Edupunk is a
do it yourself (DIY) attitude to teaching and learning practices.
Tom Kuntz described edupunk as "an approach to teaching that avoids mainstream tools like PowerPoint and Blackboard, and instead aims to bring the rebellious attitude and DIY ethos of ’70s bands like The Clash to the classroom."
Many instructional applications can be described as DIY education or ''edupunk''.
The term was first used on May 25, 2008, by
Jim Groom in his blog,
and covered less than a week later in the
Chronicle of Higher Education
''The Chronicle of Higher Education'' is a newspaper and website that presents news, information, and jobs for college and university faculty and student affairs professionals (staff members and administrators). A subscription is required to r ...
.
, an
online education
Distance education, also known as distance learning, is the education of students who may not always be physically present at a school, or where the learner and the teacher are separated in both time and distance. Traditionally, this usually in ...
theorist and an editor for the ''
International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning'', noted that "the concept of edupunk has totally caught wind, spreading through the blogosphere like wildfire".
Aspects
Edupunk has risen from an objection to the efforts of government and
corporate interests in reframing and bundling
emerging technologies into ''
cookie-cutter'' products with pre-defined application—somewhat similar to traditional
punk ideologies
Punk ideologies are a group of varied social and political beliefs associated with the punk subculture and punk rock. It is primarily concerned with concepts such as mutual aid, against selling out, egalitarianism, humanitarianism, anti-autho ...
.
The reaction to corporate influence on education is only one part of edupunk, though. Stephen Downes has identified three aspects to this approach:
* Reaction against
commercialization
Commercialization or commercialisation is the process of introducing a new product or production method into commerce—making it available on the market. The term often connotes especially entry into the mass market (as opposed to entry into ...
of learning
*
Do-it-yourself attitude
* Thinking and learning for yourself
Examples
An example of edupunk was the
University of British Columbia
The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks among the top thre ...
's course "
Wikipedia:WikiProject Murder Madness and Mayhem" experiment of creating articles on
Wikipedia
Wikipedia is a multilingual free online encyclopedia written and maintained by a community of volunteers, known as Wikipedians, through open collaboration and using a wiki-based editing system. Wikipedia is the largest and most-read refer ...
in spring 2008, "(having) one’s students as partners and peers."
A video clip illustrating an edupunk approach, produced by Tony Hirst at the Open University in the UK, on 8 June 2008, illustrated how quickly the edupunk concept has been adopted outside North America.
A website set up by Australian educators illustrates how edupunk spread,
and a presentation by
Norm Friesen of
Thompson Rivers University
Thompson Rivers University (commonly referred to as TRU) is a Public university, public teaching and research university offering Undergraduate education, undergraduate and Postgraduate education, graduate Academic degree, degrees and Vocational ...
identifies a number of possible intellectual precursors for the movement.
Hampshire College
Hampshire College is a private liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts. It was opened in 1970 as an experiment in alternative education, in association with four other colleges in the Pioneer Valley: Amherst College, Smith College, Mo ...
,
Evergreen State College
The Evergreen State College is a public liberal arts college in Olympia, Washington. Founded in 1967, it offers a non-traditional undergraduate curriculum in which students have the option to design their own study towards a degree or follow a p ...
,
Marlboro College,
New College of Florida, and
Warren Wilson College
Warren Wilson College (WWC) is a private liberal arts college in Swannanoa, North Carolina. It is known for its curriculum that combines academics, work, and service as every student must complete a requisite course of study, work an on-campu ...
are collegiate institutions imbued with edupunk ideology.
See also
*
Democratic education
Democratic education is a type of formal education that is organized democratically, so that students can manage their own learning and participate in the governance of their school. Democratic education is often specifically emancipatory, wit ...
*
Self-directed learning
Autodidacticism (also autodidactism) or self-education (also self-learning and self-teaching) is education without the guidance of masters (such as teachers and professors) or institutions (such as schools). Generally, autodidacts are individu ...
*
Student-centered education
*
Unschooling
Unschooling is an informal learning that advocates learner-chosen activities as a primary means for learning. Unschoolers learn through their natural life experiences including play, household responsibilities, personal interests and curiosit ...
*
Anarchistic free school
Self-managed social centers, also known as autonomous social centers, are self-organized community centers in which anti-authoritarians put on voluntary activities. These autonomous spaces, often in multi-purpose venues affiliated with anarc ...
*
Critical pedagogy
Critical pedagogy is a philosophy of education and social movement that developed and applied concepts from critical theory and related traditions to the field of education and the study of culture.
It insists that issues of social justice and de ...
*
Autodidacticism
Autodidacticism (also autodidactism) or self-education (also self-learning and self-teaching) is education without the guidance of masters (such as teachers and professors) or institutions (such as schools). Generally, autodidacts are individ ...
*
Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs)
Notes
References
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External links
*
*
*{{Cite web, title=An Edupunk Manifest made in Argentina , author=Catedra Datos y Digicom , work=
anifiesto Edupunk, date=July 2010 , url=http://dialogica.com.ar/edupunk/edupunk-manifest/ , url-status=dead , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120723033026/http://dialogica.com.ar/edupunk/edupunk-manifest/ , archive-date=2012-07-23
Academic terminology
Alternative education
DIY culture
Education theory