September 7

No Meeting

There is a significant amount of reading in this course. Your effective participation in and contribution to class discussions depends critically on your familiarity with the readings. I therefore strongly recommend that you start with the readings for the course -- especially those for the first four meetings -- as soon as possible in order to have a chance to reflect on them before class discussions.

September 14

Introduction and Overview

An overview of the course themes, schedule, and syllabus, with an introductory discussion of the current debates in school reform. In particular, we will discuss the recent focus on the debate on high school reform and the place of the No Child Left Behind act in this debate.

As We May Think (1945) by V.  Bush
Speech to National Education Summit on High Schools (2005) by B. Gates
The World is Flat  (2005) by T.  Friedman
Many Children Left Behind (2004) by D. Meier and G. Wood (Editors) (Introduction, Preamble, and Chapter 5)
No Child Left Behind Act (The official web site)

September 21

General Context: Approaches to School Reform

A conversation about the approach to school reform advocated by the Coalition of Essential Schools and how it has impacted the design of some of the most successful charter schools. In particular, we will discuss the key ingredients of the success of the High Tech High model.

Experience and Education (1938) by J.  Dewey
Horace's Compromise (1984) by T. Sizer (Preface, Introduction, Prologue, Sections II and IV, and Afterword)
The Red Pencil: Convictions from Experience in Education (2004) T. Sizer
Many Children Left Behind (2004) by D. Meier and G. Wood (Editors) (Chapters 4 and 6)
No Child Left Behind Act (The official web site)
Coalition of Essential Schools (The official web site)
High Tech High Charter Schools (The official web site)
High Tech High Learning (The official web site)

Guests: Paula Evans and Rob Riordan

September 28

Specific Context (I): Community Charter School of Cambridge (CCSC)

For the final project, students will develop new tools, materials and activities to demonstrate the potential of digital technologies to transform schools and their local communities to vibrant learning environments that serve every student. The final projects should be grounded in what can be concretely achieved in today's progressive public schools. The Community Charter School of Cambridge (CCSC) will serve as concrete context for the design and implementation of the final projects. We will therefore dedicate two sessions to understanding this context in depth.

In the first session -- The Road to 245 Bent Street -- we will explore the motivations for founding a new charter school in Cambridge and the long journey from the conception to the opening day (August 31, 2005) of CCSC. The session will be conducted as a roundtable discussion with some of the members of the CCSC Founding Board and the current Board of Directors.

Horace's Compromise (1984) by T. Sizer (Sections I and III)
The Power of Their Ideas (1995) by D. Meier
Respect (2000) by S. Lawrence-Lightfoot (Introduction and Chapter 3)
CCSC Commonwealth Charter Application

Guests: Rob Riordan and Robin Pringle

October 5

Specific Context (II): CCSC Design Principles

In the second session, we will discuss the CCSC school design and how the faculty and administrators of CCSC are realizing the ideas presented in the CCSC charter application. In particular, we will critically examine how CCSC realizes the new three R's -- Rigor, Relevance and Relationships -- through a rigorous Academic Program, a strong Advisory Program and a rich Connections Program. We will pay a special attention to assessment and evaluation issues.

My Pedagogic Creed (1897) by J. Dewey
In Schools We Trust (2002) by D. Meier
Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? (1997) by B.D. Tatum (Introduction, Chapters 1, 2, 4, and 10 as well as the Epilogue 2003)
The Essential Conversation (2003) by S. Lawrence-Lightfoot (Introduction, chapter 3 and conclusion)
The Having of Wonderful Ideas (1996) by E. Duckworth

Guests: CCSC Faculty, Rob Riordan and Robin Pringle

October 12

The Role of Technology (I): Documentation for Reflection, Evaluation and Communication

This meeting focuses on the importance of documentation as a tool for reflection by students and teachers, as rich material for a more textured qualitative evaluation of student work and school performance, and as powerful ways to communicate the culture and accomplishments of the school. We will discuss the affordances of different media for documentation. In particular, our guest, Glorianna Davenport, the director of the Media Fabrics research group at the MIT media Lab, will guide us through a discussion of video as a tool for documentation.

