All Good Things 2: Accomplishments

On the occasion of my retirement, I have been thinking back over the past 16 years.

I have been the radio station advisor and Radio Workshop teacher for almost a third of the lifetime of KWSC-FM, which begins its 50th year this fall. When I inherited the station, it had a transmitter that was past its design lifetime, aging studio equipment, no AP service, bootlegged software on its production computers, and a programming automation system that somehow kept playing outdated things we tried time after time to remove. The station was also facing a $10,000 fine for FCC violations, committed before my time.  One of the main things I was charged with when hired was to "get things under control."

Today, the station has a new tower and transmitter site, audio consoles with years left in their lifetimes, a constantly updated production music library, a constantly updated on-air music service, and an automation system that works effectively (except for occasional glitch caused by human learning curves). We have recently-purchased BluTooth sports remote equipment, recently-purchased standardized studio microphones, and we are using a podcasting platform that I researched and brought to the table. My partner in all of these technology updates was our engineer, Tom Schmitz.

I have also been a leader for many curriculum updates.  What we now call "Electronic Media" was "Broadcasting' but the industry had moved beyond that "silo."  Collaborating with Maureen Carrigg and Max McElwain, we updated the name of the major and began the ongoing process of converging the student media to make them multi-platform, as the industry expects.  I also like to think that I helped find critical resources and the curriculum structure for the very popular digital film coursework of the "Hot Attic Film School", which is probably leading Mass Communication to a record enrollment, possibly as soon as this fall.

I have had multiple service roles at the school, including serving on the vital Academic Policies committee, the Institutional Review Board, chairing multiple hiring committees (they were all good hires), and some years ago chairing the Technology for Learning and Teaching (TLTC) committee as we revitalized it.  I also served on the WSC Centennial Committee.

There was a time recently, due to unexpected faculty changes, in which I was the ONLY full-time faculty member in mass communication. I do believe that I was an important part of holding things together during that challenging time.

For the record, there are things at WSC that only I know how to do, particularly involving the radio station, and I say that literally.  In anticipation of having Emeritus status, I am fully intending to assist and mentor whoever comes next teaching the classes that have been mine and in operating KWSC-FM.

5+1 Tips for Good Photographs

I am getting ready to teach photography again this coming semester, and I also have some friends with new cameras. So I have been reviewing my basic rules for taking good photos, whether by smartphone or a more elaborate camera.

Here are tips, plus a bonus, to help YOU take better photos (and the rules apply to video photography, also).


1. Tell a story 

Your photo will have the most impact when it tells a story.  What are the people doing? What is happening around them?

2. Don't pose (or at least don't let your shot look posed)

Posed pictures are boring.  Better to take candid or impromptu photos that feel more spontaneous.

3. Plan your time and place

Often being at the right place and time makes the difference between a boring photo and a powerful one.  At events, figure out what the most interesting things are and figure out what the right angle to capture them is.  Wait patiently for just the right moment.

For outdoor photographs, time of day can also be important.  Early morning and late afternoon light is warmer and less harsh.   But also, avoid facing the sun while you shoot.  This will increase the odds of ending up with a silhouette (unless that is what you want).  It is often still a matter of finding just the right moment.

4. Take lots of shots and choose the best.

"One-and-done" is not the way to get great photographs.  Take a photo, look at it, and analyze "how could it be better?"  Then take another shot that makes it better.  Do this from several different angles, or in ways that capture several different elements of what is going on.

5. Don't center everything in your photo! 

This is the biggie, and is a principal you see across many realms of art. It is called the Rule of Thirds.  You mentally divide your shot into thirds, both horizontally and vertically.  Then you use these lines, in two complimentary ways.

One: The MAIN thing you are depicting should be at one of the intersecting points of those imaginary lines.  The rest of the shot should provide balance. Don't put everything right in the middle.

