Ed Zed Omega | Six Teens Drop Out to Fix Education

The Zed Omegas: six teens who dropped out of high school to...

Thu, 28 Feb 2013 00:34:26 -0600

The Zed Omegas: six teens who dropped out of high school to explore other, better ways to learn… Ed Zed Omega: this innovative, interactive, immersive public media project explained by the actors behind the Zed Omegas. Check it out on YouTube…

If you are a high school junior or senior, and come a fall...

Thu, 31 Jan 2013 18:02:00 -0600

If you are a high school junior or senior, and come a fall semester you announce you’re not going back to school, certain things may happen.

After the heart attacks, threats and bluster, you can get down to business. People can start to talk realistically to you about school, what it’s good for and what it isn’t. You find people are moved to share their own school experiences with you. People may begin to listen to the reasons you’re done with school. Being a “zed omega” teen, you find, opens the doors of perception to the realities of education for many kids.

Good thing, too: Education tends to be one of those “emperor’s new clothes” topics, full of polarized issues and unquestioned assumptions. And you turn out to be the child in the fable, pointing to the way things really are.

What did this public media project discover? Peruse our archive, and you’ll find these themes:

YOU SILLY KIDS.

The predominant adult point of view towards teens is that they have nothing of value to say about their own educations.

INERT FACTS.

Changes to the way we access information has made sweeping changes to the way we work and live our lives. “Inert facts,” for example, have been almost completely devalued, but has the matter and method of school changed in response? (more)

CONFORMITY AND INDUSTRIALIZED ED - 1.

The needs of the group outweigh the needs of the individuals in the group. The more you deviate from the norm, the more your needs get outweighed. There is a constant unspoken pressure to conform.

CONFORMITY AND INDUSTRIALIZED ED - 2.

Meanwhile, most of the problems that prevent kids from succeeding in school come from the system’s inability to recognize and effectively address their individual needs.

TEEN CARE. BY TEENS.

School segregates teens from other age groups, effectively depriving them of social anchors and guidance when most needed, and the forced segregation has predictably harsh results. (more and more)

CREATIVITY AND DIVERSITY – NOT.

Futurists identify “creativity” or “innovation” and “diversity” as the sources of national competitive advantage going forward. Does school encourage these? (more)

FIRMLY FACING THE PAST.

True or false? “My school is firmly committed to teaching me 21st-century skills and equipping me with the ability to adapt readily to the rapidly changing economy.” Here’s one opinion.

ACCREDITATION TRUMPS LEARNING.

Learn to the test. (more and more and more)

OMG, I FAILED.

Pick the correct response to teach resiliency and responsibility: (a) No problem, let’s try again. (b) You get an F. Let’s move on.

RISING OUT?

Some kids who quit school would be better characterized as “rising out” – they are seeking something better, not something easier. (more)

CHECK-OUTS AND THE ACCOMPLISHED CHILD.

Many kids find school easy. They glide through school unchallenged and enter the real world unprepared for adversity and empty of self-knowledge and “grit.” (more and more)

YOU OBLIVIOUS KIDS.

High schools pretend that none of these conundrums affect the kids attending school, that they are not stressful or crazy-making. (try it yourself)

ZED OMEGA REPORT - FINAL, Part Two
ZED OMEGA REPORT - FINAL, Part Three

The Ed Zed Omega story begins with six teens self-identified...

Thu, 31 Jan 2013 18:00:00 -0600

The Ed Zed Omega story begins with six teens self-identified as “unlikely” or “very unlikely” to finish high school. Their reasons all had to do with school itself, not with external factors. Ed Zed Omega is the name they invented for a semester-long “independent study” project examining why kids like themselves are deeply unsatisfied with school. At the end of fall semester 2012, they decided whether or not to go back to school.

May: “I really don’t see the point… I feel like every second I spend in class, being bored, not caring, is a wasted moment. I want to be an actor. I want to get my real life started… high school is holding me back.”

November: “But here’s the thing: I am not giving up! I’ve learned so much about education, and about myself… I think I will be going back with new knowledge, and that makes all the difference.”

August: “I’ve never liked school since I was a little kid, basically – I’ve felt the school system was messed up and wasn’t for me. I would say my last straw was when I was told for me to graduate I would have to repeat my senior year…”

December: “This project has showed me all the different ways of education – how we can educate ourselves. People told me, ‘yo, you have online classes, you have tutors…’ You have to find the way you are comfortable with. That’s what the schools should be focusing on, the way kids learn the best. I hope I can be the person that lets the schools know we need a change. If they want to figure out how to fix the system, they have to start from the base, and the base is – the kids.”

