Unlecture, Week 2: QandA
This week’s unlecture continued to live up to its name but this time I walked away with a firmer understanding about its nature, its benefits, and why it’s a great alternative to the traditional ‘I speak, you listen’ model all students are used to.
That’s not to say my understanding came easily. Of course, 12 or so (How many years is it now? Is it bad I can’t be bothered even counting? What’s math?) of traditional learning has trained my brain to think in one way: to be against the concept of the ‘un’. However, trying to incorporate last week’s Argyris reading about the theories of action and double-loop encoding, I made a concerted effort this week to shut the non-believer Model I thoughts and instead embrace this new mode of learning. Look at that, I’m already applying the learning. I’m giving myself a good ol’ pat on the back. Not too many, I don’t want to get complacent.
Anyway, the lecture itself was in the form of a Q&A (although much different to the TV show; there were no feral racist white people in this one). It made very firm practical, relatable links to the media industry which were easy to digest and understand. For instance, the importance of liability with online sites/blogs, and the responsibilities we must be aware of whenever we enter the Land of the Internet. In other words, ‘this is the real world, kid, don’t end up in court’. Security is important. Furthermore, there were also encouraging words about how keeping up a blog is a real industry skill and a skill that is definitely worth honing. The advantages are pretty clear: for instance, blogging allows you to create your own writing voice and then once you get the hang of that, it’s possible to tailor your voice for different companies you may write for in the future. Blogging also reflects the industry’s demand for continuous, fast-paced content.
The lecture ended with a really inspiring note about how we’re basically the future gloating engineers of the industry boom. The Internet is the new factory, and media practitioners are the new engineers. *Boom*. The Internet is changing the world as we know it and we just so happen to be studying the media during its most revolutionising moment. And that’s pretty exciting.
Overall:
- Beginning to get the hang of the ‘unlecture’
- The importance of blogging is crystal clear
- Fan of the Q&A forum, found it useful
