Are We Amusing Ourselves to Death?

With a tip of the cap to

Neil Postman

Barry Dahl dot com

Excellence in e-Education

http://xlents.com

• Webinars

• On-site workshops

• Speaking engagements

• Consulting

• E-Quality Initiatives

• Conference Comes to You

Clicker Time

• Grab your clicker

• Courtesy of Turning Technologies

• First, some demographics.

Your Job at a College/University

1.Faculty

2.Staff or Administrator

3.Not at a college

Facu

lty

Staff

or Adm

in...

Not a

t a co

lle...

35%

12%

54%

Gender & Life Experience

1. Female, < 40 yrs.

2. Female, 40 + yrs.

3. Male, < 40 yrs.

4. Male, 40 + yrs.

Fem

ale, <

40 y...

Fem

ale, 4

0 + y...

Male

, < 4

0 yrs..

.

Male

, 40 + yr

s...

14%

22%

15%

50%

Self-evaluation: Tech Savviness

Tech

nophobe/ N...

Perfe

ctly

norm

...

Pro

peller-h

ead...

2%

46%52%1. Technophobe/

Newbie

2. Perfectly normal

3. Propeller-head/ Gadget-geek

Faculty Perspective

• For the next two clicker statements –

• Put on your faculty hat, regardless of whether you actually have one

Entertaining Students is NOT my Job

67%

33% 1. Fact

2. Whack

Engaging Students is NOT my Job

94%

6% 1. Fact

2. Whack

Not this kind of entertainment

More like a Bridge Party

Who said this? “Anyone who tries to make a

distinction between education & entertainment doesn't know the first thing about either.”

and now this …….

4%

16%

44%

73%

93%

79%

Which of the following do you do?

1. File income taxes online (e-file)

2. Use online banking services

3. Check email on 3 or more diff. accts

4. Have an avatar in Second Life

5. Were born in 1980 or AFTER

6. None of the above

2%

72%

41%

82%

59%

64%

Choose each true statement

1. You own an iPhone, Droid, Blackberry

2. Prefer online news over newspapers

3. You consider yourself to be creative

4. You have more than 5 cloud documents

5. You can define the term “Web 2.0”

6. None of the above are true

What is Web 2.0?

Select each site where you have an account.

8%

60%

22%

73%

56%

86% 1. Facebook

2. Twitter

3. LinkedIn

4. MySpace

5. YouTube

6. None of the above

Team Scores

224 Male, < 40 yrs.

212.8 Propeller-head/ Gadget-geek

207.27 Staff or Administrator

178.67 Female, < 40 yrs.

176.81 Male, 40 + yrs.

170.83 Female, 40 + yrs.

154.84 Faculty

152.19 Perfectly normal

140.73 Not at a college

140 Technophobe/ Newbie

The most wired are

and now this …….

Currently Connected?

28%

72% 1. Yes, of course

2. No

Are you connected to the Internet right now?

Who said this?

“I don't necessarily agree with everything I say.”

and now this …….

Speaking of Twitter …….

Twitter is Stupid!!!

52%

48% 1. Twue

2. False

Team Scores 100 Technophobe/ Newbie

68.75 Faculty

63.64 Not at a college

56.52 Male, 40 + yrs.

50 Female, < 40 yrs.

48 Female, 40 + yrs.

47.06 Perfectly normal

42.86 Propeller-head/ Gadget-geek

33.33 Male, < 40 yrs.

32.08 Staff or Administrator

Twue Enough

If you can tweet right now

• Send a message similar to this one (NOW!!)

• I have ____ followers on Twitter. #elcc2011

• Just approximate the number

Twitter makes me like people I’ve never met and Facebook makes me hate people I know in real life. @shaylamaddox

© SAP 2009 / Page 32

PowerPoint Twitter Feedback Slide Use Presentation Mode to view, Click this header to give mouse control back to PowerPoint, change slide, etc. Check

the “alternate format” to see more tweets!

Networked Learning

• Don’t Buy the Book!

• Absorb the concept.