Specific topics include: Extending our visual memory -- video as a technology for imaging the world, video as a knowledge medium, video as a messaging medium and as a medium to influence change; Video ethnography as a practice -- aesthetics, technical and ethical issues in documenting real events; Technologies -- handheld devices, tripod, multi-camera, automatic surveillance, common sense systems etc; Techniques -- parsing, editing, shooting styles and opportunities, and interpreting the recorded moment.

Making Learning Visible: Children as Individual and Group Learners (2001) by Project Zero and Reggio Children
Points of Viewing Children's Thinking: A Digital Ethnogrophers Journey (1997) by Ricki Goldman-Segall
Sharing Video Memory: Goals, Strategies and Technology (In Preparation) by Glorianna Davenport
Filming and Learning by John Marshall in The Cinema of John Marshall (Visual Anthropology) (1993) by Jay Ruby (Editor)
Review A Kalahari Family from Documentary Educational Resources to get a sense of John Marshall's ethnographic life work
The Art of the Home Movie by Richard Leacock
A search for a  Feeling of Being There by Richard Leacock

Additional Recommended Reading:

Documentary: A history of Non-Fiction Film (1983) by Erik Barnouw
The Interpretation of Cultures (1973) by Clifford Geertz
The Language of New Media (1999) by Lev Manovitch
Learning Constellations: A Multimedia Ethnographic Research Environment Using Video Technology to Explore Children's Thinking (1990) by R. Goldman-Segall  (MIT doctoral dissertation)
Self determined Teacher Learning in a Digital Context: Fundamental Change in Thinking and Practice (2004) by Deirdre Butler (Doctoral dissertation, Joint Faculty of Education, St Patrick's College and Dublin City University)

Guest: Glorianna Davenport

October 19

The Role of Technology (II): Creating Deep Community Connections

First Half:  The many faces of community connections

In this meeting, we will discuss how technological tools can transform what, when, how and where we learn. In particular, we will focus on the new domains of knowledge and practice that can become genuinely relevant to students in the context of work in their local community.  The session will be conducted as a panel discussion of three specific projects with our guests:  Image Maps, Creating Civics, and the Young Activist Network.

Justifying imagery: Multimedia support for learning through explanation (2000) B.  Smith and E.  Blankinship
Civic Innovation and American Politics  in Civic Innovation in America (2001) by C. Sirianni and  L. Friedland
Problems of Public Opinion in Public Opinion (1992) by V. Price
Forms and Forums for Developing Public Opinions (In Preparation) by M. Ananny and C. Strohecker.
Technology-Supported, Youth-Led Social Change in Low-Income Communities (2003) by L.  Burd

Guests: Erik Blankinship, Mike Ananny and Leo Burd

Second Half:  Tools for creating distributed reflective learning communities

In this second half of this meeting, we will discuss how technological tools can help create distributed learning communities. In particular, we will focus on three novel systems: iCom, DIVER, and E-mail Equations. We will discuss how a custom version of the iCom system would facilitate the creation on a distributed professional development programs for sharing best practices and seeking advice from across a network of schools that are built around common design principles. The same system would be used to connect the students in the network of schools to present their project to their peers for critique and advice. We will also discuss how an application of the DIVER system would allow for documentation and reflection on community practices by engaging the members of the community to identify and annotate areas of activity in the school environment that can be improved. And finally E-mail Equations system shows how mailing lists can serve as objects to reflect on and create new communities of practice and interest.