July: “There’s always a way around school work. Everyone I know at RHS has straight A’s, and it’s not because we study together. We cheat together. If we get good grades then our parents are happy and our teachers are happy. I’m not happy though. What is a high school diploma worth if I didn’t learn anything except how to cheat?”

December: “The freedom that I’ve had in the past few months has been the greatest thing I’ve ever experienced. I haven’t had this much freedom EVER. Because I was put into this system when I was six years old. I haven’t been able to do anything except go to school. That’s what my life’s been.

“I don’t want a diploma, I don’t need a diploma to make me feel better about myself. I feel great about myself right now. I feel fantastic. I feel like, if I go back to school, I’m losing.”

August: “I feel like if I could just stop going to high school I could spend so much more of my time more productively on my music, instead of learning useless information… I’m partially afraid for my mental and PHYSICAL well being. I get called a fat freak almost daily. I can’t do a duet with a girl without being called a lesbian. I can’t help but go home crying… The teachers don’t do anything. If you can honestly say you’ve never wanted to cry in school then it probably was okay for you.”

December: “What have I learned, how am I different? I think I learned a lot about being more strong and more open to new thoughts… I really need to be open to other people’s ideas, not just my own – ‘flexible,’ my mother calls it.”

August: “Doesn’t the idea of a 17 year old author who drops out of high school to travel the country sound like a good story? Shouldn’t I at least try to be extraordinary? It’s a shame how defeatist our culture is, where 16 year olds decide to be paralegals for the job security and resign themselves to a life of mediocrity before they even get a chance to taste what an exceptional life might be like. When did our sense of adventure become metamorphosed into a paralyzing fear of risk?”

December: “If it weren’t for Ed Zed Omega, I probably would have just p*ssed and moaned about school, and not done anything. Leaving my hometown, leaving school, leaving basically everything, it’s scary, but I like it. – Everything you do costs something. Sometimes nerve. Don’t be frugal with your life.”

June: “When I left high school the first time, I felt – suffocated… I wasn’t a bad student, but I couldn’t get passionate or excited about anything school was teaching me. And when was the last time a teacher ever was concerned with who you are as a person, instead of why you failed a test on 18th century English economics. Why would that test shape any part of who I am supposed to be, or change who I’m supposed to become?”

December: “It’s nice to know I’m not alone. The others in this project have opened my eyes to so many problems in the education system that aren’t being addressed, and I’m grateful we went through this together and made a statement together. More than anything, I know I’m not a bad person for wanting a change, for wanting something different for myself and for the future.”

August: “How do people know what they want to spend their lives doing? Some of the Ed Zed kids know what they want to do — Nicole likes music, Clare likes theatre, Jeremy likes writing. I like so many different things that I can’t decide. I have to think about college RIGHT NOW so I know what I’m doing next year. I don’t even want to start thinking about college.”

November:

JEREMY: How do you feel about the statement: ‘Work experience, relevant experience is valued much more than a degree in that field [fashion design]’?
NORA: I think that’s probably true… It’s just so hard to know how to get the work experience without the degree. It’s just so hard to start. I think in a lot of fields people just go to school and get a degree because they think it’s the easy way to get started. Even though it’s not necessary. Or necessarily helps them to be successful.
JEREMY: … Why don’t your socks match?

December: Nora sums up what the Zed Omegas have decided, and finds herself caught in the conundrum of traditional vs. alternative education.

ZED OMEGA REPORT – Final, Part One
ZED OMEGA REPORT – Final, Part Three

Ed Zed Omega is a collaborative thought experiment about...

Thu, 31 Jan 2013 17:56:00 -0600

Ed Zed Omega is a collaborative thought experiment about education. What if six teens drop out of high school, very open about their reasons? Can people help this turn out well? The Zed Omega characters seemed real because the young actors playing them were channeling aspects of their real-life experience – and were unscripted: they reacted authentically to the advice they got and the school stories they heard.

What’s in a diploma? Are there other ways to learn? If you go your own way, what happens? Instead of being in school, the Zed Omega teens spent their fall semester looking at school from the outside.

