School's Out: Hyperlearning, the New Technology, and the End of Education [Hardcover]

Lewis J. Perelman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1992

A radical formula for cutting through the bureaucracy of the traditional education system proposes the implementation of technologically innovative media as learning tools and privatization of schools to introduce competitiveness. 35,000 first printng. $25,000 ad/promo.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Are school systems, classrooms and teachers obsolete? No less so than the horse was with the coming of the automobile age, argues Perelman, a senior fellow at the Discovery Institute in Washington, D.C., in this stimulating brief for technology-based hyperlearning. He makes many apt criticisms of current schooling, charging, for example, that the current mode of passive learning is defective and that our education system is monolithic and socialistic (American academia is about 90% owned, operated and/or financed by government). He supports not only parental choice of schools, but also students' microchoice from a floating technology menu. On the debit side, techno-optimist Perelman is too eager to lump together all styles and types of learning and to ignore the role of gifted teachers. In his seemingly corporation-friendly way, he praises the innovative entrepreneurial leadership demonstrated by Chris Whittle with his controversial Edison Project, a private school system Perelman believes is dedicated to profitability as a necessary criterion of success.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Perelman, senior fellow of the Discovery Institute, proposes a bold new plan for education that hinges on the use of hypermedia and electronic networking to facilitate hyperlearning. He recommends that the current educational system be abolished, along with its bureaucracy and credentialism. The schools that remain would be private, competitive, and mainly vocational. Educator schools would be transformed into research and development think tanks. Education would be lifelong for the whole family. Perelman bases his proposals on his experience as director of Project Learning 2001, an education restructuring study sponsored by nine U.S. corporations and foundations. His ideas are provocative and radical and will engender controversy. For most education, business, and public policy collections.
- Shirley L. Hopkinson, SLIS, San Jose State Univ., Cal.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 368 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow & Co; 1st edition (October 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0688112862
• ISBN-13: 978-0688112868
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,139,604 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Dr. Lewis Perelman has over thirty years of professional experience focused on the processes of innovation, sustainability, and resilience. He has worked with numerous public and private organizations on strategy, policy, planning, and assessment--as a consultant, analyst, author, publisher, and teacher.

In addition to consulting, Dr. Perelman has held senior positions in several leading think tanks and research institutes, including the Solar Energy Research Institute, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, Hudson Institute, and the Homeland Security Institute.

Dr. Perelman has written, edited, or contributed to 12 books and over 100 other publications. After undergraduate and graduate study of Mathematics and Physics at the City College of New York, Columbia University, and Harvard University, Dr. Perelman earned his doctorate in Administration, Planning, and Policy at Harvard. He is a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers and of the Society for Risk Analysis.

A native of Mount Vernon, NY, Dr. Perelman currently resides in Northern Virginia near Washington, DC.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Eye Opening, Thought-Provoking, December 10, 1999

By 

Jeffrey Gettleman (River Ridge, LA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: School's Out: Hyperlearning, the New Technology, and the End of Education (Hardcover)

I first read this book at least 4 years ago, and it was extremely stimulating and thought-provoking. Looking back, it was perhaps a bit ahead of its time, because it was published before the web became ubiquitous. I find myself even now going back to refer to it, because it deals with education in a unique way, and the ideas are still very relevant today. I wish Mr. Perelman would write an updated edition, because some of the software he refers to, for example, is now quite outdated. It would be wonderful to have a current treatment of his topics, to see how the explosion of the web and other social trends might have changed his perspective and also sparked new thinking. I recommend it highly to anyone in the education or training business.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Business of Education is Capitolism, August 20, 2003

By 

Lawrence J. Guzzetta "Lawrence J. Guzzetta, J... (Palm Desert, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: School's Out: Hyperlearning, the New Technology, and the End of Education (Hardcover)

Never has a book, written more than a decade ago served as a better inspiration to lead education into the 21st Century. Lewis J. Perelman found the answer to the most pressing need of education in the manuals of successful businesses in America. "You must live with-in your budget or surly you will go out of business" The dollars invested in education are not producing the desired end results. (i.e., 48% of the adult population in Riverside County, CA is considered illiterate) And it's time that the leaders in education accept changes must be done. Mr. Perelman points out in his book, "SCHOOL'S OUT: Hyperlearning, the New Technology, and the End of Education"; a fact that all educators would agree "there is too much money being spent on administrators and bricks". Distance learning via the inter-net is a way for instructors to reach more students (scale of economics) while customizing the instruction to the needs of each individual student. (Learning at their own pace). Spending less money on layers of management and outdated structures isn't the end all answer, but we now have the technology to provide greater efficiency and less waste. How can we afford not to implement successful business techniques in the school charged, in part, with the responsibility to help develop successful business people?

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Perelman misguided, October 12, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: School's Out: Hyperlearning, the New Technology, and the End of Education (Hardcover)

I think this book fails because Perelman doesn't understand what education is. He seems to think it's a kind of engineering problem, and that machines can now do it "better, faster, and cheaper" (as he likes to say) than human teachers. He also seems to accept every myth about the power of technology there is, and forgets how many other "revolutionary" educational technologies (ed. TV, radio, movies, etc.) have failed to live up to their promises.