• I learn more every day from my Twitter network than I ever did in school.

• (Blasphemy, I know)

and now this …….

Some people are great multi-taskers

The Human Brain can Multi-Task

52%

48% 1. True

2. False

Team Scores 62.5 Male, 40 + yrs.

58.33 Faculty

56.25 Propeller-head/ Gadget-geek

53.33 Female, < 40 yrs.

53.33 Male, < 40 yrs.

51.85 Staff or Administrator

50 Perfectly normal

46 Female, 40 + yrs.

40 Not at a college

The Brainiest about Brains

Multi-tasking is a Myth

• Great Book

• Brain Rules, by Dr. John Medina

More Brain Rules

4%

64%

44%

62%

87% 1. Male & female brains work differently

2. A memory can be “made” very quickly

3. Brain works better w/the body at rest

4. You learn while you sleep

5. None of the above are true

Team Scores 173.53 Faculty

161.7 Female, 40 + yrs.

150 Male, 40 + yrs.

150 Technophobe/ Newbie

150 Perfectly normal

147.83 Propeller-head/ Gadget-geek

142.31 Staff or Administrator

135.71 Male, < 40 yrs.

126.67 Female, < 40 yrs.

100 Not at a college

The Brainiest about Brains

Predictably Irrational

• Why do we splurge on a lavish meal and cut coupons to save 25 cents on a can of soup?

• What is behavioral economics and where all of these free lunches?

Chocolate Break

• Lindt Truffle

• Hershey Kiss

Which candy would you buy?

44%

56% 1. Lindt Truffle = 15¢

2. Hershey Kiss = 1¢

Team Scores 100 Technophobe/ Newbie

72.73 Male, < 40 yrs.

65 Male, 40 + yrs.

58.33 Female, < 40 yrs.

50 Not at a college

47.73 Staff or Administrator

44.19 Propeller-head/ Gadget-geek

43.75 Faculty

41.67 Perfectly normal

27.66 Female, 40 + yrs.

Who Wants a Kiss?

The Power of Free

73%

27%

15¢ Truffles, 1¢ Kisses

31%

69%

14¢ Truffles, Free Kisses

Bundling of Services

Why do cable companies bundle their services?

Bundling of Services

Because it works

Bundling of Services

Why don’t colleges

bundle their services?

Bundling of Services

Because it would work?

But, we prefer to

Who said this?

“I wouldn't have seen it if I hadn't believed it.”

and now this …….

Neil Postman

• Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business

• Published 1985

Amusing Ourselves to Death

• Many of the remarks he made about television can be made today about computers and social networking

Graphics by Stuart McMillen

Graphics by Stuart McMillen

• All words from “Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business” by Neil Postman … a book about the possibility that Huxley, not Orwell, was right.

My Take on Postman

• Web 1.0 was just another one-way distraction device, very TV-like.

• However, Web 2.0 goes beyond amusement by bringing people together and encouraging creativity.

Legit Questions

• Is online learning a serious endeavor, or just a dumbing down of education?

• Is the use of emerging technologies just an attempt to be cool?

• Where’s the beef (or pedagogy)?

and now this …….

Hey Barry, what’s the

significance of ↓

Who said this?

“All media exist to invest our lives with artificial perceptions and arbitrary values.”

and now this …….

Speaking of Online Reading

• Much of the text that is available online is heavily sprinkled with hyperlinks.

• This is a bad thing.

– Hyperlinks are a sea of distractions, resulting in people comprehending less of what they read

– As we spend more time surfing, and skimming, and scanning ... We become more adept at that mode of thinking, but less adept at deep reading and prolonged concentration.

Speaking of Online Reading

• Much of the text that is available online is heavily sprinkled with hyperlinks.

• This is a good thing.

– They strengthen critical thinking by allowing for various points of view and deeper dives into the material.

– Some cognitive skills are strengthened by our use of computers/Net; such as hand-eye coordination, reflex response, and the processing of visual cues.

