Anya Kamenetz has put together a brilliant book. i think i have written more in it than she has... so much is resonating.. (meaning i've scribbled stuff in the margins a ton...)
She begins with the history of ed, which is extremely insightful. And is exactly how Steven Devijver told me it should play out.
Then she goes into economics, and even makes you feel the need to shower - for the way ego gets in the way of a better world.
And then... well - dang - now - I've just read pp 80-100 and I'm on fire. thinking I won't sleep tonight. I can't decide if I should finish reading or stop to reflect.
[i'll come back to the history and econ later - because they are so perfect for a foundation - and proof of Anya's (and Steven's) brilliance - but the foundation worked so well on me - i have to log 80-100 first.]
I've called and skyped with Jim Folkestad at CSU (as we're working on the very things of which Anya writes) ... I swear he saved me from pulling my hair out.
This is how learning should be - yes?... You just have to share it - or you'll burst.
So while we're talking - he asks if I've read Rework, which I haven't - yet.., but I've watched Jason Fried's video and blogged about and repeated his comment a hundredfold at least, that "work (school) is where we get the least done."
So it was very fitting that Jim brought him up when pp 80-100 is talking about that very thing for higher ed.
Here's just a listing of my favs for now - just quoting Anya's words unless otherwise stated:
p. 84: She's quoting David Wiley on his realization of an online calculator - how it can be used by so many people, "That seemed to be somewhere between terribly fascinating and the kind of realization that it makes sense to spend the rest of your life working on."
[some linchpin passion/art happening]
[some linchpin passion/art happening]
p. 85: Students spend $1000 a year on textbooks, on average, and countless faculty hours go to preparing and updating course materials. Can uni's realize the power of Wiley's insight about the Javascript calculator at scale, and use it to cut costs and raise the quality of their offerings?
p. 88: After mentioning Downes and Siemens (and yes Couros on p xii) Anya sites Richard J. Light and the Harvard Grad School of Ed, ..."students' ability to form and participate in small study groups influenced their success in college more than multiple other factors."
and you're saying.. yeah - heard that... but read on.
p. 89: 2tor - (please fill me in if anyone knows more about this... i'm studying up - odd that their site isn't coming easy)
Anya writes: 2tor platform looks a lot like fb and that's by design says Johnson, who draws a distinction between his program and the two standard "learning management systems" in use at most colleges today, Blackboard and Moodle. "Any learning management system can deliver content, deliver exams, and have people red articles, but what you haven't been able to do before is build relationships - which are at least as valuable as the actual course content that you go through."
[which took me right to my recent following and conversing with junto folks - i mean our ning site with dabbleboard, twitterfeed, groups, etc, builds relationships for sure - but my question, does 2tor and/or junto have more... more for less? what would kids, who are network savvy pick? and why? ]
p. 90 - An introduction (for me) to OLI (Open Learning Initiative) at Carnegie Mellon Uni in Pittsburgh, with director Candice Thille
p. 91: Thille explains what happens with 2tor, "it's what might happen in a classroom under ideal circumstances, with a teacher of infinite patience, undivided attention, and inexhaustible resources of examples and hints." Like our individualization to infinity.
p. 92: And intro to Carol Twigg, founder of NCAT (National Center for Academic Transformation), and Toni Farley at Arizona State who used NCAT's guidance to rewrite a Computer Science program. Key elements of the program: student's ability to go at their own pace, to reflect, and to collab.
p. 94 - [ere's the part i had already written jason fried in the margin, before jim
mentioned him..]
Anya writes: When faculty can build on existing high-quality course material, rather than reproducing the work from scratch; when systems automate what can be automated - grading tests and quizzes, providing immediate, standardized feedback and practice; and when students can help teach each other as peers, there are significant savings to be had over traditional, butts -in-seats classroom model.
And a very cool comment from Twigg, about her accomplishments, "I'm getting tired of people saying how wonderful I am - I want them to do something along these lines"
p. 95: Prof's are far from obsolete, but it's clear their time and training is being extravagantly wasted drilling students on Spanish pronunciation, repeating 10 yr old lectures, or grading multiple-choice tests. Twigg says of traditional educators: "They really believe that the instructor and student, nose to nose, face to face is the way students learn, and they continue to believe it in spite of all evidence to the contrary."
p. 97: Anya gives a great definition of scaffolding: any kind of teaching aid that works like the training wheels on a bike to help a student until she can master a concept on her own.
p. 98: And her definition of disruptive innovation for higher ed: unbundling the various services college provides
twofold:
open courseware == content
games/networking == socialization
Then she says what's holding us back is assessment and accreditation...
She sites one father: "Why is it that my kid can't take Robotics at Carnegie Mellon, Linear Algebra at MIT, Law at Stanford? And put 130 of those together and make it a degree?"
To that she adds, "Wiley asks. Visionaries say this process, too, can be revolutionized by the right applications of technologies.."
i say let's hop to it..
exactly what we're trying to push in our district with our curriculum committee for kids creating their own courses. and in working with csu courses and pre-teacher training.
related history from steven devijver
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