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Hi,<br>
<br>
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. <br>
<br>
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. <br>
<br>
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.<br>
<br>
This could be an interesting conversation and I am looking forward
to hearing what Anya and other iDCers have to say.<br>
<br>
Marco Deseriis<br>
<br>
<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">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: <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:deseriim@newschool.edu">deseriim@newschool.edu</a>
</pre>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
On 8/5/11 12:36 PM, Stephen Downes wrote:
<blockquote cite="mid:20110805163658.40A89EE45F6@mail.downes.ca"
type="cite">It would be better to quote Jim quoting Jim. <br>
<br>
In any case, the use of the term is probably still wrong.<br>
<br>
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.<br>
<br>
<br>
<span style="font-family:Prelude, Verdana, san-serif;"><br>
<br>
</span><span id="signature">
<div style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size:
12px;color: #999999;">-- Sent from my Palm Pre</div>
<br>
</span><span style="color:navy; font-family:Prelude, Verdana,
san-serif; ">
<hr style="width:75%" align="left">On 4 Aug 2011 11:15 p.m.,
Anya Kamenetz <a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:anyaanya@gmail.com"><anyaanya@gmail.com></a> wrote: <br>
<br>
Quoting Mike Caulfield, quoting Jim:<br>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;
font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">
<div><i><br>
</i></div>
<div><i>"I often take credit... for this concept of Edupunk. I
put out a term. And within 24 hours Mike <span class="il"
style="background-image: initial; background-attachment:
initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip:
initial; background-color: rgb(34, 160, 211); color:
rgb(206, 226, 234); background-position: initial
initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">Caulfield</span> had theoretically made
that term relevant, and [he] actually exploded it. I took
all the credit, but actually Mike <span class="il"
style="background-image: initial; background-attachment:
initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip:
initial; background-color: rgb(34, 160, 211); color:
rgb(206, 226, 234); background-position: initial
initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">Caulfield</span> made
it sensible."</i> -- Jim Groom, May 12, 2010, in his
introduction to my plenary at UMW Faculty Academy.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
</span><br>
<div class="gmail_quote">On Thu, Aug 4, 2011 at 5:58 PM, Stephen
Downes <span dir="ltr"><<a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="mailto:stephen@downes.ca">stephen@downes.ca</a>></span>
wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0
.8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex;">
<br>
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.<br>
<br>
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.<br>
<br>
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.<br>
<br>
-- Stephen<br>
<br>
<span style="font-family:Prelude, Verdana, san-serif"><br>
<br>
</span><span>
<div style="font-family:arial,
sans-serif;font-size:12px;color:#999999">
-- Sent from my Palm Pre</div>
<br>
</span><span style="color:navy;font-family:Prelude, Verdana,
san-serif">
<hr style="width:75%" align="left">
<div>
<div class="h5">On 3 Aug 2011 9:09 a.m., Anya Kamenetz
<<a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="mailto:anyaanya@gmail.com" target="_blank">anyaanya@gmail.com</a>>
wrote: <br>
<br>
Hello all!<br>
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. <br>
<br>
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). <br>
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. <br>
<br>
You can download the PDF here:<a
moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/60954896/EdupunksGuide"
target="_blank">
http://www.scribd.com/doc/60954896/EdupunksGuide</a> and
an e-reader compatible plain-text version here <a
moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/77938"
target="_blank">http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/77938</a>.
In a couple weeks there will be a better-looking
Kindle version and an<a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://edupunksguide.org/" target="_blank">
EdupunksGuide.org</a> site with community features
launches in September.<br>
<br>
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.<br>
Thanks so much,<br>
Anya<br>
<br clear="all">
<br>
-- <br>
<b><span style="color:rgb(51, 204, 255)">New ebook! </span></b><a
moz-do-not-send="true" href="http://goog_1627357189"
target="_blank"><span style="color:rgb(0, 0, 0)">The
Edupunks' Guide</span></a><b><a
moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://diyubook.com/2011/07/now-available-for-free-download-the-edupunks-guide/"
target="_blank"> </a><br>
Fast Company column</b> <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.fastcompany.com/user/anya-kamenetz"
target="_blank">Life In Beta</a><br>
<b>Tribune Media column</b> <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.tmsfeatures.com/columns/business/personal-finance/savings-game/"
target="_blank">The Savings Game</a><br>
<b>Book</b> <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.amazon.com/DIY-Edupunks-Edupreneurs-Transformation-Education/dp/1603582347"
target="_blank">DIY U: Edupunks, Edupreneurs and the
Coming Transformation of Higher Education </a><br>
<b>Blog</b> <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://diyubook.com/" target="_blank">DIYUbook.com
</a><br>
<b>Twitter </b><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://twitter.com/#%21/anya1anya"
target="_blank">@Anya1anya</a><br>
<br>
</div>
</div>
</span>
</blockquote>
</div>
<br>
<br clear="all">
<br>
-- <br>
<b><span style="color:rgb(51, 204, 255)">New ebook!</span></b><b>
</b><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/60954896/EdupunksGuide"
target="_blank">The Edupunks' Guide</a><b><br>
Fast Company column</b> <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.fastcompany.com/user/anya-kamenetz"
target="_blank">Life In Beta</a><br>
<b>Tribune Media column</b> <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.tmsfeatures.com/columns/business/personal-finance/savings-game/"
target="_blank">The Savings Game</a><br>
<b>Book</b> <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.amazon.com/DIY-Edupunks-Edupreneurs-Transformation-Education/dp/1603582347"
target="_blank">DIY U: Edupunks, Edupreneurs and the Coming
Transformation of Higher Education </a><br>
<b>Blog</b> <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://diyubook.com/" target="_blank">DIYUbook.com </a><br>
<b>Twitter </b><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://twitter.com/#%21/anya1anya" target="_blank">@Anya1anya</a><br>
<br>
</span>
<br>
<fieldset class="mimeAttachmentHeader"></fieldset>
<br>
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