This video mimics the mockumentary format of The Office (which, sadly, the teacher didn’t realize at first because she doesn’t watch that television show). We present it first beause it straightforwardly documents the conference and the students’ reactions to being there.
By Kenton Cody, Tom Raehl, Nick Walker, Julie Zei (with additional filming/ editing by Nick Walker and Matthew Wendling)
Abstract: In our portion of the chapter, we examine the relationship between professors who attended the 2008 Thomas R. Watson Conference and undergraduate students by analyzing the perceptions of students held by these professors. In an 8-minute video, we created a chronological retelling of our experiences attending Watson. We used background footage shot prior to attending the conference, session and interview footage from the conference itself, and our personal reflections on professors’ discussions of students—who were often spoken of in generic terms because we were an under-represented group at the conference. Our video shows that the integration of computers and digital technology in the classroom creates a barrier between professors and students, and that this barrier can be overcome by recognizing the ways in which professors create an unnecessary gap between themselves and their students.