Education Transformation #2: Pleasantview Academy
As it just so happens, even in the flattest of worlds, coincidences are still the stuff of magic. The confluence of events that I am referring to now is that I met up with a student from the Pleasantview Academy (in central Kansas) by simply going to my summer job working with kids on technology and literacy in Denver Public Housing. He just happened to be on a trip with his church to volunteer at the non-profit that I work for. It also happened that I was updating all of the computers that the kids were using, and Eric offered to help. He clearly was adept at working with computers, and I asked him where he had attained his skills. He said, “Well, I put together web pages. I’m doing the one for my school right now.”
I couldn’t pass this opportunity up, so I asked him which school he attended, and while he was playing with the kids in the park, I googled it. It is the exact same school that Kevin Honeycutt’s son goes to, a school of no more that 100 students. Clearly, this was providence. So, when he returned, I asked if he would mind being interviewed for this podcast. He not only accepted, but provided one of the most cogent examples of why authentic learning works. I think that much of his experience is aided by Kevin, but he has put in more effort toward his learning than nearly any other (almost) seventh grader I know.
He told me after the interview that in the past year he had written a proposal to get his new Macbook from his school, he had “played” with movie creation (and the proof is amazing), and was steadily learning more and more from the other kids and adults in his learning network. I did show him a few things that he wasn’t aware of like del.icio.us, jumpcut, and sPresent. Yet, with all of the skills he has amassed, I know he would have found them on his own anyway.
All I have to say is: “Look out world, here comes Eric Mullins and the Pleasantview Academy. Ignore him at your peril.”
Show Notes:
- 00:00:35: Pleasantview AcademyTheir Website
- 00:01:19: The Pleasantview Recording StudioCandid Kids Live
- 00:03:19: Essdack’s InfluenceEssdack Webpage
- 00:04:28: Learning Through Myspace
Myspace - 00:05:12: The F117 ProjectThe Project Webpage
- 00:09:51: The Drag and Drift ProjectDrag and Drift Webpage
- 00:10:38: Tools of a 7th GraderAIM
- 00:11:40: What is the future of education?