Two: Often, there will be a logical dividing line in a photo.  Outdoors, it might be a horizon line, or the edge of a tall building.  Indoors, it might be more than one person's face forming a sort of line.  Put those actual dividing lines along one of your imaginary thirds lines in a way that provides balance.  If people are facing left, put them at the RIGHT vertical line.  If you have a horizon line, decide what is more important, the sky or the land and choose your imaginary line accordingly.

Combining these two elements...matching horizontal and vertical lines in your shot with the imaginary lines of thirds, and putting your prime subject at an intersection of the lines...will give you strong, memorable photos.

6. Bonus: For cameras that are not in smartphones -- explore the menus and learn the settings, such as the various focus and exposure options.  Often the fully automated mode will not produce the best photos for advanced photographers.


There is a lot more to being a great photographer, but these 5+1 tips (rules) will help you stay on the right track.

8+1 Life Hacks to help you Succeed in College

2020 edit:  I wrote this article in 2017, long before the COVID-19 pandemic.  Today, I add one more behavior that will lead to success - wear your masks faithfully, be meticulous about social distancing, and don't cheat on virus safety rules. Even if you only get a little bit sick, you could infect other people who are at much higher risk.

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The school year is starting and every year, college freshmen have to figure out how to live their lives independently.  For many, it will be the first time they have been away from home for very long.

All college students need to figure out how to balance their school work, social lives, jobs, and sleep.  Some never figure it out by the time they graduate (or leave school without graduating). Some struggle and eventually figure it out.  A few are in great shape from the beginning.

College is about academic learning, certainly.  But it is also about learning life skills, like organization, work ethic, and how to balance multiple priorities and stay in control.

If you are a new college student or are close to someone who is, consider the following eight strong recommendations I make for new students.  They may seem obvious, but when you are newly on your own, sometimes they are harder to accomplish than you think.

1. Go to class and take notes

This seems like it would be most obvious, but many new college students are too casual about their classes.  Some only attend sporadically.

Don't fool yourself into thinking "nothing much is going on in that class, I can skip today."  

Class is where you learn the professional skills that will get you a good job down the road. But it is also where you make connections with teachers who will give you strong references (or not strong).   

If you often skip class, remember that a prospective employer is likely to ask me "is she dependable?"  I can't lie. 

2. Turn in assignments on time

This follows from point one.  In addition to the fact that your grade is likely to suffer from a late assignment, being late also speaks to your dependability, work ethic, and initiative.   

Late assignments are a big flashing red light over your head that says "do not hire me."

3. Do not procrastinate; be ahead of the curve

You don't learn much from hurry-up rush jobs on assignments.  You teacher has made the assignment because it will help you achieve the objectives of the class.   

Doing the minimum to get by on the theory of "a D still passes the course" means maybe you should not be in college. Why spend thousands of dollars that either you or your parents will have to pay back if you aren't ready to apply yourself to learning? 

The same advice also applies in everything else you do in college.  Take charge and be in control of all the various parts of your life.  If something seems beyond your power to control, don't allow yourself to be helpless - figure it out.  

4.  Don't be a drunk

To be blunt, most college students drink, including before they turn legal age. Some do pot or other drugs. But if you do, like everything else in this article, don't let it control your life. 

If alcohol, pot, or other controlled substances control you, rather than the other way around, you are tempting failure.

The typical college students would ignore me if I encouraged complete teetotaling, but that's not the real point.  The point is to be in control and don't let it take over your life. Which leads to the next point...

5. Ask for help when you need it

College and university campuses have all kinds of help available to you, from special meetings with your teachers, to tutors, to emotional counseling, and everything in-between. Absolutely do not be too proud or too nervous to ask for help if you need it, whatever the needed help is.  

6. Schedule your study time

Sure, college is complicated.  There is a lot going on.  But other people are not going to keeping you on target anymore.  YOU need to take control of your life and your schedule. 

I strongly recommend scheduling your study time, just like you schedule other things in your life.  For every hour you spend in the classroom, teachers are supposed to be assigning your TWO hours of homework.   

