In Tribute to ‘Edupunks’

Posted on September 18, 2008 by Jennifer Brady

UMassOnline Director of Marketing Jennifer Brady ‘Punk’ isn’t a word usually associated with high praise. At best, it is defined as a person – usually a young person – who is a member of an anti-establishment group. However, it has recently come to my attention that in higher ed there is a whole new class of punks on the rise….and it is a good thing! They’re people in favor of something that’s being called ‘edupunk.’ You may be surprised by the definition, courtesy of a feature by Lisa Neal Gualtieri, who is the editor-in-chief of eLearn Magazine and an e-learning consultant. She wrote this article over the summer and I saved it since it just struck me as such a great way to define drive and creativity in the classroom. So, what is edupunk? Citing a reference to its original use by writer Laurie Rowell, Ms. Gualtieri explains that it is:

“an educational approach that combines creative drive with a maverick attitude…in which the educator—or possibly the student—designs the tools for teaching and learning.”

Recalling her personal experience building an online course with more ingenuity than income, Ms. Gualtieri writes, “Developing an online course in this way was the most fun I’ve ever had teaching online. My manager was thrilled because he met his headcount goals and was recognized by his manager for breaking new ground while saving money. But the ultimate benefit was in that my students were exposed to new technologies and new ways of using them for learning.”

Are you an edupunk? If so, tell us your story.

Comments

One Response to “In Tribute to ‘Edupunks’”

Apostolos K. on September 19th, 2008 8:13 am

I’m a little skeptical of this term - maybe a term for term’s sake?

I know a lot of people that would fit into this ‘edupunk’ term, but I would never call them that because I find the term silly and unnecessary. In the past I’ve called these people forward-thinkers, innovators, and visionaries. This phenomenon of designing tools for teaching and learning is not new, and it doesn’t warrant new jargon - my two cents.

As a side note, I think the term ‘maverick’ is overused - but maybe that just me