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| Stanford's Andrea Lunsford (L), one of five writers proving Everyone's An Author. |
You know the place. The vacant lot. The backyard. The driveway with a basketball hoop. That neighborhood venue where kids congregate to play. Then along comes an adult who figures out the game isn't being played by FIFA or NCAA rules. With the best of intentions, this mom or dad steps in to "improve" things. They want leagues and brackets and sponsored jerseys. Over time, 4th graders are playing for "sportsmanship" and "most improved" trophies. And the fun of the neighborhood pick-up game is gone, stolen by people who invited themselves.
So it is when adults in academia look into the sandlot and discover that a generation of digital natives need to be taught how to tweet. The charitable among us might identify this as a grasp for relevance by teachers of the liberal arts. More cynically, it might be seen as a simple money grab. Isn't this why grandmas take elderhostel classes at the community center? LOL.*
So maybe I didn't grow up with a movie camera in my pocket, but my students surely did. What am I teaching them that they already know? The democratic ubiquity of cameras in their childhood ought to be freeing time for instruction in more advanced topics. What could we accomplish together with those extra days in the semester?
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*I promise, the use of text speak is ironic. It is not my usual mode of communication. The fact that I feel compelled to tell you this probably indicates how old and stodgy I am.
