What does this video mean for you as a person, a parent, an educator, and a leader? From books to computers - media mediate relationships. As an advanced society (or so we are called), books are not new media. Google Earth yourself over to Papua New Guinea and you'll quickly see how books are new media. There you can see a different version of a mediated world. Quite possibly, how we use media to mediate our relationships will be a measure of our success as a society - either way, media uses us and we use it.
There is no opting out of media; it changes our society as a whole whether we participate or not. It affects how we are connected and who is connected. It gives hopeful possibilities (like for the people of Papua New Guinea) and ominous possibilities as well. It brings thoughts of "mass participation" and worries of "mass distraction". As Kansas State University (my husband's Alma mater) Professor, Mike Wesch appropriately advises, "We need to be more open, caring, daring, creative, and collaborative as learners..." This is true. but, definitely as leaders we must be all of this because many of our learners already are and they will continue with or without us.
We need to make learning meaningful. Career Technical Education has done that for decades. The question is how can media be used to better mediate meaningful learning for students earning bachelor degrees? We need to ask ourselves: What do I need to do to engage those around me? How differently does learning need to look in order to engage today's students? How can I move out of the classroom? How can I create environments that allow students to think about what it is they need to know? Part of the solution will include:
- Collaborative learning
- Shared knowledge
- Systems that value knowledge in all stakeholders (thinking of students as participants not burdens)
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