New Media Classroom — a website for both students and teachers of new media.
Who is the student of new media? A student is someone who is learning, often in a serious, focused (and institutionalized) way. Anyone who uses new media is a student of new media–partly because its ever-developing nature requires constant learning. Just as being able to speak English does not make you literate, being able to use new media does not make you literate. The true student of new media doesn’t just consume new media–they also write and create new media.
Who is the teacher of new media? Traditional education is beginning to teach new media, from the college classroom all the way down to elementary school. As a result, teachers from diverse fields (English, Mathematics, Physics, History, etc.) are also having to be teachers of new media. But traditional teachers, while important, are not the only teachers of new media. Teenagers are often new media teachers, helping their parents perform necessary web functions. Friends help each other create new media, and teach each other the “rules” or protocol of social media web sites. And anyone who does something original with new media teaches other creators additional ways that new media can and should be used.
In the world of new media, we are all students and teachers. All of us can become more literate, conscious, and active users of new media. That’s what New Media Classroom–both the blog and the website–are all about.
Do you have thoughts on what should be on the new media classroom? Suggestions for improvement? A resource you’d like me to review or to put on the “New Media Resources” page? Just let me know.
