I can't presume to know education's main job in today's very different media environment, but I think Prof. Michael Wesch at Kansas State University is on to something. It goes beyond teaching media literacy in information-saturated lives, which itself is well past the 19th-century model of filling students' heads with information and having them "learn" it. It even goes beyond teaching the … [Read more...] about Education’s job in a networked world
Michael Wesch
Thankful for new media & what they’re teaching us
Here in the US, this is kind of, partially a week of reflection and thanksgiving, as many of us shop, cook, travel, cook some more, and feast and some of us try to keep it really simple. But for the reflection and thanksgiving part, treat yourself to this enriching example of participatory media, a video by Michael Wesch and his students (the main one on this page). Then treat yourself to … [Read more...] about Thankful for new media & what they’re teaching us
Why participatory media need to be in school
Writer, tech consultant, and educator Clay Shirky just gave a talk at the State Dept. explaining the media sea change we're experiencing globally. Keeping participatory media, the most fluent though not necessarily most literate users of which are youth, out of school only solidifies the firewall between formal and informal learning and holds school back from 21st-century relevance. Isn't the idea … [Read more...] about Why participatory media need to be in school
Virtual, real ‘Global Sim’ class
Ever thought of doing a non-virtual sim of the world, a mini Planet Earth, in a football stadium? Prof. Michael Wesch did. It's his Anthropology 204 class at Kansas State University, the Christian Science Monitor reports. Actually, his class's World Sim is in a giant rodeo arena, not a football stadium. It's designed "to push students to stop asking, 'What’s going to be on the test?' and to … [Read more...] about Virtual, real ‘Global Sim’ class
Watch this video, parents
If you want to understand... who digital natives are and what they're doing online how community is experiencing a rebirth online how identity-exploration can be a collective experience and how that can be therapeutic and maybe even why YouTube is the No. 1 site among 2-to-11-year-olds for video viewing (see this)...pour yourself a tall glass of iced tea or something and watch "An Anthropological … [Read more...] about Watch this video, parents