The term “edupunk” started with a blog rant by Jim Groom, an instructional-technology specialist and adjunct professor at the University of Mary Washington, who was annoyed at commercial course-management systems and wanted to encourage professors to take a do-it-yourself approach to using the latest Web tools for their courses. But since we wrote about that rant last year, the term has been widely discussed in educational-technology circles — with some people excited about it, and others arguing that professors should use the tools provided by colleges rather than go off on their own to try to replicate them.
Educause recently released a series of videos called “Edupunk Battle Royale,” pitting Mr. Groom against W. Gardner Campbell, director of the Academy for Teaching and Learning at Baylor University, who argues that the concept is counterproductive. The debate is moderated by Gerry Bayne, a multimedia producer for Educause, the educational-technology association.
“The fact is it hit a nerve,” says Mr. Groom early in the first installment of the video series, adding that he was surprised by how much discussion the term sparked. “There was obviously a very deep-rooted reaction to a term.”
Mr. Campbell fired back that it is “the wrong metaphor,” noting that punk music was as much about theatrics as substance.
Three sections of the interview have been posted so far, with more apparently to come. —Jeffrey R. Young
