Date / Time: Friday, October 31, 2008, 2:00 – 3:30 pm

Place: 144 Purdy/Kresge Library (Simons Room)

While an interdisciplinary approach to education is now a widely accepted practice among academics, digital technologies--that are actually blending disciplines across nations--have yet to take hold in most classrooms. Karen McDevitt described the emerging role of interDIGITALdisciplinarity in higher education from the instructor’s perspective, and demonstrate approaches that promote a participatory culture through user-generated content (student- and instructor-designed websites, podcasts, blogs, and Second Life visits).

For the past ten years, Karen has monitored the shift from conventional communication practices to the intricacies of mobile/social networking. She is committed to reshaping the traditional classroom into an environment where learning takes place simultaneously online and offline, and addressed what she deems “The Fearsome Threesome” – the central issues facing faculty who remain resistant to digital media pedagogy.

The focus then turned to integrations of digital technologies in courses at Wayne State (including Communication Theory, Mass Communication and Society, and Computer-Mediated Communication). In a truly collaborative presentation, four graduate students illustrated their interDIGITALdisciplinary learning experiences, which range from absolute reluctance to full-force engagement