I ran across this video yesterday. It was created by the Digital Ethnography working group at Kansas State University. Led by Dr. Michael Wesch, this team of cultural anthropology undergraduates is exploring the impact of digital technology on human interaction and human interaction on digital technology.

http://www.teachertube.com/skin-p/mediaplayer.swf

College students are finding that sitting in a huge lecture hall writing while some professor drones on for an hour (or two) is no longer an acceptable way to learn. I’d like to think that the changes we’ve made over the last decade in how we teach students at the K-12 level is starting to have an impact on their expectations in higher education. I know, though, that that’s only part of the story. The students are connected. They’re plugged in. They can’t “power down” for college classes liked they used to. So their expectations are changing.

And, at K-12, this culture of connectivity is going to have an effect, too. I worry about how K-12 education can remain relevant and engaging as we continue to filter out anything that’s not on a test.

By the way, there are more videos on the Mediated Cultures blog. While the one above was created last year, it looks like they’ve continued and expanded their work since then.