(2012-07-11) Watters Becker Hacking Schooling

Audrey Watters and Jon Becker are working on a "HackingSchooling" compilation EBook.

Watters: I think it’s worth (re)considering too what we mean by hacking “the academy,” hacking “education,” hacking “school” and hacking “schooling.” Much like the verb “to hack,” these nouns (and direct objects in that particular construction) have varied meanings that are worth cracking (hacking) open, decoding, reconsidering, and rebuilding. “Hacking school” means something more, I would argue, than “adopting EducationalTechnology”.

Becker: The “coding” frame is meaningful and well-reasoned for the blog. Christensen, Johnson & Horn (2008) use the theory of disruptive innovation in their book about the promise of individualized, web-based learning platforms.Recoding. Disruption. Those are both meaningful and useful metaphors. But, what if we use a slightly more radical frame for a narrative around the sorts of school reform afforded by modern technologies? In Hacking The Academy, in justifying the “hacking” lens, Tad Suiter writes, “Learning about and improving highly complex systems by PlayFul Innovation is at the core of what I would call the ‘Hacker ethos.’”

Aug20 update: the compilation is done.