Media Mediation #4 The New Stuff

When I found out that Guster was playing a show in Burlington, I knew I had to be there. I'm trying to watch my spending, as I'm trying to save for next semster in Dublin Ireland; I had to make an exception. They played at the Flynn Theater downtown last Friday.

I've been to many of their shows. They play a lot in New England so I've seen them in my home city of Portland Maine, as well as in Boston. They were my first rock concert when I was 11 and I've been following their tours and albums ever since. What I like best about Guster is their ability to capture such a wide audience. There are people from all ages and all musical preferences at their shows. Not many bands can do this.

A few weeks ago, they came out with a new album: Easy Wonderful. The show on Friday was fantastic, by the way.


Photo: iTunes

True for most bands, my favorite songs from Guster are from their older albums. They are upbeat and easy to sing along with. This is a perfect recipe for a good show. So when I began listening to Easy Wonderful, I was initially disappointed with what I heard. I guess I just wasn't willing to except that it was different from the old classics that I loved so much. As a few weeks past, my friends continued to listen to the new album, in awe of how amazing it was.

After hearing the songs and listening as I visited other people's rooms, I realized how good they were. I instantly put all of the songs back on my iPhone and began listening to it every chance I got. I was even irritated with myself that I was so fast dismiss it.

I like to think that I am very open minded. Sometimes I get annoyed when people aren't willing to accept new technologies. This made me think. This is exactly what I did with this Guster album. I was caught up in the way that things used to be, that I wasn't willing to accept that times have changed. Even though music is a very unique experience, I want to remain conscious of change if I want to work in the media / communications industry where things are constantly evolving.

Here is Guster's video for their song Do You Love Me. It reminds me of the Ok Go music videos with stop motion. Enjoy!

Media Mediation #3 How to Talk Your Way out of a Speeding Ticket

Photo: http://connectwithyourteens.blogspot.com/


This semester I am taking my first online class here at Champlain College. Well, its not completely an online class, but it is a hybrid class that incorporates both online and in class discussions and meetings. It meets every few weeks in the meeting room upstairs in the library.

The course is Digital Social Interaction I guess it's appropriate that this would be offered online. Not only are we learning about the difference between face to face and internet communication through readings and printed lectures, but we are also experiencing it by interacting with our instructor and classmates through the web.

This has been my first experience with an online class. When I signed up for the course last semester, I had no idea what to expect. When I arrived for our first meeting this semester on a Friday afternoon, I was already in trouble. Our instructor expected us to have readings done for the first class. At this point, it hadn't even occurred to me to log into Angel.

Needless to say, I am not motivated by an online course. The fact that this class meets about once or twice per month saves my life. I'm usually very excited to use technology as a resource for almost anything, but not in this case. I don't know if its the user un-friendliness of Angel or the lack of class meetings that gives me the impression that coursework is not important. I enjoy the class and I find I am learning a lot from the physical meetings. I wish I could say the same about the online meetings. And remember, I'm comparing this to 5 semesters and lifetime of other traditional class meetings.

In no way am I trying to complain about online courses. They are an amazing tool for learning, especially for those who are otherwise busy or cannot physically attend courses. Online classes open up a new world of education, as anyone in the world with access to a computer can have access to higher education. Colleges can benefit from online courses too because they can essentially have more students, without crowding their infrastructure. In fact, Champlain College is setting the standard for online classes.

Changing from traditional classes to online classes is a clear technological shift from analog to digital. Online courses have the ability to offer the same things that course meetings can offer. Discussions can be replaced with a forum type environment. One student and initiate a point while other can quote and respond.

Right now, It just makes sense for me to be in traditional classe. This may be why I have developed this opinion. My time at Champlain College is devoted toward going to classes and doing homework, with a part time job on the side. I can see myself taking an online class again in the future, when I have a career or even studying abroad.

Online learning can be exemplified in many different contexts other than college courses. There are hundreds of tutorials all over youtube that range from automotive repair to musical instruments. These are just a few examples to which people can be educated over the web.



I watched too many of these Howcast videos on youtube. They illustrate how easy online learning can be. Some of them are informative, while others are just funny and ridiculous. I wish I had seen this one earlier....

Midterm Reflection: I'm Still Alive!

1. After studying media for eight weeks in this class, what have you learned?

I have always realized the power of the media and its influence in our society. After spending time in this class I can have an intelligent conversation with almost anyone about aspects of media that are often overlooked. The power tools that we are studying is one of the specific things I have learned about. After many media classes at Champlain, I am well informed about the idea behind the power tools, however in this class I have seen them clearly illustrated and it makes me think about content in a way that I have never thought about it before.

2. What is the most important thing you have learned about yourself as a critical reader, a writer, and a thinker in this class so far?

Everything has a meaning. Its easy just to consume video, literature or image without realization behind the motivations of the individuals who created it and the message they were trying to convey.

3. What’s one think you would do differently this first half of the semester if you were to take this class again?

Upon doing the midterm, I realize that I needed to study the power tools more. I overestimated by ability to illustrate them by name.

4. What’s one thing you would like me to do differently this first half of the semester if you were to take this class again?

One thing I did notice about class is that we have had discussions about reading assignments that we had done in previous weeks. As a student, its hard to discuss previous readings, especially when we have had more recent assignments. We do alot during classes.

Please comment of the usefulness of the power tools, our quizzes, the course blog, your personal blog, our films, and our books (AMUSING, FEED, MEDIA/SOCIETY) as learning tools.

The quizzes in this class are surprisingly useful. As first, I thought that the quiz at the beginning of each class was just stressful more than anything else. However, I soon learned that even though this was the case, it was also forcing me to learn something. Repetition is an excellent way to learn and this was the case with the quizzes.

The course blog is an excellent way to outline assignments for the semester. I find it very easy to keep up with assignments using this blog. It is much better than Angel could ever be. Other instructors use Angel for a similar purpose but the blog is much more interactive and interesting. In fact, according to Safari on my computer, its one of my top visited websites! Our personal blogs work well for similar reasons. They are interactive and easy to organize information.

I enjoyed Feed the most out of all the readings we have done this semester. Novels with a story are enjoyable to read and this one was especially relevant to our class. Postman was very interesting and the extensive amount of information in Amusing Ourselves to Death was amazing. I also enjoying the blogging that corresponded with the readings, as it encouraged me to analyze and pay more attention to the reading. Even though I felt like I learned a lot from these two reading, I don’t feel like I learned as much from Media / Society. While I was blogging about the things I learned, I kept thinking to myself. “I already knew that.”

Camp Champ Radio Spot: Feed your World