HAVE YOU FIGURED OUT THE SECOND HEAD FAKE?

#SMED 11

Carnegie Mellon Professor Randy Pausch (Oct. 23, 1960 -- July 25, 2008) gave his last lecture at the university Sept. 18, 2007, before a packed McConomy Auditorium. In his moving presentation, “Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams,” Pausch talked about his lessons learned and gave advice to students on how to achieve their own career and personal goals.
At the time of this lecture in September 2007, Randy had been given six months to live. He died of pancreatic cancer in July 2008. http://www.conradaskland.com/blog/2008/11/randy-pausch-last-lecture-achieving-your-childhood-dreams/

The last lecture was filled with memorable quotations i.e
• Most of what we learn, we learn indirectly (or by “head fake”).

• The best way to “head fake” someone in education, is to have them learn
something while they think they are learning something else.

• The final “head fake” of this entire lecture: This lecture is not about how
to achieve your dreams, it’s about how to lead your life. If you lead your
life the right way, the karma will take care of itself, the dreams will
come to you.

• Have you figured out the second head fake? This talk is not for you, it’s
for my kids…


Taking into account the various mentions of “head fakes” it made me ponder about the real purpose of our social media lectures and the weekly assignments in which we have to produce two blogs per week.

I’d like to believe that I’ve figured out our lecturer's “head fake” which to me is indirect learning :

These weekly blogs are not at all about developing our writing skills – the real lesson (or ‘head fake’) here is that in doing so, it opens up a whole new online world ranging from researching topics, growth in personal knowledge as well as developing our online marketing and communication skills.

To give substance to my argument, I am confident that only a handful of students knew about Randy Pausch’s last lecture. Whilst the topic initially sounds baffling, online research opens a world of knowledge and informed blog writing.

I believe I also figured out the second 'head fake'. The blogs are not about me, writing skills, learning and growth. It’s about spending time with, observing and writing about family, friends, anything and everything . There’s a world out there waiting to be scripted and we are the word architects. I might be a long way from becoming a blockbuster writer, but writing blogs has given me the opportunity to channel new-found creativity – finding my inner Shakespeare!

In conclusion, whilst the topic is open to various interpretation, on a personal level the ‘have you figured out the second head fake’ represents the multitude of opportunities linked to studying social media.

I cannot wait for the next sports event, function or family get-together. I don’t know what it will be, but the topic of a subsequent blog will present itself. So confident am I – because I’ve figured out the second head fake !