thoughts on the news of the day: the joy of discovery

hmmm…..

            When is a snow day not a snow day?  Thanks to technology, educators are finding ways to teach in spite of the inability of students to attend classes because of the weather.  Web casts in many schools and colleges enable professors and teachers to send lectures, homework and other items of importance via facebook, skype or just plain old email.  On a snowy January 20th, schools in Cincinnati, Ohio met via internet as part of a pilot study. In St. Louis, one school taught math, English, Chinese and History even though they were closed due to the weather.  And in good weather or bad, it is becoming increasingly popular for schools to skype classes to students who are unable to be in class because of illness.

            On the other hand, my seminary has resisted the jump into the virtual classroom world.  You could say this is partly due to economics, but there is a more important reason for the delay.  In seminaries, one of the components to our education is learning to live in community.  We do this with study groups, chapel services and small classroom settings.  In our seminary, professors still call you by name and know your family and even your home town.

            It’s been clearly proven that online classes work for some folks some of the time.  But there is something special about sitting with a group of folks and wrestling with a problem.  Working together, in person and as a team makes learning a lot easier and a lot more fun.  I’m not sure where virtual learning is leading us, but I hope that we never lose the excitement of meeting others in the joy of discovery and enlightenment.

            hmmm…..