No offense intended but often I get the feeling that Louis is the only one who has an interest in and the ability to engage and make connections with students. The rest of us must be Ben Stein-type lecturers who drone on endlessly and never respond to our students.
Subject: Tipster in the NY Times
From: "Aubyn Fulton" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: Sat, 4 Jan 2003 22:10:10 -0800
X-Message-Number: 3
Miguel wrote...
Louis Schmier has published a letter in today's issue of the NY Times. ...
The gist of Louis' letter was that students are bored in class because their instructors have been trained as researchers and not teachers, an idea that Louis has articulated more than once on TIPS. (SNIP)
I also have to disagree with Louis's ascertion that professors aren't trained in classroom teaching. I've been through two programs (one at a regional university, and another at a research I institution) and both had at least one required and one optional course on classroom teaching techniques. In both courses future professors practiced teaching and get lots of feedback from the instructor, their fellow classmates and the students they taught. Maybe I'm just lucky and Texas is the only state requiring this but I really doubt it. Sure, we all have our own experiences with less than enthusiastic lecturers and have probably witnessed some of our colleagues but, I dare say that vast majority of professors that I encounter at conferences and through correspondence are always looking for ways to improve student learning.
More to the point, just because students who have laptops in class are doing things other than "class work" does not mean they are bored. At the University of Texas we've installed a wireless network in our education building (as well as elsewhere on campus) and initiated a program where all student in the professional sequence of k-12 teaching must have a laptop that can access the network. I observed many students checking schedules, completing assignments, emailing, and even one student arranging travel. The point is that many of today's students are very used to instant communication. As such, they communicate when ever the opportunity arises. Just not how the cell phones pop out the moment class is over. I have to admit that if I had a laptop in class with access to the Internet, I know that I would be doing some non-class related surfing. It's part of the multitasking habit that many of us have gotten used to.
What all of this means is that the future of education is changing rapidly before our eyes. Before we've had time to recover from the futureshock of cell phone and alphanumeric pagers here comes full fledge high powered fully networked computers into our classrooms and outside of our control.
But that's just my opinion...or is it?
--
Herb Coleman
IT Manager, Rio Grande Campus
Adjunct Psychology Professor
Austin Community College
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
512-223-3076
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* "I wish none of this had happened." *
* *
* "So do all who live to see such times. *
* But that is not for them to decide. *
* All we have to decide is what to do *
* with the time that is given to us. *
* There are other forces at work in this *
* world,..., besides the will of evil." *
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A conversation between Frodo and Gandalf
from the motion picture "The Fellowship of the Ring"
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