“A Vision of Students Today” Transcript
Oct 21st, 2007 by Prof Wesch
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“Today’s child is bewildered when he enters the 19th century environment that still characterizes the educational establishment where information is scarce but ordered and structured by fragmented, classified patterns, subjects, and schedules.â€
– Marshall McLuhan 1967
It these walls could talk …
What would they say?
If students learn what they do …
What are they learning sitting here?
The information is up here.
Follow along.
Follow.
Of course, walls and desks cannot talk.
But students can.
Open Google Document: A Vision of Students Today.
What is it like being a student today?
Add Collaborators.
Collaborators (200).
200 Students made 367 edits to this document,
and surveyed themselves,
to bring you the following message:
My average class size is 115.
18% of my teachers
know my name
I complete 49% of the readings assigned to me.
Only 26% … relative to my life
I buy hundred dollar textbooks that I never open.
My neighbor paid for class but never comes.
I will read 8 books this year
2300 web pages
and 1281 facebook profiles
I will write 42 pages for class this semester
And over 500 pages of email
I get 7 hours of sleep each night
I spend 1 ½ hours watching TV each night.
I spend 3 ½ hours a day online
I listen to music 2.5 hours a day
I spend 2 hours on my cellphone
3 hours in class
2 hours eating
I work 3 hours every day
3 hours studying
That’s a total of 26.5 hours.
I’m a multitasker.
I have to be.
I will be over 20,000 in debt after graduation.
I’m one of the lucky ones.
Over 1 billion people
Make less than one dollar a day
This laptop costs more than some people in the world make in a year.
When I graduate I will probably have a job
That doesn’t exist today
(showing scantron)
Filling this out won’t help me get there.
Or deal with …
war, inequality, ethnic conflict, pollution, (and many more)
I did not create the problems
But they are my problems
Some have suggested that technology (alone) can save us …
I facebook through most of my classes.
I bring my laptop to class but I’m not working on class stuff.
“The inventor of the system deserves to be ranked among the best contributors to learning and science, if not the greatest benefactors of mankind.â€
- Josiah F. Bumstead
1841
… on the benefits of the chalkboard.
Writing on a chalkboard …
to be continued …
[...] The Transcript You may also want to browse: Guelph Memory, An Interesting Take on del.icio.us, Mapping Imperial Pretensions, [...]
Here’s another reply that you might not see if you don’t frequent Uniquepeek.com…it’s mine. It’s a gut level reaction.
—-
Oh MY God. If I have to to listen to one more EMO fvckw1t cry about how rough life is in America today I am going to BARF.
I learned to multiply by SINGING the times tables, now I can do 3 and four digit multiplication in my freakin’ head faster than most 8th graders can punch it into a calculator.
I learned the citric acid cycle the hard way. I wrote it out, and drew it, over and over and stared at it until my eyes bled and I had dreams about it…. and I never forgot it.
I got to see the dawn of the internet in colleges around about 92 where I used it’s pale amber luminescence to score chicks…just like facebook dorks are doing today.
Think you’re special? Think your unique? Gosh I hate to break this to you, but your degree isn’t ANY kind of insurance that you’ll get a good job, or even a well paying job you hate that will help you crawl out of debt.
I’m sorry your parents didn’t pay enough attention to you and used Sesame street as a babysitter. It’s a sorry thing that you’re more comfortable with a computer than another human. Hopefully something really awful happens that culls about 85% of the global population and forces us to going back to hunting bunnies with sharp sticks…. because TECHNOLOGY can’t even pull it’s TINY D1ck out of BIG FvCK1n OIL.
Your parents sold out your future just like mine. Try to live in the present where it’s nice…currently…because we live in interesting times.
Wow. That was a pretty hopeless rant huh? Did I mention I have a three year old and a 14 year old? I pray daily that their world is better than mine…but these days that seems like all I can do, besides work REALLY damn hard to keep them fed and warm.
[...] A vision on A Vision of Students Today 22 10 2007 Gerry McCusker directed me to “A Vision of Students Today” on YouTube - created by Michael Wesch and 200 students on the Introduction to Cultural Anthropology course at Kansas State University. [...]
[...] Transcript [...]
I come from a country in which a majority of people earn less than 1 dollar a day and I say what are you complaining about.
The reason you spend so much time in Facebook,or playing with your laptops is because you’re too friggin lazy to concentrate on your classes.
Surely students must take some of the blame for not doing well in school or not being motivated enough to do their required readings etc.You are the master of your own destiny.You only get out of life what you put into it.All of us have spent hours doing assigned readings that really didn’t help much etc thats life.
I come from a country in which a majority of people earn less than 1 dollar a day and I say what are you complaining about.
The reason you spend so much time in Facebook,or playing with your laptops is because you’re too friggin lazy to concentrate on your classes.
Surely students must take some of the blame for not doing well in school or not being motivated enough to do their required readings etc.Y
ou are the master of your own destiny.You only get out of life what you put into it.
All of us have spent hours doing assigned readings that really didn’t help much etc thats life.
Disagree with Post 5/6:
The principle that education is “just life” is the type of thinking left for the last millennium. You use the word “lazy”, but I don’t think you know what laziness is these days. Just because students aren’t willing to spend time during class memorizing facts and running with the status quo does not mean they are lazy. Anything but. Consider one of Seth Godin’s chapters from Small Is The New Big (reproduced here: http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2007/09/labor-day.html ), “Sure, you’re working long, but ‘long’ and ‘hard’ are now two different things. In the old days, we could measure how much grain someone harvested or how many pieces of steel he made. Hard work meant more work. But the past doesn’t lead to the future. The future is not about time at all. The future is about work that’s really and truly hard, not time-consuming.”
Spending hours studying means jack all these days, when you can look something up on the web in less than a minute instead of memorizing facts for hours on end. Which is more valuable: information retrieval/synthesis skills, or trivia? Changing education is hard, putting in your hours is not.
Oh, crap! We’re busted…
Yes, I’m on Facebook in class, probably 98% of my class is on Facebook in class. Even though I am doing stuff that I am not supposed to do, I still pay attention…believe it or not
“I will read 8 books this year
2300 web pages
and 1281 Facebook profiles†THIS IS SO RIGHT!
This movie brings up a lot of things that are very correct and current in the life of students. I myself can relate to several of the “notes†the students are holding up.
“I buy hundred dollar textbooks that I never open.â€
This is another one of the notes I agree with. We buy books for different classes; some of the books are very expensive and some books I have never used. And that is not because I have been lazy, but because we simply haven’t needed them. I think that is totally needless…
Greetings from Norway, October 23 2007
I think it’s just getting the same everywhere in world. Now it’s not about where your from coz the way the young people are it’s just the same. Laptops in classess, not paying attention, reading things you just not suppose to be reading and doing everything except from the things you suppose to do. I decieded what and where I will study, 2 years ago I was really looking forward to all that student life, my vision of changing sth, making world a better place, be sb (naive isn’t it?) but on my 3rd year I still cannot see the point in some assignments and all my energy has just vanished. However I’m still trying, really trying and wondering when all this just went wrong?
Cheers from Poland.
No, this is laziness. Those textbooks you don’t open have knowledge if you would actually plug through them. I did as a student. I assign readings as a lecturer now. I do not repeat them in lecture–I give them to students to expand their knowledge.
The problem is students these days think of themselves as consumers. Guess again–you are not. You are paying for the privilege of learning. If you don’t crack your books or show up to lecture, if you spend your time on google–that’s ultimately YOUR problem. Take some responsibility, for God’s sake.
Professors don’t know your name? Take time to meet them–go to office hours, insist to meet them. You’d be surprised–if you are keeping up with material and taking their class seriously, they’ll be pleasantly surprised & want to know you.
You don’t do your reading on time? Learn discipline. You think the professor should use the chalkboard (as I think he/she should)? Then demand it.
Only 25% or so of books are relevant to life? That’s what you think because you don’t apply that grey matter, curiosity, and thinking capacity that God gave you. You want to be spoon fed and shown exactly where things matter. Cannot be done with limited resources.
You read and write more e-mail than for class? Your professors should be ashamed–but so should you! You do more work–they will also respond! Yet you smile and seem proud of this.
I too spent much time reading, writing, studying, working–and got my sleep. I sleep less now than I did then preparing my lectures and grading my students papers’ and doing my research. You have the gall then to goof off and claim that your unwillingness to put your noses to the grindstone is anyone else’s fault.
(By the way, some of these problems are the fault of publish-or-perish bullshit that reigns in universities–so try to take back your education for yourselves!!)
Get off of your cell phones and facebook sites. Enough of this postmodern dribble. Stop blaming education–and start taking some responsibility for yourselves. Learning is ultimately your deal–professors only facilitate your learning. Don’t say you didn’t create many of the problems–your attitudes do, I’m afraid. You are not the underclass whose daily lives drive them into the ground and create apathy and hopelessness–you are the lucky ones. Take advantage of that.
[...] 200 estudiantes de la Universidad de Arkansas desarrollaron el script y video que vereis a continuación. En el se reseñan muchos hechos y situaciones que los estudiantes viven dÃa a dÃa. Lo interesante es que presenta muchos datos de una manera atractiva, sin utilizar infografÃa o gráficos, sino presentándolos de manera convincente y personal a través del puño y letra (o notebook) de cada uno de los estudiantes. [...]
You don’t do your reading on time? Learn discipline. You think the professor should use the chalkboard (as I think he/she should)? Then demand it.
I think you misunderstand the fundamental ideas behind the video. Watch the video again. The argument isn’t FOR chalkboards, it’s that chalkboards are an outmoded method of collaborative communication.
Learning and education is supremely important, however I think you overvalue the traditional classroom structure. The textbooks that are assigned with lecture on a chalkboard very often are an inefficient means of communicating big ideas or *GASP* helping the students better their analytical abilities.
In the transcript, “relative to my life” should be “relevant to my life”.
Joseph,
I did watch the video. I did not misunderstand it, but I think you might have misunderstood it, or at least my post. And yes, I am defending many aspects of traditional education. One can communicate big ideas on the blackboard. One can bring the abstract & the concrete to life on the blackboard. And why are textbooks & blackboards inefficient? Because they are not actually spoon-feeding every little idea, rather than making students also work to bring the ideas to life?
I think this idea that education as we know it is so behind the times is perpetuated by those who an enamored with technology or too frightened to make traditional education work. This takes effort, and publish-or-perish does detract from this. Make no mistake, professors and administrators have not helped. But when I see this attitude of throwing out the baby with the bathwater…And yes, where is the baby in this video? I actually see students who are at the same time criticizing the system (I think in ways unfairly) but also giving in a feeling that they cannot do anything about it. Which is what I disagree with.
