Mindworkers

Charlet T. Kerchner / MindWorkers

In “Austerity” Mark Blyth Traces the History and Politics of a Dangerous Idea

Mark Blyth took a career detour to be a co-editor of The Transformation of Great American School Districts. So it was with great anticipation that I read his new book, Austerity. I recommend it to educators as a valuable corrective to the belief that boosting educational standards will increase the life chances of American students […]

High Tech High and Networks of Ideas

Today I published a long-in-the-works case study of High Tech High, the collection of schools in San Diego County that follow the same design and operating principles. Each of the 11 HTH schools is small, a maximum of 125 students per grade, and personalized.  Each of the schools follows a project-based curriculum that requires students […]

Learning 2.0 The Movie, Again with Fixes

The first version of Learning 2.0, The Movie was a little fuzzy so I engineered it again and resent it to YouTube.  This one should be of higher quality.  Thanks for watching.

Finding the Intersection of “Be Nice” and “Know a Lot”

No Child Left Behind is apparently disappearing with a whimper, or at least a waiver.  The originally bipartisan law has become a bad brand. The pragmatics of the law’s demise rest in its rather silly calculation of test scores, and the backloading of expectations so that in the final years of the law the majority […]

The Elements of Learning 2.0: Developing the New Basic Skills

Learning to collaborate and to solve ill-defined problems are to the 21st Century what industrial discipline was to the last hundred years, according to those who have studied what employers and society need.  They need to be considered basic skills just as are reading, math, and science, and they are one of the key elements […]

Learning 2.0 So Far: Breakthrough Ideas and Political Deadlock

This spring, I posted Learning 2.0, a short essay on how we might reshape school reform to recognize the tremendous changes in information processing and their implications for teaching and learning. I’ve been gratified by the response.  The original post has been reprinted and passed along, which is what I had hoped, and over the […]

The Elements of Learning 2.0: Students as the real workers in education

Most education reforms start with the premise that adults need to work harder so students will learn more.  But ultimately, maybe quickly, that premise is self-defeating.  Regardless of the pedagogy used, who governs the school, or how long teachers toil, students are the real workers in the system.  Building around that reality is one of […]

The Elements of Learning 2.0: A Remix of Knowledge Acquisition and Practice

The words “remix” and “mashup” entered the vocabulary as descriptors of life in the digital age.  They are also key to what I am calling Learning 2.0, the next full-scale version of public education. At the simplest level, these new terms are represented by three teenagers using Apple Garage Band to combine bits and pieces […]

About

Charles Taylor Kerchner is an Emeritus Professor and Senior Research Fellow at Claremont Graduate University. My daily musings appear in the blog. The archives of my EdWeek blog are available via link under the 'On California' head. Some of my photography can be seen by clicking on 'Gallery.' And numerous links to academic work and other research and commentary can be found by clicking on 'Projects.'

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