“Agree with them or not, the Zed Omegas asked the questions that got people talking about how and what young people should learn. Their presence brought vital questions about purposes and methods of school out of the abstract into the immediate and real.”

A true transmedia project, Ed Zed Omega happened organically on social media, on Tumblr, Facebook, Twitter and in live events. The Zed Omegas gathered hundreds of likes, touched thousands of people and registered hundreds of thousands of impressions. If education is to keep pace with changes to our economy, society and culture, it needs new, more inclusive ways to frame its discussions about what it must become. Is it preparing students for successful jobs and lives in the hyperconnected 21st century?

Ed Zed Omega gathered 800 “signals” about education on the edzedomega.org site. You can take one of the Zed Omega “Top Ten” tours, or browse the archive or search by tag, but now that you know the story, why not just free-explore the grand array?

Ed Zed Omega is a template for a new framework of interaction.

Students: you can go “zed omega” with your own inquiry into what education is for and how people like you learn best. All the Zed Omegas will tell you the experience opened their eyes wide as to what traditional education does and does not do. They felt inspired by the powerful stories they heard about alternate ways of learning, and empowered to take charge of their futures by shaping their educations to fit. Knowledge is power!

Teachers, schools, and others concerned about education: use the Ed Zed Omega idea to create a dialog about school and how best to improve it. The Zed Omegas illustrate how to frame the discussion in a way that engages the student voice. Using the existing stories, you can create a narrative space in which all stakeholders can have their say.

We will be continuing to develop the Ed Zed Omega idea. Watch for our web video series to come online this summer. To inquire about having the Zed Omegas teleconference with your fellow students or with your school this fall, contact us.

ZED OMEGA REPORT – Final, Part One
ZED OMEGA REPORT – Final, Part Two

tomscatterhorn: neeble: weeaboo-chan: frostedpornflakes: ...

Wed, 23 Jan 2013 00:58:00 -0600

tomscatterhorn:

neeble:

weeaboo-chan:

frostedpornflakes:

hmm

“a new wave of research”

laughs until i bleed

did they JUST realize this

jesus

do people really trust research more than actual teenagers reaching for help

now that theres RESEARCH to back it up they decide to put it on a magazine cover

Yep. Here’s the article itself.

good: Best of 2012: The Five Most Extraordinary Things to...

Tue, 01 Jan 2013 01:22:00 -0600

good:

Best of 2012: The Five Most Extraordinary Things to Happen in Education
- Nikhil Goyal wrote in Education

It’s been quite an incredible year in the education space. While we’ve witnessed a surge in the number of politicians with no education experience make decisions on how schools should run and a wider adoption of nonsensical ideas like the “flipped classroom” and value-added teacher evaluations, there have been some memorable, equation-changing events and initiatives that have emerged.

So, let’s highlight five of the most extraordinary things that happened in education in 2012:

The Students Speak Out

Alternatives to Higher Education

Caine’s Arcade

Chicago Teachers Strike

Massively Open Online Courses—MOOCs

Continue reading on good.is

Illustration by Corinna Loo

rotanarotana: Sense-making, social intelligence, novel...

Fri, 28 Dec 2012 00:00:00 -0600

rotanarotana:

Sense-making, social intelligence, novel & adaptive thinking, cross-cultural competency, computational thinking, new-media literacy, transdisciplarity, design mindset, cognitive load management, virtual collaboration. These are the 10 skills needed for the future workforce. For a full report, see the work done by Apollo Research Institute (formerly the University of Phoenix Research Institute) looking at the Skills Needed by 2020. Asummery of the report and detailed findings about each of the skills are also available.

The related, Shape of Jobs to Come: Possible New Careers Emerging from Advances in Science and Technology (2010 – 2030) full study from FastFuture is also very insightful (summary of study). I wonder, though, how long it will be until we no longer see the first new shape, “Body Parts Maker,” as a bit funny and out of this world.

via marciaconner.com

Unsolicited Evaluation Is The Enemy of Creativity

Sat, 22 Dec 2012 22:22:00 -0600

radicalginger:

In my last post I wrote of evidence that children’s creativity has declined over the past two or three decades, a period during which children’s lives, both in and out of school, have become increasingly controlled and regulated by adult authorities. Here, now, is some further evidence that freedom—including freedom from unasked-for evaluation—is an essential element to the blooming of creativity. —

Read more from Peter Gray in Psychology Today

“The results of these experiments were quite consistent. In experiment after experiment, the participants who made the most creative products were those who did not know that their products would be evaluated. They were the ones just playing, not concerned about judgments or rewards.

