Imaginative Bridges in Fashion

Impact of fashion on our lives is everywhere. Our ipads, ipods, laptops, school bags, shoes, have become symbols of style, access, status, and individuality. Fashion is about taping into peoples dreams and aspirations, but teaching can be the same. In the past education has not been held in this regard. Largely because the approach of educators has been to assume the role of the knowledge giver, and students have been forced to have a seat and listen. The crossroads between technology and education presents new opportunities to appeal to students in a new way. The availability of blogs, social media, and collaborative tools allow students to play a more active role in the learning than ever before. Society is becoming less and less dependent on traditional gatekeepers like academia, print, and broadcast news to the set agenda for how things should be. Students can choose their voices through blogs, tweets, and online communities. The new gatekeepers are the knowledge contributors themselves who rank and promote validity of the content they consume. The nexus between fashion and technology is relevancy. Using the right tool for the right time. A quote from our reading stated that fashion is in one year, and out the next. Likewise, technology has type of shelf life. Less that 10 years ago people were just catching on to the use of email. Today, email is the status quo, and is viewed an inferior form of communication in comparison to Twitter, Text Messaging, and Facebook.

Instructors can also apply lessons from fashion in the way they teach. For me my sense of humor has always been an asset that I use in the classroom. Other trainers have watched me teach, and commented to me that they wish they were able to be more humorous in the classroom. My advice to my colleagues is to identify their own strengths and play to them. If you are nice guy, you should wow your audience with your attention to their needs and follow-up. If you are a great storyteller, your analogies to bring simplicity to complex ideas. Teaching is just as much about style as any other profession.