Bring on the Learning Revolution

Many people would be familiar with Sir Ken Robinson's 2006 TEDTalk, Do schools kill creativity? This is the "follow-up" 4 years later at the 2010 TEDTalk.

Some key points from this TEDTalk are:

• Education dislocates people from their natural talents.
• Reforming education systems is of little use because it's trying to improve a broken model.
• What is required is a revolution that transforms the system into something else.
• Innovation is fundamental to the required transformation.
• We need to challenge what we take for granted.
• The Tyranny of Common Sense works against transformation.
• The Narrative of Linearity in education (ie. it starts here and finishes here) is an example of what is taken fro granted.
• "A three-year old isn't half a six-year old!"
• Education results in conformity through a fast food model.
• Passion is what excites the spirit and gives energy.
• Does education feed people's passions?
• Human flourishing is organic not mechanical.
• "Tread softly because you tread on my dreams." -W.B. Yeats
• Everyday, education treads on children and young people's dreams.

The video of the talk is below.

Come and Play - Video gaming

Whilst following up on some of the TEDTalk links referred to by Frank Crawford (Scottish Chief Inspector of Schools) in a recent presaentation, I came across a TEDTalk delivered by David Perry on video games. This is a contentious area for education, yet it has huge potential for learning.

In his presentation, David Perry uses a video, I'm a video game addict that was created by Michael Highland. The video is quite stimulating and thought provoking. It caused me to think about the blurring between what is virtual and real with the real becoming virtual and the virtual being real.

It challenges what schooling, teaching and learning could (and even perhaps should) look like if gaming were used in learning.

David Perry concludes his TEDTalk by highlighting that Michael Highland's video showed that video games can impact and move individuals. His closing comment was that the new paradigm of video games can open up new frontiers for creative minds that like to think big!

Imagine schools that did that.

How schools kill creativity

As I am presently between work at the moment I have had the opportunity to catch up on some of my podcasts from TEDTalks. One of my favorites is this TED video of Sir Ken Robinson. It is very provocative, insightful and funny.

Certainly one of the areas that I am particularly interested in is the place of creativity within teaching to stimulate and promote innovation to transform schooling and learning. I often wonder to what extent schools kill the creativity and passion of teachers.

"You are what you share." We-Think

Today I started reading Charles Leadbeater's recent book, WE-THINK: Mass innovation, not mass production.
It's shaping up to be a thought provoking book. Charles Leadbeater, a researcher with the London think-tank Demos, is one of the leading thinkers about innovation and creativity.

Leadbeater was

early to notice the rise of "amateur innovation" -- great ideas from outside the traditional walls, from people who suddenly have the tools to collaborate, innovate and make their expertise known.

http://www.ted.com/index.php/speakers/charles_leadbeater.html

Leadbeater has written about such ideas as personalisation. Publications include:

• Learning about personalisation (2004)
• Personalisation through participation (2004)
• The shape of things to come (2005)

We-Think examines ways in which the world wide web is changing our world. These changes are creating a culture that allows people to share and collaborate ideas and information. Leadbeater argues that "the web is a potent platform for creativity and innovation."

The sharing can be for good, but also brings with it dilemmas.

We-think explores the new phenomenon of mass creativity exemplified by web sites such as YouTube, Wikipedia and MySpace. The book ... argues that participation, rather than consumption or production, will be the key organizing idea of future society.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Leadbeater

The following YouTube clip provides an introduction to We-Think:

The thinking behind We-Think is outlined in a TEDTalk that Charles Leadbeater gave on innovation. (This talk is about 19 minutes)

The implications for schools, schooling and learning are great! Has anyone else read the book or have thoughts on the implications?

Remember: You are what you share!