One of the challenges of creating media that has impact, and that meets people/ learners “where they’re at”…is that people are complex beings and there’s no “easy” way to grasp who people are, despite our facile quick takes and presumptions and stereotyping. Practically, we need to have something to use that “stands for” a person and is easy to grasp in our day to day contingencies. But that doesn’t work for us in many learning situations.
That shorthand “stand in” isn’t the “person in full”. We do know a lot about connecting at levels which allow for more of the “real person” to be engaged, we do it with family and friends most readily, but how can we do that better in learning situations? Teachers are aware of the problem and try to address it, but it’s hard with 20 or 30 students, for example.
Learners in a collaborative environment have similar problems knowing how to engage their cohort… “who ARE these people”? =^)
And what if we are using media and cloud tools to connect with the “person in full”…how do we do that? First we need to understand how media and cloud tools work in human terms. What is happening when we use them to engage “persons in full”? What’s the best way to use media and cloud tools in learning?
To find out we must research “understanding media” as well as the psychology of persons, the cognitive sciences, the new science of learning, and how that all works in an mobile information age. Among other pieces of the 7 Core Elements puzzle. Which is why this is going to take a while to get “right”, needless to say, there’s so much work that has to be done.
Here’s a couple Ted Talks touching on some of the brain and body and psychology aspects of the task.