Class Two: January 14

Class Two began with the question what is curriculum. Using the document reader, each individual presented a brief definition of what curriculum meant to them. A follow up looked a curriculum from the perspective of three metaphors presented by Kliebard: production, growth and travel. Each metaphor was found to have both strengths and problems. It was noted that while most class participants felt that their preferred metaphor was travel or growth, the official curriculum documents clearly follow the production metaphor. This disconnect provides a gap in which this course will need to explore.

A half hour break took the entire class to the computer lab (Rm 328) where everyone set up a blog. The purpose of a blog or web log is to be a kind of diary. In this course, each student is asked to keep a running blog in which individuals can interact with the content of the classes.

The final portion of the class looked at the concept of curriculum potential, a term posited by Mirriam Ben-Peretz. Her complete paper is available on JSTOR, accessible through the University of Manitoba.

In class we previewed a 60 second "commercial" titled "Hydrogen 7". (It can be accessed by doing a google search for the words Bezos and Ted. the commercial appears at the tail end of a 20 minute lecture titled "After the gold rush, there's innovation.") Don't watch the lecture; cut to the commercial starting at minute 18:00. Your task: write a one page exploration of the "curriculum potential" you see inherent in the commercial.

The argument behind the concept of curriculum potential is clearly stated by Ben-Peretz. She says that while "curriculum is the embodiment of the developers' intentions", that once the materials have left the developers hand's, they may be interpreted and used in many ways."

So what exactly is curriculum potential? I leave it to you to tease out its meaning based on the Ben-Peretz paper.

For those of you with a technology focus, there is an interesting connection to what is called learning objects. Learning objects are small units of learning, usually technologically available, that are re-useable, re-purposable, tagged, and readily available. They are the building blocks of instruction, therefore, at a wider level, the basic building blocks of curriculum.

Summary of keywords from this class:
Kliebard, curriculum metaphors, blogger, blog, Ben-Peretz, Curriculum potential, curriculum, learning object.