society. Your vision of
> > education, focused on what's in it for the student and how what they
> learn
> > can fulfil their needs, could, in this context, be considered dangerously
> > instrumentalist, reducing education to simple training and skills
> > acquisition.
> > best
> > Simon
> >
> > On 8 Aug 2011, at 00:00, Anya Kamenetz wrote:
> >
> > Hi Marco,
> > Thanks for your response.
> > My basic feeling is that the ideas contained in the word "edupunk" are
> too
> > important to remain in the subculture indefinitely. I wrote the guide for
> a
> > bright person of little means, at 17 or 25 or 35 years old, to help them
> > answer the question, "What can I do RIGHT NOW to learn what I need to
> know,
> > to accomplish the goals I set for myself, to take charge of my own
> destiny
> > both educationally and personally?"
> > For a large proportion of people right now--as for a large proportion, if
> > not the entirety, of the people on this list--that journey will include
> > earning a credential from a recognized institution. In the future, there
> > will be more alternatives, which is why I include a tutorial and sections
> on
> > "demonstrating value to a network" of practitioners, aka joining a
> community
> > of practice, which I represent as being as important as any diploma.
> > As for the "wider field of power relations." I'm not naive about this.
> Let
> > me break it down from experience. People in the for-profit higher ed
> world
> > have been cordial, but back off when I state in no uncertain terms that I
> > think their models are rife with fraud, corruption, and exploitation; The
> > Edupunks' Guide explains that for-profit and online education are not
> > synonymous, which many students don't understand, and warns students off
> the
> > former.
> > Independent innovators in the open education world I largely count as
> allies
> > and I believe the feeling is mutual.
> > The folks representing and supporting public higher education in this
> > country, like the American Association of State Colleges and
> Universities,
> > and some people in the Department of Ed, and not a few community college
> > leaders across the country, have been quite friendly to what I'm saying.
> > They want to figure out ways to use technology to give students more
> > options, better learning experiences, and of course to cut down on
> runaway
> > costs. Government cuts to higher education are the reality of the world
> we
> > live in, and DIY approaches can help maximize the resources that
> remain. The
> > people on this list have been lamenting the state of the humanities; I
> > believe that the DIY approach can also help heal the rift that has opened
> > between mainstream society and the academy because it connects students'
> > experience in the classroom more closely to the broader world.
> > So who's really uncomfortable with what I'm saying and how I'm saying it?
> A
> > small subset of academics. People whose paychecks are currently signed by
> > the academy. People for whom the transformation of education is a matter
> of
> > academic interest in the narrow sense--you may be interested in informal,
> > uncodable and untranslatable forms of self-learning, Marco, but there is
> no
> > indication on RateMyProfessor.com that you refuse to give grades or
> > credits.
> > http://www.ratemyprofessors.com/ShowRatings.jsp?tid=865558
> > So let me ask all of you who play by the academic rules whilst
> researching
> > and theorizing the transformation of the academy--is that really punk
> rock?
> > a
> >
> > On Fri, Aug 5, 2011 at 2:31 PM, Marco Deseriis <deseriim at newschool.edu>
> > wrote:
> >>
> >> Hi,
> >>
> >> When I read the title of the book, I immediately thought this was yet
> >> another example of how (formerly radical) subcultures are put to work to
> >> valorize and bring the practices of everyday life under capital.
> >>
> >> It would be interesting to know whether and how the author of this book
> >> addresses this potential contradiction. Personally, I see punk and other
> >> oppositional subcultures as expressing and disclosing forms of life and
> >> self-learning that are powerful precisely because they are informal,
> >> uncodified and untranslatable into student credits.
> >>
> >> In this case, there is also the additional risk that the DIY attitude
> may
> >> be mobilized as a form of endorsement "from below" of the rising online
> >> education industry sponsored by Republican governors such as Tim
> Pawlenty
> >> and Rick Perry. Or even worst to justify government cuts to spending in
> >> lower and higher education. After all, if we no longer need schools to
> learn
> >> why should we use taxpayers money for education? I am sure Anya has all
> the
> >> best intentions, but every reform movement falls into a wider field of
> power
> >> relations that should not be overlooked or underestimated, IMHO.
