this is something...

that i will have to 'deal' with next semester, and that is distance learning. it is something that hubert dreyfus speaks out against, especially in dealings with philosophy. as a link from warbuton's blog, the l.a. times wrote an article about lecture's and ipods.

so the question becomes...how am i able to lecture philosophy to a distant learning class? part of the problem is that i do not like to lecture philosophy, rather i want to discuss philosophy through the readings. but now next semester i have a intro. class where not only am i in front of a class, but also being televised to a group of students who will watch the lecture at home. so as dreyfus argues...where is the 'face-to-face'? where is the discussion?

because i like discussion, i now have to 'dive' into the technology aspect; which i am not a big fan of. and that being the discussion board. i will set up a discussion board for the class; where then they will be able to ask questions, talk with other students, and more importantly myself. and i'm not a big fan of discussion boards. for various reasons. have you ever tried to follow a discussion on one of those? i have had a couple of 'on-line courses', and often had a hard time following what was being said, especially if the 'strand' goes on for a while.

now as far as the ipod thing...i do listen to podcasts that deal with philosophy. however; these are for my own enjoyment, and 'professional' enjoyment. often listening to relevant ones before a lecture, to get the 'mind set', or pose new questions to the students. i was even vindicated by one of them. [the short story is that i disagreed with a professor of mine, and she said i was wrong, but never really gave me a reason for my mistake (nice thing to do in philosophy class), but now years later one of the podcast proved me right by someone who (as i would hold) is more 'steeped' in the tradition that we were discussing.] so there is a benefit to the podcasts; however no interaction. i am unable to ask given questions, and hope that the 'interview' (because that is all that they really are) is complete, in a sense the understanding that i get. also, the understanding that the podcast is only going to cover a given amount of the topic.

so as i type this...my itunes has just finished downloading dreyfus' podcasts on heidegger...let's hear what there is to learn.

[shalom...]