Wide eye excitement

I've taught my current class for four years and it's amazing to watch the shift of the students in my classroom. Four years ago my students were interested in working for the web - but most students had plans to work traditional jobs in broadcast newsrooms. They wanted to be on air reporters, newscast producers and videographers. Very few had interest in web-based newsroom jobs. Four years ago, some of the students who wanted web-based jobs couldn't even find them. My how times have changed. In a rough economy, I've been happy to see many of my former students find amazing jobs. Some of the jobs are positions that had never existed before. My students are presenting skills to newsrooms and other businesses that aren't seen everywhere. They can shoot and edit video, convert and post it to websites, think visually by creating graphics or understanding enough to work with more techno-savvy flash designers to accomplish their interactive vision. My students understand how to use social media and they understand the challenge of building online relationships through social tools to deliver information. They've learned how important it is to be flexible and accept that this world is full of tools that are great now, but could easily change tomorrow. I'm pretty excited about the future and hope I can continue to keep up with it all so my students can be as informed and experienced as possible.