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Egyptian Mau Rescue Organization
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The Myth of a Christian Nation:
How the Quest for Political Power
Is Destroying the Church
by Greg Boyd
COST OF IRAQ WAR
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The Myth of a Christian Nation:
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by Greg Boyd
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6 comments:
I'm one of the few people at our college who actually does teach a course via compressed video and I don't think this is representative of that form of distance learning at all.
I think Angie is right about the color choices being significant here. The point appears to be the the Internet and the television screen are the bright spots in our students' education, or at least that the focus is on them while the more traditional forms of education like books and personal contact with instructor and classmates are diminished.
It is true that books are less important today than in the past, but in history, this is not a deterioratiom of quality, but rather an enhancement. There are excellent resources of all types available for history students on the Internet. The most significant resources available to them today, that were not available years ago, are the collections of primary sources (eyewitness accounts) that research universities and government agencies are making available to the public online. Some of them, like the newly declassified documents released by the National Security Council on the Cuban Missile Crisis, throw new light on what actually took place at that time and students can share in the excitement of discovery. Since the documents are digital reproductions (photographs) of the originals, the form as well as the content is important. Students can see a report created on a standard typewriter from the 1960s, examine a memorandum typed in Russian, inspect a CIA report of a clandestine operation in Cuba, and compare reports of a TOP SECRET meeting between Attorney General Robert Kennedy and Russian Foreign Minister Dobrynin. So the quality of what students study has definitely improved.
Finally, the lack of human interaction represented here is also exaggerated. When I first agreed to teach this type of class, I wan't sure I'd like it and that's because I imagined myself in front of a camera talking to myself. In reality, that's not how it works. Members of the class are together in one or more locations and the instructor can see them on the television monitor and vice versa. Lectures and discussions are not very different from what students experience in a traditional classroom. And when they are, it's an improvement. Instructors may actually put more effort into communicating with students and encouraging them to participate because of the distance barrier. In addition, because distance learning equipment, including a fully equipped computer, makes it possible more easily to bring presentations, the Internet, CDs, and videos into the classroom, the lecture may be a lot more exiciting than in the past when students were required to listen to someone drone on for 45 minutes.
So on the whole, distance learning offers the potential for enhanced quality of education. The degree to which that is achieved will depend on the instructors, of course, but the ones I know are very serious about providing a high quality educational experience for their students. Consequently, I don't believe this sterile representation of distance learning is very accurate.
I love how art can stimulate discussion and controversy. ; ) Anybody else have any thoughts on this piece?
Perhaps "Distance Education" is a misnomer in the sense that it is treated as something as distinct from "regular" education. Isn't ALL education "at a distance," barring practicums, labs, and other experiencial learning? Worksheets and lectures often cover information that took place in other times and in other places with the distance of history and culture. Perhaps this artist should have used "distance" instead of a sparse environment as the operative form of her piece.
Edrene's point is well taken. From a purely practical point, the environment is unsuitable. The white would create major hot spots with a real videocamera trained on it, though the books are a standard background used in video productions (We used them for the College's TV show, produced at the Jones Center.)
Of course, this isn't purely representational art. I suspect the artist is attempting to contrast the idealistic nature and assumptions of the physical classroom with the vitality of distance learning. The white podium and shelves seem to have come right out of the proverbial ivory tower, and the books are symbolic of their importance in classical learning. Both of these classic images seem to convey a kind of sterility. In contrast with this rather dead, almost funerarial evironment, the images on the screen are lively and colorful and probably most important: moving and active.
The piece seems to be then, in a symbolic way, very critical of the "traditional" modes of learning and very optimistic about distance learning and technology.
very astute observations edrene and clint. : )
In online classes, when I read student discussion board posts, I have a ho-hum feeling when I read "I agree with you" and so on. What I'm looking for is the less frequent "I never saw it that way" because then I know that real learning is taking place.
Clint, that was an exciting interpretation. I really never saw it that way! What a fascinating way to look at that piece. I like it!
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