This document discusses applying Steven Johnson's ideas about how ideas spread from his book "Where Good Ideas Come From" to learning. It provides examples of key ideas from Johnson's book like liquid networks, adjacent possibilities, and serendipity and shows how they relate to the origins and growth of hip hop/DJ culture. It also draws parallels between the evolution of hip hop/DJing and zones of learning, noting how knowledge and skills expand outward through experiences at the boundary of one's abilities.
1. Where Good Ideas
Go
APPLYING STEVEN JOHNSON’S IDEAS TO LEARNING
2013 TEXAS ASSOCIATION OF SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS/
TEXAS ASSOCIATION OF SCHOOL BOARDS CONFERENCE, DALLAS, TX
RICHARD ERDMANN, SYFR
MATTHEW DEARMON, ELITE CONTINUING EDUCATION UNIVERSITY AND THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN
3. Key Ideas
Liquid Networks – density helps grow ideas
Adjacent Possibilities – exponential growth of creative boundaries
Serendipity – “Chance favors the connected mind”
Platforms of Knowledge – when different platforms encounter one
another, they “bend” and “stack”
Slow Hunches – ideas that build and ferment before blossoming
Exaptation – bricolage; bending something old to become
something new
Error – the creative power of mistakes
4. Case Study: A Brief History of DJ
Culture
Began in New York in the late 1970s and early 1980s
Originally there were no “hip-hop” records. Early DJs used their
parents’ old soul and rock records.
DJs have/had to know and listen to lots of records to recognize
good songs, play to the crowd, and have the right record at the
right time!
The best part of each record – often the drum “break” – was
extended for dancing.
Contemporary artists began to rediscover lost classics
Eventually the “breaks” were recombined into something
completely new.
Every DJ has cleared the dance floor. Multiple times!
5. The Art of the DJ
Bass is
emphasized
for the beats
One record plays
the main cut or
beat
Tempo is
adjusted
to match
the beats
Treble is
emphasized
for the vocals
The crossfader
blends the
two tracks
The second record
plays the next cut
or vocal sample
6. The Art of the DJ
Bass is
emphasized
for the beats
Treble is
emphasized
for the vocals
Tempo is The crossfader
One record plays adjusted
blends the
the main cut or to match two tracks
the beats
beat
The second record
plays the next cut
or vocal sample
7. Innovation Lies at the Heart of
Hip Hop/EDM Culture
Key Idea
Historico-Cultural Corollary
Liquid Networks
This urban movement began in New York in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
Adjacent Possibilities
Originally there were no “hip-hop” records. Early DJs used their parents’ old
soul and rock records. “Digging” led to new influences and inspirations.
Serendipity
DJs have to be “connected” to recognize good songs, play to the crowd,
and have the right record at the right time.
Platforms of Knowledge
Musical ideas bended and stacked onto one another, as the best part of
each record – often the drum “break” – was extended for dancing.
Slow Hunches
Contemporary artists began to rediscover lost classics, which they sampled
for future use.
Exaptation/Bricolage
Eventually the “breaks” were recombined into something completely new.
The remix was born and soon influenced musical genres as diverse as jazz
and classical, country and pop.
Error
Every DJ has cleared the dance floor while improvising in the moment.
9. The More We Know, The More We Can Learn – The
Boundary Zone of Stretch Grows Knowledge
and Skills
Boundary
of Stretch
Adjacent
Possibilities
Frustration
Zone
22. Simplification or Abstraction
Variation within Repetition: Addition Problem 4 + 3 + 6 = x
Horizontal and Vertical – Move the Unknown – Create Word Problem
You have been asked to go to the store to buy bread, milk, and
eggs. You were given $20. Write a word equation explaining the
math problem.
The total cost of Bread + Milk + Eggs must not exceed $20.
Replace the words with letters for the equation.
x + y + z ≤ $20 or x + y + z + r + $20 with r being the remainder
