A short post tied to Chris Long. He's going to be a faculty fellow with ETS this summer. He is asking some interesting questions that remind me of what Michael Wesch is doing with his students at Kansas State University. Here is an example of one of Wesch's students' videos:
I love this stuff.
Yesterday, I went to a presentation from a group of students who were being paid to redesign a computer lab in Pattee Library. After hearing about the meeting, one of the people on the invitation list made a sarcastic comment about students being motivated by money. That's B.S. Money can motivate people to do the bare minimum they need to do to complete a mundane task. This video is certainly more than the minimum and the student wasn't paid to make it. It looks like they got other young people to contribute to it as well. Likewise, the creative ideas I saw in the lab design project went well beyond the minimum requirements.
Back to Chris Long: During the panel discussion on Tuesday, Steve Thorne asked a question about being able to explore new forms of media when the tenure and promotion process is very tied to the written word. Chris Long said that he was glad he had tenure because his colleagues are already asking him why the hell he's doing what he's doing.
I was lucky enough to ask the next question and started off by saying that Chris was demonstrating why tenure exist. People in the room laughed that laughter is still ringing in my ears. I said that I was completely serious with that remark. Tenure isn't meant to be a finish line that faculty cross so they can be lazy and quit publishing. Tenure exists so people like Chris can do things that make his colleagues question him. It exists so people can take risks without needing to worry about job security. It is fundamental to advancing scholarship.
I had a conversation with him and Steve Thorne after a presentation and panel discussion by NMC's Alan Levine (aka CogDog). We talked about Cultural Historical Activity Theory, Virtue, Excellence, Research, Tenure, and other topics. After Alan's presentation, the panel, and the discussion, I felt like I had a fever. All of my neurons had fired and I'm just now recovering.
I had a very good week.
I love this stuff.
Yesterday, I went to a presentation from a group of students who were being paid to redesign a computer lab in Pattee Library. After hearing about the meeting, one of the people on the invitation list made a sarcastic comment about students being motivated by money. That's B.S. Money can motivate people to do the bare minimum they need to do to complete a mundane task. This video is certainly more than the minimum and the student wasn't paid to make it. It looks like they got other young people to contribute to it as well. Likewise, the creative ideas I saw in the lab design project went well beyond the minimum requirements.
Back to Chris Long: During the panel discussion on Tuesday, Steve Thorne asked a question about being able to explore new forms of media when the tenure and promotion process is very tied to the written word. Chris Long said that he was glad he had tenure because his colleagues are already asking him why the hell he's doing what he's doing.
I was lucky enough to ask the next question and started off by saying that Chris was demonstrating why tenure exist. People in the room laughed that laughter is still ringing in my ears. I said that I was completely serious with that remark. Tenure isn't meant to be a finish line that faculty cross so they can be lazy and quit publishing. Tenure exists so people like Chris can do things that make his colleagues question him. It exists so people can take risks without needing to worry about job security. It is fundamental to advancing scholarship.
I had a conversation with him and Steve Thorne after a presentation and panel discussion by NMC's Alan Levine (aka CogDog). We talked about Cultural Historical Activity Theory, Virtue, Excellence, Research, Tenure, and other topics. After Alan's presentation, the panel, and the discussion, I felt like I had a fever. All of my neurons had fired and I'm just now recovering.
I had a very good week.