In the reading Personal Dynamic Media, two things struck me: 1)  “Every message is, in one sense or another, a simulation of some idea.” and 2) “If medium is the message, then the message of low-band-width timesharing is blah”.  With the latter comment in the context of engaging children, I thought of the current generation of college students and wondered if this might be the reason so many things that I think are wonderous and important elicit a “boredom response” from students.

Is it because they were raised on the nectar of manipulation of content and limitless imagination and that their vision could be immediately be made not only “real”, a manifestation of their vision, but also beautiful and obviously professional?  By the time they are five, they “feel accomplished” and their development is continuously fed by the speedy and “easy” results.  Here, I think of their perceptions…The tasks students engage in and the interests they pursue are not necessary fast or easy, but the technology engages them in a way that feeds their perceptions of ease, keeping them engaged for longer.  It is my methods -> talking and sharing interests, discoveries, and ideas and -> listening to their ideas and what they have discovered that they can’t connect to…Is it my responsibility to meet them where they are, adapting the message to their digitally rich world?  I think the answer is YES…that is if I care to engage them, to shift their perceptions, to help them connect to people and ideas.

How I can manage to retrain myself, I have no idea!  Time and brain power!

How can I manage to get students to train me, thus learning more about how to connect in the old fashioned way 🙂