"I can live with doubt and uncertainty and not knowing. I think it is much more interesting to live not knowing than to have answers that might be wrong" (Richard Feynman)

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

YouTube Digital Ethnography from ANT students in Kansas

Originally posted on 11/5/2007 at 1:17pm.



A short video summarizing some of the most important characteristics of students today - how they learn, what they need to learn, their goals, hopes, dreams, what their lives will be like, and what kinds of changes they will experience in their lifetime. Created by Michael Wesch in collaboration with 200 students at Kansas State University. Made by students in a Cultural Anthropology Class in Spring 2007.

12 comments:

venus89 said...

Supertitiions are passed down by generaitons through parents, other family members, and friends. Some such as krossing of two fingers establishes a foundation of hope. It gives people something to lean on because in today's society, "Words aren't good enough." Our future is sometimes based solely on the actions we take now.

Calvin Chou said...

I found the video quite interesting. Theres such a large contrast in life styles in industrious countries like the US and poor 3rd world countries. Here in the US without an education you cant get anywhere in life. Without a college degree youll be lucky to get a job flipping burgers at a fast food resturant. While in 3rd world countries they probably never even dreamed of going to school let alone buying a two thousand dollar laptop or hundreds of dollars worth of books every few months.

Anonymous said...

This video says a lot about both technology and the college system today. While many technologies have certainly improved our lives in more ways than we can count, we sometimes forget about the simpler things in life, such as writing on an old fashioned blackboard. Some of the problems presented in the video are just unavoidable effects of the way college is. It's very difficult to have small classes for every subject, so when a lecture hall has hundreds of students, it will be impossible to force people to show up or prevent them from sleeping or viewing facebooks.
-Keith Newman

Jess L. said...

i thought the video was very interesting. although technology can help improve our learning experience, it can also cripple it at the same time. i see a lot of kids with their laptops open in class and all they do throughout the period is play games, myspace, or facebook.

Anonymous said...

This video really demonstrates the bad impacts that technologies have created, especially in college. I am from France and i was really surprised how some people were using their laptops to play games or chatting with their friends.The system in France is really strict regarding the use of electronical things.Especially in college, we are here and lucky to be here to learn, also this is a question of respect when i see some students that are sleeping in class they do not respect the teachers but i am wondering if they respect themselves.Sleeping in class is just not possible im my country. I almost never seen this kind of behavior during my education in France. A cultural difference perhaps. What people who grew up in US think????????????

david said...

Interesting video clip. I agree that the use of technology in classrooms can sometimes harm the learning process. For example, especially in big lectures, you don’t bother to take notes because you know they will be posted by the professor on blackboard. So, in a sense technology can make you procrastinate your learning.

Anonymous said...

This video clip says a lot about the educational system today as well as its comparison to the rest of the world. We have advanced so much technologically that we have forgotten, for the most part, the simple things in life. We spend so much browsing on the internet, not paying attention in class on topics not even related to our lives. We spend so much money on texts that we dont read probably because they do not teach u about life but rather information that is required by someone else's standards for us to know. people in third world countires do not have the same opportunities as we do. they do not know the possibility of spending such money on material items, most of which singularly cost more than what most make in a year. I wonder where we will be in 20years, what we will want to know, and what we still care about?
-Jenny U.

Unknown said...

I also found this video very interesting I think that technology does currupt the learning process. I think so because of the large learning enviroment and the electronic used to learn as well as for leisure. students just want to get things done quickly to get jobs and live life, most student are willing to be on facebook and myspace during class because they know that the professors would post notes or the necessary information can be found easily, online or on textbooks, They put everything aside and procratinate because technology makes things easier. However in smaller countries, student get a more focused education where they can't have the technology to be on Facebook during class and classes are smaller.

Anonymous said...

Antoinette Spina said...

WOW this video was really great. I didnt actually think that there were so many negative aspects in the classroom.Now that I've actually seen the numbers that were in this video, it makes sense that they would be true. Maybe as much as we think technology is helping us, it's doing the exact opposite and destroying us?

Rave said...

An intriguing video! Applies to every student. I see myself as one of the faces in that classroom. The facts were quite true. I spend a 2.5 hours listening to music on my iPod, spend more time surfing the web when a quarter of that time, dedicated properly, would help me complete all my assignments.

I liked how they presented the whole ideology. Some nice choreography too!

cgdsdrn said...

I took it as an overview of the requirements and problems of education from a student's point of view. Shows you, reminds you of the pressure and issues that many students have today and makes you realise that while technology has benefited us in education.

Anonymous said...

Nicole Rosario
This was a great video!!!!!
The statistics presented in the video were great. The video served as an eye opener. We are college students and we do have the power, wealth and prestige to change for the better. We are learning differnt techniques to change the world everyday all we have to do is try. We have the chance to get our achieved status while other countries do not. We have the wealth to buy technology and send global messages. We have the power to be heard and the prestige to have followers. Great video, we as college students should have more control of our school WE DO PAY FOR IT!!!