A reader of the PT blog let me know that there is a new version of the “Did You Know” video. It really summarizes the convergence of media technologies in a powerful way. I included Version 3 at the end of my last post because it is a wake-up call about the impact of population changes that underscore the need for education as well as the social impact of technological change. (And the music is better.)  Version 4 takes a different tone but is equally impressive.

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A version of this  article ran on PsychologyToday.com in my blog “Positively Media.”

A recent survey by the Career College Association reported that 9 out of 10 Americans think college is important for career opportunities and 67% believe that education is the key to competitiveness in the global economy. Turns out education can also be the key to keeping your job in an economic downturn. Recent employment numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that not only do people with more education earn more, but in tough times like these, education provides a buffer against unemployment. The unemployment rate for people with a bachelor’s degree or higher as of October 2009 was 4.6%. However, compare that to the percent of people out of work with less than a high school diploma– 14%. When it comes to unemployment, 10% is a lot. The desire for more employment options is also fueling a spike in enrollment of adults returning to school.

The good news is that technology can help. First, it allows you to build a persuasive argument to inspire your kids.  You can find employment and earning potential numbers at the click of a mouse (including charts) at the Bureau of Labor Statistics website so you can show your kids at the dinner table why it’s so important to get an education. (Make sure you translate the numbers into a currency your kids will understand, like clothes or cars.)

More importantly, however, communications technologies make education available to people–both young and old–for whom it was previously out of reach. Traditional higher education programs can be prohibitive for a number of reasons: cost, geography, admission requirements, or home and family demands. Also, according to a report by Howell, Williams, and Lindsay Thirty-two Trends Affecting Distance Education: An Informed Foundation for Strategic Planning , the current higher education infrastructure isn’t equipped to handle the number of college-bound students coming down the pipeline, not to mention the swelling number of nontraditional students looking to further their education and career options. In 2001, 42% of all students were over age 25.  Adult learners are the fastest growing segment of the higher education population.

Brick and mortar institutions can’t offer the flexibility to facilitate the needs of many, particularly adult learners, so it’s exciting to see different solutions using distance learning models springing up. For example, the Big Bend Community College has established satellite “Community Knowledge Centers” to provide broadband access to their programs.  The military is instituting a virtual school program to help the kids in military families stay on track through frequent relocations. The Conterra Telecom Services is connecting eight high schools in the Navajo Nation to the Northeast Arizona Technological Institute of Vocational Education.  Where the average distance between high schools is 101 miles and 78% of student have to travel over unpaved roads to school, providing high speed Internet access can make a huge difference.

With the technology we have today, there is no reason why quality education cannot be available to anyone who wants it. In a perfect world, everyone would have a chance to stroll leisurely past ivy-covered halls carrying a swell book bag on their way to a lecture by a Nobel laureate. But it’s not. Only about 25% of the population is able to attend a four-year college. Distance education is a powerful way to help expand access and options to the rest.

Contrary to widely-held beliefs, distance-learning is not a sorry second best.  It is possible to have very meaningful relationships and learning experiences in asynchronous environments. I know. I’ve been on both sides of the equaiton. Just like in face-to-face courses, much of the success of an online course is due to the energy the teacher and students invest. But it is the convenience and flexibility in scheduling of the distance learning format that allows most students to continue their education. While there are potential downsides, of course, the disadvantages are vastly outweighed by the alternative–no education.

The U.S. could learn from places like India’s Indira Ghandhi National Open University. It provides educational opportunities through distance and open education targeting disadvantaged populations. There are kids working as busboys working in Kuwait studying to be engineers, thanks to this system. We should take notice of both the opportunity and the motivation and energy of so many who are working to take advantage of it.

The world is becoming a smaller place, thanks to technology. This means that competition for jobs, not just goods, is in a global market. The disparity in unemployment across education levels is an example of this trend. If you haven’t seen the viral video “Did You Know” on YouTube, watch it to get an idea of the magnitude of this global shift.

