The Adventures of a Digital Sensei
As part of an alumni panel discussing life and career possibilities after graduation, I was invited once again to speak to students in the NYU Interactive Telecommunication Program. It was a great event, but I must admit to having a good laugh at the fact that I was the oldest person on the panel by far.
The funniest thing was when I mentioned the year I graduated a student in the front row mouthed the word “wow”. Dat’s right son, I’m a straight up ODG (Original Digital Gangsta)! Protect ya neck!
A colleague of mine, Michael Mandiberg, invited me to be a guest lecturer for a class he was teaching at the CUNY Graduate Center. The students in his class were PhD candidates within the CUNY Interactive Technology and Pedagogy certificate program. Over the course of the semester his class examined how people and technologies have shaped academic classroom and research interactions in the past, and how they are reshaping the university in the present.
I spoke on the topic of “The Digital Humanities & the Future of Academic Inquiry and Publishing”. Michael thought that my previous papers, interviews, and conference presentations on the topic of digital scholarship would help spark a lively debate among his students.
For those who are interested, here is the full video of the discussion I participated in during the recent 2015 CUNY IT Conference on the topic of “Online Learning: What’s in it for CUNY”.
We had a great session yesterday at the 14th annual CUNY IT conference held at John Jay College. The subject of the session I participated in was “Online Learning: What’s in it for CUNY”. The panel featured some of the most knowledgeable people within the City University system on the topic of how online education can best be implemented to the benefit of our students, faculty, and individual institutions.
The session was well attended and the discussion section of the panel spark a number of interesting debates on how CUNY needs to proceed with online education. In November of 2014 CUNY Chancellor James B. Milliken, speaking at a meeting of the Association for a Better New York, proclaimed Continue reading “CUNY IT Conference 2015: Online Learning”
I was approached a few months back by the folks at NYU to be a part of an academic career opportunities event for students of the Interactive Telecommunications Program (ITP). I was asked to to introduce ITP students to the teaching opportunities available within the City University of New York (CUNY) system. My presentation highlighted the two schools I represent, the CUNY School of Professional Studies and LaGuardia, and how current students and alumni can work as adjuncts, teaching assistants, tutors, workshop organizers, application writers, interns, etc..
This felt very much like a homecoming for me. It was the first time I had formally presented at my old Alma Mater. I had forgotten how much I had enjoyed my time at ITP.
Last week I was part of a faculty panel that presented on the upcoming curricular changes to the LaGuardia New Media Technology major. In addition to the core web development classes we are now adding new tracks in digital journalism, ecommerce/entrepreneurship, game design/mobile app development, and digital media/VFX.
These are changes that I had fought for over a number of years and were outlined in the Periodic Program Review (PPR) which I produced over two years ago. The event was well attended and many of my new colleagues in seem extremely excited to begin this work. After so many years of being the sole full time teaching member of the New Media program, it is great to have additional voices involved in shaping the future direction of the major.
I had just returned from one of the many meetings that I have during the week to find a Facebook instant message from a former student of mine. I hadn’t seen or heard from Juan directly since a few months after he graduated. It was great to hear that he was doing fantastic and that I was able to play a small role in his success. At the end of the day this is essentially why I continue to teach. None of my other responsibilities as a professor even comes close to the satisfaction of helping students find their way in life, both personally and professionally.
Today I presented at the CUNY School of Public Health on video technologies in use by faculty and students at the CUNY School of Professional Studies and the LaGuardia Community College Media and Technology Programs. It was my first trip to the School of Public Health. I was grateful that my colleague Sergio Costa invited me to speak with the faculty at his school.
Almost a year ago Shuprotim Bhaumik and the team from HR&A Advisors produced a comprehensive report on the New York City Tech Ecosystem and how it is generating economic opportunities for many New Yorkers (http://www.hraadvisors.com/nyctechstudy/). Last week Gail Mellow, President of LaGuardia Community College, had a number of the college faculty and staff attend another important meeting with the same team from HR&A.
Shuprotim and his team gave a presentation that went a step further than Continue reading “The NYC Tech Scene and Community Colleges”
