Thursday, November 30, 2006

Opinion To JOUR163

I do not see any point in enhancing the teaching of traditional media. There is a reason that new forms of media are established; why would you try to go against new technology and dwell on the past? That is never the solution. Isn’t it JMC’s job to offer the tools student’s need to succeed in today's world? That means teaching the newest forms of media out there b/c so we can be prepared for the professional world of media and communication. If you want to learn about traditional forms of media take a history class! We are in the age of technological innovation. This is obviously an improvement from older forms of media. I think that the course should explore and expand our reach of new media. It is important for students to learn what new things are available and out there to make communication a little easier. It’s a digital world now and we should embrace it. I also think that the teachers that are leading this class should have a decision in what it is going to become; this is obviously there field and the school should acknowledge their opinion, especially since it is a new course.



2 comments:

Unknown said...

i think i disagree even though i don't really know what you're talking about (i'm no student of the media). but i've come across something similar in my field, ecology. i read an article that pointed out that ecology students today aren't getting enough natural history education in college. and considering that natural history is the basis, the foundation, the traditional beginnings of ecology, it's not good that students are skipping it and moving right on to molecular labwork. some students are learning to manipulate DNA before they even study the animals themselves. this is an example of technology "improvement" but it leaves something to be desired. i think it's important to learn about old methods, before we can understand new ones.

Anonymous said...

To Megan: The teachers don't have much of a say in what they teach. Neither do students, for that matter.

If you do think the New Media class should be taught as it is, I would encourage you to send an email to Briggs and a couple of the other journalism professors THAT DO have the political influence to change things.

To Hannah: I understand your point; there is something to be learned from a broad base of knowledge, even if it is not part of the current technological trend. However, as fields become increasingly specified and intricate, is it reasonable to expect students to know both "the history" and the "current technology"? There comes a limit to the amount of knowledge that can be obtained without vastly increasing the amount of years spent studying it, and if you know study economics, you'll find that there comes a point where the cost/benefit to knowing both is too high a price to pay. In essence, that is the reason specialized fields exist; there is truly no such thing as "the Renaissance Man". There's simply too much to know.