Following the conclusion of our New Media Faculty seminar, I found myself thinking about what I’ve gained from this experience (other than the nifty little Baylor Green iPod nano that I now have to hide to keep my family from “borrowing”!!). Probably the biggest benefit is that I feel less trepidation in exposing myself to new technology. Even though I’m not that far out on the fringes (nor would I consider myself that ‘old’), the recent explosion of new technology and new media available has left me feeling somewhat left behind, and less confident about immersing myself in discovery. But the exposure to different media types this semester, while even itself highly under-represented considering all the new potentials, has helped me to feel considerably more comfortable with trying out the waters. Sure, maybe I’m still on the second step of the pool (as opposed to cannon-balling in), but at least I’m past the ‘sticking my big toe in’ stage!
One of the most interesting (and challenging) aspects of the semester were the readings, which provided us glimpses into the mindsets of the visionaries and creators of today’s technology. It was both enlightening and inspiring to realize I’m directly benefiting from the manifestations of some of those early ideas. To see what worked and what didn’t. To realize that today’s generation is actively building the next new media – and what we may see as crazy-bold or just plain crazy just may be the next ‘new’ medium that a few short years from now that will leave people wondering how they ever lived without ‘it’. Recognizing that so much of what I take for granted in my life was very recently birthed out of the daydreams of those who don’t simply ‘wish’ that a technology existed but actually devote the brain power to make it so – that’s pretty cool! Makes me feel more connected to, rather than feeling affronted by, the explosion of new media now accelerating rapidly around me.
And finally, I’ve learned that if I really want to stay connected with my own students (today’s dreamers and doers) then like it or not, I’ve got to engage them from their own perspective. I cannot effectively teach them new ideas, take them to new levels of thinking/learning if I don’t first relate to them where they are now. And their world is highly immersed in new media. A perfect example, so poignantly revealed after two weeks of seminar on the subject, is the world of video games. I was unaware of just how influential video games are in the lives of today’s teens and young adults. Not that I feel I have to become an expert at Halo, but I do feel I need to understand the culture of video games. So much of what I do is ‘tag’ material with hooks to which students can attach and relate material (to help them better learn and process). Knowing about video gaming gives me one more type of hook – a fresh, highly relevant hook at that. To further drive this point home, I’ll refer to a blog earlier this semester by Anne Bowery in which she described a wonderful dialogue that occurred between her and a former student when she mentioned “Leroy Jenkins” in a previous posting – a whole new world of thoughts and discussion! I have yet to use the phrase in class, but can’t wait to see the looks on the faces of my students when I casually refer to him in relation to some point I’m making. How fun! It’s all the little insights I gleaned from this semester’s discussions that I carry with me into my future classes. And that’s what teaching, to me, is all about: taking the ideas of those before me and around me and melding them together with my own style to be a better facilitator of learning.
And heck, now that I’ve created this blog site, maybe I’ll even check in now and then with my own random musings…
One of the most interesting (and challenging) aspects of the semester were the readings, which provided us glimpses into the mindsets of the visionaries and creators of today’s technology. It was both enlightening and inspiring to realize I’m directly benefiting from the manifestations of some of those early ideas. To see what worked and what didn’t. To realize that today’s generation is actively building the next new media – and what we may see as crazy-bold or just plain crazy just may be the next ‘new’ medium that a few short years from now that will leave people wondering how they ever lived without ‘it’. Recognizing that so much of what I take for granted in my life was very recently birthed out of the daydreams of those who don’t simply ‘wish’ that a technology existed but actually devote the brain power to make it so – that’s pretty cool! Makes me feel more connected to, rather than feeling affronted by, the explosion of new media now accelerating rapidly around me.
And finally, I’ve learned that if I really want to stay connected with my own students (today’s dreamers and doers) then like it or not, I’ve got to engage them from their own perspective. I cannot effectively teach them new ideas, take them to new levels of thinking/learning if I don’t first relate to them where they are now. And their world is highly immersed in new media. A perfect example, so poignantly revealed after two weeks of seminar on the subject, is the world of video games. I was unaware of just how influential video games are in the lives of today’s teens and young adults. Not that I feel I have to become an expert at Halo, but I do feel I need to understand the culture of video games. So much of what I do is ‘tag’ material with hooks to which students can attach and relate material (to help them better learn and process). Knowing about video gaming gives me one more type of hook – a fresh, highly relevant hook at that. To further drive this point home, I’ll refer to a blog earlier this semester by Anne Bowery in which she described a wonderful dialogue that occurred between her and a former student when she mentioned “Leroy Jenkins” in a previous posting – a whole new world of thoughts and discussion! I have yet to use the phrase in class, but can’t wait to see the looks on the faces of my students when I casually refer to him in relation to some point I’m making. How fun! It’s all the little insights I gleaned from this semester’s discussions that I carry with me into my future classes. And that’s what teaching, to me, is all about: taking the ideas of those before me and around me and melding them together with my own style to be a better facilitator of learning.
And heck, now that I’ve created this blog site, maybe I’ll even check in now and then with my own random musings…