This is quite an interesting commentary on what actually happens to students attitudes (on average); but here they are, in the university, paying for the classes, the textbooks and then spending their time on other things. [note: as am I, undergrad, major University....this week]
I think that the commentary is two fold, and more of a chicken and egg problem, students see the classroom as outdated and the learning as irrelevant (in many fields of study, even technical ones in my experience) ; and they aren’t motivated to do anything about it.
To be honest, I would be more interested in the responses of the other 67 students. Maybe some of them were lying at home with a hangover, but I would think that it’s quite possible that some of them were doing something that actually interested them, or brought some real change; and I’m willing to bet that they didn’t buy so many hundred dollar textbooks that they never opened.
re: textbooks: it has been my experience that the department ‘requires’ a specific textbook for a class, so the prof puts it in the syllabus as such, sure it could be a good resource, but the professor teaches their own thing. With an average of over 26 hours in our days, spending time on ‘extra’ material is outrageous, because we’re valued on what we’re asked from the non-extra material, and our ability to regurgitate knowledge, not solve problems
Memorizing times tables or the citric acid cycle is (19th century) child’s play, the world has real problems.
Just one question. Is there a possibility to see and read the document made by colaboration of the 200 students? What it was about?
Just want to thay thank you for that amazing and very impressive piece of movie! You’ve shown a lot of points that (i hope) make people think a bit, great work!
[...] Mehr dazu gibts im Digital Ethnography Blog. [...]
Great, very creative, looks like it was fun! As an undergraduate student and a parent with a child about the same age as some of the students in the video, I viewed it with mixed feelings.
The first thing I would like to say is - Man, I wish I could change my major! 7 hours of sleep? In a row!!!?? 3 hours of studying!!?? You have friends!!?? Sweet!! You must be 1st and 2nd year students; I really miss those big lecture classes. Now, if I slack off the least in my classes I am screwed. I’m too busy madly scribbling notes in the margins of Power Point hand outs or trying to follow the Professors’ breakneck explanation of complex formulas or theoretical models to casually peruse Facebook! Enjoy the boredom while you can!
Secondly, WOW! I can smell entitlement through the screen of my computer (smells like Urban Outfitters)! Why do you assume you will have any job when you are done? What sort of job do you think you will get with a BA or even a BS? What makes you think filling out a scantron isn’t exactly the kind of training you need to get a job in the United States? What are these jobs you speak of that “do not exist today?” and why are you so certain you’ll be getting one? Fabulous technological advances have not eliminated the job of “Fry Cook” my dears.
You say you will have to “…deal with war, inequality, ethnic conflict, pollution, (and many more). I did not create the problems but they are my problems†I beg to differ; you have had a hand in creating these problems and continue to do so, “war, inequality, ethnic conflict, pollution….” How many lithium batteries, computer chips/boards with lead, cadmium and other nasty pollutants do you think you’ve blown through in your brief lifetimes? Where do you think obsolete technology goes? Like it or not, you are now adults, you are responsible for your actions (and your inaction) and while you will almost certainly suffer the consequences of poor decisions, or lack of action, quite often those around you will suffer as well.
Finally, While you whine about your terribly boring classes, and all the stuff you have to do like talking on your cell phone for 2 hours, what do you suppose students in Iraq have to worry about? Not as much as you, just one thing really - staying alive. What about those men and women voluntarily serving our country, the ones who are gettting shot at, I guess their lives are not as complicated as yours either - get up, stay alive, eat, go to bed, hopefully get up again. They will not have a G.I. bill to help them all the way through college when they come back. Are you old enough to vote? Did you? Will you? Are you your brothers keeper?
Put down the laptop, meet up with some real people and do something concrete, prove yourselves worthy of the privileged lives you lead and make a difference in the world. Technology will only take you so far, and all the information in the world is a useless waste when given to a person who cannot evaluate, categorize (oh yes, categorize), validate and then synthesize that information.
I applaud your creative endeavor that has generated so much controversy and discussion on the internet - now, what are you going to do in reality? Are you adults or are you children?
[...] Michael Wesch and the KSU digital ethnography crew also posted this video on the same day as “A Vision of Students Today.†[...]
An interesting video and interesting comments. As someone that went through university twice in the last 15 yrs and tries to continue to keep pace with the rapid changes in technology I’m struck by what it means in terms of just how vastly different generations can be.
As someone in my thirties, I bridge the gap between those that never had computers and the internet and those that have never known life without. And they speak completely different languages and have completely different expectations.
This isn’t just because of the massive leaps that have occurred in technology (which exposes our youth to massive amounts of information in tiny amounts of time and has promoted the divided attention) but also because of where our economies have been and the relative affluence that it has allowed the last few generations to grow up in.
There are a number of important bottom lines for the future–technology is only going to increase (which our youth are very adept at manipulating), we have an aging population which means existing job roles will be opening as well as new ones being created, and finally, countries with massive populations in Asia are undergoing their industrial revolutions. Anyone (of any age!) that can take 2 or 3 of these principles and find a way to apply them will be very successful in the future.
I had to watch this for an assignment at the University of Richmond. It was amazing, what a perfect description.
You all have a valid point regarding the distraction technology brings to our lives today. TV was a strong enough distraction from studying but now that I can watch Chuck Norris choke someone out on youtube, I mean, who can resist watching that shit? Over…and over…and over again until you puke Chuck Norris quotes in your sleep.
Hmmm…I wonder…you guys probably have no problem memorizing your favorite lines from your favorite movies and facebook quotes, but when it comes to studying some organic chemistry…well…you have ADD and its not your fault. Its not your fault you were born this way. Its not your fault that Pimp my Ride is just so fun…especially when you’re high! And its not your fault that homework just isnt. I mean, how the fuck can you read Chaucer high? Or make any sense of tensor calculus? Or fluidic mechanics?
But sociology and psychology…fuck…well, those are majors you can DEFINITELY do well in…especially if you’re completely high and drunk you’re entire college career! And if you can stand yourself in the end for being a completely useless member of society (not even just useless, more like a wasteful member, cuz you still have to eat, shit, sleep and procreate despite the fact that you will contribute nothing)
Why the fuck are you talking about third world countries as if its some cop-out for the fact that you wont make yourself succeed in life? Why does our generation do this?
I’m not a genius, and I have the same kind of ADD as you do. I used to imitate Jackass when I was a kid (I was the one who always got naked and pretended he was lost and had amnesia) but that didnt stop me from sitting my ass down in a chair for prolonged periods of time, getting my shit together and MANNING THE FUCK UP and going to a REPUTABLE UNIVERSITY after which I could get a WELL PAYING JOB and actually make some CONTRIBUTION TO THE WORLD.
Yeah, I’m not Bill Gates, I’m not Chaucer, I’m nothing special. I’m just a regular kid from Missouri who studied his ass off because he NEEDED TO and got into Stanford University and decided to do two engineering majors - just to challenge the fuck out of himself and see if he could.
ADD doesnt exist. Not the way you know it. Technology doesnt ruin your education. You just abuse it. Your teachers dont know your names because…well, that has nothing to do with you - most of them are actually bigger losers and bullshitters than even you guys. And at Stanford they dont teach us any more or less than your professors teach you. Only difference is that here you MAN THE FUCK UP AND DO YOUR SHIT BECAUSE YOU MUST AND GENERATIONS BEFORE YOU HAVE DONE WORSE. Suck up your laziness and realize that you need to actually ACHIEVE something in order to be RECOGNIZED for it…whether its with fame or money or whatever it is you want out of life. Be teachers if you want, but just dont become teachers because you cant do anything else.
And stop putting up shit in public websites like youtube. You’ll ruin the younger generations by giving them reason and justification to become just as dumb and decadent.
Technology, information, knowledge… to learn…
What is it to learn?
What’s the point?
Technology is simply “the application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes” (Concise Oxford English Dictionary)
Technology = tool
It all comes down to Human Beings - our choices and our purposes. Tools only facilitate manipulation of whatever environment we exist in.
The question is: What will you do with what you’ve got to work with?
Will you use your laptop to download games & videos? To interact with other people via email and facebook? To learn from Descartes or Derrida? To shop? To donate to people actually trying to change the fact that over billion people live on less than a dollar a day?
What will YOU Choose to do?
I think the opening quote is great, but I do not believe information is scares. Rather, there is too much information and little intelligence. What is needed right now is a passionate investigation into the role of education. It seems that education should in some way prepare us for life. But then what is life? We are currently in a system that promotes education as a means to a job or a career. If we continue to accept this model then we need to discontinue courses that fail to provide training for the jobs of he future. There are at least two problems with this line of thought: 1) we do not know what these jobs of the future are and 2) the video hints that these jobs have a strong technological component, yet we are not teaching this in schools. The video teases us by not answering the question, “will technology save us?” So we also need a passionate investigation into technology and its place in human life (especially in america). But, as the video demonstrates, technology permeates our daily existence and it is increasingly hard take a step back and critic it with an observant eye. I do not believe technology will save us in any significant way. Rather, within the realm of education, Technology is not only making the chalkboard obsolete, but also the human being. Humans are no longer seen as sources of information or knowledge as the video suggests. However, humans are a source of intelligence. By intelligence I mean, how to think and observe, how to live free from fear, how to love, how to open the mind to both logical and intuitive expression, how to rid the self of pain and suffering, and how to create meaning and significance in one’s life. If intelligence was taught in colleges then the cell phones would be off, the computers put away, and the students would be full of wonder and amazement.
testicular ballsack reaches chodal harmony at the highest levels of education.
I commend these students on the work they did for this video. I am a senior social science education major at Indiana State University, and I can’t wait to become a teacher. Technology has made it easy for students to become distracted and lazy, while at the same time allowing teachers to be these passive, unreachable sophists. When one takes into acount the responsibility of teachers (shaping the minds and attitudes of tomorrow’s leaders), it is easy to see how destructive this trend is. I can only think of Socrates and Plato sitting on rocks and teaching some of the greatest minds in the history of the world, with nothing but books and their own words. Technology is good, but our society as a whole is becoming dependent on it.
The film you’ve made is the best, I can tell that studying in Poland is almost the same… You pay a lot for books you will probably never read, and for Computer programs you won’t even install on your pc
that’s right show everyone how it is difficult to be a student nowdays..
Are you saying the system is the problem or you are the problem? If you have a better path take it. You can get rich (both money and happiness) without college if you work hard, learn, and participate. If it is that bad get out and make your own learning experience.
Right now you are wasting your time and your parents money.
