Monday, March 2nd (See bottom for Tuesday March 3rd)

Michael Wesch, Assistant Professor of Cultural Anthropology, Kansas State University

Dubbed "the explainer" by Wired magazine, Michael Wesch is a cultural anthropologist exploring the impact of new media on society and culture. After two years studying the impact of writing on a remote indigenous culture in the rain forest of Papua New Guinea, he has turned his attention to the effects of social media and digital technology on global society. His videos on technology, education, and information have been viewed by millions, translated in over ten languages, and are frequently featured at international film festivals and major academic conferences worldwide. Wesch has won several major awards for his work, including a Wired Magazine Rave Award and the John Culkin Award for Outstanding Praxis in Media Ecology. He has also won several teaching awards, including the 2008 CASE/Carnegie U.S. Professor of the Year for Doctoral and Research Universities.

Michael Wesch home page
Some of Michael's popular videos:




Notes:
Carry your identity... clothing or.... through a story, your history, what is your real name when you do not have a birth certificate? Census = so numbers can talk to the state.

When media changes, our relationships change. So what does it mean for the classroom.
Half do not like schools yet none say they do not like learning. Problem of significance for education

Online culture: narcissism or need to escape anonymity or modern life.
"Whatever:" Pre 1960 = a placeholder, late 60s = I don't care, 90s= "meh" (indifference) 2000s = "whatever I'll do what I want." See United States of Whatever

Grasping at Significace -- the Numa Numa phenomenon.
Not a mass audience. Not using mass media.

Learning changes but teaching hardly changes at all:

• acquire (dump) information
• information is scarce
• trust authority for good information
• Authorized info beyond discussion
• Obey authority
• Follow along

Students ask
What do I need to know? How many points is this? (Crisis of significance)

Assumptions about info: Material thing, point to it, organized by hierarchy (desktop & folder metaphors)
All this is being challenged. Tagging the new way to organize (bookmarking services like Diigo or Delicious) , RSS the new way to help information find us.

Challenge is to create students who can make significance and meaningful connection out of the information:

• Ambient attention
• Over choice
• Attention scarcity

Solution: Real Problems, with students, harnessing existing media environment (libraries included).

Example: Course wiki with RSS aggregator pulling in 16 blogs and Diigo bookmarks.

A purpose driven course:
exploration stage
guided research
Self directed research
publishing eg. videos drawn from collaboratively edited documents

More expertise and in the class than in the teacher. "Nobody is as smart as everybody."

Example: World civ game from 1450 on

"Let's do whatever it takes by any means necessary."

Tuesday March 3rd "The Long and Winding Road"

Advice from Barbara Gellman-Danley

• Make notes on the experience of your class. Build on your experience
• Make a plan for big picture of putting programs online
• Think about policy required to make things work well
• Develop clear and communicated internal processes
• Faculty development crucial, training before teaching should be required
  
• Don't use in class experience as a model, beware "lectureware"
• use resources wisely
• Use total cost of ownership model
• Place distance learning within academic division, not IT
• Try something new while focusing on the learner

What has changed over 10 years
Virtual worlds Seniors to sophomores
YouTube
Blog/Wiki/Blackberry

What we have learned:
Not every great thinker is a good speaker
Millennials are not like "us"

"we are all more reactive than we need to be and less proactive than we can to be." Stepehn Millet, futurist
"massification" Rod Chu on how we reach the masses
"core competency collaboration" Eric Fingerhut on the need to collaborate and share programs
"immigrants and natives" Mark Taylor

Technologies we have used
Clickers
Blogs
wikis
immersive environment
functional living/learing environments

Wish for: voice activated software, holograms, email alerts you to important email you ignored, GPS embedded in your cat, wearable technology that opens the door for you, smart clothes that clean themselves

Coming Soon.....

• The video intranet -- to support seniors to sophomores efforts (video on demand)
• LMS integrated with social networking
• instructors won't lecture in class
• Experiential learning will include.... visiting ancient civilizations, participating in UN debates, testing economic theories in real time, planetary exploration (collect data with probe, practice with avatar, then travel there), discuss religion with early theologians

In next ten years:
Teaching will still depend on the educator
Learners will still struggle with: difficult concepts, analysis & synthesis, open ended problems

eTech

It's big but the questions are similar and hunger to learn is still there.
share, build bridges

Audience ideas: