Two things came across my RSS feeds today that show how technology is impacting our information environment. First, YouTube has added a News Manager (Olivia) to promote Citizen News content: Second was a blog entry by CNET's Dan Farber on Twitter as a viable means of spreading information. (See Jon's last entry below, too.) I am simultaneously excited by the prospects of such a wide range of information and the complications of it. How do I find the interesting and important stuff? (Certainly not always the same thing. Think Mentos and Diet Coke.) How do I manage the information flows that meet the interesting or important criteria? And a perhaps cautionary concern (or call it cynical) of how I can perform due diligence on all this stuff? How do I determine quickly enough to be useful what is reliable, objective, white-washed, agenda-laden, mean-spirited, or just plain wrong? We see errors enough in the official reporting establishments that suggest this is no … [Read more...]
Looking from both sides
I recently heard from a friend in China in response to my blog entry (March 28, 2008) about perceptions of misrepresentation of Chinese events by Western media. I found his remarks fascinating and a good reminder that we have to understand each other (interpersonally, internationally and intergalactically) in order to avoid misunderstandings. Attributing intentionality and meaning is risky business if you can't look from the other side. Talking about the incident in which CNN commentator Jack Cafferty made some (what I consider to be) irresponsible remarks about China in the wake of the Olympic torch protests, my friend Michael writes: I met with a Canadian friend on Sunday in Chengdu, who is a professor working with the National Film Board, and we exchanged opinions on the recent Cafferty issue. I said that the Chinese and Western people have very different understandings on the role of media and their relationship with the government. While the Western people tend to think that … [Read more...]
Designing for the Small Screen
At the recent Broadcast Educators Association Festival in Las Vegas, colleagues Garry Hare, Bonnie Buckner, Sean Thoennes, and MPRC Executive Director Erik Gregory gave a brilliant panel presentation on different aspects and considerations of designing media for a small screen. (You can read Bonnie's paper on the cognitive psychology of small screen presentations in the Spring issues of The Media Psychology Review, which will be online by the end of May.) This chart, from an fascinating special edition of the Economist, underscores the rapidity of change in the media environment and the timeliness of their presentation. The shift toward cell phones, in this example, also emphasizes the importance of using psychology to successfully design and implement media technologies that effectively deliver information and education, not just entertainment. The mobility and cost-effectiveness of smaller scale technologies offer tremendous promise for improving educational opportunities to … [Read more...]
The Brain is a Muscle, too: Lifting too Little Isn’t Effective or Interesting
A recent report says that while cardiovascular strength adds up, lifting weights that are too light doesn't do much to build muscle. It is important to tax the muscles to get them to respond. The same is true in learning. If you don't have to try, you won't get much result. Setting and measuring progress toward goals and targets--in life, education, and fitness training--are the way to build strength and ability. We all know that to achieve learning you must have engagement. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (pronounced chick-sent-me-high), the architect of the concept of flow and one of the fathers of Positive Psychology, studies engagement as an element of flow. People (of all ages) enter a flow state when they are fully absorbed in an activity which challenges their abilities so that they are using their skills to the utmost (i.e. building brain muscles). The result is complete involvement, optimal performance and achievement, and great satisfaction. The next time you see your kid fully … [Read more...]
