Mauro Segura
I look around, and realize how much new technologies are slowly but surely, invading schools and Universities.
My son studies “Engineering and Production” at the University “UFRJ.” His Economics Professor Maura Montella, asked her class to complete a project, in which the finished product would be a video about the black market.
Her class divided into small groups and every group created a video. That was their group project. It took them a whole Sunday to complete, and it looked very different and cool. More than just Economics, their Professor challenged them in the realm of creativity.
My son’s project was very creative. His group really wanted to do something different. They used digital photography, MP3s, and Legos (which I had given my son as a gift many years ago).
The other class videos can be seen by searching for Maura Montella on youtube.
New technologies give us new tools for creativity. In my generation, we worked on our group projects at somebody’s house. We used books. The material we presentedwould end up being more or less pieces of construction paper, with images and texts (either hand written or printed), glued on to the pages.
The final product was pretty, with a little flower glued at the right hand of the construction paper. Who remembers construction paper? Does it still exist? Yeah it does! I’ve seen a school, with my own eyes, which still uses it! Though I must admit, it does seem they are clinging on to it, and resisting change.
During Bernard’s project, the groupbrainstormed,via social networks, instant message chats, and cellphones.
Their idea was created through all this “virtual speak.”They came up with the general idea of their project this way. When they got together, I saw how much fun they had, while filming.
In the end, although decades separate us, both generations (Baby Boomers and Gen Y) are doing the same thing. We talk, glue images, and get creative. The only thing that’s really changed is the construction paper…
