The Future of Communication

Michael Wesch, a 2009 National Geographic Emerging Explorer and a professor of cultural anthropology at Kansas State University, has produced several short videos (the most notable being Web 2.0 - The Machine is Us/ing Us) that have been viewed millions of times on YouTube. His commentary on communication, education, and technology are definitely thought provoking. One of his latest, The Future of Communication, is no different. At 16:49, it is a little lengthy, but I urge you to stick with it as the payoff is great!



Wesch teaches with college students, but all of the points he makes are equally applicable to high school students. As he says, we live in a world where there is ubiquitous information on ubiquitous networks that do ubiquitous computing anywhere about everything at anytime, anyplace at unlimited speed on unlimited devices. Any parent with a teenager with a computer and a smart phone could testify to that fact!

When our students are put in the traditional classroom, frequently it is a completely different paradigm. The questions asked are far too often not ones around genuine curiosity and learning, but rather ones around outputs such as, "How long does this paper have to be?" and "What do I have to do to get an A?" Wesch calls this the "getting by and getting the grade game." He considers much of the current state of affairs in many classrooms to be a crisis of significance.

Wesch's premise is that we have to harness the current reality of ubiquitous technology so learning is significant and relevant to all students. Students thirst to be empowered to access information and engage with it, to collaborate, to problem solve, and to create. These skills also happen to be known as "21st century learning skills," but they are also tied to a new literacy- digital literacy. Yes, our students know how to access their Facebook pages, but can they apply that same savvy to the use of technology in creating a great piece of writing? Or great art? Music? How do we as teachers enable this to happen?

It is little wonder that Wesch was named as the Carnegie Foundation's 2008 Outstanding and Doctoral Universities Professor of the Year for his innovative teaching strategies.

His message strongly resonates with me.... What do you think?