E-mail list Equations to Create Specific Audiences (2002) E.  Blankinship
DIVER project web site: Digital Interactive Video Exploration and Reflection (web site) by the SCiL at Stanford
Designing Displays for Human Connectedness (2003) S. Agamanolis
Media Spaces: Bringing People Together in Video, Audio and Computing Environment (1993) by S. Bly, S.R. Harrison, S. Irwin (Original from the ACM Digital Library)
You may also wish to review other publications by the Human Connectedness research group at Media Lab Europe

Guests: Stefan Agamanolis, Erik Blankinship and Mike Ananny

October 26

Final Project Proposal Brainstorming Session

In this session, students present their proposals for their final projects. The class, together with our guests, will provide critical feedback on each project. After this meeting, students develop web sites for their projects where they will document the evolution of their ideas and their progress on the project.

November 2

The Role of Technology (III):  Science, Mathematics, Engineering and Technology

First Half:  Children as Scientists and Engineers

In the first half of the meeting, building on the readings and discussion of last week, we will discuss how technological tools can transform what, when, how and where we learn about and through science. We will discuss how a new collection of tools and material can enable: (1) exploratory science and mathematics learning through hands-on engineering and artistic design projects; (2) deep scientific inquiry and authentic mathematical analysis through designing and building scientific instruments for investigations that grow out of one's personal interests and everyday experiences; (3) representation and communication of findings to a broad audience from the local professional and non-professional community.

Beyond Black Boxes: Bringing Transparency and Aesthetics Back to Scientific Investigation (2000) by M. Resnick, et al.
Kids Learning Engineering Science Using LEGO and the Programmable Brick (1996) by F. Martin
Robotic Design Studio: Exploring the Big Ideas of Engineering in a Liberal Arts Environment (2002) by F.  Turbak and R. Berg
To Mindstorms and Beyond: Evolution of a Construction Kit for Magical Machines (2000) by F. Martin, et al.
The Children's Machines: Handheld and Wearable Computers Too (1999) by B. Mikhak et al
PIE NSF Proposal (2000) by M. Resnick, et al.
Real-Time Programming and the Big Ideas of Computational Literacy (2003) by C. Hancock

Second Half:  Personal Fabrication

In the second half of the meeting, we build on the discussion of the first half by examining more deeply how to extend the tools that enable students and teachers to create their own material for engaging in deep scientific and mathematical (1) inquiries and investigations, (2) model building and testing activities, and (3) representation construction for reflection and communication of ideas. We will in particular discuss how a new generation of powerful yet accessible digital tools for design, fabrication and instrumentation can fundamentally extend our ways of understanding the world through invention.

FAB: The Coming Revolution on Your Desktop--From Personal Computers to Personal Fabrication (2005) by N. Gershenfeld
Encouraging Innovation by Engineering the Learning Curve (2003) by C. Lyon
Mindstuff: Educational Technology Beyond the Computer (2003) by M. Eisenberg
FAB LAB: An Alternate Model of ICT for Development (2002) by B.  Mikhak, et al.

November 9

The Role of Technology (IV): Media Literacy

In this meeting, we will focus on technologies that help us (re)visiting and rethink literacy and media literacy in general. We will discuss our evolving notions of fluency in learning and thinking about advanced ideas with different media. In particular, we will introduce a number of projects that illustrate the unique afforcances of well-designed tangible toolkits to allow students to learn about advanced ideas in more natural ways on their own or in a group.

In the Middle (1998) Nancie Atwell
Other People's Children (1995) Lisa Delpit
Closed Captions, Open Source (2004) by E. Blankinship, et al.
Full Contact Poetry (2001) by Anindita Sempere
Speaking on the Record (2005) by Tara Shankar
How the Way We Talk Can Change the Way We Work (2001) R. Kegan and L.L. Lahey

Guest: Erik Blankinship

The Role of Technology (V): Science, Math, Engineering, and Technology

First Half:  Computational Science and Mathematics: Logo, StarLogo, New Kind of Science

In the first half of the meeting, we we will discuss how technological tools can transform science and mathematics education. Our panel will discuss how a new collection of tools and material enable exploratory science and mathematics learning through contructionist design activities in which students make deep connections to mathematical and scientific ideas as they create and reflect on the artefacts that are personally meaningful to them. We also discuss what type of constructionist material that we need to create to make the breadth of powerful ideas discussed in the New Kind of Science accessible to teachers and sutdents and allow them to undertake and contribute to genuine research projects in this young field.