Jim
First off, that video really resonated with me. I did one year at college before a snowboarding accident ended my involvement with ROTC and the only way I could pay for college without going deep into debt.
I really did not like my time at college. It is hard to explain why but that video really digs into some of it. And in some ways the responses I have seen to the video provide a flashback to all that I really hated about the college environment.
Part of what felt so bad about college and the people that are there is they are taught to label everything. The responses here really illustrate my point. “Lazy… distracted… bored…” etc… etc. They don’t seem interested in listening to another point of view and having an open conversation. It just seems they make up the label, slap it on, then ignore the people they have labeled because they feel they already know what will be said. Also there is this need to have understood what has been communicated even better then those who are communicating understand. It is not allowed to simply try to communicate and let others interact with your thoughts. Instead you have people making up points and positions for your movie… technology is bad… technology is good… students are bad… students are misunderstood… teachers are bad… teachers don’t have the tools… learning is bad… etc… etc. It just makes my brain hurt trying to think of how to communicate to these people who seem to think in sound bites. How can you have a discussion when your mind is already made up? Then these people start reacting to what they perceive the communication to be about. Most notably they attack, or viciously defend themselves because it seems they feel under attack by the communication… “I memorized things I could have just learned to look up, till my eyes bled, and I am proud of it, and anyone else that doesn’t want to do it is a lesser being.” “In my country I learned the way your grandparents learned back when the flow of information was about like water through a garden hose… and I was motivated… and anyone who doesn’t want to learn the way I did must not be motivated.” “I am using big boy 4 letter words to back up my point about people just need to pull themselves together because your to ignorant to understand me if I don’t use the big boy words… doesn’t it feel great to know if you were talking to me instead of reading that I would be yelling and cussing at you.”
I think part of the problem is we have all been taught to conform. Conforming is good to a point, but when you are expected to conform your life into the same boxes everyone else must also fit into you lose something of yourself to fit into the box. You are no longer yourself, you are simply a name and a number. No one really cares what a name and a number is really learning so long as they will conform to the system in place, so that those in power can stay in power, and so the money you earn belongs to someone else.
College is great for people who want to work for someone else. And some will even be able to rise above and make their own path. Just cause you went to college doesn’t really mean anything about you good or bad. It just means that you spent 4 years of your life paying a lot of money for something that you can use for better or worse.
How many people think of what other things they could do with those 4 years and all that money? Speaking from experience, the expectation in our society for people to go to college does make it hard sometimes. It seems odd that many jobs that you didn’t learn in college and that any graduate will still need to take training and on the job training to be able to do still requires college degrees. Supposedly this is because the college graduate is a higher caliber of person and more likely to succeed. Maybe this is true, but then again, I think society needs to rethink the value given to a college degree.
What if knowing how to communicate and keep in touch with a thousand friends were something you could put on a resume? What if knowing how to find the information and learn yourself… who, what, where, when, why, how… off the internet was something you could put on a resume or demonstrate to a potential employer? What if work ethic meant more so that 4 years working construction and showing up on time and sober every day meant more then having been to college for 4 years? What if all that money people used at college went to financing an exploratory period in their life where they went and saw some of the rest of the world or even some more of their own country? What if the stamps in your passport was more important to an employer then the number of classes you took studying other countries? What if people used some of the ambition and energy they have when they are young to make a difference and volunteer to help out in their communities or by joining the Peace Corps or maybe a time of service in the military?
I am NOT saying college is bad and no one should go. I am saying that not everyone should need to go to college to be successful at life. College is a great for many people, but it should not be the goal of all high school graduates. It is a clearly defined path with a promise that if you go and do your time there you will be a better person and live a better life. I think that promise is a lie. College can be for you what you make of it. But people really need to consider who they are and go out and make a way towards their future (with or without college) based on who they are and what they can become. You have a choice to make your life into something worthwhile to you, or you can let others decide your path for you… and they may not always have your best interests at heart.
I will leave you with one final thought on conforming. It may be a little overstated. But I worded it a little harsh to make a point.
To the government you exist to pay taxes.
To educational institutions you exist to pay for their piece of paper that says you have conformed and are now employable because you are $20,000 - $100,000 in debt.
You now exist to provide corporations with a stable work force because you are too far in debt to make your own choices anymore. Go ahead and buy the house and the car you can’t afford… complete the cycle and become slaves for the rest of your life.
The matrix has you…
Someone once said “Knowledge is Power”. I’m not sure who that way… but I guess I’ll “goggle” it later.
But isn’t that what we all do. Shopping, Online Food Orders, Entertainment, Business… everything is tied to another & we’re all tied it.
Look at Cell phones within the last 10 years, medical Equipment & Techniques within the last 5. And let’s not forget “the Power of the Internet.” That brings me to another thought… What would the world look like if Apple, IBM, & Microsoft never existed?
The Scary thing…. it would be a scary world…. a world that we ALL relay on every moment of everyday.
But Now… I’ve cut & Pasted my thoughts, to check for spelling/grammer errors…. & I’ve even “goggled” “Knowledge is Power”…. It’s by: Sir Francis Bacon in Meditationes Sacrae (1597), As said on Wikipedia.org.
I’m graduating in May and my college and highschool experiences were/are very similar to the ones depicted here. I’m going to be a teacher in a few short months and I don’t know how to solve all this. HELP ME OUT! Please email me at leahbec@hotmail.com if you have any ideas.
Hello, I´m from Argentina, what I have to say is, all the technology, all the textbooks, everything you have to take information from, are only tools that u have to use according to the situation, they cannot be forced to use, beacuse is useless.Is not laziness, the problem is that the metodology in class is given in a non-practical way, so if u wanna get somewhere, and the way is to long and hard unnessesaraly, u became frustrated. if only, u choose a place to go, and then chose the tools, every student will feel more motivated, beacause they build the way.
see u Andrés.
MIKMA WAS HERE
[...] Here’s a video that recently did the rounds with the edubloggers. (I can’t access it in China at the moment - transcript is here.) It was produced by Michael Wesch, assistant professor of Cultural Anthropology as Kansas State University.  [...]
Hi i’m from London. I saw the video and i thought it was made very well. I have to say i agree with some parts of it but with other aspects i disagree.
I am also a student and i think its a personal choice whether you choose to make an effort in class or not. For example, if you choose to spend time on facebook or whatever during your lessons, then you have to accept that, that’s the reason the lesson may seem useless to you, and if you choose not to read the book that is set then obviously the books won’t be any use in your life in the future, because you haven’t made any effort to read it.
I do not think that students are lazy i think some are distracted because lessons are not motivating enough, and i also find some of my assignments to not really be relevant to the exam i have to do in the end.
But while the education system stays like this, its up to everyone to personally make the most of the lessons they’re in because if one chooses not to pay attention then no one can complain that they’re not gaining anything from the lesson.
Its sometimes fustrating as a student because like someone mentioned previously, a university degree does not guarantee a good,well paid job, because spending years in a class won’t get any of us any real experience and so we are not learning much in the side of experience only knowledge. So then it makes me question what is this all for sometimes?
One of our users just posted this link on our forum. I have to say this video is was done exceptionally well.
I think it makes very valid points.
At the same time, I don’t think we will ever get away from technology in the classroom.
Hello. My name is Laura and I am from Spain. I have just seen this video on youtube and liked your ideas very much. congratulations.
[...] YouTube - A Vision of Students Today is another video from the Digital Ethnography folks at Kansas State. (Remember Your Moment of Inspiration?) This one has students holding up pages or laptops with messages about students, the web and learning. The script is on the Mediated Cultures site. I love the creativity of how they are using video in class and for class. It feels participatory - by students, for students, and about students. Digital Ethnography indeed. [...]
Well, I really don’t get it. What you are trying to say is that your educational system is ineficient? Or that for some reason you waste your chances to do something for yourself and maybe for those 1 billion people, by reading more face book profiles than books and using your laptop to do others things during class?
I’d say it the first option is what you think and the second is the true.
And unfortunately, you north-americans are not alone in this matter. We have the same problems in Brazil.
This is a global phenomenom.
I think our world has become so out of control we no longer think it can be changed by us.
Huge corporations controling national politics(including wars), a new iPod that you think you need to have, the tons of information we have access, all this make us feel very small and powerless. The result is that we students, no longer carry the impetus to study to learn and make use of our learnings for something important, we go to college to get the diploma and get to our insignificant position as wathers in this process.
Globalization could have been a good thing, but it has not. And we all are responsable to do something. But you north-americans have a special responsability in that and are, sadly, the less likely to do so.
Finally, I would like to say that I believe we are not meant to be just spectators of our world, and if we start to think we can and have to do something for those 1 billion people, maybe we would watch less TV, read less face books profile…
Perhaps we get back the interest in studying that students had in the past, and maybe do what they didn’t, and change the our world in a good way.
I’m from the Philippines, and if you think you got it bad, here its worse.
Thinking you’ll get a job after college, or a job at all. hah! Here even the janitorial positions require you to be an undergrad of a BS or BA course. and even if you have that they still require at least 1 year experience or related experience about the job you are applying for. Well sucks to be here.
Oh!! and if you’re expecting a high paying job cuz you finished higher ed. don’t hold your breath. unless youre in the top-crop of your class/batch expect mediocre jobs. cuz all the jobs get gobbled up by those guys plus those with masterals and doctorate degrees. Add in the “Its not what you know, its who you know” mentality of most businesses here, hah! gud friggin luck!! So forgive me if I don’t think your situation is so friggin severe. (Case and point here most Medical Degree Graduates who are qualified to be doctors study for 4 more years to work as nurses)
Wow, Laptops (drools). only 20% of students here have aceess to laptops (i say access cuz some borrow from their relatives) 75% have internet access(and most are from internet cafes who charge about 40 pesos-roughly a dollar per hour of internet access). so yes research work for papers and stuff are done the old fashioned way–the library.(card catalog and stuff) yey!! so we cannot use the search function on books and have to browse each and take notes on index cards to write down the page, chatper, title of the book, author, publication….blah, blah. and if the resource material you are looking for is not available at the university library….guess what, you need to go to the national library. so again, forgive me if i don’t think youre situation is so horrible.
assigned reading irrelevant. how can discipline and responsibility irrelevant? you might say the context is irrelevant to your life, but the attitude that you learn from those assigned readings/activities is more important than the context itself.
i could rant and rant but im stopping here……cuz i dont have any more money to extend my time here at the internet shop.
Ciao!!
I attend a small private College in Northern New Jersey.
I spend a lot of time surfing the internet, interacting with people online, and watching videos, television shows, and other media content online.
