Along these same lines, I'm taking exception to our statewide academic
senate's insistence that distance learning be held to "a higher standard."
Compared to what?
They require a distance ed curriculum form that asks instructors to
indicate what kind of interaction they will have with students (e.g.,
e-mail, videoconferencing, etc.) and further, they want us to explain HOW
exactly e-mail will be used, etc. Last time I checked, they didn't want
to know how we were using the telephone. And I've had my share of
face-to-face classroom experiences where I would seriously question
whether they were benchmarks for communication and interaction. I'm
betting that in ten years (or less), instructors will need to justify why
it is they insist students COME to campus rather than participate via
distance learning.
Forgive me. It's not that I don't value face-to-face interaction (or what
we sometimes sarcastically refer to as "sucking the same air"). I love
the classroom; it's been my professional life for 25 years, but there are
so many other ways to access information and to learn. As for our senate,
their position, carried to its extreme, just makes no sense to me.
Perhaps it is a case of growing pains. Harriett.
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