Thursday August 21, 2008 Shoes for Hurricane Season
Posted by hkvonlud ( Aug 21 2008, 09:42:46 PM EDT ) Permalink Comments [0]
Thoughts on M Wesch's YouTube videos
What is different between when I was an undergraduate and current undergraduates?
============================================================
I started college in 1989, the internet was rarely used. Most people couldn't afford personal computers. Cell phones were probably the size of small sedans and so costly that no one had one. All forms of communication and collaboration that stem from the internet and cell phones were nonexistent. So was ADD. It was expected that one attended classes led by instructors who talked at you for hours.
Since then, however, technology has advanced. I use technology, the internet, cellphones, all the time. I wouldn't expect students to sit and listen to a chalk board lecture for 3 hours but at the same time, how to you engage them? What does it take to engage them? Does it have to be in chunks and reduced to 30-second sound bites in order to be considered relevant? (What are the benefits of what seems like discontinuity?) Does class material have to push some creative or intellectual or cultural boundary to be considered interesting and useful?
I work at IBM, with "experienced" professionals (read, old-timers.... 3 ppl on my team of 4 have been there 20+ years. IOW, I'm the newbie). These people can pay attention, hour after hour, I honestly have no idea how they do it. I feel like I have ants in my pants, and can't sit still. I need things to change frequently and to really pay attention I have to go offline. Is that what it is like for current students -- constantly giving attention to many things and never really focusing?
Posted by hkvonlud ( Aug 21 2008, 12:50:39 PM EDT ) Permalink Comments [0]