However, I also read my books, complete my assignments on time, and attend class regularly, only missing a total of one or two classes per year. Could I spend more time studying, probably. I also work two jobs to earn money to travel after graduation and to help out my family financially.
The problem is not so much with the student, but rather motivation and teaching. My largest class size has been about forty students, my smallest has been two, including myself. On avarage, my classes have about ten students in them. All of my professors know me by my first name. I credit my motivation in class to them. I feel like I am a part of the class, part of discussions, and a valued part of the discussion. I believe that as a society, we need to change our emphasis on education. More teachers, smaller class sizes, and more interesting classes are needed. In a class of 10, a student is going to learn more than in a class of 100.
The world is a rough place. Not every student can afford the luxeries that I, as a lower-middle class American enjoy. Those whose family earns enough income to provide their children with laptops (it would be nice, but I can manage without one) also afford better opportunity of choice to their children as to what kinda of schools they can attend.
As Americans, we have the opportunity to do so much, yet all too often we do so little. Perhaps in time, we will move beyond the apathy that grips us and take action to better the world….
Can technology save us? No. Only we can save ourselves.
Thank you for reading.
i think all the people attacking the students as lazy or selfish are confused about their own opinions. many students, including myself, are lazy and do make up excuses why we don’t study harder, but to simply ignore the fact that this affects an enourmous amount of people in rich western nations is making a similar excuse, not to have to think about the problem.
this isn’t a cry for help by the way…
rather this is a question: why do the students with the most resources at their fingertips, the most opportunities to study and travel and work, the best living standards outside of their studies, seem to be failing at achieving anything like the results of students from less well-off backgrounds?
another question: why do the students in the most destructive, energy-consuming, unequal social context feel as though their brains and their energy could not be productively used to change the problems that they see around them? why are we all so uninspired at a time when we should all be doing everything we possibly can to make a difference before its too late?
finally one more question: why with all of our friends and all of this entertaining shit at our fingertips, with music and drugs and art and time - why are so many of my friends depressed?
now i don’t know the answer to these questions. maybe its because we’re lazy. maybe its because we’re spoilt. maybe its because we’re selfish and self absorbed and ’sinful’ and need to go learn how to hunt and suffer and grow up…
but as a kid who’s really concerned about the way the world’s going, who’s scared to have children cos i seriously don’t think it is gonna be better any time soon, who’s hoping like all these other writers that the common sense will somehow prevail and we will all act in a way where we finally realise how fucking powerful we actually are… haha… one day.
peace and pace!
p.s. how come everyday the idiot adults of the world keep doing more and more stupid things, while all the intelligent people can’t get outta bed? who really owns this world? why?
Hi again, I’d like to give my answer to tims ( post 43) questions.
1) Why some students seem to fail doing the role of students, besides they have lots of resourses?? for me its not a matter of resourses, if the students are not a part of a class, they are only a witness, making as a result, the frustration of studing something they do not like, because they are not part of it.
2)Why students are so uninspired ?? for me is because our society (the most destructive, energy-consuming, unequal social context)want us to be separeted, if we ( we as student ) all point at the sema place and work united, well start to make a change, the point here is not the change, is being united
3)why with all of our friends and all of this entertaining shit at our fingertips, with music and drugs and art and time - why are so many of my friends depressed?we are depressed because all that u list, is only an image, it doesnt fill us, is part i that society a the previous question.
last)how come everyday the idiot adults of the world keep doing more and more stupid things, while all the intelligent people can’t get outta bed? who really owns this world? why?if u keep the intelligent people separeted, they became weak, and then the idiot adults can do terrible things, like killeing others or money, o contaminate an entired envierment for nothig.
nos vemos, good bye.
It kind of makes me a little more hopeful and proud to be a human being to see that people around the world share these type of thinking. As I said, maybe we are the ones who can change this all. Not just this defective educational system, but this whole defective world.
This video was really well made. While it pointed out most of the problems in higher education today i don’t think it gave any solution which I don’t think was its intent anyways.
As a student I remember my first two years being very motivated and I really didn’t understant students who didn’t study till they droped. This probably stemmed partly from being in the US at that time for all six years. No TV at home no internet and hence no distractions. Every research paper was to be finished in a library and I ussually did it the old fashioned way. My last two years I saved up enough money and bought my self a labtop and an IPOD and down went my grades. I know check my facebook first then my e-mails both at work (oh yeah btw i graduated) and at home. Why? I don’t know its become a routine and at this point in my life it doesn’t seem to cause me any problems. This is where I have changed I never use to be happy with doing something time wasting if it didn’t cause me any problems…but now a days mmmhh if itsn’t a problem then let it happen. But I can probably use the time I waste on facebook and tv (online) on some volunteer work to make my community a better place but I don’t. This leads to my apathetic state of life but the sad thing is among my friends I am the lease apathetic person politically and in the community.
P.S. I found this video on fbook…just goes to show you how much i am on that damned thing. I will erase it one of these days….
Why is our generation lazy and apathetic? Look at who our teachers are. Our parents. The generation of ones we look up to for strength? From these replies alone many of those more “experienced” in life say, “Woah is you”, “Suck it up and put your nose to the grindstone like I did” and “Quit complaining.” It is difficult to have compassion for something when your instructors and mentors has none of their own. They stand in front of 100 students, desensitized from years of repitition and preaching rather than teaching. The vast majority of my instructors stress critical thinking without requiring it. “Critical thinking! Form your own opinion! Now regurgitate the notes from the past 3 weeks.” That’s unfortunately the progression of my classes. I do not open a book when I don’t have to. Not because I’m lazy, but because I’m being preached to every day and when I come home the last thing I want to do is open a book so I can read the same thing my dull instructor was just blabbing on about for the past two hours. When something arouses my interest, I persue it, study it, enlighten myself and form my own opinion. My opinion of this movie is that it was not made to solve the problem, but to make others aware (it is a good thing). Solutions, especially in these strange days, are often refused before they’re even looked at (global warming *cough*). Our nature to cling to the past is what is dooming our future.
I am a student in the martial arts as well as adademics and lessons learned in one benefit the other. Just remember, you can tell the difference between someone who reads martial arts books and someone who practices with an instructor. The ones taught by instructors are confident and precise and they have a style of their own without taking away from the overall concept. It’s very much the same with academics. You only gain so much from reading a book. Education as a whole needs to transition from this stale and outdated form of academic regurgitation into a new generation of cognitive thinking.
[...] For those interested in the revolution in communications, technology, and culture, Wesch has made the text of the video available here. Wesch’s students have put together about 30 videos that anthropologically explore different aspects communication via platforms like YouTube. It serves as a metaphor for interative digital communication and community. You might also like Wesch’s introduction to Web 2.0. [...]
[...] A vision of students today [...]
My professor emailed a link to “A Vision of Students Today” to all the individuals in our Race, Religion and Social injustice class this morning. I am nogt shocked by any of the findings… and often I wonder why many people use the scapegoat we didn’t create the problem. The response of it is our problem creates optimisim in me. We must take responsibilty for the problems that exist today and look for problems that may arise in the future… I think of Billy Joel “we didn’t start the fire…” Lets rage and save our society and world. A revoution of consciousness must happen soon… before there is no stage to hold it. Do not go darkly into that great night… rage, rage, against” the apathy.
Keep up the good work… Also, I think that black boards are intergal… Its physical nature keeps our teachers more fit, and my poor Latin teacher Professor Penland complains of his arm fatigue if he writes on the board for maybe ten minutes… perhaps his lazy body works well with his xenophobic remarks and pro-war comments…both require little contribution to a community based society.
could you give me your e-mail adress?
[...] The group of 200 college students surveyed themselves and collaborated to arrive at some interesting conclusions. Here are some media-related highlights from the transcript: [...]
Here is my first gut reaction to both videos….. particularly the first one and the comments about the changing of education.
As a lifelong student I see the most dramatic change in the sheer volume of information available to the student. The Internet and other sources gives us unparalleled access to data, in many forms, with the ability to find new interrelationships and packaging. The student can find almost everything he/she is searching for without leaving the desk.
Our paradigm from days gone by is that, if someone took the time to write it, it must be true. This “service” was provided by editors and instructors who controlled the flow of information through the publishing process and peer review.
Today it is much different. Anyone with a computer and printer and Internet access can generate and publish information….. regardless of the accuracy of the content.
Do I support the use of censoring these sources? Definitely not…. but that brings us to the role of higher education as we progress through this new age. The shift must be from presenting informaiton to evaluating it… the student must question the veracity of data like never before…. requiring a system that coaches these skills (rather than the current one of simple acceptance of information received).
Without this skill technology can lead the student astray….
Hi, hello again, i´d like to add something to Brian ( post 53), ITs true that the amount of information now is incredible, and anyone can upload anything, but that is giving us a new responsibility,wich is, taking care of what we are saying, for example, a neo nazi person post his idea and he is attaking other people, so if we want to change anything, we have to look at a common point. Unfortunatly the amount of information is to high that it cant be controled, and not always its true.
thanks, nos vemos
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[...] En A Vision of the students today, son alumnos de esa misma universidad, aunque no necesariamente en respuesta al vÃdeo anterior, quienes muestran cuál es su contexto de aprendizaje como universitarios. [...]
Change will happen regardless of what anyone thinks or says - its inevitable. Yet lately I have wondered how it is that I was educated the “old-fashioned” and how bad was it, really? I too was educated in large lecture halls (sometimes) and by fairly “traditional” professors (mostly). Somehow I managed to be inspired by what I learned in large and small classes - the size of the class was important but I learned because I wanted to - there was a direct correlation between doing the readings, going to class and being an active participant in my own life and my general satisfaction with college life. I enjoyed interacting with my professors, most of whom only knew my name if I bothered to show up for office hours and even then mostly did not. I did not take it personally because my parents did not coddle me. My self-worth was not tied to my own inflated sense of self-importance.
This makes for compelling YouTube but where is the deep thought? Most of the faces holding up pieces of paper are white - an indication that higher education remains the privilege of a select few. What? No paper commentary on THAT? And since when did young adults have no responsibility to their environment? Every day on my campus I pick up student litter - those fancy laptops use energy and resources too. Many are in debt because they refuse to live below a certain consumer standard - I managed to go to school and raise a child on the same financial aid package students who were NOT single parents received.