"In physically demanding tasks, like lifting heavy weights, and in tedious tasks, like counting beans, we do better when we are being evaluated than when we are not. But in tasks that require creativity, or new insights, or new learning, we do better when we are not being evaluated—when we are just playing, not stressed, not afraid of failure.”

Well, it’s my last video. It’s been such a crazy...

Mon, 10 Dec 2012 13:15:00 -0600

Well, it’s my last video. It’s been such a crazy ride! Thanks so much to everybody to helped us out. Can’t believe it’s over!

I’m gonna miss you guys…

~Nora

“You have to connect with your teachers. If you...

Fri, 07 Dec 2012 17:01:00 -0600

“You have to connect with your teachers. If you don’t care about your teachers, they can’t care about you back.”

This message left at the Zed Omega Hotline – 612-756-ZEDS (9337) – by someone tracing out their high school path among the islands on our School Map. Call and tell us your school story!

No audio? Firefox? Aagh. Try a different browser.

(Here’s my last video. there’s a clip of 12 year old Lizzie in...

Fri, 07 Dec 2012 15:29:00 -0600

(Here’s my last video. there’s a clip of 12 year old Lizzie in here!)

Plans

The past semester and my plans for the future :)

In the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, someone stands on the...

Fri, 07 Dec 2012 15:03:02 -0600

In the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, someone stands on the Restless Island on the Zed Omega School Map and calls the Zed Omega hotline (612-756-ZEDS) to tell their story. Call and tell us your school story!

“Students are not really thinking about the...

Fri, 07 Dec 2012 14:01:00 -0600

“Students are not really thinking about the future… they’re thinking more of day-to-day things – maybe where they’re going to sleep at night, what they’re gonna eat, if they’re gonna have food after school. Those things are more important, and what the future will be, so…”

This message left at the Zed Omega Hotline – 612-756-ZEDS (9337). Call and tell us your school story!

No audio? Firefox? Aagh. Try a different browser.

School is… …an archaic paradigm founded in...

Fri, 07 Dec 2012 13:58:10 -0600

School is…

…an archaic paradigm founded in social, economic and religious expectations which no longer reflect the needs and desires of current learners.

I remain a teacher in what sometimes seems to be a very broken system because I want to be part of the metamorphosis of schools. And because of my deep belief in the human spirit which deserves to be honored for its many expressions.

Edwina holds up one of the whiteboards that collected people’s views about school during the Zed Omegas’ “School Map” activity at the Walker Art Center. – Alan

…So yeah, just getting people involved and wanting to...

Fri, 07 Dec 2012 07:02:19 -0600

…So yeah, just getting people involved and wanting to learn and wanting to be in school and wanting, you know, a future to their lives.

This message left at the Zed Omega Hotline – 612-756-ZEDS (9337). Call and tell us your school story!

No audio? Firefox? Aagh. Try a different browser.

…the thing that’s really resonating with me is the...

Thu, 06 Dec 2012 18:14:24 -0600

…the thing that’s really resonating with me is the idea that we still have this 19th-century teaching style, these old ideas, and I think that the only way that we can improve our education in the United States is to totally revamp our classrooms and the way we think about teaching.

This message left at the Zed Omega Hotline – 612-756-ZEDS (9337) – by someone standing on the Island of 19th Century Methods, one of the islands on our School Map. Call and tell us your school story!

No audio? Firefox? Aagh. Try a different browser.

Xavier OUT! My last video Ima miss you guys… Remember:...

Thu, 06 Dec 2012 17:34:00 -0600

Xavier OUT! My last video

Ima miss you guys… Remember: Don’t ever let anyone hold u back, if u want something then Go get it.

When I’m in Palo Alto, I might stroll by to admire the...

Thu, 06 Dec 2012 14:15:00 -0600

When I’m in Palo Alto, I might stroll by to admire the leafy magnolia tree at 367 Addison Street and take a deep breath of history. Tucked into a cedar-shingled garage there young tinkerers Dave and Bill hand made their oscillators in 1938.

“Dave Packard had gone to Schenectady to work at General Electric. He was told that there was no future in electronics at General Electric and that he should instead concentrate on generators, motors and other heavier equipment,” says the historical plaque marking “The Birthplace of Silicon Valley” as well as the Hewlett-Packard company.

