Friday, August 21, 2009

More from the nimble pen of Russ Meade

Morning Friends!

As we start a new year, I always like to see how our incoming Freshman are different from us Baby Boomers simply to try to teach from their view and with their TOOLS.....

Yesterday, I mentioned something from the Vietnam era and was met with blank stares:):):)

I finally realized that Vietnam was as unknown to them as World War 2 and the Korean war is to us.

Though we KNOW that we Baby Boomers are the last COOL Generation ,we are different from them and do need to incorporate Web 2.0 tools, Social Net Working sites etc into our courses.

If you have any you use perhaps we can share!

We need to EDUCATE the EDUCATORS most times:):):)

This term I incorporated some Web 2.0 tools into my METRO UNIVERSITY classes and others as an optional tool and was " blown away by their response!"

They received no credit for it, they had " other" things to do but did it in numbers that stagger my addled mind. Classes that were closed a year ago still contact me and their online classmates! Now why do they do that?????

I STILL do not understand though why THEY Twit")")")

I hope you enjoy the following from Beloit College's Mind Set for this incoming class!

Have a great Semester

Russ ( the hippy Geek Prof!)

TEACHING THE Y GENERATION - VIDEO

Most students entering our college for the first time this fall were born in 1991.

  1. For these students, Martha Graham, Pan American Airways, Michael Landon, Dr. Seuss, Miles Davis, The Dallas Times Herald, Gene Roddenberry, and Freddie Mercury have always been dead.
  2. Dan Rostenkowski, Jack Kevorkian, and Mike Tyson have always been felons.
  3. The Green Giant has always been Shrek, not the big guy picking vegetables.
  4. They have never used a card catalog to find a book.
  5. Margaret Thatcher has always been a former prime minister.
  6. Salsa has always outsold ketchup.
  7. Earvin "Magic" Johnson has always been HIV-positive.
  8. Tattoos have always been very chic and highly visible.
  9. They have been preparing for the arrival of HDTV all their lives.
  10. Rap music has always been main stream.
  11. Chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream has always been a flavor choice.
  12. Someone has always been building something taller than the Willis (née Sears) Tower in Chicago.
  13. The KGB has never officially existed.
  14. Text has always been hyper.
  15. They never saw the “Scud Stud” (but there have always been electromagnetic stud finders.)
  16. Babies have always had a Social Security Number.
  17. They have never had to “shake down” an oral thermometer.
  18. Bungee jumping has always been socially acceptable.
  19. They have never understood the meaning of R.S.V.P.
  20. American students have always lived anxiously with high-stakes educational testing.
  21. Except for the present incumbent, the President has never inhaled.
  22. State abbreviations in addresses have never had periods.
  23. The European Union has always existed.
  24. McDonald's has always been serving Happy Meals in China.
  25. Condoms have always been advertised on television.
  26. Cable television systems have always offered telephone service and vice versa.
  27. Christopher Columbus has always been getting a bad rap.
  28. The American health care system has always been in critical condition.
  29. Bobby Cox has always managed the Atlanta Braves.
  30. Desperate smokers have always been able to turn to Nicoderm skin patches.
  31. There has always been a Cartoon Network.
  32. The nation’s key economic indicator has always been the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
  33. Their folks could always reach for a Zoloft.
  34. They have always been able to read books on an electronic screen.
  35. Women have always outnumbered men in college.
  36. We have always watched wars, coups, and police arrests unfold on television in real time.
  37. Amateur radio operators have never needed to know Morse code.
  38. Belarus, Moldova, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Armenia, Latvia, Georgia, Lithuania, and Estonia have always been independent nations.
  39. It's always been official: President Zachary Taylor did not die of arsenic poisoning.
  40. Madonna’s perspective on Sex has always been well documented.
  41. Phil Jackson has always been coaching championship basketball.
  42. Ozzy Osbourne has always been coming back.
  43. Kevin Costner has always been Dancing with Wolves, especially on cable.
  44. There have always been flat screen televisions.
  45. They have always eaten Berry Berry Kix.
  46. Disney’s Fantasia has always been available on video, and It’s a Wonderful Life has always been on Moscow television.
  47. Smokers have never been promoted as an economic force that deserves respect.
  48. Elite American colleges have never been able to fix the price of tuition.
  49. Nobody has been able to make a deposit in the Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI).
  50. Everyone has always known what the evening news was before the Evening News came on.
  51. Britney Spears has always been heard on classic rock stations.
  52. They have never been Saved by the Bell
  53. Someone has always been asking: “Was Iraq worth a war?”
  54. Most communities have always had a mega-church.
  55. Natalie Cole has always been singing with her father.
  56. The status of gays in the military has always been a topic of political debate.
  57. Elizabeth Taylor has always reeked of White Diamonds.
  58. There has always been a Planet Hollywood.
  59. For one reason or another, California’s future has always been in doubt.
  60. Agent Starling has always feared the Silence of the Lambs.
  61. “Womyn” and “waitperson” have always been in the dictionary.
  62. Members of Congress have always had to keep their checkbooks balanced since the closing of the House Bank.
  63. There has always been a computer in the Oval Office.
  64. CDs have never been sold in cardboard packaging.
  65. Avon has always been “calling” in a catalog.
  66. NATO has always been looking for a role.
  67. Two Koreas have always been members of the UN.
  68. Official racial classifications in South Africa have always been outlawed.
  69. The NBC Today Show has always been seen on weekends.
  70. Vice presidents of the United States have always had real power.
  71. Conflict in Northern Ireland has always been slowly winding down.
  72. Migration of once independent media like radio, TV, videos and compact discs to the computer has never amazed them.
  73. Nobody has ever responded to “Help, I’ve fallen and I can’t get up.”
  74. Congress could never give itself a mid-term raise.
  75. There has always been blue Jell-O.



Russ

Dr. Russ Meade
Criminal Justice
Do respond to me at russmeade@bellsouth.net for a faster reply.
828-243-8259 ( Cell)
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4 comments:

The Flomblog said...

Russ, gotta disagree with the myth of their technology. I've taught "Intro to computers" a few times. They may know how to play games and hunt and peck a paper out in word. However they are generally lost beyond that.

The have no understanding of the technology and it's capability. They cannot adapt to a different set rules. I'm not convinced that any of that is true fom most of them.

Baby Boomer - working on Computers since 1966

Elizabeth Clark said...

I must agree with Howard.

I teach freshman composition, primarily the second-semester class in which students learn how to do research and write an extended research paper. In that class, I have students use a blog as a research journal and a Delicious account to keep track of the websites they find.

This week, we talked about web 2.0, and most of my students weren't familiar with the term. A majority needed help setting up the blog (in Blogger). Not more than half have MySpace or Facebook accounts.

Also, since I joined Second Life more than two years ago, I haven't had a single student who belongs to it, and most of them have never heard of it.

I've also had quite a few students who couldn't even attach a file to an e-mail message.

This has included students at all the colleges where I've been teaching--not just Metro.

I just don't buy the digital native/digital immigrant distinction.

I'm also a baby boomer, and I really started using a computer in graduate school--around 1984.

russmeade said...

Hummmmm...good thoughts.

I agree in part... I posted this Multi Media Exercise as totally optional, totally without credit and see what they have done:):)

(You may need to paste in the address

CLICK HERE AND PLEASE INTRODUCE YOURSELVES!

http://voicethread.com/share/562242/

Now check how they are debating!
LET'S DISCUSS AND DEBATE USING OUR MICROPHONE OR WEB CAM!

http://voicethread.com/share/562892

Tiffany Regan said...

That is a great post. BTW, when someone uses Twitter, they "tweet", not "twit". :)