Nielsen has done a little study that is well worth a look.

But what is rather interesting is that for all the hype that teens are in a very different media environment than adults today, they seem to be rather grounded according to this report.

Here are the hard facts.

• Teens are NOT abandoning TV for new media: In fact, they watch more TV than ever, up 6% over the past five years in the U.S.
• Teens love the Internet…but spend far less time browsing than adults: Teens spend 11 hours and 32 minutes per month online-far below the average of 29 hours and 15 minutes
• Teens watch less online video than most adults, but the ads are highly engaging to them: Teens spend 35% less time watching online video than adults 25-34, but recall ads better when watching TV shows online than they do on television
• Teens read newspapers, listen to the radio and even like advertising more than most: Teens who recall TV ads are 44% more likely to say they liked the ad
• Teens play video games, but are as excited about play-along music games and car-racing games as they are about violent ones: Just two of their top five most-anticipated games since 2005 are rated “Mature.”
• Teens’ favorite TV shows, top websites and genre preferences across media are mostly the same as those of their parents: For U.S. teens, American Idol was the top show in 2008, Google the top website and general dramas are a preferred TV genre for teens around the world.

There is a lot of research to be done and as we move forward in our mediated environment.

So, the question is how will our mediated environment develop and given what we know how can we weave it into our lives better?

Do we want to weave the media into our lives better?

Do we have a choice?

Sames courses different faces, and sometimes the same old faces!

The challenge is to keep the content fresh.

But sometimes it is less the content that needs to be fresh and more the environment that needs a shakeup.

This semester my regular classes were swapped for new rooms.

The feel of the rooms was all off.

But instead of requesting the old rooms back, which my students love, I have made a bold move in a new direction.

This semester I have  moved all my classes from the traditional classroom into a large soon to be media lab.

The room I have moved to has walls and flooring but nothing else.

No desks, no boards, nothing at all that a teacher uses to find comfort.

I will be teaching in a box and I am totally excited!

I can’t wait for my students to walk into the space and get a feel for it!

I am excited to teach in a new space that will demand some rethinking of how the courses I teach will be delivered.

We get stuck into environments far too easy.

Maybe it isn’t talent or ideas that are the problem when we talk innovation.

Maybe it is the space that we bring them together in that needs a rethink!

What career options are there?

Is the work fun?

These are all questions I get asked regularly by students from KG through university.

We spend a lot of time trying to design a career and I am almost certain that that is our greatest downfall.

How do you know what your passion will be next year? So why not concentrate on a variety of passions that might coagulate into the career you are going to fall in love with!

But how do you know what to do? You don’t!

Go with your gut, experiment, take a chance, talk to people, look around and see.

Tim O’Reilly of O’Reilly Media has a great story to tell. First 2 minutes of background.

What does Wilkipedia say about O’Reilly?

O’Reilly was initially interested in literature upon graduating from high school, but after graduating from Harvard College in 1975 with a B.A. cum laude in Classics he became involved in the field of computer user manuals. He defines his company not as a book or online publisher, nor as a conference producer (though the company does all three), but as a technology transfer company, “changing the world by spreading the knowledge of innovators.” O’Reilly is on the board of CollabNet, and was on the board of Macromedia until its 2005 merger with Adobe Systems. In March 2007, he joined MySQL AB’s Board of Directors. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_O’Reilly

The folks over at Fear-Less, http://fearlessstories.com/, have pulled together some great stories and this comes from their piece on O’Reilly and the start of his career when at University he helped a friend interview some computer guys who were speaking in jargon and really made little sense.

There are three lessons that I took away from that moment. The

first was to be fearless in what you attempt. The job I eventually

mastered was an enormous stretch for me. The second lesson

was that a difficulty is often an opportunity in disguise. I built my

company by bridging the information gap that I first encountered

that day. The third lesson was the importance of serendipity in

your life choices. I never imagined that I’d build a career as a

technical writer, publisher, and entrepreneur. My training was in

Greek and Latin Classics! Agreeing to help out my friend proved

to be a turning point in my life.

There is a lot to be taken from O’Reilly if you are listening!

Today’s gem in the rough was Bono talking about how in 2000 it felt to him like he and the band members were “re-applying” to fans to be U2 the band they had grown to love.

That idea got me thinking about my own tenure as a professor and as a radio host, are we in for life once we get the job OR do we continually need to symbolically re-apply for the position?

Maybe the re-application is through the demonstration of skills, maybe it is through the way we imagine and deliver content, maybe it is through our continual demonstration that we are not just repeating the same old thing but bringing new value to those exercises we are responsible for, be them in the classroom, office or in my case on the radio.

How is the changing world being brought into what I am doing?

And this to me is the big problem today, too few people are in the habit of re-applying for the position they hold, and evaluations do not count unless they are going to see you asked to leave!

Look at what you are doing and ask the simple question, “if I was applying for my job today would I be the candidate most suited for the position?”

If you can not say,”yes”, without question  you are the best candidate for the job and you would hire yourself then you have some work to do!