Next Library Lecture on 16 February!

LAS Libraries will host their next Lecture Series event on Monday, February 16 at 7:30 p.m. in Savoy Library. Paul Magnuson and some students will present "Hack School: Linguistics and Languages." Find out answers to questions like: What is LASER? What the heck is hack school? Why are the students of Linguistics and Languages writing a book? Is the class really a Duolingo class? Hear about how students are learning to hack (construct) their own ability to learn. Students say, "The goal is to quit waiting for the teacher to tell us what to learn - and how to learn - so that we can practice the skill of working toward a goal we want to accomplish, using the resources we think best." And there will be snacks! Check it out @ LAS Libraries!

Paul Magnuson writes about

Hack School

Among the initiatives in our research center this year are two activities we call hack school. One is an after school activity for coding and robotics, the other a linguistics class.

While the format and subject areas differ, they share the perspective that students must learn to create their own educational path, not simply adopt this or that teacher's program. Through a combination of blended learning, guidance from the teacher, reliance on peers, and self-motivation students hack - or create - their own learning.

In coding, students choose a programming language, or languages, and create a course for themselves using for example Khan Academy, Treehouse, Code School and other resources to learn. In linguistics, students learn language online and from each other to create an exercise in linguistics, which they test on each other in class and will publish at the end of the year online. 

There is not a textbook, but rather an almost unlimited range of digital, material, and human resources. There is not one end goal but many. It is messier than a traditional syllabus, much harder to grade, and can just as easily let a student slip through a crack as provide the opportunity to shine brighter than imagined possible. 

Fundamentally, being able to hack one's own learning is a skill that students must have. A school model that supposes it can provide the information that students need cannot keep up with the rate of change in what adults actually need to know. What one must know simply changes too fast. 

So we're teaching students how to hack. How to position themselves to continually learn. How to leverage available resources. How to choose their own goals wisely ... and how to reach them.