What Can We Learn From Randy Pausch?

In Randy Pausch Last Lecture at Carnegie-Mellon University was very enlightening to listen to. We can learn a lot about teaching and life from his last lecture. In the beginning of his lecture he talks about his childhood dreams of being a Disney Imaginer, experiencing zero Gravity, and being able to play in the NFL.He was able to achieve two of these dreams throughout his life. Unfortunately he was not able to become an NFL player. Throughout his lecture he talks about teaching and learning. A few good points that he brought up can be used in all aspects of education. One of the best points he made was something he referred to as "head-fake" education. He uses the example of sending your child to play football. when you send your child to play football the main goal is not that they learn football but that they learn how to work as a team and build confidence in themselves. This is a "head-fake", it is teaching the students something with out them realizing that they are learning. Pausch described a graduate course that a colleague and him self started at Carnegie-Mellon University. This program was a Project Based Learning curriculum where the students would have a series of projects working in groups to develop virtual worlds. Having the students make virtual worlds in groups allowed them to learn different types of code and how to create different worlds with the students thinking that all they were learning was how to create virtual vide games or movies. As educators there is nothing greater than seeing your students fully engaged and having fun while learning. "Head-fake" learning is a great way to do this.

Another great thing we can learn as educators from Randy Pausch Last Lecture is that when you can never under estimate your students. Pausch talks about the first Project Based assignment he gave his students. When his students show him their results he is stunned he has to call on his mentor for advice. He ask his mentor what he should say to them ad his mentor tells him to tell his students that they did great but he thinks they can do better. This teaches us that setting a bar for students to reach can hold some students back. If you don't set a bar for your students to reach they will surprise you at how how far they can go.

Throughout his lecture he talked about how many times he would hit brick walls while trying to reach his dreams. What he says about brick walls and their purpose could not be more true. Pausch states "Brick walls are not there to stop us. They are there so that we can show how badly we want something". This quote resinates with me. It tells us that as teachers we will meet brick walls while trying to educate our students. We should not give up when we hit these walls. we should try harder to help our students and guide them so that they can get the most out of their education. After listening to this lecture I have new views on life and how to reach my goals and dreams. I am very glad i was introduced to this lecture.