> >>
> >> This could be an interesting conversation and I am looking forward to
> >> hearing what Anya and other iDCers have to say.
> >>
> >> Marco Deseriis
> >>
> >> Marco Deseriis, PhD
> >> Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow
> >> Department of Culture and Media
> >> Eugene Lang | The New School
> >> 65 West 11th Street
> >> New York, NY 10011
> >> Email: deseriim at newschool.edu
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> On 8/5/11 12:36 PM, Stephen Downes wrote:
> >>
> >> It would be better to quote Jim quoting Jim.
> >>
> >> In any case, the use of the term is probably still wrong.
> >>
> >> And those of us actually working in the field now talk about someone
> >> coming along and "pulling a Kamenetz" - appropriating our work and
> making it
> >> some kind of pro-business thing.
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> -- Sent from my Palm Pre
> >> ________________________________
> >> On 4 Aug 2011 11:15 p.m., Anya Kamenetz <anyaanya at gmail.com> wrote:
> >>
> >> 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 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
> >>> Fast Company column Life In Beta
> >>> Tribune Media column The Savings Game
> >>> Book DIY U: Edupunks, Edupreneurs and the Coming Transformation of
> >>> Higher Education
> >>> Blog DIYUbook.com
> >>> Twitter @Anya1anya
> >>>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> --
> >> New ebook! The Edupunks' Guide
> >> Fast Company column Life In Beta
> >> Tribune Media column The Savings Game
> >> Book DIY U: Edupunks, Edupreneurs and the Coming Transformation of
> Higher
> >> Education
> >> Blog DIYUbook.com
> >> Twitter @Anya1anya
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> _______________________________________________
> >> iDC -- mailing list of the Institute for Distributed Creativity
> >> (distributedcreativity.org)
> >> iDC at mailman.thing.net
> >> https://mailman.thing.net/mailman/listinfo/idc
> >>
> >> List Archive:
> >> http://mailman.thing.net/pipermail/idc/
> >>
> >> iDC Photo Stream:
> >> http://www.flickr.com/photos/tags/idcnetwork/
> >>
> >> RSS feed:
> >> http://rss.gmane.org/gmane.culture.media.idc
> >>
> >> iDC Chat on Facebook:
> >> http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2457237647
> >>
> >> Share relevant URLs on Del.icio.us by adding the tag iDCref
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > New ebook! The Edupunks' Guide
> > Fast Company column Life In Beta
> > Tribune Media column The Savings Game
> > Book DIY U: Edupunks, Edupreneurs and the Coming Transformation of
> Higher
> > Education
> > Blog DIYUbook.com
> > Twitter @Anya1anya
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > iDC -- mailing list of the Institute for Distributed Creativity
> > (distributedcreativity.org)
> > iDC at mailman.thing.net
> > https://mailman.thing.net/mailman/listinfo/idc
> >
> > List Archive:
> > http://mailman.thing.net/pipermail/idc/
> >
> > iDC Photo Stream:
> > http://www.flickr.com/photos/tags/idcnetwork/
> >
> > RSS feed:
> > http://rss.gmane.org/gmane.culture.media.idc
> >
> > iDC Chat on Facebook:
> > http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2457237647
> >
> > Share relevant URLs on Del.icio.us by adding the tag iDCref
> >
> > Simon Biggs | simon at littlepig.org.uk | www.littlepig.org.uk
> > s.biggs at ed.ac.uk | Edinburgh College of Art | University of Edinburgh
> > www.eca.ac.uk/circle | www.elmcip.net | www.movingtargets.co.uk
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > iDC -- mailing list of the Institute for Distributed Creativity
> > (distributedcreativity.org)
> > iDC at mailman.thing.net
> > https://mailman.thing.net/mailman/listinfo/idc
> >
> > List Archive:
> > http://mailman.thing.net/pipermail/idc/
> >
> > iDC Photo Stream:
> > http://www.flickr.com/photos/tags/idcnetwork/
> >
> > RSS feed:
> > http://rss.gmane.org/gmane.culture.media.idc
> >
> > iDC Chat on Facebook:
> > http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2457237647
> >
> > Share relevant URLs on Del.icio.us by adding the tag iDCref
> >
>

-- 
*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/20110808/1de54892/attachment-0001.htm 