Saturday, November 13, 2010

Guest Post: What's your last lecture?

Guest Post by Harry Tennant

In one of Dan's recent posts, he talked about the Alice Project, begun by the late Randy Pausch, author of The Last Lecture. Randy knew he was dying and wanted to create one last lecture, not so much for the benefit of his students and colleagues but for the benefit of his own kids.

Randy's Last Lecture (over 12 million views on YouTube) generated a lot of interest in the notion of a last lecture, and many other academics created or at least considered the idea of a last lecture of their own. What would they say?

What would you say? In particular, what would you say to your students?

University professors like Randy are experts in their fields of specialization. But a last lecture is typically about LIFE. Randy Pausch's lecture wasn't about computer science, it was titled, Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams.

There's a lot of wisdom in Robert Fulghum's book, All I really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten. Here's what is particularly interesting about those involved in K12 education: you are involved in teaching the fundamental knowledge and skills necessary for living well. Since the "last lecture" typically is about insights on living well, it follows that K12 faculty, addressing their last lecture to their students, are particularly well suited to create an interesting last lecture.

So, what would your last lecture say?

Posted at 8:00 AM Keywords: by Harry Tennant , Last Lecture 3 Comments