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News and Background Information on the Conference | |||
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Introducing Michael WeschIn his speech at Online Educa Berlin, Michael Wesch will focus on the “crisis of significance” and its impact on the future of education. He argues that nowadays students are struggling to find meaning and significance in their education. Of central importance to this crisis is the ever-changing “mediascape” in which students live their lives. A Flickr here, a Twitter there and a new form of making meaning and significance is born. In his opinion these new technologies have profound implications for education and force us to rethink how we teach, what we teach and who we think we are teaching. In this presentation he will explore the implications of emerging technologies and how we can work with them and our students to solve the crisis of significance and create a better future for our students today. Participants can expect an exciting presentation with a great deal of insider knowledge. Wesch knows the challenges and problems of education in our classrooms first-hand and works with an approach he sometimes refers to as “anti-teaching”. His overall goal is to stimulate the interest of his students by creating a better learning environment for them. “When students recognise their own future of this increasingly global, interconnected society, the significance problem fades away,” says Michael Wesch in his article, “Anti-teaching: Confronting the crisis of significance” in which he provides a comprehensive overview on his current work. The text was published in “Education Canada” and is available online at: Other great starting points to get to know Michael Wesch’s work are his videos on YouTube, which have already attracted millions of viewers. To learn more go to: Also stay tuned to our Online Educa Berlin Newsletter as we will feature Michael Wesch’s speech at this year’s conference in more detail in an upcoming edition. June 20, 2008 |
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Dubbed "the explainer" by Wired magazine, Michael Wesch is a cultural anthropologist at Kansas State University exploring the impact of new media on human interaction. After two years of studying the effects of writing on a remote indigenous culture in the rain forest of Papua New Guinea, he has turned his attention to the impact of social media and digital technology on global society. 