Change is Cool — flipping the Switch to a better Athens.

"You spent all that time telling us that new media is good.  Why don't you tell us what new media is good for?"

After 23 years, you become kind of inured to student critiques in class evaluations.

The familiar = "The tests were too hard" always balanced by "The tests were too easy."
The illogical = "Dr. Shamp talks too fast!"  Untrue. As a true southerner I pride myself in leisurely elocution.
The inappropriate = "Class needs pole dancing!"  Nuf said.

But "tell us what new media is good for," stuck with me.  Thinking back on the semester, I spent a lot of time in NMIX2020 "Intro to New Media" (http://www.mynmi.net/shamp/2020/) talking about how technology was invented and how it works.  I even evangelized about the potential power of new media.  But I realized, I hadn't truly given students concrete examples of innovative and effective use of new media technologies.  Now I'm going to fix that.

"Change" is the NMI's theme for this year.  We are changing a lot — new facilities (hopefully soon!), new projects, new approaches, new ideas, new technology.  And we want to change more.

And in NMIX2020 we are going to focus on using new media to change Athens — for the better.  We have formed a Social Venture firm called PMPGv (Personal Media / Public Good Ventures).  The challenge for the class is to use personal media (social media, mobile media, and games) to improve Athens.  Specifically, student projects will focus on ways to better Athens by changing individual behavior.  The changes will have to come in three areas: health, sustainability, and lifestyle. And the end of the semester the 15 teams will show off their projects — in action.  Then the class will invest (virtually) in the project they think has the best opportunity to make Athens a better place to live.  The winner will receive "The CHIT" loving cup (you alums remember that, don't you?)

Our textbook for the semester is "Switch: How to Change When Change is Hard" (http://amzn.to/bFNcC3) by Chip and Dan Heath.  A smart friend recommended it because it outlines  manageable ways to facilitate change — especially in areas resistant to change. It is a great read. Lots of concrete examples and easy to understand processes.  The book doesn't really focus on technology — we get that from other places.  But in class we are talking about the lessons from the book concerning how to make change happen.

So asking 300 students to come up with new ideas is crazy, darn near impossible.  Think about it — Athens is already one of the best places on the planet to live, so making it better is no small feat.  But the students always suck it up and do a great job.  We have been inviting in guests to give us their vision for the behaviors that need to change.  It has already been great seeing students think about the application of the skills they are learning.  Several of them are even providing short videos on ideas they would like to explore — you can see them at http://mynmi.net/students/classes/nmix-2020/ .  With these ideas, it looks like it will be an interesting semester. And if you have any ideas, let me know and I will cycle them to the students. 

And since we are all about changing to meet students' expectations, I guess I need to talk to the architect about where to put the pole in the new NMI suite.  I am already thinking about ways to show off my awesome square dance moves hanging upside down.  Scary, right?