Blog # 9: School's Out-Will hyperlearning replace public education?

Isn’t it Ironic?

Lewis Perelman describes in his 1993 article, Schools Out, a learning opportunity called Hyperlearning, as the upcoming replacement for pubic learning which is supposedly the “last great bastion of socialist economics”(L. J. Perelman, 1993). The irony is that his very suggestion that all citizens may learn to levels previously unimagined through hypermedia, telescom broadband communication, smart environments, and sensory technologies of brain tech is quite likely only possible in a society and world culture where resources are available to all and equally distributed. This describes a true socialist concept, not a capitalist venture. Indeed to continue further, L. Perelman’s’ suggestion to remove the status of education or credentialism, much as the socialists suggested and the Marxist communists did motivation for stature within the system would only shift to the new “caste currency.”

Attempting to support his controversial "Call to Hyper-Arms" L. Perelman suggests privatizing the educational process but not in the economic manner most imagine. Instead of placing education into non governmental agencies to increase completion as Michael Perelman suggested in his March 2006 article Privatizing Education (M. Perelman, 2006). L. Perelman instead advocates use of micro-vouchers to access information and resources. These are interesting concepts however unless the socioeconomics and politics of our culture are transformed the impetus to compete in such a setting may not be obvious for those who struggle to find motivation to learn without structure providing direct feedback and potential reward.

Grasping the concept of real-world learning in a manner which is quite inappropriate and convoluted L. Pearlman suggests the tech/ real world based education system make “mindcraft” the major commodity. Focusing on individual know-how, continuous assessment and feed back are key to his argument, he suggests we can restructure the entire economic system to focus on true achievement not academic goals. Student centered attentions and learning are not new concepts; Quintilian suggested this in 95 A.D.(Kasper, 2005). However, the supposition that problem solving skills and relationships can be developed in the reality he vividly describes would, in my mind, create a world which is alienating, one missing emotional and environmental connections. Elimination of the current social context in which many children do indeed learn, as demonstrated through extensions of Vygotsky’s work in Zone of Proximal Development and other social learning constructs would likely produce students unable to cope with adversity and diversity thus reducing problem solving and networking ability. Different is much easier to ignore or discount if the exit is just a click of the mouse. Our new world needs citizens who have connection and association with others; without this we will not have the motivation to learn or take action.


Kasper, B. B. (2005). EDUCATIONAL REFORM 1983 - 1994: New Ideas or the Rebirth of Quintilian's Ideologies? American Educational History Journal, 32(2), 175.
Perelman, L. J. (1993). School's Out: The hyperlearning revolution will replace public education. Wired Magazine(1.01).
Perelman, M. (2006). Privatizing Education. Monthly Review, 57(10), 45.