Should professors endeavor to engage their students through active learning? Of course. I no longer use $100.00 text books because they are a waste of money and student time, not to mention my own. I work hard to bring the world into our classroom - yet when I teach units on gender and sexuality, for instance, or about race (which the mostly white students on my Midwest campus seem to think is no longer an issue) and include the perspectives of the GLBT community, I am confronted by rage, hate, prejudice from students who can talk a good game about wanting more but actually don’t really want “more” if it means they must re-consider their attitudes. This all seems a tiny bit selfish and self-occupied. Instead of complaining about how boring and awful your profs are, why not complete the readings once in awhile and contribute. This notion that learning is attached to instant gratification - that everyone must see the value of all things immediately if not yesterday is a part of the modernity young people are creating - instant messages, instant everything. In fact, I am still actively considering lessons from my past - that which you hear today you may not understand until tomorrow. If higher education is not serving your needs, go get a job or volunteer. My daughter is your age, she lived out of country for a few years and found out how the world works. She is now in college and grateful every day for the education she is receiving. She doesn’t have time to whine about how unfair it is that people care enough to send her to school and try to mentor her while she is there. She is too busy doing her homework, working at a job in her future field and dreaming about the future - you read how many Facebook entries a year? Who told you to do that? Go read a book instead. The library is full of them and your professors would be delighted to sit and talk with you about them. Everyday I have students come to my office to talk about ideas - some of them are now working on research projects with me. There are dedicated professionals in universities who care about the quality of your education - get your head out of your earphones and computer screens and go talk to them.
One more thing - these are not your problems, they are our problems.
Thanks for this video, it’s realy great !
[...] Of special interest is the blog that Wesch is running, that I was, until today, unaware of. It’s called Digital Ethnography and there is a single blog entry that includes the transcript from the video and also background information. An excellent watch and another likely intro to more professional development institutes. [...]
Basically what I saw and read is that students are allowing technology to keep them from learning. Is there fault assigned here? We are talking about young adults who are choosing to use technology as entertainment instead of a learning tool.
As an adult with children and a job, I would LOVE to have seven hours of sleep, spend 1.5 hours watching TV, be able to take a class. That is not reality for most people. Multitasking is a way of life for most people
Was this video a complaint or bragging? I honestly could not tell.
I too resented paying for textbooks that were rarely used. I made the choice to go to a smaller college so the instructors knew my name. I too sat through things that were not relevant to my life - but later found out how relevant they were. I too have school loans that 12 years later I am still paying for.
The student who paid for a class and never shows up - is he/she any different from the ones who show up and play on their computers thinking they are absorbing what is being taught at the same time?
3 hours of studying? What happened to 2 hours for every hour spent in class? At the average 15 hours a week of classes, that comes to 30 hours of studying a week, which means 4.5 - 6 hours a day. That was considered pretty much the norm when I was in school.
Every generation lives with problems caused by the generation(s) before them. You are creating problems for the next generation. So, yes it is your problem along the ones you create.
We make choices and we take responsibility for our choices. That is what being an adult is all about.
I totally agree with Alex (post 23 above). I’m a student in a big university and I can’t relate at all. IMO teaching and learning today is better than ever, if you want to learn.
1. The bigger classes are recorded (audio/video), I can watch them from home exactly when I’m ready to learn. Plus, I can watch them on “fast” speed, meaning slow boring profs suddenly talk normally.
2. Our student union has note takers who write a few pages on every lecture of the course, for 1$ per lecture. They explain the material sometimes better than the prof.
3. research opportunities are plenty for motivated undergrads
4. expensive textbooks are always on reserve at the library
5. I’m from Quebec so I pay 4k/year tops
Plus Wikipedia is our friend. Yes, like Mike Walsh (2nd reply above) I memorize the citric acid cycle by copying it ad nauseum, but I also have an exhaustive amount of information about metabolism just a few clicks away. How can anyone complain about education, especially in the developed world? We live in the age of information, if you’re driven and want to learn, today you can do it BETTER and FASTER than ever. Notice the “if”. And if you’re not motivated, then quit school, go get a full time job, and maybe that’ll revive some of your lost interests… Most big universities today offer their students tons of resources, there’s really no reason to complain tabarnak! Don’t give me this EMO bs!!
[...] See the background in this Wired article and more discussion here (and dig that groovy Wordpress theme they’re using). [...]
I enjoyed watching the “Vision of Students Today” video–or at least the first thirty seconds or so of it. After that it seemed to get kind of “heavy,” and I remembered that a friend had texted me earlier so I kind of missed the rest as I was getting back to him. I thought it was cool that you made a video ’cause video is better than reading, which makes my head hurt. Someday I might watch the rest, but right now I’ve got another call coming in.
[...] A transcript is available on the class blog. [...]
[...] También puedes leer la transcripción del video [...]
I think you are on to something here, and that this is a fabulous idea, I think the entire initiative is immense. The idea of having this on the web and that you are using a rich, interactive media (the blog), is awe-inspiring.
This generation will see a fundamental shift in our societal thinking; we are no longer islands of isolated knowledge. Instead, we will be the generation that will raise each other up through collective learning.
I continually see it in courses, students gather and form ideas, when a single student gets the idea, the idea fires a spark that is transmitted to the others like a wildfire.
[...] del.icio.us The academic perspective Nov10 10 November 2007, Gráinne @ 11:53 am The student experience? What about the academicperspective? Following on from Michael Wesch’s ‘A vision of students today’, now read ‘A Vision of professors today’. Alarmingly realistic!!! Write a comment [...]
As an educator at a community college where no student is denied admission, I have been challenged by the enrollment of a number of poorly prepared and unmotivated students in my classes. My experience is probably similar to many other instructors teaching first and second year college students at any university, and I hope that the summary provided here reaches some of those students and instructors.
It seems that many students who decide to go to college think of it as something they HAVE to do rather than something they WANT to do. Maybe their parents have pushed them into it, maybe they aren’t ready for the real world and use college as a way to put it off for a few years, or maybe they are used to an affluent lifestyle provided by their parents that they don’t want to give up yet can’t possibly attain without a degree. Many first and second year undergraduates also have no idea what they want to do and end up taking general education courses with a couple hundred other freshmen and sophomores, and are then further disheartened about the college experience they weren’t ready for in the first place.
In any case, students who don’t want to be in college generally do not do well, and then they often blame their lack of interest on long, boring, expensive textbooks or teachers who don’t make the material relevant to everyday life. If the students wanted to be there and were genuinely interested in learning (either for the sake of learning or to further their knowledge in a particular subject), the instructors would seem more interesting, the textbooks not such a waste of money, and the students would make connections between the information and their lives (perhaps even without being prompted!). Of course there will always be the occasional boring class you have to take to graduate, and you may run into a professor who has been teaching the same material in the same way for so long s/he has forgotten that the students even exist, but to the student striving for a personal goal these classes are just little bumps in the road rather than the major roadblocks uninterested students make them out to be.
So, students, I implore you to find out what you are interested in before you go to college and complain that what you are expected to learn is not relevant or interesting. I implore you to drop in and get to know your instructors before you complain that they don’t know your name. I implore you to find your own connections between the information you are learning and your life because your instructor cannot possibly know what is relevant to each student in the class. And finally, I implore you to turn off your iPODs, laptops, cell phones, and any other distracting items during class, listen to the lecture, ask lots of questions, and fully participate in meaningful discussions about the material. Maybe you can help your instructors develop new ways of teaching and learning that keep more students interested, even the ones that don’t really want to be there.
And, instructors, I implore you to take time to make your lectures more interesting, to find new ways of having students interact with, think about, and apply the material (not just memorize it), and be open to teaching and learning ideas that students come up with, because after all they are the ones who need to learn the information.
So you say that its technology’s fault that the teenagers spend 26.5 hours (wich is completely bullcrap, because I can hear music, be in facebook and eating at the same time, so make those 9 hours just 2. You said “26.5 hours” just for strengthen this whole stupid point) bullshitting around instead of paying attention to class? So you say that you “have to be” “”"multi taskers”"” because you have to go to class JUST 3 HOURS AND WORK 2 HOURS A WEEK?
What the F***.
If you take the notebook to class, use it, dont get into facebook.
If you buy a book, read it all, not just the 42% because “26% of it is important to your life”, (Besides, who says or decides which subjects are important to your life or to your career? You yourself? Read how the careers are constructed before start complaining. You’re the kind of person that says that syntax does not will hel you in your life). All of them contribute to the supposed debt you’re going to have after graduation. Of course you’re gonna have a debt!, if you work just 2 hours a day. Not even part time, part-part-time.
You’re waiting for your dad to come up and give you money?
For Gods sake, nobody said “technology alone can save us”. And guess what, it cannot.
Grab a book and learn something: Technology is everything in and between a spear and a notebook, and guess what, the spears saved a lot of caveman… its not just your little iPod and your shiny cute cellphone. Ah, the chalkboard is also technology, but we use it to write, not to hit other people with it.
If you use it correctly, the technology lets you develop some other skills.
“I did not create the problems, but they are my problems”, yeah, phone for you, Its Mr. Obvious and he says that its called life, and it can suck big time.
This video made me lose the hope on all mankind.
I think it sucked.
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Detained students may receive degrees…
Detained students may receive degreesOregon Daily Emerald, OR -13 hours agoA bill that passed unanimously in the Oregon House one week ago,…
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I thought the idea behind the video was great but I just couldn’t agree with some of the “notes”.
Real life doesn’t start happening after or because of college. REAL life happens every day! I learned wonderful things for the 7 months I was in college, but I’ve learned more than any books can hold in the 4 years since I dropped out to care for my autistic sister. I read books to expand myself on the things I can’t learn first hand. I feel like they have no idea how blessed it is to be able to ATTEND college in the first place. It is absolutely what you make of it. You’re going to have to grind out things that may be useless in your life but might not be useless to someone else. In the meantime you work hard and forge around for the things you really want. The things that ARE relative to your life or the life you want to live. I’ve noticed so many people my age coming out of college completely ignorant to what to do next. A job puts food on the table but it doesn’t HAVE to define you. Being able to have a job that you absolutely love is a blessing that 9/10 won’t happen.
Being human automatically means you are a multi taker. I don’t have kids but I’m 23 years old and I wake up at 5 am every day. In the morning, I give multiple medicines to help my 4 year old sister. I feed her, dress her, entertain her and teach her, usually doing several of these at the same time. At work, I fill out forms, take calls, study things about the environment that aren’t necessarily relevant to my life but are relevant to my job. On my lunch, I budget finances and pay bills. I cook, clean, give baths and sing preschool songs in the evenings. By the time my day is done, there are at LEAST 10 things I planned to do that I didn’t get finished. I’d be damn grateful to get 7 hours of sleep a night. Maybe I should make a video about THAT!
SERIOUSLY!
I honestly do think that my best learning moments in class were when the teacher stepped away from the chalkboard and everyone was forced to join in. I know I wanted a personal learning experience, that’s why I chose a private college with a small student-teacher ratio. If you’re not going to take charge and change the system, then please don’t complain. Don’t stand by and do nothing.
