A conversation with Gardner Campbell about the digital imagination

In this week’s ITConversations show I spoke with Gardner Campbell about how networked computers and human minds together can produce what he calls “the digital imagination.” I first met Gardner when he invited me to speak at the University of Mary Washington’s Faculty Academy, a high-energy gathering of instructional technologists. As Gardner mentioned on Twitter recently, the magic that’s happening at UMW is a team effort. Team members I’ve met include Jim Groom, Martha Burtis, Andy Rush, and Jerry Slezak. I don’t know whether their collective efforts efforts are creating a positive buzz for UMW outside the blogosphere, but they should be.

As for Gardner, well, here’s a guy who teaches everything from Milton to rock and roll to Ted Nelson. He’s creating a new kind of academic discipline that preaches but also practices information and media literacy. In this interview he explains clearly and passionately what that means, and why it matters.