• This is in response to my original “declaration of blogging” principles, which I wrote back in February of ‘08.
• A lot has changed since then.
• I’m no longer teaching.
• I’m going to Graduate School (my first Master’s is in Education) at Brandeis for Sustainable International Development.

To be blunt: the purpose of Affected Clapping is to uncover new and exciting ways to leverage Open-Source philosophy into social problems.

Break it down! What’s “Open-Source philosophy”?

My definition, which is certainly NOT the de facto definition, is as follows:

1. Open-Source software rests on the premise that thousands of programmers are better than one, and that the end product tends to thus be more profitable (literally and figuratively) for everyone, compared to one programmer, or one “company of programmers”, working on something inside a bubble.
2. This Darwinian model of software development can be applied to things all around us: architecture; product design; content (musicians allowing their fans to “re-mix” their songs; authors allowing their books to be edited and re-edited by readers); and policy itself.
3. By applying this Open-Source philosophy to things outside the sphere of software, several things happen. Most notably:

Basic assumptions we’ve grown up believing to be “right” or “correct” or “normal” don’t necessarily hold up under the scrutiny of this philosophy.

Why do we need chairs and desks in a classroom again? Why can’t students design their own classroom? It is theirs, after all, not ours…

Why do Department of Education’s in cities across the US spend in exorbitant amount of money on: textbooks; hardware; software; pencils; paper? Is this the best way to spend the money? Are there other “best ways”?

People, organizations, cities, even countries, can begin adopting new these paradigm shifts and reap the benefits two fold:

1. They’re usually FAR more flexible solutions, scalable, and cheaper.

2. The process IS the product. Integrating a new architectural philosphy into the building of schools, for example, is in itself something that can be studied and tinkered with and improved upon. You’re not left with a blob of concrete; you’re left with a starting block from which to build on.

Some Asides:

• This Blog veers off-course from time to time. Deal with it.

• Not every post follows my declaration. Some posts are simply about emerging technologies. Others about victories in education.

• Becuase I’m studing Sustainable International Development, there will begin to be more and more emphasis on, you guessed it, development! Specifically how the aforementioned ideas can be used in developmental settings.