How We Got Here

As a baby boomer, I grew up with television.  My father used to tell me that he didn't have TV as a kid. Say what? I couldn't imagine a world without it! How could there not be a window on the world? He really was from the dark ages.

I saw the movie 2001: a space odyssey when it was new. Not only did it show humans living and working in space, but they also had flat, flexible, personal TV sets!  I couldn't figure out how they even mocked up such a thing for the movie.

It was a natural career choice for me to go into video production. I was interested in more than news and advertising, though. I wanted to explore ways to use video for more.  So I dived into "non-broadcast" video: corporate, educational, and documentary video.


One of the realities I faced back then was the incredible cost and inflexibility of video production. Someone else had to invest in the hardware, because I was never going to put together a studio (or location-based team) on my own.  It was too technical... too unwieldy... too expensive.

So fast-forward to the present.  Wow, what a difference! I looked around the commuter train this morning and paid attention to the number of people using phones and tablets.  What was so amazing before has become commonplace. Really, no big deal.  Want to make a video and post it?  There's nothing holding you back but your own creativity. 

I count myself lucky that I've always been on the pioneering edge the whole way.  I've got an appreciation for where we've been and where we're going, especially in my field of instructional media. So, what's the latest and greatest?  What are you doing to use media in learning?

See?  I'm not done yet.