Ten Theses on Do-‐It-‐Together Learning
Prof. Dr. Trebor ScholzThe New School, NYC
Metropolitan Museum, NYC. February 29
[email protected]://twitter.com/trebors
There is not a person -‐ students, teachers,
administrators -‐ who believes that the current
education system is working. -‐Cathy Davidson at MobilityShifts, October 2011
Education as Social PracticeIn 1915, the founder of The New School, John Dewey, emphasized that education does not only take place in schools and that it ought to prepare learners for democratic citizenship.
1) The current educational system is not working.
2) In the midst of the worst >inancial crisis in living
memory, what's necessary for positive institutional
change is for administrators to provide incentives
for innovation and experimentation of
programming efforts.
• Free University Movement (Berkeley, Berlin, etc)• Peer to Peer University• University of the People • Edu Factory• Khan Academy• Public School
Today, the 1970s models of DIY universities meet the technological opportunities of the Social Web.
The University of the People offers high quality, tuition free global online education in business administration and computer s c i ence . Des igned for economica l l y underdeveloped countries, 50% of enrolled students are US American.
tuition free
3) Museums as intermediary spaces for informal,
participatory learning.
Dedicated spaces for participatory learning in museums
Blended Learning (intelligent use of digital media + face to face, digital media as hook-‐ user-‐generated content tagging, blogging, podcasting, game production)“Interest-‐driven learning,” “project-‐based learning and self-‐direction” (Ito et al, 2009)
“The goal is not to provide a few classes to teach a few skills; the goal is for participants to learn to express themselves Jluently through digital media.” (Resnik, Rusk, and Cook 1998)
4) Learning is taking place in many places at
any time.
Provide a continuous, learner-‐centered experience, connect experiences inside and out of the museum
Emphasizing legitimacy of supplementing school, and university curriculum with museums programs (“learning from and with objects,” media production)
5) Social instigators rather than authoritative
professionals should lead communities in the co-‐
creation of museum experiences.
Teachers function as “learning sommeliers” or learning coaches.
6) Cross-‐generational learning
Cross-‐generational and diverse:
Pre-‐college learners (middle school and high school)
University students
Retired professionals Each class should have a percentage of those learners.
7) Experiment with new models of accreditation
(e.g., open badges)
The proposed New School Commons is an ‘Ivy League community college.’
8) Peer assessment: completely
learner administered. Expenses only focus directly
on learning.
9) Work with open educational resources.
Research is published open access.
Faculty is committed to the social relevance of their teaching and research.
Research and syllabi are published open access.
10) Museums should actively support Do-‐It-‐
Together Learning.
Learners administer themselvesPeer to peer assessment