Praxis Makes Perfect

Ok, so in the previous post I critiqued the problem of thinking about networks and technology in general terms. Here is an example of thinking about networks in a more focused, and I think more helpful way. Check out this link:

http://www.reed.com/Papers/GFN/reedslaw.html

In this paper, Mr. Reed outlines three ways that networks can grow (in the context of commercial services).

First, some services grow linearly based on the number of users who subscribe or join. An example of this is a cable television network/channel. If you have the best content in an area like the Food Network, your viewer base grows one by one. In education, a traditional textbook or a website whose content is written by one entity is an example.
Second is Metcalf’s Law, which grows essentially by the square of the # of users (N^2). Craigslist is a good example, which is a service that connects peers. The value of craigslist increases quickly based on how many people contribute and use it. But the value involves a one-to-one transaction. In education, wiki-based curriculum sharing where different educators can contribute is an example. The recent Free-Reading project is an example. Different folks contribute to the value, but the value is experienced by individual teachers who choose to use the curriculum.

Reed argues that the third kind of network growth is exponential (2^N) and most powerful. This kind of service connects different groups and entities. An exponential growth example is eBay. eBay’s main service is to provide a platform that offers connections to MANY. One auction can involve many bidders to drive up value. The key point in this area is that the value of the good (in eBay’s case, $$$) increases exponentially as more members get involved. Many people can post to a curriculum wiki, but the value of an item on the wiki does not necessarily increase exponentially to any individual. Many people can bid on an auction and the value of that item goes up, and in aggregate the value of all the items on eBay increases exponentially as more people bid on eBay.

What would an example be for an education context? I think a platform that connects the various constituents (groups) of public education for a common goal would be a good possibility. An example platform would:

1. Allow individual educators to share lesson plans/curriculum in one site, and to attach their own assignments/assessments to those lessons
2. Allow district level individuals connect those lesson plans to the academic standards that teachers/students need to meet
3. Allow individuals to rate lesson plans connected to the standards, on how well they are designed to meet the standard - some sort of communal verification system
4. Allow folks to track and assess student progress on those lesson plans connected to standards
5. Allow standardized test makers to create test questions connected to the lesson plans connected to the state standards
6. Allow legislators and policymakers to see that students are meeting standards by seeing students’ progress on each lesson plan connected to standards connected to assessments

The platform could be modular to allow for evolution… the simple point is that such a platform increases the value of a lesson plan as different people contribute to it. The lesson plan is proven to align with an academic standard, has community-approved assessments attached to it, has standardized test questions that are designed from the teacher lesson plans, and allows stakeholders to track whether students are meeting the standards in a real-time manner.

The platform ALIGNS in meaningful ways individual classroom practice to the wider system of accountability, allows different groups to contribute to the value of a curriculum, and thus increases the value of the system expontentially.

Thoughts?