Mindstorms: Children, Computers and Powerful Ideas (1980) by S. Papert
An Exploration in the Space of Mathematics Educations (1996) by S. Papert
Beyond the Centralized Mindset (1996) by M. Resnick
The New Kind of Science (2002) by S. Wolfram

Second Half:  Handheld and Wearable Computers

In the second half of the meeting, we we will focus on handhedl and wearable computers that developed to bring science and math activities into the real-world and embed them in the daily life of kids. In particular, we will discuss group activities that allows students to construct, to be immersed in, to deconstruct, and to relfect on simulations of complex systems collaboratively.

Comparative analysis of Palm and wearable computers for Participatory Simulations (2004) by E. Klopfer, et al.
Using Palm Technology in Participatory Simulations of Complex Systems: A New Take on Ubiquitous and Accessible Mobile Computing (2005) by E. Klopfer, et al.
Participatory Simulations: Building Collaborative Understanding through Immersive Dynamic Modeling (1998) by V. Colella
MIT Teacher Education Program (Web Site -- Selected Readings)
Hi-CE and GoKnow (Webs Sites -- Selected Readings)

Guest: Eric Klopfer

The Role of Technology (VI): Learning All the Time

In this meeting, we will focus on arguably the most disruptive of technologies with a great potential for transforming schools. We will focus on the impact of powerful mobile devices (cell phone and handheld) that are wirelessly connected all the time and are equipped with GPS and camera on the curriculum, structure, culture of the school as what, where, when and how we learn is transformed. We will in particular discuss applications of wearable and mobile devices to monitoring, understanding habits and patterns in movement and their health consequences.

Environmental Detectives – The Development of an Augmented Reality Platform for Environmental Simulations (2004) by E. Klopfer and K. Squire
Augmented Reality Ssimulations on Handheld Computers (2005) by K. Squire and E. Klopfer
Evaluating the development of wearable devices, personal data assistants and the use of other mobile devices in further and higher education institutions (2005) by S. de Freitas and M. Levene
Mapping Human Networks (2005) by J. Gips and A. Pentland

Guests: Sandy Pentland and Eric Klopfer

The Role of Technology (VII): Art, Music and Technology

First Half: Art, Design and Technology

In the first half of the meeting, we will introduce a number of projects that serve as inspiration for developing a strong Art and Technology program in schools. We will focus on examples in visual design as well as physical computing. In particular, we discuss how the technologies, techniques, ideas, habits of minds developed through these activities connect to other intellectual and curricular domains. We will focus on examples that creatively integrate art, science, engineering, humanities, and social sciences.

Selections from books by John Maeda on the work of his research groups: Aesthetics of Computation and Physical Language Workshop ; Selections from the work of Chris Csikszentmihalyi and his research group, Computing Culture ; Selections from relevant theses from Grassroots Invention and Lifelong Kindergarten groups at the lab.

In the second half of the meeting, we will introduce a number of projects that serve as inspiration for developing a strong interdisciplinary program for schools that introduces student to tools, techniques and ideas in digital audio, and electronic and computer music. In particular, we will highlight projects that engage students in the design of musical instruments, and creating music with novel instruments, composition tools, and electronic controllers.

Second Half: Digital Audio and Computer Music

Selections from relevant theses and papers from Hyperinstruments (Opera of the Future) , Music, Mind and Machine , Responsive Environments , Tangible Media , Grassroots Invention and Lifelong Kindergarten research groups at the lab.

Understanding the Role of Nonprofit and Volunteer Organizations in School Reform

Managing the Non-Profit Organization (1990) by Peter F. Drucker
On Being Nonprofit (2002) by Peter Frumkin
High Performance Nonprofit Organizations (1999) by Christine W. Letts, William P. Ryan and Allen Grossman