Ah, another year comes to a close. This week has been busy in the experimental classroom and lab of Phillips Hall. Religion and Contemporary Society students, under the direction of Kathy Brownback, have used the lab several times this week to present their final projects. Students brought in PowerPoint presentations, Internet reference materials, DVDs and video clips from YouTube on everything from The Simpsons and South Park to The Passion of the Christ and The Life of Brian. One student discussed the religious context of the movie Field of Dreams and showed relevant clips. It was interesting to hear the students' interpretations of religious references in contemporary media. But what I found most astounding as I was sitting among the students was the realization that just one year ago--before YouTube--viewing these clips in class would have been an arduous task that would have involved taping, clipping, and retaping these scenes, winding and rewinding tape. Now, they're one click away from anywhere with an Internet connection. The video really enhanced the discussion and I can't imagine how the students would have made their presentations without them.
Speaking of videos, in the classroom this week film-making instructor Brad Seymour's students presented their completed films. How exciting for the students to see the videos they've been working on all term on the big screen! We just should have had a red carpet and some paparazzi for opening night.
The lab has also been hopping with kids writing and printing final papers, so much so that we had to guard the door to have them not interrupt constantly the classes that were using the rooms. The students are feeling the loss of the open lab in this building but we also realize that the renovation plans will be better developed by our experiences bringing classes to the lab for some of the periods of the day. We hope to put a print station down the hall this summer to alleviate that problem for students who just need to print a paper.
And speaking of summer, trainers, committees, conference personnel and summer school faculty are already lining up to use these spaces over the summer. It doesn't look like there will be any idle time, even though the regular session ends tomorrow--just a short break to get the air conditioning going, which is great because it was a muggy, mosquito-y 85 degrees down there by end of day today.
Speaking of videos, in the classroom this week film-making instructor Brad Seymour's students presented their completed films. How exciting for the students to see the videos they've been working on all term on the big screen! We just should have had a red carpet and some paparazzi for opening night.
The lab has also been hopping with kids writing and printing final papers, so much so that we had to guard the door to have them not interrupt constantly the classes that were using the rooms. The students are feeling the loss of the open lab in this building but we also realize that the renovation plans will be better developed by our experiences bringing classes to the lab for some of the periods of the day. We hope to put a print station down the hall this summer to alleviate that problem for students who just need to print a paper.
And speaking of summer, trainers, committees, conference personnel and summer school faculty are already lining up to use these spaces over the summer. It doesn't look like there will be any idle time, even though the regular session ends tomorrow--just a short break to get the air conditioning going, which is great because it was a muggy, mosquito-y 85 degrees down there by end of day today.
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