Three chord wonder

Thanks to an invitation from Thomas Bernhardt over at Educamp in Bremen, I actually managed to present my Edupunk talk earlier today. Using Skype, I presented a 20 minute talk which covered the history and philosophy of Edupunk, it's analogies to the Punk Rock culture of the 1970s, and a few comments on corporate profiteering, the state of institutional VLEs and the 'Do It Yourself' approach to teaching and learning.

There were some very incisive questions from those present in Germany, and some equally delving questions and comments from others listening and viewing from elsewhere in the world across the live streaming media links. One interesting comment was that Edupunk seems to be all about taking part rather than excellence. I agree - all you needed to be a punk rocker was attitude, and if necessary, the ability to play three chords on a guitar. Edupunk encourages learners to take part - and contribute something, even if it is wrong. I pointed out that at one point, 30 years ago, I only knew 3 chords myself. Now I know several more, and play in a more sophisticated manner than I did when I was in my teens and early twenties. The same applies to learners. They learn to participate, and eventually can become quite proficient in learning within collaborative environments. They just need to be given the opportunities to gain confidence and make mistakes without being penalised. Traditional education doesn't offer enough of these opportunities.

Another comment opened up a discussion on creativity and destructiveness and the notion of 'anarchy'. Here is a recent article we published on the destructive creativity of Web 2.0. My take on this is that Edupunk is not a destructive kind of anarchy. That kind is where 'smashing the system' is replaced by nothing better. No, Edupunk promises to do for education what Punk did for music. Punk gave the British music industry a much need shot in the arm and saved it from stagnation. I also said that sometimes you need to be destructive in order to be creative. Writing contributions to a wiki takes on this form. When you have posted a wiki contribution, it is no longer your own, but becomes the property of the user group - and they are then at liberty to do what they want with it. Edit it, add to it, or even delete it completely.

I very much enjoyed participating in Educamp. Skype worked well, and those participating were as equally passionate about learning as me. Thanks Thomas for the invitation!

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