The aspect of this video that stood out to me the most was Dr. Wesch's statement about how educators must go beyond teaching critical thinking skills. In his opinion, these skills are not enough to handle the media blitz of the 21st century. I agree with him because of what he talks about after diverging from the idea that critical thinking is enough. Specifically, Dr. Wesch's opinion is that when it comes to critical thinking, it does not represent a solution in itself, but, rather, that critical thinking is a necessary foundation for today's youths and, honestly, everyone else. I agree with his point that critical thinking is a means to people's production of "music," as he calls it--the multi-layered, creative, and political response to media. I fundamentally agree with Wesch that this music needs to be discursive, and that through people's collaboration there will be the change that this world requires. As with many TED Talks, however, I was disappointed that the video is really just inspirational fodder rather than a presentation of substantial inroads into fixing a problem. The statements presented by students and posted around the classroom were cliche and ineffective in my opinion, and the Aztec myth that Wesch frames his talk with was hopeful but ultimately superficial. I agree with his overall point that people need to speak out, and I agree that utilizing media is vital in doing so, but I just was not impressed with what seemed like a "let's fix it using social media" attitude. To be fair, the example Wesch used with regard to Dove was meaningful, but I feel like that is the exception rather than the rule. Ultimately, I think that Wesch's idea of speaking out rather than just thinking critically is inspired, but I am more interested in how both of these take place--since I often see one and not the other. Moreover, I am interested to see how he would implement these ideas in a college classroom where students are so used to lecture. I am all for throwing out $100 textbooks and stuffy lectures, but where is the vision of what the "musical" college classroom of the 21st century would look like? Wesch, Michael. (2010, October 12). From knowledgeable to knowledge-able. Youtube. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LeaAHv4UTI8
4 Comments
Sarah Connolly
11/29/2015 04:50:11 pm
Hi Chris,
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11/30/2015 08:46:32 pm
Feasibility comes down to a architectural issue as well. The lecture hall, especially the stadium seating like in Wesch's classroom, is not conducive to collaboration. I took a rhetoric course in grad school, where the professor commented on the first day about the epistemology of the classroom. It was a smaller lecture hall, but it featured stadium seating. The classroom's design allowed for the knowledge to come from one place, the front of the room! He of course did everything in his power to undermine that notion. :)
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James Truong
11/29/2015 08:16:03 pm
Hi Chris! I agree with you that Wesch gave some interesting examples but didn't fully flesh out how we as educators can actually go about to foster development of these skills of collecting, collaboration, publishing, etc. I find that many videos and speakers are good at identifying the issues and giving a big picture solution, but then it's up to us with our boots on the ground to figure it out. I suppose that's why we are in this program though. We need to be constantly reminded of what the big picture ideal is, and it will always be up to us to figure out the nitty gritty of how to reach it.
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11/30/2015 08:49:45 pm
I agree with you, James. It is up to us to find the solutions, and hopefully we are inspired to do so by the video. It is a call to arms, but I wouldn't mind the generals being on the field as well!
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