Reflections on "Merchants of Cool"

Today, we watched a a short film called "Merchants of Cool." The following are my thoughts:

No longer content to make a profit from existing culture, corporations are actively creating culture that they can then promote and sell. As part of this, corporations are actively targeting teenagers. Through "cool hunting," these corporations look to current trends in teenage culture in order to predict future trends early enough to subtly market them as new and hip. Since teenagers are generally leery of marketing, these efforts are discrete. Since trends are considered "uncool" as soon as they are marketed, "cool hunting" aims to exploit that nebulous time when something is cool but has not been "discovered."

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"Digital Natives?"

The first article in Educational Leadership's December 2005/January 2006 issue that we read is called "Listen to the Natives" by Marc Prensky.

This article makes a call for teachers to enter the 21st Century by utilizing the day’s technology to better instruct their students. The term “digital native” is introduced, referring to “today’s students (2001). They are native speakers in technology, fluent in the digital language of computers, video games, and the Internet.” They are contrasted with “digital immigrants,” meaning “those of us who were not born into the digital age.” The article goes on to say that educators, who are all “digital immigrants” on account of our age, must reconfigure our approach to teaching to better accommodate today’s students’ digital way of learning.

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The Future of Media

We watched a short film in class today titled "EPIC 2015." These are my thoughts.

EPIC 2015 presents a mind-blowing view of the future of communication and education. The video stressed me out in ways that I can’t quite figure. I feel like there is a train leaving a station that I can’t find, for a destination I am unsure of, and I don’t know where to purchase a ticket. Is this train really the way to a more democratic future, or is it merely a way to better tailor advertising, solidify corporate control, and monitor political dissent?

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The Train to Dudsville

For class today, we watched a short film created by elementary students. The topic was "metaphor," and they produced a piece that was both effective and telling, drawing on their experiences as young students.

Not only do these kids understand metaphor, they use it to devastating effect. Everything from the music to the images conveys a sense of annoyance and suppressed expression. Assessing this piece is challenging in creative and unusual ways.

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Homework in the 21st Century

We watched a "virtual storytelling" video production in class today. It was produced by one elementary student named Hannah.

Hannah’s story is unbelievable! The fact that she put it together herself is just phenomenal.

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I have a blog!

This is my first venture into online publishing of any sort. Although somewhat intimidating from this vantage, I am excited to play in this new landscape!