Download as a Word doc: Widecast_Session_01-Discussion_Questions.doc
Questions for discussion time:
- Come up with a definition for beauty in your own words. Discuss this definition as a group.
- What media (movie, book or music album) has had the biggest impact on your life?
What was it? (Describe it for the group.)
Why did it have a big impact on your life? (Describe its message for the group and how that message affected you.)
Other general questions for one or two people to answer:
- What are some pieces of media or art works that you find beautiful? What do you think makes them beautiful?
- Do I have any preconceived notions about the area of media?
- How do I experience the media as place of spiritual battle?
- The talk ended with the idea that Christ should be glorified in all that we de, so what investment of time/treasure do you make in the area of media and entertainment?
- What sort of criteria do you use to decide your personal media intake?
Take-Home Exercise
- Think of a movie or album that you've seen/heard in the last month which affected you (positively or negatively)
- What is the ultimate vision/message of this work?
- What is true in it, what leads towards heaven?
- What is a distraction from or adversary to Christ and his truth?
- How does it portray Beauty? How is it Baloney?
- Find someone else in your circle of friends who is familiar with this work and have a discussion with them about your reflections on it.
Download as a Word doc: Widecast_Session_02-Discussion_Questions.doc
Slides for the session: Widecast02.ppt - 3.6MB
Questions for discussion time:
- What does the medium of facebook communicate?
- Spend a couple minutes on your own thinking about the criteria that a disciple should use to evaluate their relaxation and free time. Share them with the group
- As a group try to come up with a list of 3 criteria a student could use to evaluate their free time.
Other general questions you could use in the discussion time:
- What do you do escape and relax?
- How much time do you estimate you spend on leisure every week?
- What do you think of this “Media Inventory” exercise?
Discussion Guidelines for leaders:
The aim to have a discussion on what the form of media communicates (this should make more sense after you’ve heard the talk!) and also to take the third part of the talk (on our posture vis-à-vis the media) and apply it to our life as disciples. The application questions (2 and 3) are meant to be a bit of a group exercise to help everyone engage the material. You may need to ask some leading questions to get folks to think about this well.
There are a few other questions in this resource that get at other aspect of tonight’s session.
Remember you have 20 mins for discussion. We recommend you take a bit of time on the discussion on the form (medium) of facebook and then move on to 2 and 3. The last two questions will possibly me more engaging for conversation and discussion than the first one.
If you used last week’s “Take Home Exercise” – you way want to ask about how that went.
"Homework" for Session #2: Browsing History
As announced at the end of Widecast #2, we'd like you to try to record your Browsing History over a span of a few days.
How can you do this? Go ahead and consider these three options:
- Use a pad and paper or just an open word or text file to record roughly how you use the internet.
- Enable Google Web History (make sure to take the steps to enable "full web history" and install the google toolbar or, if you use Chrome, install "Google Web History Updater"
- At the end of your time, just open your browser history and scroll through it, looking for trends.
When you look back at your browsing history, consider these questions:
- What effect did your browsing have on you? Can you look at sections of your browsing history and describe why you browsed the way that you did?
- If an alien were to look at my browsing history, what would he/it/she think?
- Would it be ok for someone like my own grandmother to see my browsing history?
- Are you willing to share at the next Widecast about this experience?
Download as a Word doc: Widecast_Session_03-Discussion_Questions.doc
Slides for the session: Widecast03.ppt - 4MB
Questions for discussion time:
- Can anyone share about their browsing history review (even in-light of today's presentation about simplicity)?
- Has anyone ever experienced a longing for simplicity? Can you describe that to us?
- Do you want to make a purge-pact with anyone tonight? (and are you willing to put it on your status on FB?) What types of things are you going to purge?
Other general questions you could use in the discussion time:
- How would you define simplicity in your own words?
- How was your own definition of simplicity different from what Brian gave us?
- How does thinking of simplicity as a compass or a tool help you apply “simplicity principles” in your own life?
- To what degree are you dependent on media?
- Do you know anyone who lives a lifestyle of "radical simplicity?" How is their life different because of their lifestyle choices?
Questions for sharing groups or d-group settings:
- Is there anyone in your life with whom you share about your media problems?
- Are there areas or patterns of sin in your life regarding media? (we recommend you share about this with someone you trust)
Practice recommendation: media and entertainment inventory and purge
- Most of us have all sorts of media available to, and even owned by us.
- Do we need all this?
- Can we get rid or give away some of it?
- Do the movies, CDs, etc I own help me as a disciple? If not should I keep them?
- Do the movies, CDs etc. I own hurt my discipleship? If so why keep them?
- Do I currently have any illegal materials that I should, in good conscience, delete for good?
Download as a Word doc: Widecast_Session_04-Discussion_Questions.doc
Slides for the session: Widecast04.ppt - 0.4MB
Questions for discussion time:
- Describe a good experience of multitasking - Describe an epic failure due to multi-tasking.
- What are some courtesy guidelines we can all agree upon for our communication?
- What does the greatest commandment have to say about how I communicate with others?
Other general questions you could use in the discussion time:
- Do you like multi-tasking, do you think you’re good at it?
- Love. Do you think it’s a good idea? Can you think of any songs about love?
Practice recommendation: Communications Audit Exercise for NEXT WEEK
- List the different means of communication that you use the most
- Rank them in your effectiveness to love others
- Does this affect the communication means that I use?
Download as a Word doc: Widecast_Session_05-Discussion_Questions.doc
Slides for the session: Widecast05.ppt - 2.9MB
Questions for discussion time:
- Which "C" do we think students around us (or we in UCO) gravitate towards the most (Condemn, Copy, Critique, Consume)?
- Can someone share about an idea about how to cultivate media that conforms to Philippians 4:8?
- Do you feel your view of or approach to the media has changed in the past 5 weeks? Is there something that should change in your life? Can someone share about that?
Other general questions you could use in the discussion time:
- Do I ever default to any of these four areas when it comes to media? Which one(s)?
- Is my posture toward media primarily active or passive?
- Where do I think I am supposed to create and make beautiful? What sort of "cultivation" type activities do I have in my life?
- What should I take away from this series in order to be a more committed and mature disciple? What practical changes should I consider?
- What have you learned in this series that had the most impact on your understanding of media?
- Will beauty save the world?