I’m trying to comprehend the significance of this blog - - no small task in a document of 15,000 words that addresses psychology, careers, technology, philosophies for learning, science, third-world countries, religion, and frustrations about life in general.
If this YouTube clip goes viral it will probably be, primarily, because of the observations of undergraduate students about the influence of technology on learning.
I’ve noticed a new kind of intelligence in underclassmen that is unrecognized and unappreciated, but evident in this blog. The majority have an all-consuming passion to do something significant and won’t let anything get in their way - not even an outrageously expensive college education.
Who has ever dealt with such fundamental dilemmas as now? All civilizations have probably viewed their time as revolutionary, but now we face undeniably unique issues driven by the magnitude and velocity of change in our “flattened†world (Thomas Friedman: The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century).
If students want to learn things of significance, then one of their challenges is to solve problems being magnified by technology. Technologies deceive us because they have proliferated tools in a 10,000 year history of new and emerging tools. It’s all just tools.
I want the same things as you, underclassmen, so, with hopes for achieving greater significance as a teacher, I commit to you to lecture less each semester and strive for relevance in my classes no matter where that leads us.
What can you do for me?
“Some have suggested that technology (alone) can save us …”
Trust me, I’m attending a technical university, and as far as classes go, technology is about the most detrimental thing to my GPA right now. Those 2300 web pages are going to be the end of my college career. Professors’ lectures being aided by PowerPoint isn’t helping either.
I don’t have much to say…
“Change it or Blame it”
[...] “A Vision of Students Today†Transcript [...]
[...] “A Vision of Students Today†Transcript [...]
first off - too many people are going to college/university. not just in numbers, but, people who should do otherwise. learn a trade, get a job.
“higher education” is designed to prepare you for a number of different jobs, with differing complexity. if you don’t think the material is relevant, maybe it’s because you’re in the wrong field. maybe it’s because you are at the starting point, and cannot see its value in the end. if the relevance for everything i learned in my degree had to be explained each time a new topic was introduced, my degree would have taken twice as long.
as for hours in a day and multitasking - when i was in first year (1998) i would watch tv while “studying” and eating. i would play quake II or euchre with people in residence rather than study. and i still spent hours on the net on my dialup connection. for a little while. and then i would work when i had to. it is the students’ responsibility to determine what they want to do, what they need to do to get there, and see if they can do it. nowadays, i’m finishing my PhD and still get distracted by things, mainly stuff on the net. i choose to spend time on facebook, youtube, playing online poker - but, when i have to, i get work done.
in regards to regurgitating information (a comment someone made - i forget where i read it) rather than thinking critically - you need to know (and PROVE you know) the information first off. why bother to see if you can think critically upon a situation if you can’t get the facts straight.
incorporating technology to aid in education might not be that great an idea. to me, it seems like a fad. radio, tv, home PC, internet - each promised grandiose things for education, and while they had their limited use each ended up as a medium for entertainment primarily.
in my first year psych class, the lectures were recorded on video, and displayed in small classrooms. it allowed an easy approach to educating upwards of 3000 students. it also allowed the professor to incorporate diagrams, videos, graphs and other non-textual information seamlessly. from the ages of 7-18, i watched almost 7 hrs of tv everyday, believe it or not. my point: i like tv. BUT, the fact that the lectures were on tv did not make it more enticing. i only went to 2 classes after the midterm. why? it was an elective, and i knew i would just catch up on the info later.
people think chalkboard’s, pencils, paper, erasers are outdated and unable to get the job done? give everyone calculators, laptops - looks impressive. does it make them smart?? no freakin way.
whoever can do more with less - that’s who i’d want to be the leaders of tomorrow.
I work at a liberal arts college for Instructional Technology. I come from a family of educated people and grew up surrounded by friends and family who work as Teachers, Academic Administrators and Researchers.
It’s been interesting to see the reaction to this video and to the response posted by the Lecturer from the UK. I think this debate is both old and new, but mostly old.
First I think most generations of young people have some (greater or lesser) sense of entitlement, but I would say I believe the current generations of young people have a strong one. I would say though that it is coupled with a drive that will show itself as they age and produce many positive solutions to the things they now bicker about.
Second, I think educators and older generations are not always given much credit by the young - this is by no means a new thing. History certainly shows us this is common.
As far as technology’s impact on education - I think it’s undeniable. I work in a fairly traditional school but most faculty here use technology (even if it’s just a projector) on a daily basis. Online course management systems, computer software, video and audio, etc… are common in many schools in the US.
A few people have made comments which suggest that young people’s technology use leads to less contact with people. I do not think this is true. Many of the most popular sites with young people connect them to others that they would otherwise only have written correspondence with. At my school, programs like Skype have been used to connect students here with professors and students in foreign countries via webcam and live audio - certainly an enriching and educational experience that could not otherwise take place.
I do think that many American students are ungrateful for what they are offered. I also think that saying someone in another country has it much worse (which is very true) doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try to make things here even better. I do think we need to be careful to tell students up front that a college education guarantees absolutely nothing. Your life becomes what you put into it in effort, not money. I’m not sure college recruiters are too up front about that. I also think we need a more stable environment for educators to work in. Job security can be awful, and pay for effort put forth is less than adequate in many cases.
Ultimately though, a point in the middle of the extreme opinions posted here will prevail. Students will be expected in many ways to carry on as they always have and many old teaching methods will survive (as they should). New processes and methods will come about though, and educators will evolve (and are doing so). It will work out in the end, largely due to discussions like these. Keep it coming.
This video is exactly what college to me is. I did not realize how much wasted time is spent on a class that is not going to teach me skills in my field or learn math equations that are “fluff” material to fill up a class. I have adjusted to life now but I honestly do not under why I need to go to College to be considered a successful person in today’s society.
Has anyone really stopped to think that the “education system” and “prison system” is run almost exactly the same?
For example, a large group of selected individuals who are put together for long amounts of time. I understand that the difference between criminals and college students but I feel like I am doing tasks just to waste my time.
I enjoy learning and that is why I choose to go to college. The only problem is the millions of other students who feel the same but are forced to endure somewhere around 4, 6, 8, or 10 years of material when most classes they took because they need to have a certain amount of credits.
The Video has turned from an semi-objective observation into a self help video. I cant empathize with people who don’t understand why there taking classes while using the standard argument ” If this isn’t my field or specialty then why do I need to take it.” Seriously, If your an impressionable student what makes you think that you don’t need to take it. That mentality shows a lack of foresight and is the hallmark of a closed mind.
Others have mentioned faults and setbacks of our education system. Our education SYSTEM is indeed a system you will literally get out as much as you put in. No matter how much you yell and rant about how unfair, inefficient, and unbalanced the education system eventually only you will be held accountable for what you did or did not choose to learn.
As far as technology is concerned, it is just another means to an end. The Greeks complained about humans losing our memory and not learning because people began to write things down. Now people are getting bent out of shape now that people email notes and lecture via video conference. It’s just another medium. Not a substitution. More than 3000 years later we can still memorize our phone numbers AND write them down too. wow. and as those of use who DON’T memorize because they have wikipedia and awesome “information retrieval skills” Good for you, go ahead and try finding living as a human filing cabinet.
Mark Callan (Response #84) makes some good points. I’m a firm believer in “what you put in is what you get out.” I’m not sure we can really judge how these issues of technology combining with education are going to effect the future.
Sure, we’re multi-tasking our brains away and we go to the internet for just about everything, but does that mean we can’t fuction when we loose an internet connection? Possibly, if you’re narrow minded enough, then yes you could be rendered useless.
But alternatively, it could be leading us towards a future where communication between people working in distant places flows naturally or ideas are expressed easily through online mediums of communication.
I’m not trying to say I like dealing with computers all day. I guess I’m just playing devil’s advocate and saying something good might come out of this.
As much as I don’t like taking classes that are closely related to my major, I can see why we have to take them. My school wants me to be as diversified and educated as possible. They’re trying to show me as much as they can to help me figure out what my future in that career could be like.
The liberal art courses are there to force you to become educated on things you might not consider learning but could benefit you in the future.
For example, a mechanical engineering technologist who is required to take liberal arts classes would want to look into economics classes, which I plan to do.
I enjoyed watching this video and it really enlightens you to some things about the current education system and the students using it, but it doesn’t really suggest solutions to the problems. When does that video come out?
I like the points made in post number 2, which look at the piece in a negative aspect. This post seems to look at the video as people complaining about their lives being hard and difficult today, and maybe even unfair. However, everything mentioned in the video can be changed, and the students that made the video probably have the best ability to change the world, and mainly the topics mentioned, but noone does anything. They complain that their average class size is 115, and that few of their teachers know their name, but they dont try and change it. Well, if they join some kind of student government or something, and become an active voice, they could probably work on getting the class sizes changed. This will require a strong argument as to why it is necessary, but i think there is one. Someone just needs to do something about it. GThe next part says that they read only half of their reading assignments, 26% which are relevant, and that they buy 100 dollar textbooks that theyll never use. Well, do the same thing as i just said for the first part, but try and get the textbooks assigned for classes to be more relevant. This will make the books be used for the money they cost, make the reading all relevant, and make the people read the assigned material, as it will be necessary for the class. Everything mentioned can be changed, action just needs to be taken to do it. Complaining over the internet wont do a thing.
I am responding to response made in No 82, I totally agree with it. The video was made really good and shows various issues that we students face in our day to day college life. There were various points that students showed in the video that falls in my interest. I come from a third world country too and here people also earn less than a 1 dollar a day. After graduation from college, getting a job is almost impossible. It doesn’t even matter whether you have a good GPA throughout academic career, it is still more likely to end up with no job at all. Source force plays a major role in my country for getting a job. In addition, even if you do get a job, your maximum earning would be about $500 a month from which you can save only $100 in average. Besides these issues in my country, students do not have to face most of the issues presented in the video. Education is not expensive, especially the materials like books. When I first saw the price of the book here in the states, I was shocked. I could not swallow the price because I was so used to the price of the book in my country and it felt insanely expensive and unreasonable. The book, which cost $150, would only cost $10 in my country. One part, when the student says that he will be in debt over $20,000 after graduation made me feel really bad. It is so true, especially in the U.S. It is almost every student is in debt with the government after they graduate. And all they can do after their graduation is start thinking about getting a job as soon as possible and get the debts off of their heads. Isn’t this sad for all those students who have to go through this? Rather to get a chance to think about how to plan their careers ahead, they have to think about how to get clear of their debts. But one thing I don’t understand is how will the technology save us from this situations. I believe it is the whole systems of the government that needs to be brought to attention to solve these issues not the technology. Students here in the states get so many facilities that normally other schools of Third world and Second world countries do not get. The technology has already made their life as easy as it can be and yet they complain about it, just because they do not know how to utilize it. Is not the technology’s fault if we bring our laptop in class and surf facebook, it is our own responsibility to do our work assigned by the professors and keep up with the materials. “There is always a price to pay for somethingâ€.