It’s somehow passed my notice other times, yet the garage plaque gives praise to a mentor and professor for encouraging Bill and Dave to go right ahead and make their art.

Through my work behind the scenes with the Zed Omegas, I’ve become attuned to paying attention to larger community influences including mentors and educators such as Dr. Terman. In the past, my focus would have been on the explorer/inventor/student alone. This time I looked Terman up:

“When we set out to create a community of technical scholars in Silicon Valley, there wasn’t much here and the rest of the world looked awfully big. Now a lot of the rest of the world is here,” Frederick Terman reflected.

An interviewer asks, Do you want Stanford University to be a teaching institution or a research institution? He replies:

“A learning institution

- Zephyr

p.s. Keep an eye out on the #mentor tag for when my new Tumblr blog is ready.

Photo: Associated Press, 1939, David Packard, left, and Bill Hewlett, right, developing the audio oscillator.

The Zed Omegas created an activity for the Student Open House at...

Thu, 06 Dec 2012 12:01:36 -0600

The Zed Omegas created an activity for the Student Open House at the Walker in November. The Open House theme was “Identity Crisis,” and the Zed Omegas created a long row of cookie-cutter silhouettes and invited passersby to personalize them with their high school selves.

“what I didn’t like about school was that...

Thu, 06 Dec 2012 10:01:00 -0600

“what I didn’t like about school was that it was a 19th century teaching style…”

This message left at the Zed Omega Hotline – 612-756-ZEDS (9337). Call and tell us your school story!

No audio? Firefox? Aagh. Sorry about that. Try a different browser?

Ed Zed Omega | Six Teens Drop Out to Fix Education

The Zed Omegas: six teens who dropped out of high school to...

If you are a high school junior or senior, and come a fall...

ZED OMEGA REPORT - FINAL, Part TwoZED OMEGA REPORT - FINAL, Part Three

The Ed Zed Omega story begins with six teens self-identified...

May: “I really don’t see the point… I feel like every second I spend in class, being bored, not caring, is a wasted moment. I want to be an actor. I want to get my real life started… high school is holding me back.”

November: “But here’s the thing: I am not giving up! I’ve learned so much about education, and about myself… I think I will be going back with new knowledge, and that makes all the difference.”

August: “I’ve never liked school since I was a little kid, basically – I’ve felt the school system was messed up and wasn’t for me. I would say my last straw was when I was told for me to graduate I would have to repeat my senior year…”

“I don’t want a diploma, I don’t need a diploma to make me feel better about myself. I feel great about myself right now. I feel fantastic. I feel like, if I go back to school, I’m losing.”

December: “What have I learned, how am I different? I think I learned a lot about being more strong and more open to new thoughts… I really need to be open to other people’s ideas, not just my own – ‘flexible,’ my mother calls it.”

November:

December: Nora sums up what the Zed Omegas have decided, and finds herself caught in the conundrum of traditional vs. alternative education.

ZED OMEGA REPORT – Final, Part One ZED OMEGA REPORT – Final, Part Three

Ed Zed Omega is a collaborative thought experiment about...

ZED OMEGA REPORT – Final, Part One ZED OMEGA REPORT – Final, Part Two

tomscatterhorn: neeble: weeaboo-chan: frostedpornflakes: ...

good: Best of 2012: The Five Most Extraordinary Things to...

rotanarotana: Sense-making, social intelligence, novel...

Unsolicited Evaluation Is The Enemy of Creativity

Well, it’s my last video. It’s been such a crazy...

“You have to connect with your teachers. If you...

(Here’s my last video. there’s a clip of 12 year old Lizzie in...

In the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, someone stands on the...

“Students are not really thinking about the...

School is… …an archaic paradigm founded in...

…So yeah, just getting people involved and wanting to...

…the thing that’s really resonating with me is the...

Xavier OUT! My last video Ima miss you guys… Remember:...

When I’m in Palo Alto, I might stroll by to admire the...

The Zed Omegas created an activity for the Student Open House at...

“what I didn’t like about school was that...

ZED OMEGA REPORT - FINAL, Part Two
ZED OMEGA REPORT - FINAL, Part Three

ZED OMEGA REPORT – Final, Part One
ZED OMEGA REPORT – Final, Part Three

ZED OMEGA REPORT – Final, Part One
ZED OMEGA REPORT – Final, Part Two