Category: Future of Education

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Digital Scholarship Revisited

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Today I attended a presentation by Professor Kathleen Fitzpatrick on the role that open access and new forms of peer review will play on the future of scholarly communication. Professor Fitzpatrick is Director of Scholarly Communication at the Modern Language Association (MLA) and Visiting Research Professor of English at New York University. She is the author of Planned Obsolescence: Publishing, Technology, and the Future of the Academy. Her writings are among the most respected on the subject of scholarly transformation and were a great influence on my research into digital scholarship and the need to reform tenure and promotion standards for technology engaged faculty.

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The SPS Bachelor Degree Program Info Session

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Every few months the academic directors at the CUNY School of Professional Studies (SPS) have a formal information session for potential students interested in our online degree programs. The purpose of these events are to introduce these potential students to our programs, our school, and to give them a taste of what will be expected of them if they decide to attend SPS. Well at the session last night while I was presenting I ran into a former New Media Technology student that I taught at LaGuardia many years ago. He is planning on going back to school to get a BA and is applying to the Communication and Media program that I am heading up.

I guess this is what they mean by full circle.

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The SPS Fall 2013 Student-Faculty Reception

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The other night at the CUNY School of Professional Studies annual Student-Faculty reception I had the opportunity to finally meet some of the students in the Communication and Media program. While working with students in an online can be rewarding, there is a special thrill that can come with interacting face to face with the people in your major. The only downside of the evening was that I had to wear a suit. I hate wearing suits.

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Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more!

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While I officially started last week at the CUNY – School of Professional Studies (SPS), this week was the kickoff of the 2013 Fall I session at LaGuardia. It was a very full day which included Opening Sessions, as well as programmatic and departmental meetings, technical consulting session, and student advisement. At the end of the afternoon I felt like I needed a juice box, my blankie, and a nap. I am hoping that this wasn’t going to be indicative on how the semester was going to unfold. Because  just to clarify, despite some of my poorly worded previous posts, I haven’t left LaGuardia. My responsibilities have just shifted a tad.

As the sole full time instructor for the New Media, I didn’t want to abandon the program that I have helped build over the past 12 years. But Continue reading “Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more!”

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CUNY SPS – New Office Space

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Today was my first day at the new office. There is a ton of work that needs to be done and I am looking forward to getting underway. I have been asked to take charge of the Communication and Media program at the CUNY School of Professional Studies and to help redefine the degree in light of the recent technological and societal shifts brought forth by digital innovation.

I must say that it was kinda weird to be Continue reading “CUNY SPS – New Office Space”

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You will be missed

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I was saddened to hear that Red Burns, founder of NYU’s Interactive Telecommunications Program, passed away earlier this week. Red was my academic adviser and one of the first people that I met when I arrived to study at ITP in the late 90s. Oddly enough, despite her small stature, she was also one of the most intimidating people I have ever met. And I say that as a person that is not easily intimidated. My first impression of Red was that she was not someone to trifle with, piss off, or just generally wind up on her bad side. Over time I was fortunate to see that there was a kinder and gentler side to her. Red cared deeply for her students, but she demanded the best from them. She was a formidable personality and utterly fearless in her approach to life.

Over the past few days my Facebook and Twitter feeds have been inundated by posts from friends and fellow ITP students who were influenced heavily by Red. She was truly a pioneer in the fields of tech education and digital expression. The overwhelming theme that comes through in all of the posts is that Red, and the program that she created, changed their lives for the better. Continue reading “You will be missed”

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Game Changers: The Community College Journal Interview

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I had been so busy toward the end of the semester that I had forgotten that a few months back I was interviewed on the curriculum changes that I had put in place for the LaGuardia New Media Technology program. Steve Zurier of the Community College Journal contacted me to see if I would be interested in talking to him about some of the emerging technologies impacting digital media programs.

It appears that he wanted to feature my comments under a section on media literacy in his article. I agreed to speak with him and discuss the challenges in developing a technology based curriculum to address the changing economic and educational shifts facing college students. Since I had given a fair amount of thought on the subject over the past year due to having to draft the Periodic Program Review (PPR) for the New Media major, I hoped the interview would be painless. Luckily it was straight forward like I assumed. I am quoted in the piece on my approach to digital media curriculum design.

A digital copy of the article can be found here.

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New Media Tech: LaGuardia Graduation 2013

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To the LaGuardia New Media Technology graduates of 2013:

When you came over to me at the end of the ceremony it brought it all home as to why I do this every day. Y’all made me cry! I LOVE MY STUDENTS! My door will always be open. It has been my honor to be your professor. I am so proud of all of you! Go out into the world and become true “digital disruptors”. Educate, inspire, keeping learning, and most of all, GET PAID!!!! New Media Tech represent!! Westsiiiiiiide!

p.s., Holla at me. On the real, I know of a really good B.A. program in Communication and Media over at CUNY SPS that some of you might be interested in attending. 🙂

Photos from the Event

Continue reading “New Media Tech: LaGuardia Graduation 2013”

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I am calm. No, really. I’m good.

Starting a new job always causes me a slight amount of anxiety. It has happened to me every time that I have made a transition to new responsibilities. However, I don’t have that feeling as I get ready to take over the Academic Directorship of the Communication and Media program at the CUNY School of Professional Studies. I find myself feeling excited but yet surprisingly at ease. Maybe it is because I don’t start until the Fall and September is a long time off. Or maybe it is because I have been ready for a new challenge for a while. However I think it maybe something very simple, like it just seems like a cool place to work.

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New Media PPR Presentation

As I mentioned in an earlier post, every five to seven years academic degree programs in the CUNY system have to undergo a process called a Periodic Program Review (PPR). Because I am the sole full time faculty member for my program, the research and drafting of the report for the New Media Technology degree became my responsibility. Last week I shared some examples of the process and action plans emerging from the PPR at the annual Instructional Staff meeting.

The following video is my presentation of the PPR report findings to the LaGuardia Community College faculty.