Edupunk by definition? v1

## Nov 1st 2011)  ##

I say this is version 1 as through time I know I am going to change my outlook on the whole concept (if there is a concept here at all), but I want to show/track my thoughts as my research develops

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I sat for around three hours this morning gathering thoughts and stating a case that Edupunk is not dead. Those who follow the cause so to speak would already know that but how? Is there a definition of an Edupunk?

I get paid a decent salary for my job as a college lecturer. I use cloud solutions as part of my every day work to help myself, the student and ultimately the college (as it saves them money). Does that make me an Edupunk or an Edupreneur?

#### just thinking ###
My thoughts and beliefs are with the concept of the Edupunk but am I? I suppose it depends how hard you look at what I do. I have the option of the VLE and Microsoft Office, but I choose Google Docs and cloud storage.

I’m going to have to go for a walk, a bath or whatever and think this one through a little further before I continue to write.

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It’s been three hours since the paragraph above. Yes I am an Edupunk. I had to think about is because if you read the post by Jim Groom titled “Dear Edupunk” there are a series of heated responses. This I don’t get. Jim Groom coined the phrase as a way of working because that made sense to him and he could not think of a better analogy at the time. I like the name because it has beep roots with the 2nd generation Punk movement of the early 80′s, fundamentally it is a way of thinking outside the corporate guidelines we are asked to follow.

I have no idea how college funding works in other countries, but in Scotland, a college is allocated a set number of student places and we get paid on that basis. Okay, there are some other factors but that’s the main source. From that the college pay rates, wages, software etc. My Edupunk approach may save the college money somewhere which will only be spent somewhere else but is the main point not that I am passing this approach on to others. I am showing my students that there are alternate ways to do things and from that I make no monetary gain. The legacy of my teaching methods will hopefully be taken forward into the next generation, which brings another argument on should I do this, should I not just go with the corporate big-guns? That is another post I think.

My Edupunk definition?

A D.I.Y. Attitude towards learning and teaching which involves sharing and collaboration with no direct monetary gain.

This could be argued and counter argued. Who says I am correct in anything I do as an educator… I teach web design — there are other ways to do it. I teach 3D modeling — there are other ways to do it. Arguably, find a different way to do anything in learning and teaching then you are an Edupunk… Which poses another question in How Edupunk are you?

Please feel free to comment, I would appreciate all thoughts and views.