bhsmith's review against another edition
4.0
This quick read offers some amazing insight into the future of learning. By turning the educational system into an environment of play and imagination within a reasonable set of boundaries, students will be able to harness the power of technology and innovation while improving their learning. Lots of great lessons to take away from this book... and probably worth reading with some frequency.
poachedeggs's review against another edition
3.0
I wanted this book to go a little deeper than it actually did.
carolynf's review against another edition
1.0
This is a very short book, only 100 pages long, but the author still manages to talk around the topic instead of delivering. He explains that "kids today" are even more ill-suited to lecture than students in the past. There is a lot of talk about how explicit knowledge, like the exact speed of light, is fine presented in the format of lecture or text, but to really understand a topic you need tacit knowledge. Tacit knowledge comes from experience and interaction. In a learning environment, you get tacit knowledge by reading the experiences of others, experimenting, and contributing your comments and creations to the community. The author is very dismissive of explicit knowledge, and feels that students shouldn't be taught anything that can't just be Googled, to which I say: http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/extended_mind.png.
Even more frustrating is that he doesn't give any hints as to how teachers can actually do this in the classroom. I thought that we would actually learn how to "cultivate the imagination for a world of constant change," but no. He says that "The new culture of learning is about the kind of tension that develops when students with an interest... are faced with a set of constraints that allow them to act only within certain boundaries." So... examples? steps? case studies? no? The only hint he gives is to say that if a student has a passion for basketball, don't assign basketball themed story problems, instead ask "What is the best way to shoot a basketball?" and let him pursue his own answers. That isn't really very helpful to a teacher trying to design lesson plans. He also describes five characteristics of the "gamer disposition," but nothing about how to leverage these characteristics or what to do with the kids who AREN'T gamers.
Finally, there is the gender issue. The male pronoun is used almost exclusively to describe his students. Possibly because his students are almost exclusively gamers and he's decided that gamer = male. The only women mentioned in the book are a mom in an analogy who likes to game because it brings her family closer together, Annette Lareau's research on income versus access to education. The gamers in all of his examples are supportive and helpful of each other, and embrace diversity. To the author, MMOs are wonderful meritocracies, where everyone is welcome to play. There are a ton of articles out there describing how this is NOT reality, for example: http://www.forbes.com/sites/carolpinchefsky/2012/08/03/sexual-harassment-in-videogame-culture/. Female characters in games are for the most part drawn to be eye candy, and gay and/or non-white characters are very rare. So I respectfully disagree with his conclusion that gamers are going to save the world. There are some gamers are nice, but quite a few are territorial and selfish.
Even more frustrating is that he doesn't give any hints as to how teachers can actually do this in the classroom. I thought that we would actually learn how to "cultivate the imagination for a world of constant change," but no. He says that "The new culture of learning is about the kind of tension that develops when students with an interest... are faced with a set of constraints that allow them to act only within certain boundaries." So... examples? steps? case studies? no? The only hint he gives is to say that if a student has a passion for basketball, don't assign basketball themed story problems, instead ask "What is the best way to shoot a basketball?" and let him pursue his own answers. That isn't really very helpful to a teacher trying to design lesson plans. He also describes five characteristics of the "gamer disposition," but nothing about how to leverage these characteristics or what to do with the kids who AREN'T gamers.
Finally, there is the gender issue. The male pronoun is used almost exclusively to describe his students. Possibly because his students are almost exclusively gamers and he's decided that gamer = male. The only women mentioned in the book are a mom in an analogy who likes to game because it brings her family closer together, Annette Lareau's research on income versus access to education. The gamers in all of his examples are supportive and helpful of each other, and embrace diversity. To the author, MMOs are wonderful meritocracies, where everyone is welcome to play. There are a ton of articles out there describing how this is NOT reality, for example: http://www.forbes.com/sites/carolpinchefsky/2012/08/03/sexual-harassment-in-videogame-culture/. Female characters in games are for the most part drawn to be eye candy, and gay and/or non-white characters are very rare. So I respectfully disagree with his conclusion that gamers are going to save the world. There are some gamers are nice, but quite a few are territorial and selfish.
andrew_balyk's review against another edition
3.0
Якщо ви ніколи не замислювалися про різницю між викладанням і навчанням, ця книга є хорошим базовим вступом, але вона не вносить нічого нового.
rpiersonedu's review against another edition
4.0
Interesting ideas in here! Most I agree with: collaborative, project-based, inquiry learning... learning in the "gaps" where the content is not explicitly taught... no mention of online privacy or how to stay safe online though, which is an important tool our kids need to know.
cmpn's review against another edition
3.0
I think this book works as a proper starting point and introduction to emerging models of collaborative learning in participatory online communities. The authors do well to highlight the potential benefits of self-directed creative inquiry and collaborative problem solving, and they shine a light on the topic of tacit vs. explicit learning, and tease new models of information literacy. I would have liked to see a more meaningful discussion of the practical application of these big ideas, across a variety of learning contexts. The glossy, manifesto-style presentation of this book's worthy ideas, enshrouds some of the limitations of the methods put forward. Notably missing is any discussion of the challenges and roadblocks to the implementation of these new models. Anecdotal evidence of a man who taught himself to code by Googling solutions is all well and good, but is freestyling your way through blog tutorials and discussion forums really the best path to computer science mastery? Perhaps there are better hybrid models of tacit and explicit learning, that aren't served by the dichotomous framing presented in this book. I think the next logical step in this discussion is to apply a more rigorous analysis of these forms of self-directed, community-driven learning, and parse out where they excel, where they fall short, and how they can be improved. I would have liked to see the authors apply the same level of critical analysis, used to examine traditional instruction and learning, to these promising new models. Without that critical anchor, we risk drifting off into breathless, techno-utopian dreamscapes.
I am very much a believer in the core ideas laid out by the authors. As someone with a great deal of experience (too much, by some estimations) with the online communities that form around games like World of Warcraft and Eve Online, I spend a lot of time marveling at the sheer volume of learning, analysis and supplementary content created by their participants. I agree that there is much to be gained from the study of these communities of practice. Pursuing new models of learning and instruction is going to be an increasingly critical topic of discussion, but in order to do have that discussion, we are going to need to get in the weeds. A New Culture of Learning provides a good, somewhat romantic, 50,000 foot view of the landscape. I'm looking forward to digging into more nuanced and actionable content.
I am very much a believer in the core ideas laid out by the authors. As someone with a great deal of experience (too much, by some estimations) with the online communities that form around games like World of Warcraft and Eve Online, I spend a lot of time marveling at the sheer volume of learning, analysis and supplementary content created by their participants. I agree that there is much to be gained from the study of these communities of practice. Pursuing new models of learning and instruction is going to be an increasingly critical topic of discussion, but in order to do have that discussion, we are going to need to get in the weeds. A New Culture of Learning provides a good, somewhat romantic, 50,000 foot view of the landscape. I'm looking forward to digging into more nuanced and actionable content.
sibrenne's review against another edition
4.0
Good, inspiring book. I wrote a summary of the book in Dutch: http://www.link2learn.eu/blog/book-review-a-new-culture-of-learning/
adie8000's review against another edition
1.0
Uggh. If there were good ideas in there, I couldn't see past the pompous academic speak to find them.
adamfortuna's review against another edition
2.0
A short one, which I was able to listen to on the way to JSConf. I felt as though it only goes skin deep into the problems facing education -- reiterating issues I've heard discussed many times before. The group education concept and self directed learning this one promotes are clearly useful, but falls short of showing how it might help reframe our current systems.