My name is Laura March and I’m a townie–I was born and raised in State College, PA. After graduating from Penn State with an undergraduate degree in art, I spent a few years working in New York City as a web designer and producer.
My three biggest passions are people, art, and technology. In particular, I’m interested in how they benefit one other. I’m also attracted to technology’s capability to create accessible learning environments for people with diverse abilities. Cupcakes (and eating in general) are also high on my list.
Hmm…something interesting about me…Well, I interned for MTV one summer during college and spent much of my time as a messenger and memorized most of the Manhattan subway lines. Send me a tweet (@theartofmarch) if you ever get lost in the city or need to know where the closest train station is and I can help you out! The rest of my summer was spent blurring-out inappropriate things for cable television on Flavor of Love.
As an ex-web designer, I feel pretty comfortable using digital/online technology. However, I think I’m most interested in its use as a tool for conversations, learning, and creative exploration. The fact that a particular technology exists is not as interesting to me as how (and by whom) it is used. As such, I hope that technology influences more than just educational content. I believe that teaching and learning can (and should) evolve into a learner-centered endeavor. Through new media, we can create environments that are more conducive to an individual learner’s strengths.
I also think that much of what we currently believe is important to know (and how we go about teaching it) may longer be relevant. Rote memorization of facts ought to be replaced by critical thinking skills. A fifth grader could easily search the Internet to find the capital of Alaska, but how do we teach that student the difference between information gleaned from a .gov URL and a Yahoo! Answers response thread?
This class looks awesome. I have a bit of a rebellious streak and can’t wait to discover more ways that technology encourages critical thinking, innovations, and revolutions.
SCOTT P MCDONALD says
I think you bring up a good point that has always been one piece of the class and that is the tension between the affordances and constraints that all technologies come with. I think the interesting thing that we will be exploring this semester is the explicit role of space (virtual and physical) in creating affordances and constraints to learning and teaching. Great to have you in the class.