Make sure you set the time aside, and do not low ball how much time you really need.  If you DO get done early, so much the better, but don't skimp on study time. 

7. Work at making college friends

You are not going to be happy in college if you are isolated and have no friends.  If you make the effort to find friends and join in campus activities, it will help your school work and your overall learning (as long as you keep your social life in balance).  Hang out and do things with your roommate and dorm neighbors.  Join campus organizations to meet people with interests similar to yours. 

Sometimes taking these steps to make friends feels awkward and makes you a little nervous, but it is worth it. 

Plus, this is where boyfriends and girlfriends come from, which are part and parcel of college life for many students.  Such relationships are great, but remember the basic theme of keeping all parts of your life in balance.  Don't ignore the advice in this article, just because there is someone new in your life. 

8. Get enough sleep

Again, this seems obvious, but college students your age need at least seven hours of sleep a night, with a little more on weekends.   

Not getting enough sleep will tempt you to violate all of the other recommendations above. Plus you will have higher stress, more chance of mental health issues, and you will generally be more miserable. 

Like all of the other points above, take charge of your sleep schedule and remain in control.

As I said, these things may all be obvious, but each semester I have students who stop coming to class, fail to turn assignments, or otherwise get their lives off track. Some get their act together and get back on track.  Some don't.

It's true that college is a pretty desirable lifestyle, particularly if you don't worry about classwork. You have more independence than ever before and your lodging and food (most of it) are pre-paid.

But also remember that you are making decisions that will have consequences for years to come.  Be proactive and make them smart decisions.

Five things "Digital Natives" need in Educational Technology

Today's younger generation is considered to be "digital natives" because they have
grown up with Internet/mobile technology and are highly comfortable with it.

But what are the implications of that? Should educators really treat them differently?

According to this story, a recent academic study suggests that today's students are no better at information skills simply because they grew up in the digital era. It also finds evidence that “digital natives” are no better at multitasking than other age cohorts.

So, as a teacher, I wonder what this says about instructional technology (and here I am talking about systems that go beyond PPT slides and playing YouTube videos in class).

There is a lot of research that shows that, in general, students like using technology for schoolwork.  In part, this is because they are already used to technology, and in part because it tends to lead classes away from boring lecture-memorization methodologies.

But I teach specialized technology, used for broadcasting.  Many of my students are great users of the technology, but......

If there is a problem, many of them are stymied. Some of them cannot even explain what the problem is sufficiently for me to understand it, without going to look for myself (and then I can often solve the problem in two minutes).

Then there's the recurring problem of the students who save a file, and then cannot come back and find it again, because of lack of understanding of file folder structure. That should not be college-level curriculum!

So my take is that today's generation of students is sophisticated in USE of technology, but not necessarily in UNDERSTANDING how the technology works.

Again -- what are the implications?

1. The technology used needs to be highly intuitive do it doesn't NEED figuring out.
2. Students need ample instruction in how to use it (called "induction training"). As long as it is confucing or hard to use, it will reduce their motivation.
3. Teachers need to use scaffolding -- giving high levels of technology support early, but gradually lessening the support to encourage students to become more independent and able to solve problems.
4. As much as possible, the technology needs to be cross-platform, i.e. suitable tfor desktop computers, laptops, and smartphones. Of course, this is not always possible.  My broadcasting assignments need to be done with professional hardware and software to be effective, not Garage Band. But for example, our school's Learning Management System (the only system allowed for online instruction) is just finally being updated this year to be friendly to mobile devices.
5. Teachers need to guard against mobile devices as distractions in class.  They can add to the classroom experience, such as for quick research during class discussion. But whenever a student blanks a screen or minimizes a window when the teacher walks up, you can bet that the device has been a distraction, not an learning aid.  This can be challenging because students resent being told they cannot text message during class, etc.  