82Joe
I work at a liberal arts college for Instructional Technology. I come from a family of educated people and grew up surrounded by friends and family who work as Teachers, Academic Administrators and Researchers.
It’s been interesting to see the reaction to this video and to the response posted by the Lecturer from the UK. I think this debate is both old and new, but mostly old.
First I think most generations of young people have some (greater or lesser) sense of entitlement, but I would say I believe the current generations of young people have a strong one. I would say though that it is coupled with a drive that will show itself as they age and produce many positive solutions to the things they now bicker about.
Second, I think educators and older generations are not always given much credit by the young - this is by no means a new thing. History certainly shows us this is common.
As far as technology’s impact on education - I think it’s undeniable. I work in a fairly traditional school but most faculty here use technology (even if it’s just a projector) on a daily basis. Online course management systems, computer software, video and audio, etc… are common in many schools in the US.
A few people have made comments which suggest that young people’s technology use leads to less contact with people. I do not think this is true. Many of the most popular sites with young people connect them to others that they would otherwise only have written correspondence with. At my school, programs like Skype have been used to connect students here with professors and students in foreign countries via webcam and live audio - certainly an enriching and educational experience that could not otherwise take place.
I do think that many American students are ungrateful for what they are offered. I also think that saying someone in another country has it much worse (which is very true) doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try to make things here even better. I do think we need to be careful to tell students up front that a college education guarantees absolutely nothing. Your life becomes what you put into it in effort, not money. I’m not sure college recruiters are too up front about that. I also think we need a more stable environment for educators to work in. Job security can be awful, and pay for effort put forth is less than adequate in many cases.
Ultimately though, a point in the middle of the extreme opinions posted here will prevail. Students will be expected in many ways to carry on as they always have and many old teaching methods will survive (as they should). New processes and methods will come about though, and educators will evolve (and are doing so). It will work out in the end, largely due to discussions like these. Keep it coming
Response to number 5. I can agree with this response. Everyone has control over what they spend their time on. I feel that the students in this video are just complaining about doing homework. Every student needs to learn how to manage their time and to get the work done that is needed. You don’t go to college for no reason, you are there to learn and to get into a good job. Whatever a student puts into life, they will get back in return.
The time on the facebook or the time spen surfing the internet can be reduced. Students are coming up with excuses as to why they arn’t getting their homework done or as to why they arn’t getting enough sleep. Students need to realize that they are going to school for a reason, to better themselves. There is no since in going to college if you are not doing what you are suppose to or learning the material that you need to learn.
To agree the idea of post number 24, I can say that technology is a “tool.” Technology is a “tool” created and developed by human being to both to ease the life and to make it practical. We use email instead of mail, because of its speed and reliablity. We do not have to write a paper twice to remember what we wrote last time during reponding to a message. Technology copies it for us. Why do we use facebook, hi5, myspace? To keep in touch with friends and virtually live together, so that we do not miss them when we are apart. But, it is out of question that some of us embrace the virtual life as their real life. They spend hours and hours sitting in front of bright screen waiting a message from a friend, or a picture upload by a friend! Thus, they end up with having no time for real life work. I use technology as a tool by shopping online, reading news, following my courses, watching movies, etc… It is time consuming to wait shuttle to go to the mall and do the shopping. It is expensive to buy newspapers everyday, instead I prefer reading the news on free sites. It goes on like this…
Time is money! I spend less time by using internet to print out a research paper for manufacturing processes. On the other side, huge library of RIT is just a few miles away.
Use technology as a tool and do not let your tools to you!
To agree the idea of post number 24, I can say that technology is a “tool.†Technology is a “tool†created and developed by human being both to ease the life and to make it practical. We use email instead of mail because of its speed and reliablity. We do not have to write a paper twice to remember what we last time wrote. Technology copies it for us. Why do we use facebook, hi5, myspace? We do to keep in touch with friends and virtually live together, so that we do not miss them when we are apart. But, it is out of question that some of us embrace the virtual lives as their real lives. They spend hours sitting in front of a bright screen waiting for a message from a friend, or a picture upload by a friend! Thus, they end up with having no time for real life work. I use technology as a tool by shopping online, reading news, following my courses, watching movies, etc. It is time consuming to wait for a shuttle to go to the mall and do the shopping. It is expensive to buy newspapers everyday,so I prefer reading the news on free sites. I can give more examples, yet you can hear what I try to say.
Time is the money! I spend less time by using internet to print out a research paper for manufacturing processes than using RIT’s huge library, which is just a few miles away.
To sum up, use the technology as a tool, and do not let your tools use you!
Response to post number 6. I agree and understand your point, with all these electronic devices make the students get distracted pretty easily, and certainly I can say that we cannot blame the system or life. It is the motivation that keeps us from continuing and achieving our everyday goals. Students are the one’s responsible for their own actions; they control their own destiny, not others. In order to succeed in life, you need follow up the rules of the system so later in the future you can be on top of everything. Furthermore, technology is there for us to use it for our education needs, most students tend to abuse technology and use it as entertainment source. I believe that students must be focused on academics and stop blaming technology, because there are people who are successful in terms of academics even though they’re surrounded by these distractions. So I highly recommend people to stay motivated and be determined of what they want, because that’s how life works. If you know what you want for sure, you’ll get it.
Post no. 5 is very true. As this is a progressing world there will be many more ‘new stuff’ coming along. This means people will be distracted even more ? No, i dont think so. People have their own life to handle, and they should do so by prioritizing whats imp. and what is not. Brousing FaceBook in class is not a bad thing, but should be just done if the student knows his course work well and does not slack in class. People who read a lot is a good trainer for vocabularly and english or their language, however, reading course books is as important, which is lost in the current world. Some students dont even have the motivation to go for early classes, the most common response i have heard is, ‘ oh, i slept in late, damn, but there is no point of me going to class anyways as i dont understand anything and i didnt do my homework either. So if i go i wont understand any thing and just waste my time’. This means that the person is not at all motivated and does not want to push himself either. Not doing HW is fine, or not understanding course work is also common, but not going to class for that reason is nonsense. Where else would u get the knowledge about course work from, if not in class which u pay for.
I agree to post number 8….the fact that he is on face book 98 percent of the time he is at class. I dont bring my computer to class but when I get back from class everyday I always go on facebook and see who is on there or what new requests I have gotten. There are many more matters that are worse than facebook. They are the cost of textbooks. Comon, they are rediculious. Some kids take out entire college loans just to afford text books becasue they cost about $300 a quarter. I feel that there is some kind of scam or whatever going on with this. I think that with the amount of money we pay a year we should be given a text for everyclass and told that if we ruin it or lose it we need to pay the $150 cost. That is another thing that is just crazy. Also, who needs to spend 3.5 hours online everyday. Checking e mail is one thing but writing a paper does not count as going online. Some people need to get a better focus on their schooling. I hav e met some kids that are happy with a 2.0GPA and my question is…If your spend all of this money, why wouldnt you try hard and do well? There are a lot of flaws int he schooling system. But I could go on all day about those.
This video hits a lot of points that I agree with. The cost of books for example, are outragously expensive and aren’t even included in tuition. College is already expensive as is. Starting off with over $100,000 in debt once you get out of college is going to to be hell. You have to have enough money to eat, get an apartment, gas money, clothing, other activities, and pay off the $100,000 debt. Not too many people straight out of college can make that kind of money for atleast a couple of years. All I’m saying is that college is too expensive already and to have to pay for extra stuff like books I don’t have to read for a class would make life a lot easier down the road and getting out of debt. I do agree that if we spend this much money that we should get the best education out of it instead of wasting all of the money we just borrowed.
My response is to this excerpt from the video,
“I did not create the problems. But they are my problems.”
I agree this statement because i believe it’s correct. the problems on this planet were here long before I existed. the problems that continue to plague humans all around the world. even though the problems were here before, that doesn’t that they don’t affect me. i have to deal with them like any other person in these circumstances. i have to find a way around so i can come out on top. this is what the excerpt means to me, somehow i have to take some responsibility for these problems so that will allow me to find a way to make it so it will not consume me like its constantly doing. this except relates to all the other ones in that the other excerpts point out the problems that exist. Now that we’ve identified the problems, its time we worked on the solutions.
From #5, “The reason you spend so much time in Facebook,or playing with your laptops is because you’re too friggin lazy to concentrate on your classes.”
I can not disagree with that statement entirely, but for just a minute, let’s look at things before Facebook. Were our parents so much more intent in class because of the absence of laptops? Are we lazy because of Facebook?
I think the point here is how well do we value our education. Clearly coming from a country where the typical worker could only dream of spending $134,000+ dollars on an education, the value of education is worth that of a lifetime of work and even more.
What we can learn from the migration of Facebook into the classroom, is that the education system is relatively static in relation to surrounding advancements. Students come from their climate controlled dorms where they hold friendships on different continents, can start wars with 63 other people in 63 different locations. Then they must gear down to a lecture class with 399 other students–and environment that has not changed in many decades.
The question now, is it good that we have a stable and universal education system, or bad?
i personaly don’t much care for facebook or myspace and i don’t go on the internet in class (because i don’t own a laptop)
i guess i agree with korey (#83) that school does give alot of fluff that we really don’t need or use ever again after school. (to those of you that are RIT: like the ghost map stuff)
i think that education does need reformations because of how much the world has changed due to technology. but the question is, what can we do to change it? i don’t think that there is a system that is perfect or close enough to perfect to cover all of the changing information in the world. all that we can really do is keep learning after school so thta we don’t fall behind.
5Mangimosbi
I come from a country in which a majority of people earn less than 1 dollar a day and I say what are you complaining about.
The reason you spend so much time in Facebook,or playing with your laptops is because you’re too friggin lazy to concentrate on your classes.
Surely students must take some of the blame for not doing well in school or not being motivated enough to do their required readings etc.You are the master of your own destiny.You only get out of life what you put into it.All of us have spent hours doing assigned readings that really didn’t help much etc thats life.
Wow sucks for you. But I believe that is the reason you should try harder to get your education, so you can help out your family.
I for one do not play around on my laptop during class, nor skip class, because you are paying a lot of money and it is a stupid reason to lose points on your grade. Some classes are dreadfully boring but I try my best to stay awake.
