Logic Magazine launches Logic School to empower tech workers to drive radical change

Technology magazine Logic has launched an online school for people working in the tech industry. It has been created, the publication says, to “[cultivate] critical thinking about technology and its impact.” In turn, this will empower employees to drive radical and substantial change across the industry “from below.”

The school is free – it is funded by “social change venture” Omidyar Network – and term will begin in March, running for 8 weeks. It’s being run by Logic’s Creative Director Xiaowei Wang, author of the recently published Blockchain Chicken Farm.

While this is a school for tech workers, this doesn’t mean it’s open only to UX designers, engineers, and product managers. This isn’t another Flatiron School. Logic makes it clear that it is for anyone working in the tech industry. This includes warehouse workers and drivers for transportation apps like Uber.

Read more news and analysis on the gig economy.

What will Logic School teach students?

There isn’t a formal curriculum, but the program details provided by Logic School says students will learn skills that will help them to better tackle the challenges the tech industry poses to its employees and wider society. In keeping with its democratic ethos, the school won’t replicate traditional modes of pedagogy; it uses what it calls “a ‘flipped classroom’ model, which means  sessions are opportunities  “to talk, exchange ideas and participate in activities.”

Most importantly, the focus is on the collective rather than individuals:

 “We see collective learning as a form of organizing — it’s a kind of mental muscle.”

The end of the course will culminate in a ‘Final project’. Ultimately this will be driven by the individual student, but it could be anything from workplace organizing, to making active contributions to alternative models of digital infrastructure (Logic School gives Driver’s Seat and Shared Streets as examples).

You can apply for Logic School here. Applications close on December 22nd.

Read next: Explained: Surveillance capitalism (and what Shoshana Zuboff’s definition gets wrong)

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