Fans of the Karl Fisch video “Did You Know” get treated to a new-and-improved, media-centric upgrade in the just released “Did You Know 4.0.” This is terrific. I plan to show it Tuesday when my Fall term Media & Society class meets for the first time.
The “Did You Know” videos have been a great way to start the term, mostly because students are surprised, no, shocked, by some of the rapid changes happening in our world and the clever way they are presented: Can you name the country that will soon have the most English speakers?
That would be China. Or how many Google searches are conducted each month? (See Version 3.0 below).
The new version focuses more on media, but it’s eye-opening nonetheless. I can hardly wait to see students’ reaction.
Commenting on Version 4.0, Fisch, a Colorado educator, wrote:
The various versions have been viewed well over 20 millions times. … It’s been shown to audiences large and small, educational and corporate and everything in between. It’s been shown to the leaders of our national defense and to incoming congressmen. It’s been shown by university presidents and kindergarten teachers, televangelists and politicians, folks just trying to make a buck and those trying to save the world. …
What does it all mean? (Well, besides the self-referential and now self-serving answer of “Shift Happens.”) I think the fact that a simple little PowerPoint (some folks would say simplistic and they would be right – it was meant to be the start of a conversation, not the entire conversation) can be viewed by so many folks and start so many conversations means that we live in a fundamentally different world than the one I (and most of you reading this) grew up in.
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Wow! I just watched the 4.0 version.
I have worked in the computer industry for decades and one of my biggest pastimes is messing with the internet, but I was still amazed as the statistics flashed by.
I am working with a couple of non-profits on better understanding how the internet in general, and social networking specifically, will impact them and can help them.
Really cool stuff.
I noticed the text moved (disappeared) much faster than the older one. I seem to miss things when I watch this one.
There are the normal amount of distractions in this room (for me) and I can't follow it. I'll have to watch it in a quiet, focused state of mind.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090927/ap_on_re_us/us_more_school
This article is about Obama extending hours spent in the classroom. Considering I read this after watching your slide-show Rob, I can completely agree with it. I like the end of the quote in the third paragraph that says "…But the challenges of a new century demand more time in the classroom".