The Emergent Media Center at Burlington Vermont's Champlain College is one of the more innovative programs at one of the most entrepreneurial schools I have ever seen.
Champlain is a relatively small school in a relatively small town. I had the great pleasure of visiting there last December with some colleagues and experts in education to have a meeting devoted to expanding the appeal and effectiveness of the National History Club using emergent media. Before joining President Dave Finney and some faculty for dinner, I was given a tour of the campus.
The classrooms were designed to meet the specifications of professors. The school seeks out entrepreneurial students, and they even have a BYOB (bring your own business) program that only accepts proven entrepreneurs. There is a real community feeling throughout, as well. That's what amazes me most about the place. Of all the gadgetry and forward thinkery; the people there are focused on people, and explore gaming and other technologies as a part of a much bigger purpose...
At John Abele's Game Change Summit at The Kingbridge Centre last year, several of the faculty and students from Champlain joined us, and ran demos and offered presentations. I had the chance to speak with one of the students (Tony!) who was demonstrating World of Warcraft. It was incredible to learn how this game that so many stigmatize as antisocial actually empowered this bright guy to become a better communicator and collaborator. In this safe environment, he developed his skills as a leader by rallying others to accomplish missions. More on MMORPG's later - the point is that Champlain knows what emergent media can do, and they're advancing the field and advancing the people who will advance it further than we can imagine.
I strongly endorse the EMC blog authored by friend, colleague, altogether great person and leading researcher in the field; Ann DeMarle.
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