I would imagine many of you have been teaching longer than I have. (Although I got my PhD in Lit in 1980 I bailed out of academia for public broadcasting, and only made the return trip last year.) Pedagogy has changed dramatically in the past decades and you could help me avoid re-inventing dome wheels, when it comes to using class time wisely and creatively. On the other hand, fresh out of the daily grind, I am discovering ways to transfer newsroom skills to the classroom --to transform, the classroom, in some ways, into a mini-newsroom.
I fear that I'll be getting far more than I give. Though I am a decent teacher (having won my school's top teaching award last year), I am relatively inept with the use of technology beyond the basics of PowerPoint and some print-related software.
I feel similarly as Jim, that I'll get way more than I give. I am also a relatively new member of my faculty, but I want to learn how to be at the forefront of multimedia and position all our students - not just the BJers who I teach - to succeed in it.
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Stephanie Blake
Assistant Professor
School of Communication
American University