I think that my particular Electronic Media program does a pretty good job of teaching the technology in a way that is not too intimidating and builds complexity step-by-step in reasonable increments.  And we'll need to, because we have new hardware and software we'll need to start using the first week.

What's this blog really about?

August is when school starts again for me, and the end of July seems like a reasonable time to reflect on the status and goals of my blog.

As it turns out, I have been making a lot of posts about politics recently, but that is not my MAIN intent with this blog.  My intent is to post as an observer -- of life and culture and things that interest me.

Academic Literature Visualizations

Here's an interesting resource for people who are actually interested in what the science shows about a given topic.

Open Knowledge Maps is an academic literature search engine, but it includes a visualization that categorizes the journal articles.  Click on one of the circles and it zooms in to show the specific articles.

Another nice thing is that it shows which articles are open access and therefore can be downloaded directly.

The example above (which I know is a little small to read), is a search on "Climate Change."

Because there are a lot of scholars out there who do NOT have access to research databases through university libraries, Open Knowledge Maps joins Google Scholar as a key way of exploring the academic literature to see what the peer reviewed scientific literature says.

Five Myths about Higher Education

©  2014 Michael Marek

Reading this article made think about myths about how education works.

Here are five myths that too many people believe about education, and particularly higher education.

Educational Engineering

My latest scholarly publication is Chapter 14 of monograph published for the 25th anniversary of the English Teachers’ Association in the Republic of China (ETA-ROC), in November.

Educational Engineering for CALL and MALL, is an invited article on curriculum development, taking an engineering approach to developing outcome requirements and then engineering a theory-based system that will accomplish those outcomes.  The CALL and MALL in the title refers to Computer Assisted Language Learning and Mobile Assisted Language Learning.  But it's all Mass Communication to me.

The overall monograph, Epoch Making in English Language Teaching and Learning, is out in hard copy and CD.  I am not sure when or where it may eventually be available online, other than my pre-press version on ResearchGate.

It may be cited as:

Marek, M. W., & Wu, W. C. V. (2016). Educational Engineering for CALL and MALL. In Leung, Yiu-nam (Ed.), Epoch Making in English Language Teaching and Learning, Twenty-fifth International Symposium on English Teaching, English Teachers’ Association, Republic of China (pp. 115-125).

Technology Assisted Language Learning

One of my scholarly journal articles has just been cited in a paper entitled "Technology Assisted Language Learning is a silver bullet for enhancing Language competence and performance: A Case Study."

The specific citation is:

"Wu, Yen and Marek (2011) explored in their studies the unprecented impact of technology in increasing learners’ motivation for listening to online audio and video resources in order to improve their listening skills. They also found that while listening to online audio and video resources, the ESL learners were found to ward off their hesitation and shyness and try to speak English."

International Journal of Applied Linguistics and English Literature

Educational Technology

One of my academic papers was cited in a conference paper from the 2016 International Symposium on Educational Technology, held 19-21 July in Beijing.

Collaborative Online International Learning: A Case Study between USA and Thailand

Educational Engineering

Spent the evening galley proofing this invited chapter.

It will be chapter 14 in a "monograph" to be published recognizing the 25th anniversary of the English Teachers’ Association in the Republic of China (ETA-ROC).

Here is the full abstract:

Innovation abounds in the fields of Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) and Mobile Assisted Language Learning (MALL), but recent evidence reveals that innovative instructional designs are often not repeated in subsequent semesters, much less integrated into the permanent curriculum. This “how to” article presents the perspective that educational curriculum and technology design should be treated as an engineering process, i.e. using evidence-based principles to create instructional and technology designs that meet the long-term needs of students and allow them to achieve required outcomes. Factors influencing CALL/MALL teaching are discussed, followed by presentation of educational engineering as a seven-step process – identifying  marketplace requirement goals, determining measurable outcome objectives, choosing theory-based instructional methods, selecting CALL/MALL technology by affordances, developing integrated lesson plans, teaching the class, and evaluating success. Six figures give concrete examples of how the process should work.