Settling in...

Amigos,

I've arrived safely to the bay area mostly without incident. After selling what I though was most of my belongings, I still ended up needing to get a Uhaul! Once I got to the Uhaul place they informed me that I would have to connect my car myself because they couldn't take on the liability! Mind you I've never done this before. I left San Diego on Sunday with a full Uhaul pulling my car. Let me tell you, if you've never towed a car before, it's quite scary. I kept getting visions of my car  unhitching itself from the ruck and just casually rolling out into the freeway. I was holding my breath for literally the entire 9 hours I was driving. Fortunately I made it safely and only had issues making U-turns and backing up. I stopped, overnight, in Fresno to visit the family (all of whom are way too excited that I'll be closer). I'm now moved into my apartment in downtown Mountain View. Many restaurants and bars to walk to (not that I'll be going to the bars). I start work tomorrow and am eager to get started. I've met many of my new colleagues already and they all seem great! My superiors are very supportive and particularly understanding that I am in the last stretch of this program. I'll have to hit the ground running, though, as they were waiting for me to start before they launched a personnel reorganization. Right away I will need to hire two new staff persons.I will keep everyone posted on my transition and will see you all in class on November 10th.

Your friend,
Terrance

Learning in New Media Environments

Professor Michael Wesch illustrates in his TEDx talk power of media in changing behaviors, experiences, and relationships. He told a compelling story of his experience living with people in a village indigenous to New Guinea. He argues that the historical traditions of the villagers were disrupted when "media", in this case in the form of books and the census, was introduced. A favorite line of mine from the talk was "there's no opting out of media". He highlights the fact that even in this small, remote village which never had access to any form of technology can be drastically transformed with even minor exposure to media. He elaborates further on this observation by suggesting educators adapt their teaching methods to respond to the ever-changing media and social media era. 

I currently work in an environment where academics, by in large, are extremely resistant to incorporating social media and new technology into their curriculum. A firestorm was created when the school administration decided to implement google mail and google apps. I think much of the resistance stems from ignorance to the capabilities of media and technology. As Dr. Wesch argued, media affects each and every one of us, whether we like it or not. I would like to see educators at all levels take a creative and innovative approach to using social media and technology as learning and teaching tools.