fessionally, but also in globally responsible ways.

So what should these new, unconstrained outcomes be? That can’t be answered here, but perhaps to find an answer it’s easier to start by defining what those outcomes should not be. Hearing these criticisms will be difficult to those familiar with or invested in the status quo. To those skeptical that such an awareness of social consciousness is possible within the minds of the next generation, it may be necessary to remind them periodically that it is far less painful to hear and proactively engage new ideas, even if they are occasionally naive, than to be forced to reactively engage the plethora of new threats that are certainly forthcoming.

miracle is waiting just around the next corner. Our encouragement of students’ rejection of the status quo, along with their ignorance of the “rules,” and what they should not do, may provide them with the motivation to create new solutions and perhaps do what we’ve long assumed impossible.

Wide-Eyed Ideology

A final point: It’s time to actively engage students in the conversation. They know that the current didactic structure is, at best, deficient in terms of what it can provide, not just toward their individual futures, but their collective ones as well. At worst, the model is completely self-serving to the generation that created it and perpetuates it. In the field of interaction design, if such a remaking of thinking can be done, it is not, nor will it ever be, done with the extrinsic objects and things that we make. It is not about more object-making; rather, it will be in how we think about our interactions with each other to better support life and its intrinsic qualities.

On a micro level, as those keenly interested in personal interactions and as consumers of technology, many students

are painfully aware of the gap between the curriculum on the printed catalog page and the interactions they enjoy in everyday life. On a macro level, students are also painfully aware of the gap between technology and its service to their own lifestyles as they see them extended into the future. Students are very cognizant that thinking needs to turn away from reliance on old consumerist models based on, for one thing, ideas of plentiful energy. Their level of sensitivity to environmental issues is a priority, but other considerations should address the problems with creating new objects for the sake of being new alone. Being technology-centric in design for no reason other than serving the egos of creators and/or users undermines the importance of seeking humane connections with technology so as to have it serve us, rather than the other way around.

Those old dogs in academia should try to look back to their own idealism and optimism about changing the world, even in the face of what will certainly be some difficult decision making and, indeed difficult times. Making a honest commitment to educational change will not only allow for a change in values through the dissemination of new knowledge, but will also produce a generation of students prepared to lead the world in solving the crisis facing, and built by, humanity.

In other words, we need to embrace students’ implicit and sometimes anecdotal understandings of the problems we’ve created, rather than denying that these problems exist or pretending that a technological

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Kevin Conlon earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of South Alabama and his Master of Fine Arts from The Ohio State University. He has been a faculty member at the Savannah College of Art and Design since 1996, teaching design, drawing and sculpture, and has served as the college’s dean of undergraduate studies since 2004. In addition to his work at the college, Conlon has also served as a professional consultant in the field of architectural restoration, historic foundry work, and new media applications in foundation studies; he has presented workshops and papers at the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the College Art Association. Working as a professional artist for almost 25 years, Conlon has recently completed several commissions. More information about Conlon and his work can be found at http://employeepages.scad. edu/~kconlon/ index.htm.

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March + April 2008