Unemployment numbers underscore the importance of an education in slow economic times.  But in the global economy, we not only need to get an education, we need to keep learning.

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Wondering what courses make up a media psychology curriculum is common particularly among people thinking about the next steps in their education.   Recently a young woman from Athlone High School for Girls in South Africa posed this  question, so I am sharing my response here.  It is exciting to hear that people all around the world are becoming aware of the importance of psychology in addressing media and technology in our daily lives.

Media psychology, while based in psychology, is transdisciplinary.  You will want a working understanding of several areas of psychology, sociology, and (surprise!) design.  You will also want good communication skills and actual (not theoretical) experience with media applications.  Each person develops their own interests that will involve more targeted learning.

Start with a broad view of psychology, including developmental, cognitive, and social. When you are thinking about how people use, develop or are impacted by media, developmental psychology helps you to understand how people develop, change, and mature and the differences that makes in how they perceive the world. Cognitive psychology looks at how people think–including the physical nature of processing information of all kinds (words, images, sounds) through the senses, how that gets our attention, and influences how we learn, are persuaded, and become engaged. It also looks at the qualitative side–how individuals interpret or make meaning out of all that information based on our individual experiences and culture.

Social psychology and sociology examine different aspects of the behavior of individuals as they connect with groups, group behaviors, networks and network behaviors, and the sense of self and place that are part of our social and personal identities. It also looks at broader social implications of society as groups, institutions, and nations. 

From there, two areas that I find particularly relevant are Narrative Psychology and Positive Psychology.  I find Narrative Psychology very useful because stories are how we connect the dots when we try to understand things.   Positive Psychology contributes to understanding how strengths, self-efficacy, hope, and resilience can be important factors in the development of prosocial media.

Good communication skills are very important so that you know how to get your message across. The best understanding of psychology and media in the world won’t help if you can’t communicate your thoughts.

As technology changes, we must be more innovative, intuitive, and creative. Design brings together disparate elements in new and exciting ways.

And finally, learning how media is produced, how technology tools work, and how the technology influences content and our interaction with it and each other is very important. The tools change often, but the fundamental issues of people and message construction will continue to apply.  Media psychology is an applied field, promoting the understanding of media technologies, their impact, and their potential.  Philosophically, the media psychologists I know are actively engaged in the positive development and use of media technologies for everything from education to social change.

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I always enjoy getting questions from people interested in integrating media applications into their field of study or in pursuing a career in media psychology. The questions come from around the world and are always full of enthusiasm for learning, the potential of media technologies, and making a positive contribution to society. It is always a chance for me to remember not only how much I love the field of media psychology, but why I think it is so very important.

Media psychology is a broad field. Recently I received a question from a new graduate in the Middle East about how to follow a path that integrates psychology and education using interactive technologies, particularly for special needs populations. I am posting my response since many people may have similar questions and this is a good way to get a conversation going.

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You can learn how to actually build the interactive programs by studying gaming and software development or how to implement them by studying education and curriculum development—either way, you must learn how and why they are effective and when their use is appropriate. The latter is particularly important if you are working with a clinical population such as handicapped, mentally-challenged, or psychologically distressed, either from pathology or trauma. In order to serve that population adequately and ethically, you will need clinical background that involves the study of psychopathology, personality development and disorders, cognitive and developmental psychology and an understanding of physical and mental handicaps. An alternative route is to pursue what in the U.S. is referred to as special education. It is a track within an education degree that focuses on teaching special needs kids. It is more about learning and educational pedagogy than psychology.

But the really important thing to clarify is your goal. Media technologies are just tools to get something done. The tools change very quickly. First figure out what you are trying to do and then you can learn the reasons why different technological tools work (or don’t) in achieving the goal Tools to help humans must be designed in a human-centered way. I know that seems obvious, but you’d be surprised how many things are designed with no apparent thought to human use. (Check out The Design of Everyday Things).

Once you have decided on your emphasis (the technology, the education, or the psychology), you will be better able to decide your path.

