Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Has the internet made me redundant?
I’ve been listening to the BBC Channel Four's marvelous series on a 100 objects that changed the world and it has raised an existential dilemma for me. I teach World Civilizations, but I am not an expert on world history, and I don’t do as good a job as this free, easy-to-download podcast does. So why shouldn't I just play the podcast for my students and shut up? Is the new media making our jobs redundant or are there ways I can use the new media to make myself more relevant?
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1 comment:
So true, Andrew. It seems to me that this is the perfect example of the benefits of oral communication, though. Even if it is the best podcast, there's always the chance that the student doesn't "get it" (perfect time for questions/interaction), that something has happened recently that makes this even more relevant/less relevant (time for discussion), that it connects to a recent conversation in class (discussion), etc. So, I think your job is secure, but this is a good indication that we might be able to really improve the quality of our classes by paying more attention to new media. What do others think?
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