Friday
Sep212007
469 - A Last Lecture of a Lifetime - Moving, Smiles and Inspiring
September 21, 2007
Learning TRENDS by Elliott Masie - Sept 21, 2007.
#469 - Updates on Learning, Business & Technology.
53,788 Readers - http://www.masie.com - The MASIE Center.
Host of Learning 2007 - Oct 21-24 - Orlando, Florida, USA.
--- Over 1,749 Colleagues Registered Already ---
A Last Lecture: Randy Pausch Video Game Professor - Carnegie Mellon.
Here is a touching, moving and bittersweet item for us in the learning
field: http://www.masieweb.com/lasttalk
There is a trend to ask thought leaders to present a "Last Lecture" at colleges, delivering the presentation they would do if it were the last one in their lives.
However, Randy Pausch's was quite different. Randy is one of the pioneers in Video Game Education and a professor at Carnegie Mellon. He was asked to present a "Last Lecture". Here is the report from the Wall Street Journal about this talk:
"Dr. Pausch's speech was more than just an academic exercise. The 46-year-old father of three has pancreatic cancer and expects to live for just a few months. His lecture, using images on a giant screen, turned out to be a rollicking and riveting journey through the lessons of his life.
He began by showing his CT scans, revealing 10 tumors on his liver. But after that, he talked about living. If anyone expected him to be morose, he said, "I'm sorry to disappoint you." He then dropped to the floor and did one-handed pushups."
"He paid tribute to his techie background. "I've experienced a deathbed conversion," he said, smiling. "I just bought a Macintosh." Flashing his rejection letters on the screen, he talked about setbacks in his career,
repeating: "Brick walls are there for a reason. They let us prove how badly we want things." He encouraged us to be patient with others. "Wait long enough, and people will surprise and impress you." After showing photos of his childhood bedroom, decorated with mathematical notations he'd drawn on the walls, he said: "If your kids want to paint their bedrooms, as a favor to me, let 'em do it."
"While displaying photos of his bosses and students over the years, he said that helping others fulfill their dreams is even more fun than achieving your own. He talked of requiring his students to create videogames without sex and violence. "You'd be surprised how many 19-year-old boys run out of ideas when you take those possibilities away, but they all rose to the challenge."
"He then spoke about his legacy. Considered one of the nation's foremost teachers of videogame and virtual-reality technology, he helped develop "Alice," a Carnegie Mellon software project that allows people to easily create 3-D animations. It had one million downloads in the past year, and usage is expected to soar."
A short video report on the speech is available at:
http://www.masieweb.com/lasttalk
The complete speech is available here:
http://www.etc.cmu.edu/global_news/?q=node/42
If you were to give your Last Talk, what would it be? I'd love to hear from you about this at emasie@maasie.
Thanks to John Abele, our colleague and MASIE Learning Fellow, for passing this on to us.
Recent PodCasts and Demonstrations:
Dan Pink PodCast: http://www.learning2007.com/danpink
Learning Changes Video: http://www.learning2007.com/changes
Social Networking Demo: http://www.learning2007.com/social
Upcoming MASIE Center Events:
* Learning 2007: Oct 21 to 24 - Orlando, Florida.
* Membership in our Learning CONSORTIUM.
Information at http://www.masie.com
Email for Elliott to emasie@masie.com
#469 - Updates on Learning, Business & Technology.
53,788 Readers - http://www.masie.com - The MASIE Center.
Host of Learning 2007 - Oct 21-24 - Orlando, Florida, USA.
--- Over 1,749 Colleagues Registered Already ---
A Last Lecture: Randy Pausch Video Game Professor - Carnegie Mellon.
Here is a touching, moving and bittersweet item for us in the learning
field: http://www.masieweb.com/lasttalk
There is a trend to ask thought leaders to present a "Last Lecture" at colleges, delivering the presentation they would do if it were the last one in their lives.
However, Randy Pausch's was quite different. Randy is one of the pioneers in Video Game Education and a professor at Carnegie Mellon. He was asked to present a "Last Lecture". Here is the report from the Wall Street Journal about this talk:
"Dr. Pausch's speech was more than just an academic exercise. The 46-year-old father of three has pancreatic cancer and expects to live for just a few months. His lecture, using images on a giant screen, turned out to be a rollicking and riveting journey through the lessons of his life.
He began by showing his CT scans, revealing 10 tumors on his liver. But after that, he talked about living. If anyone expected him to be morose, he said, "I'm sorry to disappoint you." He then dropped to the floor and did one-handed pushups."
"He paid tribute to his techie background. "I've experienced a deathbed conversion," he said, smiling. "I just bought a Macintosh." Flashing his rejection letters on the screen, he talked about setbacks in his career,
repeating: "Brick walls are there for a reason. They let us prove how badly we want things." He encouraged us to be patient with others. "Wait long enough, and people will surprise and impress you." After showing photos of his childhood bedroom, decorated with mathematical notations he'd drawn on the walls, he said: "If your kids want to paint their bedrooms, as a favor to me, let 'em do it."
"While displaying photos of his bosses and students over the years, he said that helping others fulfill their dreams is even more fun than achieving your own. He talked of requiring his students to create videogames without sex and violence. "You'd be surprised how many 19-year-old boys run out of ideas when you take those possibilities away, but they all rose to the challenge."
"He then spoke about his legacy. Considered one of the nation's foremost teachers of videogame and virtual-reality technology, he helped develop "Alice," a Carnegie Mellon software project that allows people to easily create 3-D animations. It had one million downloads in the past year, and usage is expected to soar."
A short video report on the speech is available at:
http://www.masieweb.com/lasttalk
The complete speech is available here:
http://www.etc.cmu.edu/global_news/?q=node/42
If you were to give your Last Talk, what would it be? I'd love to hear from you about this at emasie@maasie.
Thanks to John Abele, our colleague and MASIE Learning Fellow, for passing this on to us.
Recent PodCasts and Demonstrations:
Dan Pink PodCast: http://www.learning2007.com/danpink
Learning Changes Video: http://www.learning2007.com/changes
Social Networking Demo: http://www.learning2007.com/social
Upcoming MASIE Center Events:
* Learning 2007: Oct 21 to 24 - Orlando, Florida.
* Membership in our Learning CONSORTIUM.
Information at http://www.masie.com
Email for Elliott to emasie@masie.com
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