My Final Project

Part of my final for my Technology in Education class was to create a digital story. The subject could be about anything I wanted, and Doc Waters gave some good advice as to what the subject should be. It needed to be something that personally meant something to us.

I remember watching a documentary about Helmuth Hubener back in 2003. Prior to then I had heard his name mentioned, but I didn't know much about him. After watching the documentary I remember sitting minutes in silence, in complete awe of this young man's story. This digital story is just my way of trying to bring his story to you and perhaps allow you the same experience I had.

In Closing . . .

Yeah, the semester is ending. This is that time of year when instructors, in a last-ditch effort to make students think for themselves, ask that their pupils get all self-reflective and stuff and express how far they've come in the class/subject they paid tuition for (aka an arm and a leg plus whatever the government didn't take).

Well, we definitely will have none of that here. Reflections are for philosophers and hippies. While I may have come off as philosophical and hippy-like at times, i don't like to talk about how far I've come. I prefer to think about it instead. (nnnnnnn--there, that was fun).


Besides, any instructor whose focus is solely rested upon students' self-reflections is (A) a sad person trying to derive meaning for their own lives from the lives of others or (2) Just really lazy.

They could be both, but I don't think of either types as being over-achievers. My point is, if the teacher was really doing their job, then both the instructor and the students would know the success they've achieved because the student would already be applying their new knowledge and skills.

Here's a quick example. I was 5 years old when I mastered shoelaces. I was quite proud of that (until I learned about Velcro and discovered a short cut). After several tries of getting the bunny ears just right, my Mom let me try doing it on my own. Much to my delight I remembered what to do and tied the shoelaces correctly. Now my Mom is an intelligent person and therefore knew it would have been degrading to ask "Now what have you learned, Jakob?" I probably would have played Captain Obvious and took advantage of the situation. I would have said something like "Why, did you forget already?" or "Are your eyes feeling okay? You were here all this time, right? At least mentally?"

Lucky for me my Mom simply congratulated me and let me tie my shoes from then on, an act I've continued to this day (except when I wear sandals and boots, which everyone should own a pair of). I like what I heard in a meeting with an educator. He said the first lesson he learned as an instructor was "Put the burden of the learning on the student." Well, if the shoelaces weren't supposed to be part of the picture, my Mom would have thrown the shoes in the trash and said walking barefoot would be fine. . . which would be ok if I were a hippy. But I was the student, shoelaces were going to be an important part of my life, so the burden was mine. I have advanced to double tying the shoelaces. 'Nuf said.

Now then, I'm going to ask you nicely this time to watch this video. Will you please click on the link below and watch the video? (MAN that was hard). Thank you.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y72cjn7l9H0



These students are trying to define the burdens of the learning world. I say let them. That means they are taking an active part in the learning process. They want to define the parameters. If you're technologically challenged, that's ok. We still have books.

For me, as a future teacher of this technologically-enhanced generation will probably have to keep up to speed with the newest products, which should be great fun since I'm the guy who put the DVD in the CD player and wondered why I wasn't getting any music or video. Regardless, as an instructor the technologies of the world are simply a means to an end. Basically I simply point in the direction the students should go and make the pathway as navigable as possible. Whether or not the embark on the journey is their own choice.






It doesn't matter anyways--eventually they will all become my minions that do my every bidding. BWA-HA-HA-HA-HAAAAAA!!!!

Admit it, we all love Propaganda

I say it, you believe it. THAT would be a useful superpower, don't you think? With that power I could build or destroy anything I wanted, have countless followers do my every bidding, even conquer the world.

Here's the mind blowing part---people have or are currently using this superpower already.

I'm referring to propaganda, which you would have known already had you read the title of this blog entry (shame on you if you didn't). There are two very crucial elements to effective propaganda: WHAT is being said, and HOW it is being said. Watch the following video before we proceed (and you better watch it this time--I don't post this stuff because I'm bored):


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpEnFwiqdx8&feature=related



Don't you feel smaller? Maybe even a bit amazed or scared? Maybe you feel threatened by the so called improvements of the human race? Let's stop and think--why do you feel this way?

Well, let's analyze it from the propaganda perspective:

WHAT was being said? If I may summarize it (which I can because I'm writing this blog entry and you're just the reader--nyah!), I believe the message is the processing of information is not what it used to be--our world has made humongous strides and is rapidly becoming a place where everyone thinks they have access to everything (by the way, they don't--it's just a myth that you can have anything you want. I already called dibs on whatever it was before you).

HOW was that message conveyed? Quite simple, actually. It presented related facts in a progressing pattern. You saw what was, is, and perhaps what will be. Imagine, if you will, a snowball rolling down a snowy mountainside at you. It seems small at first, but it gets bigger because (1) it's closer and (2) it's accumulated more snow and increased in size. I like how the video ends with "What does it all mean?" or as my analogy puts it "What do you do when the ever-growing snowball reaches you?"

I'm not going to answer those questions, mostly because I don't have a clue of what those answers are. Regardless, let me amaze you all anyways. I'll do so by making my point for this blog entry---we, the viewers and listeners of this media filled world, are the targeted puppets of the makers of the media.

That's what propaganda, in all of its many forms, is trying to do--make you do something (watch what strings you pull!). The really scary thing is the WHAT is being said doesn't even have to be true, so long as HOW it is being said gets to you. Watch commercials closely--you'll really see the media puppet masters at work there. They want you to buy/do something.

Now that you know all this, let me teach you about responsibility. If you're one who helps make the media, please, for Heaven's sake, make your message safe. Hopefully that doesn't fall on deaf ears, otherwise we could have another Hitler and/or Nazi Germany pop up somewhere (review your history--the Third Reich had propaganda masters working for them). If you are one receiving the propaganda message, please realize that the message you receive doesn't have to be the message that was sent. Be an objective, not a subjective receiver.






By the way, Doc Waters, knowing all of what I have just written about, has assigned us to do a digital story. We, her students, have been asked to put together a short moving presentation of any topic we want and share it with the class. In other words, we get to try our hand at this propaganda thingy. Am I able to handle this new superpower? Let me put on my mask and cape and we'll find out . . .