Number One In The Class

by Jack Begert

As most of us know, Greg White is one of the most incredible, knowledge-hungry, and hardworking students at Bronxville High School. Thus, it may come as no surprise that Greg is currently the only student in a practically unknown course: Digital Communications.

‘Digital Communications?! What does that mean?!’ you may ask.

“Well,” explained Greg, “It’s this class where we learn about how technology is changing the world and stuff like that.”

As I sat in on one of the sessions, I began to understand why Greg had struggled to say definitively what the class was about. Mr. Fink, the teacher of the course, uses a unique blend of past, present, and future to explain the science and society behind global communication. As I entered the computer lab where the class is held, Mr. Fink and Greg were in the middle of an intense discussion regarding the current state of hard-copy newspapers. After Mr. Fink explained the history of the news business, he and Greg debated the benefits of a digital medium for all news.

Fink says that his class prepares the new generation for the world they will create.

“In the olden days, you used to read what big shots wrote in books or newspapers,” he explained, “Now, anyone’s voice can be heard.”

He’s right. Over the past few years, the Internet has given rise to a new form of communication that allows anyone to have his or her time in the spotlight and to get his or her message out. The video “Evolution of Dance” has more hits than the New York Times has readers, and in this rapidly shrinking world, courses like these will be more and more crucial to making the technological transitions of the future run smoothly.

Mr. Fink also spoke about something else that was interesting: A transition from a text based web to a more multimedia-centered experience.

“Pictures will take the place of links,” said Fink.

This may be an exaggeration, but it is true that Web 3.0, the next step in the development of the Internet, will be much more than text coding and wordy pages. New innovations and ideas will change the human experience online forever.

“Digital Communications is great,” says Greg, “but I wish more kids took the class.” Apparently there were originally a few other students, but they mysteriously dropped out after a few months. I can’t really see why. The class I sat in on was interesting, enjoyable and incredibly relevant to the world today.