Hacking seems like it applies only to computers and software. It also seems like a negative action that causes other people great distress and grief.
Well, a 13-year old boy and a bit of research just taught me differently.
Hacking is actually based on creative discoveries by motivated and resourceful people. Hackers "get deeply into how things work, to the point that they know how to take control of them and change them into something else" (Herzoq, 2014). This means that they can tackle issues or problems big and small; finding innovative solutions that non-hackers would not have ever thought possible. They are not afraid to fail because failure is a means of learning something new or how something works. It also teaches them to do things differently on their next attempt.
This sounds a lot like what we want our students to do in school. I take hacking education to mean that we need to offer opportunities for our students to explore their ideas without subject or learning restrictions. Allowing students to choose how they would like to show us what they have learned seems like it would help them learn! For instance, instead of having a set assignment with set guidelines, what if we told the students the outcomes we were after and let them find their own way to reach those outcomes. Even to the point of deciding on their own projects to display these outcomes.
A drastic change would have to be made to expectations, oucomes and assessment methods. I think that overall education is probably a long way from this type of radical change; however, every small step we can make in this direction seems like it would be positive. The students also have to make changes to their ways of thinking. We have trained students to follow our rules and expect our constant guidance. We need to retrain our students to think for themselves and consider all possibilities - even the seemingly outlandish.
References:
Fawcett, John. (2013, June 14). Hacking Your Education: The Next Generation of Students. Retrieved from http://www.wired.com/2013/06/hacking-your-education-the-next-generation-of-students/
Herzoq, Pete. (2014, February 25). How to Teach Hacking in School and Open Up Education. Retrieved from http://opensource.com/education/14/2/teach-hacking-schools-open-education.
Well, a 13-year old boy and a bit of research just taught me differently.
Hacking is actually based on creative discoveries by motivated and resourceful people. Hackers "get deeply into how things work, to the point that they know how to take control of them and change them into something else" (Herzoq, 2014). This means that they can tackle issues or problems big and small; finding innovative solutions that non-hackers would not have ever thought possible. They are not afraid to fail because failure is a means of learning something new or how something works. It also teaches them to do things differently on their next attempt.
This sounds a lot like what we want our students to do in school. I take hacking education to mean that we need to offer opportunities for our students to explore their ideas without subject or learning restrictions. Allowing students to choose how they would like to show us what they have learned seems like it would help them learn! For instance, instead of having a set assignment with set guidelines, what if we told the students the outcomes we were after and let them find their own way to reach those outcomes. Even to the point of deciding on their own projects to display these outcomes.
A drastic change would have to be made to expectations, oucomes and assessment methods. I think that overall education is probably a long way from this type of radical change; however, every small step we can make in this direction seems like it would be positive. The students also have to make changes to their ways of thinking. We have trained students to follow our rules and expect our constant guidance. We need to retrain our students to think for themselves and consider all possibilities - even the seemingly outlandish.
References:
Fawcett, John. (2013, June 14). Hacking Your Education: The Next Generation of Students. Retrieved from http://www.wired.com/2013/06/hacking-your-education-the-next-generation-of-students/
Herzoq, Pete. (2014, February 25). How to Teach Hacking in School and Open Up Education. Retrieved from http://opensource.com/education/14/2/teach-hacking-schools-open-education.