I also agree that students should take some of the blame for not learning. I myself am guilty of not doing some readings, or not doing homework that the teacher collects. But I made sure to seek the help I need. I am also not the one to complain, because that do not help much I just get my revenge with the evaluations at the end of the course. And for global warming I feel that we can all do our part but cutting down on our needless consumptions
It’s all sad, but it’s all true.
It isn’t all our fault.
can not disagree with that statement entirely, but for just a minute, let’s look at things before Facebook. Were our parents so much more intent in class because of the absence of laptops? Are we lazy because of Facebook?
I think the point here is how well do we value our education. Clearly coming from a country where the typical worker could only dream of spending $134,000+ dollars on an education, the value of education is worth that of a lifetime of work and even more.
Hi, I’m an instructor ar Butler Community College. I wanted to let you all know that I really enjoyed you “student’s vision today” video. In fact, I showed my students and they knew a few of the students in the video. I embedded the video into my website at http://learnautobody.com on the students link. Anyway, great video.
[...] To mark Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday, here is a new video (or a video response to Michael Wesch’s “A Vision of Students Today“) [transcript here] (Re)Vision of Students Today collaborates with Michael Wesch’s Kansas State students, who, according to the megapopular video, used Google Docs to collaboratively edit a document, essentially conducting a survey and, presumably, designing the video itself. [...]
baths prices…
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Just a thought: if you’re not going to read your $100 textbooks, don’t buy them. If you’re not going to pay attention in class, don’t go. If you don’t want to be in college–get a job, travel, be a bum on your mom’s couch where you can devote the entirety of those 26.5 hours cruising facebook. Eventually, eventually, you may actually CHOOSE to pick up a book, you may get sick enough of your crappy job to recognize the importance of gaining skills, you may see enough of the world to want to find ways to solve its (’your’?!?) problems. If you look up from the screen long enough to learn about the big, bad world out there, you may actually (hopefully, for all our sake) come up with a way to use the internet for a greater good than facebook.
Students come in all shapes and sizes. They also have individual needs. Sometimes they just need a little help getting started.
Frustrating? yes, at all levels. But, ultimately are we, or are we not responsible for our own actions? No one is being FORCED to attend college - it is a choice, one that many in the world do not have.
Put down the phone, log off MySpace and make that choice count. Only once around for each of us - no guarantees, no promises of a long life - if you are going to do it, then do it to the best of your ability. If not, don’t cry about it - get a job at McD’s and call your friends as much as you want..
I am a returning student, out for 25 years. When i originally went to college I spent most of my time, drinking in the campus lounge, playing pool and skipping class. I was lazy and did not want to be there.
I was lucky to get a job and have been there since, but not for long. My children (2) are now starting the same journey that most of you current students are already in the middle of. But as i mentioned earlier, my job won’t be there much longer. I have huge debt that will not just go away. 2 jobs and school and I don’t see it getting any easier!
This is why I’m back in school. I see young faces every day with fear and passion all in the same smile. I can relate to many of the comments referring to: just being a number, what is our future going to be like, work - school - for what, boredom of education, all of these feelings are present and fair. There will be less jobs available for you and people like myself.
I think you have to look at education as a way to make you a better person and at some point you can make your mark in the world. It most likely won’t be a world changing discovery or a cure for the common cold but it will be seen by your family. I can already see the difference in my children knowing that Dad is trying to make a difference in his life.
Don’t get bored, keep your mind fresh, even if it some mind numbing stats class or a econ class that puts you to sleep every time. I gave up early in my life (in college) and it is finally beginning to haunt me. If you fight it now, I fully believe that you will succeed in what path you choose. Sorry for my pedestal but this is how i feel. Good Luck to all!
[...] system they have to go through. To illustrate this point brilliantly he uses the great video A Vision of Students Today from the Digital Ethnography project at Kansas State University. The video tells us lots of things [...]
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Fantastic message and well presented. I am forwarding it to the executives I coach.
BTW, would you provide a citation for the McLuhan quote.
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Just a quick question….
At the end of the “A Vision of Students Today” video, there is brief mention of a continuation discussing the benefits of a chalkboard…I would be incredibly interested in seeing whatever came from that, as I am trying very hard to have conversations with professors showing that Power Point is often not the best way to go about learning something!
If anyone knows where to find the continued video, or if one was even made, I’d appreciate the help!
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Your video was very informative, unfortunatley I felt a mixed vibe from the video. The mention of students being in debt went directly into people around the world making less than a dollar a day. I did not see how that pertained to this video at all. Overall it had a good message about dehumanization of things though.
I think this video is very eye-opening to the facts of students today. The fact about the bokos we buy but never open is true for a lot of my classes and books. I also liked the fact of how busy college students are and how all the hours add up to be more than 24 hours. I really liked the sign that said we did not create the problems but we have to deal with them and then a bunch of signs about war and ethnic conflict were held up. Facebook was another thing that I was glad was brought up because a lot of students are on facebook a lot of times during the day and during classes. All in all, the video made me think and realize some things so very well done.
This video is so true. I am the neighbor that doesn’t show up because I feel I learn more by myself and I haven’t even opened up some of my theology books. I think that the time studying should be higher than what was shown and teh time sleeping less though. But other than that i thnk that it was very accurate.
I thought the video was very interesting. It made me think about alot in my everyday life. I could relate to just about everything mentioned. The message was great and well presented.
The video is very effective in its ability to bring up real issues, both those that are facing college students each day and making a point of how small they are compared to the bigger issues facing the rest of the world. We are the lucky ones.
i believe that this is a correct assesment of the corruption in college. the struggles we face in and out of the classrooms which mold our grades and lives are all stemmed from something related to academics. we spend some much time on facebook or myspace when when you think about what those sites actually are, you realize that the morals of it are very creepy.
I really liked the layout of the video. I liked that it was in an actual college lecture hall, just like the one that I take classes in and I liked that they used college students of all backgrrounds to convey the message. It was giving the profile of teh average college student through the voice of many. I agree with most of the statistics presented, either for myself or for someone that I know. There is not enough time in the day to get everything done that I want to get done at college and sometimes I might never crack open a book that I paid a hundred dollars for.
The video is very effective in bringing about important issues that deal with technology. Although these issues are very real, it seems that the makers of the video make them seem like a bigger problem than they actually are. Everyone has multitasked all their lives
I really loved how this video was created, i thought it was very unique which made it interesting for me to watch. Overall in the beginning of the video it seemed to me like something that was made for older parents and teachers teaching them about what it was like to be a student in today’s world, however towards the end it changed drastically to much more serious problems and this is what got me lost. I didn’t really understand the final message although i do realize it is about how technology is effecting us today. And I definitaly think that what they found was true, i know people who don’t go to class and who facebook during lectures and its daunting to realize that we do read more facebook profiles and emails than we do actual books. so overall i thought it was really interestingly made, true at most parts, but the end just confused me.
Overall, I liked the video especially because of the “statistics” the students wrote on the looseleaf papers. I related to probably 50% of them. The buying textbooks that you do not open really struck a chord with me because I spent over $900 in books because I thought that was what I was required to do to be successful, but I don’t use half of them. Everytime I think about it, it kills me because It is a lot of money that I don’t have. Additionally, I liked the focus on the chalkboard at the end of the video because I have one professor that actually uses an “old school” chalkboard and I enjoy listening to his lectures the best. I think it is more wholesome and I still learn the same.
Overall, I liked the video because I related to about 50% of the “statistics” the students admitted on the looseleaf papers. Especially the one about the textbooks bought and never used. I spent over $900 on textbooks (half of them I do not need to be successful in the classes) because I thought I was doing the right thing. It kills me to think of all that money my mom and I spent..money that needs to be paid back! I also liked the end focus on the chalkboard. I like chalkboards in classrooms. They get the job done because I still learn the same amount.
In one word, this video is real. All of the information was true to students today and easy to relate to. Unfortunately, this leads the viewer to believed that one day, probably soon, chlakboards will become obsolete. I think physical teaching versus virtual teaching is far better for the develpment of the student in the long run. However, in the future technology will overtake even more aspects of life. Although most people could not part with their cell phones, computers, or ipods, some of these technologies have eliminated interpersonal relations. This video accurately depicts this and opens the viewers eyes to the world we live in.
I enjoyed the video because most people are unaware of what the modern student faces. Every year tution goes up, book prices going up, it eventually will spiral out of control. But the video made one think how miniscule all that is compared to the real problems of life. Gave me hope knowing mabey if I get through college after being blessed, I could help those who are not
I think the video conveyed its point quite clearly and accurately. Sitting in class, I see people on their computers doing anything but what is required of the class. I feel like we spend so much money on college, but a lot of the time we don’t get the full education because of other distractions. The video accurate stated the problems that students are facing today.
I really liked the video that was created. It was very truthful and i liked how they presented the statistics and the information. This vidoe hits home with almost every college student, including myself. It is crazy to think about all those facts, like the wages under (or at) a dollar or and the chalk board. If people did not know these statistics then the video opened their eyes but if they did know then this video allows them to feel they are not alone in the world, there are other poeple who have the same issues and that one day somethings will have to change, for better and worse.
i liked the video but i was unclear of what the overall message was.
This video is amazing. I wonder though how many students have read a portion of these blog entries? I read through some and find the comments fascinating. To me this video demonstrates what is wrong with our educational system. Not technology. The fact is that technology has changed us as a society. We learn differently now, and the traditional educational institution has not. I believe students crave interaction and that learning is not one-way where the instructor imparts wisdom to the student. Instead, I believe students can also impart wisdom to the instructor. But truly what is amazing about technology is the ability to have both instructor and student work and engage in a way that elevates education/learning to a new level. I think that is what this video, in part anyways, is trying to communicate. That learning has simply been reduced to regurgitating information. However, it is changing. It is a process, but it is changing.
i really liked how the video was put together and the beginning drew my attention with the claims written on the desks and walls. i was confused with the exact message of the video though. i understand that it is attacking today’s technology but there was a lot of facts about people not wanting to go to class and how they are wasting money and also time by not wanting to do the scantron tests. i would have liked to seen more claims as to how it is ruining our education. however i think it was well put together and creative how students would randomly raise their hand with their thoughts to it. the topic was also an original choice and definitely made the mark that today’s society is different than previous generations through technology and education.
The main goal of the video seemed to be shock value. Because I feel that most people are already aware of the rise in technology disractions for students and all people, this video was primarily made only to see the reactions of others. Though that goal was obviously met, creating a video for only that purpose seems less impactful. I think the video could have done a better job of portraying the issue by offering suggestions to move away from a technology-dependent society.
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