As a psychologist, my bias is toward understanding the how and why and letting someone with good technical skills build the media. As a media psychologist, I have input into the development process but do not do any of the engineering, programming or physical generation of the tools. I will be looking at things like developmental appropriateness, the experience of using the tools (such as whether or not the child not only learns something but feels positive about the learning in a way that supports their self-confidence and motivation), and the cognitive and emotional aspects of the interface such as perception of objects, attention, and engagement.

Another approach to media education, such as public education through mass media, public service announcements, programs that appear as entertainment but are embedded with lessons and values.  These are more general and do not target individual users as much as a group who might benefit from the information, such as teens learning about smoking, alcohol abuse, or drug use.

If your interest is in the use of interactive programs to support special needs children, however, I would recommend either pursuing a masters in education or clinical psychology and taking additional classes in media development—not media studies about content analysis but about the ways people interact with and are influenced by media. There are very few programs that officially integrate media and psychology (or media and education, for that matter) so you may need to build your own curriculum in whatever program you choose.

At the master’s level, most programs in the U.S. will demand a good command of written English because scholarly writing has more rigorous standards at the master’s level than at the undergraduate level. This is also true of the program where I teach at Fielding Graduate University, the Master’s Degree in Media Psychology and Social Change. You may find it interesting to look a the website and curriculum to get ideas about what sounds interesting so you can further hone your search.  The New School in New York is doing some very exciting work in gaming, for example.

You might also want to read:
Gee, J. P. (2004). What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

Brown, J. S. (2000). Growing Up Digital: How the Web Changes Work, Education, and the Ways People Learn. Change, March/April, 10-20. Retrieved August 29, 2007 from http://www.usdla.org/html/journal/FEB02_Issue/article01.html.

Buckingham, D., & Burn, A. (2007). Game Literacy in Theory and Practice. Journal of Educational Multimedia and Hypermedia, 16 (3), 323-349.

The following article in online and breaks down some of the theoretical bases of different aspects of interactivity:
Sims, Rod. (2000) An interactive conundrum: Constructs of interactivity and learning theory. Australian Journal of Educational Technology. 16, (1), p. 45-57 http://www.ascilite.org.au/ajet/ajet16/sims.html

I wish people great success pursuing their passion for media psychology. If you have other questions, please don’t hesitate to ask.

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There’s a story about the demise of Facebook in the Washington Post: Worldwide ebb for Facebook.
I like the logic–when a company’s been around long enough for someone to make a movie out of it, then it’s probably on the downhill slide, even if they do get Justin Timberlake.

That people are interested in something new shouldn’t be surprising to anyone in business, marketing or evolutionary psychology.  Same ol’, same ol’ won’t cut it, especially in a world where expectations about the speed of change have reached new highs.  But rather than speculate on trends and following the migration across social media tools of whoever’s cool, it’s time to revisit some words of wisdom from the original management guru, Peter Drucker.

Organizations must be organized for innovation.  Using economist Joseph Schumpeter’s term “creative destruction,”  Drucker said companies should be:

organized for the systematic abandonment of whatever is established, customary, family and comfortable, whether that is a product, service, or process; a set of skills; human and social relationships; or the organization itself.  In short, itmust be organized for constant change.  The organization’s function is to put knowledge to work–on tools, products, and processes; on the design of work; on knowledge itself.  it is the nature of knowledge that it changes fast and that today’s certainties always become tomorrow’s absurdities.” (Drucker, 2006, p. 140)

Just because companies like Facebook, Twitter, and all the rest are using new technologies and breaking new ground, doesn’t mean they aren’t subject to the same needs for good management practices that cultivate innovation.  It will be up to Facebook’s management, not a few trendsetters, if Facebook is to stay prosperous and viable.
—
Drucker, P. (2006) Classic Drucker: Wisdom from Peter Drucker from the Pages of Harvard Business Review. Cambridge, Harvard Business Press.

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