2009 ACM EduPunk Presentation
Here are the slides I presented with my presentation on EduPunk at the 2009 Mid-Southeastern ACM Conference in Gatlinburg on 11/13/2009.

Jim Groom coined the term “EduPunk” in a blog entry in May 2008. The concept was covered in the Chronicle of Higher education the next month. I came across the term last summer through Twitter and have come to identify with the ethos.
The Punk movement manifested itself in a variety of ways, but the essential elements seem to me to be:
- Creativity
- Individuality
- Authenticity
- Non-conformity
These properties converged to create a “Do it Yourself” attitude which didn’t look to authority for how to do things, but instead found what worked for the individual as a vehicle of their own creative expression.
Although the “official” definition of EduPunk says that followers of the movement don’t use conventional tools of information transmission, I consider this a superficial element. The deeper issues are those that the EduPunks share with Punks.
Students and teachers need outlets for their creativity. In my CSIT1110 Introduction to Computer Science class I’ve tried to find interesting and fun ways for students to express themselves. This approach follows in the footsteps of Seymour Papert who wrote the book “Mindstorms: Children, Computers and Powerful Ideas,” who advocated games and other hands-on activities to foster interest and to make learning fun.
The CSIT1110 class creates web pages, programs robots, creates visual language programs in a 3D environment (Alice), and look at virtual worlds and games as part of their class work. Many of the assignments are open-ended so that students are “given permission” to be creative.
Too often, the educational system seems to be an attempt to crush the individuality out of students in favor of producing miniature copies of their instructors. Instructors also often ridicule and demean their students because of how they are different.
We should be trying to utilize these differences to channel energy into “productive” experience. This might be analogous to “Akido Education”. Akido is a martial art that attempts to use an attacker’s energy to the defender’s advantage. Instead of attacking students for playing video games, using cell phones and being addicted to various forms of media, we should be looking for ways to either incorporate these things or at least understand them well enough to see how they might facilitate learning.

Isn’t WikiPedia horrible? No, it isn’t. Sure, there are “bad” sources of information, but shouldn’t this just be another starting point of discussion? Another point should be the flexibility afforded by electronic media over printed material. The ability to change rapidly is a very important characteristic of electronic media.
Instead of criticizing “kids these days” or how things are so much worse than “in the old days,” instructors would seem to be better served by keeping up with what is going on in the world around them in order to be able to truly act an authority instead of just trying to pose as one

An authentic individual stands out as different. Most often they are ridiculed and misunderstood in their day, only to have their position vindicated with the test of time. In CSIT1110 we talk about great minds who have held onto their individuality in the face of adversity.
From the teaching side, there is power in being yourself (or some sincere version of yourself) with students. Many of them will respond in kind and this is an opening to learning.
Education is changing rapidly. The availability of open source software and the Web 2.0 environments that emerged as a result are just the beginning. Social media and collaborative environments are emerging that will allow distance learning to be better than face-to-face class offerings.
The day in which education is provided free to all is on the horizon. Traditional educational institutions need to be looking for different delivery and financial models if they are to survive and remain viable.
The EduPunks are at the forefront of the educational revolution. So… are you an EduPunk?
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