Very pleased to see that the recent rumor of an upcoming Edutopia (George Lucas Educational Foundation’s remarkable education-oriented magazine) article focusing on Chris Lehmann’s school, the Science Leadership Academy in Philadelphia, is now a reality.

Called “My School, MEET MySpace”, this is a wonderful companion piece to the article that Chris wrote recently for DesignShare called, “Designing School 2.0: A Study of Philadelphia’s Science Leadership Academy” this past month.

An excerpt from the Edutopia article:

Classes focus less on facts to be memorized and more on skills and knowledge for students to master independently and incorporate into their lives. Students rarely take tests; they write reflections and do “culminating” projects. Learning doesn’t merely cross disciplines — it shatters outdated departmental divisions. Recently, for instance, kids studied atomic weights in biochemistry (itself a homegrown interdisciplinary course), did mole calculations in algebra, and created Dalton models (diagrams that illustrate molecular structures) in art.

Such integration and pragmatism are not novel, of course. This is Dewey for the digital age, old-fashioned progressive education with a technological twist. But that twist is all important. Although Lehmann says technology is merely a tool, not the engine of the school, computers and networking are central to learning at, and shaping the culture of, SLA.

We love the idea of “Dewey for the digital age”, uniting extraordinary traditions and new ways of imagining the future of learning.

BTW, Chris has recently joined the DesignShare 2007 Awards jury, too.

A wonderful chance to team up world-class educators with world-class school designers in the review of innovative school designs from around the globe. Can’t wait for the debates and conversations to kick-off this June!