Playing with the medium: Teaching medium theory through an experiential process

ABSTRACT

While a new medium can enhance communication access by bringing back small group structures or access to local communities, it can also turn communal events such as dining out or drinks with friends into antisocial experiences. The social impact of a medium on the human experience is in part why McLuhan (McLuhan M. [1964b]. Understanding media: The extension of man. Boston, MA: MIT Press) asserts that it is the medium that is the message. Utilizing an active learning approach, this lesson highlights how medium theory developed, how these developments led to significant cultural changes, and seeks to cultivate “critical thinking-skills, and elicit [a] discovery and construction of knowledge” that emphasizes why the medium is the message (Krain M. [2010]. The effects of different types of case learning on student engagement. International Studies Perspectives, 11, 291–308; p. 292). To encourage an experiential learning process, students will actively engage with the sensory changes of each medium (i.e. oral, written/print, electronic, and interactive) through a singular narrative genre (e.g. Zombies).

Courses: Communication Theory, Media Theory, Media Literacy, Media History.

Objectives: Students will directly experience a medium and its influence on message processing and will critically analyze these experiences to improve both their understanding of medium theory and the sociocultural impacts that a medium can have.