Decentralised teaching and learning

RH: Paul, it's good see that you have been writing about Reddcoin on your website. How long has decentralisedteachingandlearning.com been running?



Paul W: It's been running as a website, and 'decentralised teaching and learning' has been 'running' as a concept for about a year now. RH: Decentralisation was one of the key features that Satoshi Nakamoto envisaged for Bitcoin. How do you apply this to education?



Paul W: Good question. My answer would be that decentralisation is a response to the problems of centralised systems, and that education is 'over-centralised'. Go into almost any classroom in the world and you will see a teacher at the front, facing rows of learners. This system came about in the 19th century, when children needed to be disciplined into the routine of working life. This is not a good system for the 21st century. Innovation is changing this, but even with the rise of MOOCs [Massive Open Online Course] there's still a large degree of centralisation - for example, MOOCs have still not solved the problem of how learners can really engage with educational content - it's still very much a top-down process. My motto I suppose would that be decentralised teaching 'devolves power down to the learner in order to optimise learning'. In my classroom the learners, or the learners in negotiation with me, decide what we are going to do - not an outside authority. In decentralised systems the users are also responsible for maintaining, propagating and expanding the system - and this is what I find with education. Once learners feel comfortable taking control of their own learning - they really like it, it becomes natural and they tell others. RH: What do you aim to achieve with your website?



Paul W: Well, my website was kind of borne out of frustration with my personal teaching situation in Berlin, Germany. I was bored basically, teaching the same classes and the same material. So this project was an attempt to overcome some inertia - and it worked! I've since presented at a conference, started a decentralised teacher's group and have lots more projects on the horizon! I'm still seen as a maverick by the mainstream English teaching community at the moment, but that's not such a bad thing. Eventually, I'd like to turn the website into a book. I approached a few publishers but they weren't interested. So I might just release an ebook anyway! RH: You accept Bitcoin and Reddcoin donations. Bitcoin is the flagship of cryptocurrency; what made you choose Reddcoin?



Paul W: I chose Reddcoin because I don't like the 'arms race' that has grown up with Bitcoin - those with more computing power are able to capture more of the resources. This is basically a re-centering of power - much like what we saw in the Soviet Union after the collapse of communism. American neo-liberal economists went to the USSR and, in one of the biggest economic experiments in history, thought that they could create 'capitalists' without 'capitalism'. Well they succeeded somewhat. Those with money, power, connections or all three were able to buy up economic resources and build up a power base. This led to the growth of oligarchs. With Bitcoin the same process has started and I think Reddcoin might be a good solution to the problems of Bitcoin. So I'm looking forward to seeing what happens! I also particularly like the 'social' aspect of Reddcoin and the fact that you can 'tip' someone and reward them for 'social' influence. This is an important innovation I feel.