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1	Ownschooling: The Use of Technology in 10 Unschooling Families January 2014 (has links) abstract: Unschooling is a child-centered educational philosophy that eschews teachers, schools, curricula, grades and tests. Unschool practitioners have complete freedom to choose what they want to learn, when, to what level, and for how long. Unschooling families use the World Wide Web to provide a bespoke academic experience at home. This study compares qualitative data collected from questionnaires and semi-structured interviews conducted with 10 unschooling families with quantitative data collected from 5 children within these families using a tracking and monitoring software. The software captured the duration of use, keystrokes, mouseclicks, and screenshots for all programs and websites for 14 days. Children stated they used technology less than 6 hours a day, and parents stated children used them less than 8 hours a day. Quantitative data shows the children use technology at least 10 hours a day, suggesting usage self-reports may not be reliable. The study revealed hardware form factor was the number one determinate of application use. Almost exclusively social media was used on smartphones, internet browsing on tablets, and creative endeavors such as modding, hacking, fan fiction writing, and video game level building all took place exclusively on laptops and desktops. Concurrent use of differing hardware form factors was the norm observed. Participants stated YouTube, Wikipedia and Khan Academy were the websites most used for knowledge gathering. The tracking software verified YouTube and Wikipedia were the most used websites, however when accessed on the PC, those sites were used almost exclusively for video game related purposes. Over 90% of the total PC use was spent on video games. More traditional educational activities were done primarily on tablets and on parent smartphones with parental engagement. Khan Academy was not used by the participants in the 14 day monitoring period. 90 day web browser logs indicated Khan Academy was used by individuals no more than 3 times in a 90 day period, demonstrating the inherent risks in relying upon internet usage self-reports without quantitative software for verification. Unschooling children spent between 30 and 60 hours a week using technology. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Educational Technology 2014 Educational technology Education Secondary education Computer Use Home School Ownschool Ownschooling Unschool Unschooling
2	Summerhill school is it possible in Aotearoa ??????? New Zealand ???????: Challenging the neo-liberal ideologies in our hegemonic schooling system Peck, Mikaere Michelle S. January 2009 (has links) The original purpose of this thesis is to explore the possibility of setting up a school in Aotearoa (New Zealand) that operates according to the principles and philosophies of Summerhill School in Suffolk, England. An examination of Summerhill School is therefore the purpose of this study, particularly because of its commitment to self-regulation and direct democracy for children. My argument within this study is that Summerhill presents precisely the type of model Māori as Tangata Whenua (Indigenous people of Aotearoa) need in our design of an alternative schooling programme, given that self-regulation and direct democracy are traits conducive to achieving Tino Rangitiratanga (Self-government, autonomy and control). In claiming this however, not only would Tangata Whenua benefit from this model of schooling; indeed it has the potential to serve the purpose of all people regardless of age race or gender. At present, no school in Aotearoa has replicated Summerhill's principles and philosophies in their entirety. Given the constraints of a Master's thesis, this piece of work is therefore only intended as a theoretical background study for a much larger kaupapa (purpose). It is my intention to produce a further and more comprehensive study in the future using Summerhill as a vehicle to initiate a model school in Aotearoa that is completely antithetical to the dominant neo-liberal philosophy of our age. To this end, my study intends to demonstrate how neo-liberal schooling is universally dictated by global money market trends, and how it is an ideology fueled by the indifferent acceptance of the general population. In other words, neo-liberal theory is a theory of capitalist colonisation. In order to address the long term vision, this project will be comprised of two major components. The first will be a study of the principal philosophies that govern Summerhill School. As I will argue, Summerhill creates an environment that is uniquely successful and fulfilling for the children who attend. At the same time, it will also be shown how it is a philosophy that is entirely contrary to a neo-liberal 3 mindset; an antidote, to a certain extent, to the ills of contemporary schooling. The second component will address the historical movement of schooling in Aotearoa since the Labour Party's landslide victory in 1984, and how the New Zealand Curriculum has been affected by these changes. I intend to trace the importation of neo-liberal methodologies into Aotearoa such as the 'Picot Taskforce,' 'Tomorrows Schools' and 'Bulk Funding,' to name but a few. The neo-liberal ideologies that have swept through this country in the last two decades have relentlessly metamorphosised departments into businesses and forced ministries into the marketplace, hence causing the 'ideological reduction of education' and confining it to the parameters of schooling. The purpose of this research project is to act as a catalyst for the ultimate materialization of an original vision; the implementation of a school like Summerhill in Aotearoa. A study of the neo-liberal ideologies that currently dominate this country is imperative in order to understand the current schooling situation in Aotearoa and create an informed comparison between the 'learning for freedom' style of Summerhill and the 'learning to earn' style of our status quo schools. It is my hope to strengthen the argument in favour of Summerhill philosophy by offering an understanding of the difference between the two completely opposing methods of learning. Matriarchal society patriarchal society freedom without license sexual huminsation sexual humanization decolonisation decolonization imperialism colonisation colonization globalization globalisation right wing new right privatization privatisation of state owned assets state owned commodification rogernomics multinational corporations transnational corporations TNC world trade organisation world trade organization WTO International monetary fund IMF world bank self-governance self-government self-regulation autonomous thinking autonomy critical pedagogy New Zealand curriculum vision principles values key competencies learning areas neo-liberalism neo-liberal NZ educational reforms hegemony bulk funding NZEI New Zealand Education Institute Post Primary Teachers Association PPTA native schooling A. S. Neill Zoe Neill-Readhead Neill Roger Douglas David Lange Jim Bolger Lockwood Smith NZ treasury economist free market managerialism performativity conformity hidden curriculum decentralisation decentralization tino rangtiratanga tomorrows schools picot report indoctrination wage slave Maori schooling indigenous schooling deschooling deschool unschool home school schools as prisons

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Ownschooling: The Use of Technology in 10 Unschooling Families

Summerhill school is it possible in Aotearoa ??????? New Zealand ???????: Challenging the neo-liberal ideologies in our hegemonic schooling system