Hyperlinked Text

62%

38% 1. is a sea of distraction

2. strengthens critical thinking

Hard Questions • Shortly after Postman’s

death, Web 2.0 started to develop and began feeding what Huxley called “man’s almost infinite appetite for distractions.”

Hard Questions • What is happening to

deep reading?

• How do we develop the proper discipline on the net to not be so easily distracted?

and now this …….

Is this Innovation or Insanity? Culture, Gender, and Identity – taught with World of Warcraft

CC Flickr photo by glenn.batuyong

Is this Innovation or Insanity? History of Rock-n-Roll Music course – taught with Guitar Hero

CC Flickr photo By 5th Ape

Take your pick

21%

79% 1.Innovation

2.Insanity

Team Scores 100 Technophobe/ Newbie

27.27 Male, < 40 yrs.

27.27 Male, 40 + yrs.

26.47 Faculty

24.49 Perfectly normal

22.22 Not at a college

18.75 Female, 40 + yrs.

15.22 Propeller-head/ Gadget-geek

14.89 Staff or Administrator

14.29 Female, < 40 yrs.

Who said insanity?

How amusing is that?

Who said this?

“We shape our tools and afterwards our tools shape us.”

and now this …….

DIY U • Anya Kamenetz

• Edupunks, Edupreneurs, and the Coming Transformation of Higher Education

DIY U – Ch. 1 - History

• Single biggest recipient benefactor of federal financial aid is ______________

• University of Phoenix

• Does it seem odd that a “private” for-profit university gets the most public funds?

(More?)

• Suggestion: “Allocate Funds for Access”

• “Colleges that serve rich students get more federal and state money than colleges that serve poor students.”

• This needs to be reversed.

DIY U – Ch. 2 - Sociology

• Idea: Restore the concept of “free.”

• Have you heard of Hard Work U?

• Part of the “Work College Consortium.”

• Min. 15 hours per week per student.

DIY U – Ch. 3 - Economics

• “If universities can’t find the will to innovate and adapt to changes in the world around them, universities will be irrelevant by the year 2020.”

• David Wiley (as quoted in DIYU)

Ch. 4 – Computer Science

• “Students should not play life, or study it merely, while the community supports them at this expensive game, but earnestly live it from beginning to end ...”

• Thoreau (as quoted in DIYU)

Ch. 5 – Independent Study

• “Forget about giving the guy a fish, or teaching him how to fish, either. Teach him how to teach himself, and he’ll always be able to acquire the skills he needs to find food, skills you haven’t even thought of yet for things you didn’t know you could eat.”

• Anya Kamenetz

Ch. 6 - Commencement

Higher ed needs to change significantly to remain relevant?

18%

82% 1. Agree

2. Disagree

Team Scores 92.86 Propeller-head/ Gadget-geek

90.91 Male, 40 + yrs.

90 Male, < 40 yrs.

87.23 Staff or Administrator

82.98 Female, 40 + yrs.

77.78 Not at a college

74.51 Perfectly normal

71.88 Faculty

64.29 Female, < 40 yrs.

50 Technophobe/ Newbie

Who Agrees?

Who said this? “We look at the present through a rear-view mirror. We march backwards into the future.”

Who said this?

“The medium is the message”

Marshall McLuhan

and now this …….

Linchpins Don’t Need (no stinkin’)

Résumés

What is a linchpin?

An artist

What is an artist?

Anyone who does “emotional work”

Work that matters

Heart and soul

Everyone’s an artist now

(or could be)

It’s not what you do

It’s how you do it

Make the leap

Be an artist

Do emotional work

It’s a choice

Choose it

Are We Amusing Ourselves to Death?

And other book learnin’

Do You Know About Bridgepoint Education?

• From the Senate hearings on Thur. 3/1/2011

• Grew from 300 students to 78,000 students in just four years.

• $600 million in federal financial aid annually

• 2010: 86.5% of their revenue came from Federal Government

• 65% owned by investment firm Warburg Pincus

Congress should act to stop the abuses of the for-profit universities.

21%

79% 1. Agree

2. Disagree

(Back)

Higher Ed Moves Slowly