Hello, Bart! I’ve been poking around the site on my phone (most users will be on mobile,) and I’m not sure what Learninate uniquely offers. Why would teachers come here?

Also: Is there any chance at all that you might reconsider the name? The subconscious connections are to words with icky or negative connotations that end in “ate.” There are many other suffixes that contain more positive or powerful messages.

I also spotted a typo in your welcome message: “Wonderful to see your here!”

What you describe sounds a lot like many other social media sites, including Google Groups and Facebook.. What differentiates this one?

Hey Bart,

Thanks for including me in this community. I am not sure about the whole manifesto idea, nevertheless I can appreciate your focus on agency and modeling democracy principles in our role as teachers. I am looking forward to being part of this journey with other educators in Learninate. I agree that teaching and learning has to go through a transformation if we are to meet the challenges of being a global citizen in the digital age. I am especially interested in empowering my students to be self directed learners and to be part of a community striving for positive change. Being a teacher of color teaching in an immigrant community there is so much work that still needs to be done for equity in our society. I guess, that is why I am here.

When you first posted this, my immediate response was ,”Nah.”

And then I finished the “study” part of the scrambled eggs course. I’ve changed my mind.

When I left teaching just a year ago, e-learning was still, at least in my school, just tool replacement. Instead of reading a paper text, read it online. Instead of writing with paper and pen, type on your district-provided laptop. I felt like I was ahead of the game by assigning 20% time for students to study what they had a passion for and give an end-of-year presentation, but even then, the research could have been done using books in a traditional library setting.

After my experience with the scrambled eggs, though, I don’t think that’s your vision for Learninate.

I hate to cook. Scrambled eggs is practically a staple food. I know how to make them. Grudgingly, because I want to help get Learninate going, I decided to do the course work, make some eggs and post a picture of my eggs. But by the time I finished the videos, I was EXCITED to make scrambled eggs incorporating a little technique from this chef, another from that one. I decided I really wanted to try Gordon Ramsey’s croissant toast and smoked salmon base. I priced the stuff out at Costco. Kind of a lot of money for one person’s breakfast, and I know I would end up pitching most of the food out. So I decided to take it up a level. Invite some friends, maybe former colleagues on summer break. Call it a Learninate Launch party. My friends enjoy wine, so learning about scrambled eggs has led me to learning a little about wine. What does one serve with scrambled eggs on a smoked salmon base? I may have to confer with an expert! And since my friends will be there, I can have one record me while I make the eggs and explain which elements I learned from the course.

And there, I believe, is the point of Learninate. Not using the computer as a tool for the same old learning, but to inspire learners to use the site as a base from which to launch into some new learning. Willingly. Excitedly.

And that may be why you need a manifesto.

Or maybe not. Maybe it’s more powerful – and more to the point – for us to experience it for ourselves.

I remember being part a program a few years back that brought cooking to the classroom. It was sponsored by local farmers. My students love it when I cook for them.

Summer of Learning Fun with @learninate while staying cool inside #ScrambledEggs thanks @BarMillEDU pic.twitter.com/72sKw7Ko8j

— Joe Rodriguez (@edtechjoe) July 6, 2018