I have seen the future of journalism. I know it is the future of journalism, because I was the only adult in the room.

It was 8 a.m. yesterday at the fall conference of the Journalism Education Association and the National Student Press Association. Students had undoubtedly been up late the night before (I doubt whether serious attention had been paid to the midnight curfew), but there was a small gathering of students in a large convention center meeting room intently listening to a journalism instructor who didn't look much older than the students. She was presenting a session on digital media.

Megan McNames, an instructor at Ball State University, wasn't talking about taking existing forms of media and posting them to the net. She wasn't talking about writing articles or blogging or recording interviews or podcasts, which are all being taught as cutting-edge amongst journalists and educators these days. 

Instead, she was talking about transmedia, crowd sourcing and alternate reality games. At first I found myself thinking, "What could all of this have to do with journalism?" But I was there, because I'd been puzzling over how to use alternate reality such as Second Life to immerse students in dilemmas involving journalism ethics. Even I have to admit that my journalism ethics lectures this fall have been a big bore.

I came away from McNames' session consumed with an overwhelming desire to learn Flash so that I, too, can design games. I want to design games that teach, and I want to design games that inform. And I want to design engaging games, not "I have to play this, because my teacher says it's educational" games. McNames and the students were so inspiring.

What I want to know is, though -- with all the hand wringing going on amongst journalists and educators about the future of journalism and journalism education -- where were the other adults? I know they weren't sleeping in late Saturday morning, because I saw them out in the hallways and in the other conference rooms. But I didn't see them in this conference room. Only the kids. Early. On Saturday morning.

Our education professors in my Master of Arts in Teaching program keep reminding us that if you really want to know how to teach, what you need to do is to stop lecturing and start listening to the kids.

So why were all those adults out roaming the hallways at the conference? Why weren't they in that room?

The kids don't have it all figured out yet, but they're on to something, and they will be using that something to create the future in which we will all be living. 

By the way, if you want to see an example of the type of informational and educational gaming I'm talking about, take a look at the "Budget Puzzle" in this morning's online edition of the New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/11/13/weekinreview/deficits-graphic.html?hp

The future is here. Now. Come play with us.