Site looks good. Joanna
----- Original Message ----- Years past I taught high school English and community college computerology but these days I give workshops on ukulele playing techniques. I recently came upon an on-line university along the lines of wiki called Udemy. It's stated purpose is to disrupt the education system. I have decided to plunge into it. I created a coupon for pen-l folks who want to check it out (for free). Just go to http://www.udemy.com/play-ukulele/?couponCode=Penl153624 It expires June 12. Dan Scanlan Sent from my iPhone On Jun 8, 2012, at 7:56 PM, michael perelman <[email protected]> wrote: > Shortly after reading John E. Chubb and Terry M. Moe's "Higher > Education's Online Revolution" (op-ed, May 31), I received two emails. > One, from my department chair, informed me that due to the popularity > of my upcoming online summer school class, I was being offered the > "opportunity" to turn it into a "megaclass" with an enrollment cap > lifted from 60 to 90 students. My compensation would increase by > $1,200 (i.e., $40 per student) to a total of $5,712. (Were I teaching > such "megaclasses" online full time, after 21 years as a teacher, I > would be earning $68,544 a year.) > > The other email was from a former student requesting a letter of > recommendation—one of the many uncompensated, time-consuming tasks > that teachers have, and mostly fulfill, willingly. He had come to see > me the past week so that I could refresh my four-year-old memory of > him and his excellent work in the classroom, which included an > exemplary final exam essay that I had critiqued and returned to him. > > When Messrs. Chubb and Moe write that their "revolution" includes a > concept of "face-to-face interactions" within a "community of > scholars," they ignore the reality of what's going on. There is no way > I will have much, if any, "face to face" interaction with 90 online > students. And there is no way, period, they will have "face to face" > interaction with each other. There is also no way I would have the > time to read and critique 90 weekly essays, a midterm and a final > paper, much less discuss them "face-to-face." > > What's really going on is the outsourcing of the educatonal experience > to for-profit corporations that provide testing and technical > tools—sometimes excellent, sometimes badly flawed—to those involved in > education. > > What's being lost is the human dimension, a key to elucidation, > inquiry, informed thought and education since, well, Jesus and > Socrates, to name only two. > > Larry Bensky > > California State University, East Bay > > Hayward, Calif. > > -- > Michael Perelman > Economics Department > California State University > Chico, CA > 95929 > > 530 898 5321 > fax 530 898 5901 > http://michaelperelman.wordpress.com > _______________________________________________ > pen-l mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
_______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
