Students Today

Having graduated from university almost a year ago, I’m no longer a student, but still remember very vividly how school changed in the almost five years I spent in my program. Here’s an interesting video by Michael Wesch (made famous by his “What is Web 2.0?” video) on ‘A Vision of Students Today’.
Although I went through a technology-heavy program, many teachers and professors still used some truly ancient teaching styles that didn’t engage the class whatsoever. I’d say that 95% of the facts presented in this video were true to my experience with university, particularly in regards to unused (and irrelevant) textbooks.

I still have stacks of books at home that I’m in the process of trying to liquidate on Amazon.com, and at least half of them are brand new, never opened. It was never a matter of not having the motivation, self-discipline, or interest in reading them. It was that with the available time I had between commuting an hour each way to school, studying, eating, maintaining a barebones social life, and sleeping, I had to proritize, and reading books were ALWAYS at the bottom of that list.

A vast majority of my studies, including project work, exam prep, and even in writing my thesis, was done through online sources. I believe the traditional textbook designed for higher level education is obsolete. They’re too difficult to parse, present concepts in a needlessly theoretical and pompous manner, and are just way too expensive.

What was your post-secondary experience like?

October 16, 2007 | Filed Under Video