Learn 4 Life

Interview with Peter Twining about the Schome Park Project in Second Life

How do you get people to think completely differently about education and learning?

Image Attribution dawn_perry on Flickr CC 2.0 non-commercial license

Learn 4 Life exists to document change and innovation in education in this country and the world. The site highlights ideas around ICT that challenge and question the current orthodoxies. It’s not simply a blog about the latest Web 2.0 tools or teaching techniques although it does encompass those things - the aim of the whole project is to document and disseminate significant pointers to future change in education. Virtual worlds is one area where this really is the case and I make no apology for highlighting any practice involving these environments.

Image Attribution Tadson on Flickr CC 2.0 non-commercial license

I personally believe that the current models for learning in schools are not fit for purpose and that a lot of the curricula around the current exam based systems are outmoded and, to be honest, anachronistic. But in order to move an education system on, you need to have people who have the vision, courage and determination to be curious enough to experiment with and investigate alternatives, no matter how fantastic or “wild” they may seem at first. Often these form the genesis of new orthodoxies and more effective and engaging ways of working that stress process over product and that lead to an environment where learning is bounded only by your own imagination and not just a series of irrelevant and end-stopped exams. Education is a lifelong process and anything that appears to nurture and amplify that and make it fun  deserves a very close look.

Virtual Worlds

Image Attribution Jan Beckendorf on Flickr CC 2.0 non-commercial license

A lot of what is written and reported about Second Life in the mainstream media really does often miss the point of how virtual worlds can be used to build communities in non-linear, less hierarchical ways far more in keeping with the distributed digital world fast coming up on the inside all around us. Let no-one lose sight of the fact that they are just another medium, albeit highly engaging and immersive, to try and reconfigure how we do things together in the name of learning. The radical thing about virtual worlds is that they enable the participants to evolve whole new ways of working with each other - for me they foster and encourage reflective practice on the part of many of the participants and also help form extremely dynamic community building at both a localised and a global level that is highly personalised. If you watch the interview you will hear Peter outline the successes in this area.

Peter Twining and the Schome Park Project

Peter Twining is at the forefront of research into new educational systems. I was lucky enough to be able to talk with him about the genesis and history of the Schome Park Project and how Second Life on the Main and Teen Grids became an environment for his focus. Peter’s vision is far from parochial or unambitious as you will hear throughout the interview.

One of the most important interviews of recent years

The Schome Park Project may seem a little under the radar in terms of educational change in the UK at present but I consider this one of the most important interviews I have given in recent years and the project to be an amazing foundation for how communities of learning may operate in the future.

Knowledge Age Skills

Image Attribution Bettina Tizzy on Flickr CC 2.0 non-commercial license

I really do believe that Schome and the vision behind it may well underpin serious development of virtual learning spaces and gradual evolution of Knowledge Age Skills for a truly 21st educational system.

Lightbulb Moments

Image Attribution Thomas Hawk on Flickr CC 2.0 non-commercial license

Peter talks about the history of the project and his several “lightbulb moments” along the way. He agreed to be interviewed in Avatar form in Second Life Main Grid and I mashed the video of his interview with images from the Schome Park Project Wiki, Forum and Blog. He kindly gave permission for images to be used.

Transcript and Video

Image Attribution Pixel Drip on Flickr CC 2.0 non-commercial license

A timecoded transcript of the interview can be downloaded from here or read it in the embed below. If you are interested in the use of virtual worlds for teaching and learning I would encourage you to download both the transcript, video , MP3 and, if possible, distribute them to anyone else you know who may be interested. Peter is at the forefront of this field and his research will be emerging gradually in journal and book form but before that just go to the Schome Park pages to see a number of case studies that will be released over this and next year.

Interview With Peter Twining Feb 09