---
title: "Scaling up a flawed system…"
date: 2009-02-20
url: https://learningischange.com/2009/02/20/scaling-up-a-flawed-system/
author: Ben Wilkoff
categories: ["Uncategorized"]
tags: []
---

# Scaling up a flawed system…

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I wrote a single thing on the back of a paper at a meeting today:

[Scaling](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scaling_%28geometry%29) a system that exists vs. Creating a different system that includes networked learning.

What I meant by this I am not exactly sure (nor can I talk about all of the good and hopeful things that transpired during the meeting, either). All I know is that we shouldn’t be looking to make our current teaching model work in more and bigger ways. We should not be extending traditional [pedagogy](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedagogy) into online environments. We should not be taking something that no longer works for one school and then trying to emulate it for all schools.

I guess it makes sense to say this as well:

Just because a system can scale doesn’t mean that it should. And just because a system can’t scale, doesn’t mean it isn’t valuable to someone. While I believe that all of our learning should be [scalable](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scalability), that doesn’t mean that we need to have every learner doing the exact same thing. Creating multiple entrances makes sense. There is no one [ring to rule them all](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Ring). We need spaces that work for every *single* one, not “everyone”.

Forgive my obtuse discourse tonight. I am having trouble with getting concrete at the moment. I hope you glean some meaning from the words. If not, I will try again tomorrow.

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