There was a story in the New York Times about online classes and programs this morning. It was interesting but mostly predictable. The teacher, it featured, taught from her dining room table in sweatpants and fuzzy slippers. Many of her students were international and the online format accomodated them. The article did mention that many students in many online programs spend more time on their classes than those in traditional settings because "class time" was not limited to a couple of hours per week.
The article also talks about the downside of online classes that students are limited to reading and discussing online and used an example of Irving Howe reading poems by Robert Frost in a class that the author had once had. I am not sure how many students have experiences like that but it does seem to be a limited view of online education. Students can download videos, audios and communicate via podcasts. For that matter, the limitations are mostly imposed by the teachers or students and not technology. Teachers have many options that they can use to communicate. For that matter, I still remember a grammar school class in which I first heard the words of Shakespeare spoken. It was 1959--I was 8 and the voice was Dorothy Tutin and the technology was a 78rpm record. When I think of Shakespeare, I still hear Tutin's voice.
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Thoughts on Library School
This post by Nicole Engard has been much discussed in the library student community. Many commenters have focused on the distance learning aspects of her experience while at least one commenter indicated that they thought the problems were with library education in general. I am currently in library school and in fact, in the Drexel online program. Some classes are more successful than others: some teachers are better, the content of some classes is more interesting and the students more engaged. Other classes are flat: everyone seems disengaged both the students and teacher and the topics themselves are not terribly exciting. However, I found this to be true in both my undergraduate and previous graduate (both face-to-face) experiences.
In fact, I find that the students in this program tend to be more helpful and supportive than those in my previous programs and I think that has much to do with the people who become librarians. In my other programs, classmates were rivals--it might be for jobs, assistantships or better grades, but I had several group experiences in the library program that while it might have been difficult starting the group--the feedback, the interactions were constructive and downright pleasant.
I came to library school via a large corporation where I managed up to 30 professional employees who were located all across the country. This group meetings happened over the phone or via net-meeting, communication was by phone or email and even performance reviews were conducted over the phone. To do this successfully, we all had to work to make our expectations clear--I checked email throughout the day and sent everybody a copy of my schedule at the beginning of the day so that they would know I might be in a meeting for several hours and not able to respond to email during that time. My group did the same for me. Was it ideal? No, but we figured out how to make it work and even work well. It also allowed us to focus on the work and not get so caught up in the usual workplace soap operas.
And, when this is done in distance education, it works well. Communication doesn't just happen and teamwork doesn't just happen either. I chose an online program for the convenience and because I thought it would make me a better librarian. We have new tools to use for collaboration and communication and while many libraries don't use these yet, they will need to consider them for the future. And, what better way to learn about the tools than to use them while learning
I usually find that even when I am taking a course, I don't love, I find something else to interest me. Maybe it will start me thinking about a new application for the library or I might use it as a springboard to develop project management skills and always it is an opportunity to improve my communication skills because communicating with your classmates only online means that you have to learn to be concise and clear in order to be understood by your classmates and teachers.
Like every other program I have been in, or every job that I have had, you can bring more to it than you need to get by. Since I started the library program, I have discovered library blogs and wikis and new forms of communication that expand what I learn in the classroom and I create opportunities to try those things out. I suppose that I could have done that without library school but I doubt that I would have and I certainly would not have had the professional opportunities that I have had.
In fact, I find that the students in this program tend to be more helpful and supportive than those in my previous programs and I think that has much to do with the people who become librarians. In my other programs, classmates were rivals--it might be for jobs, assistantships or better grades, but I had several group experiences in the library program that while it might have been difficult starting the group--the feedback, the interactions were constructive and downright pleasant.
I came to library school via a large corporation where I managed up to 30 professional employees who were located all across the country. This group meetings happened over the phone or via net-meeting, communication was by phone or email and even performance reviews were conducted over the phone. To do this successfully, we all had to work to make our expectations clear--I checked email throughout the day and sent everybody a copy of my schedule at the beginning of the day so that they would know I might be in a meeting for several hours and not able to respond to email during that time. My group did the same for me. Was it ideal? No, but we figured out how to make it work and even work well. It also allowed us to focus on the work and not get so caught up in the usual workplace soap operas.
And, when this is done in distance education, it works well. Communication doesn't just happen and teamwork doesn't just happen either. I chose an online program for the convenience and because I thought it would make me a better librarian. We have new tools to use for collaboration and communication and while many libraries don't use these yet, they will need to consider them for the future. And, what better way to learn about the tools than to use them while learning
I usually find that even when I am taking a course, I don't love, I find something else to interest me. Maybe it will start me thinking about a new application for the library or I might use it as a springboard to develop project management skills and always it is an opportunity to improve my communication skills because communicating with your classmates only online means that you have to learn to be concise and clear in order to be understood by your classmates and teachers.
Like every other program I have been in, or every job that I have had, you can bring more to it than you need to get by. Since I started the library program, I have discovered library blogs and wikis and new forms of communication that expand what I learn in the classroom and I create opportunities to try those things out. I suppose that I could have done that without library school but I doubt that I would have and I certainly would not have had the professional opportunities that I have had.
Bloody Harvests by Richard Kunzmann
One place where love of books and love of anthropology come together is in international mysteries. This particular sub-genre of mysteries is one of my favorites and I plan to write about international mysteries that I have read and enjoyed.
Bloody Harvests takes place in South Africa and features two detectives, Jacob Tshabalala, and Harry Mason. Tshabalala is a Christian who is from a family of tribal priests and healers and Harry Mason his partner was born in England and came to South Africa as a youngster. Both have secrets from each other and those secrets influence their behavior through this case.
Kunzmann shows us a South Africa in which history and old wounds piercethe present. The characters are credible and they fight a criminal who is mythic and uses his knowledge of tribal religion and healing and his own unusual appearance to construct a persona that frightens and controls the local population.
Kunzmann has a new book, Salamander Cotton, coming out which features Harry Mason again. It is being published in the U in mid-November.
Another South African author to explore is Deon Meyer who has had 3 books translated into English and published in the US. They include: Heart of the Hunter, Dead before Dying and Dead at Daybreak. Heart of the Hunter is particularly interesting because it touchesthe history of South Africa in the Cold War. Tiny, the lead character, the nickname for Thobela Mpayipheli, is a former anti-apartheid operative trained by the KGB. He races across the country to honor a promise he had made to an old friend. He is a wonderful character, a now-peaceful man who has to reach back into his old life and old skills to survive to fulfill his promise.
Both of these authors are worth reading--they have much to author as thriller writers but also as guides to an unfamiliar place and history.
Bloody Harvests takes place in South Africa and features two detectives, Jacob Tshabalala, and Harry Mason. Tshabalala is a Christian who is from a family of tribal priests and healers and Harry Mason his partner was born in England and came to South Africa as a youngster. Both have secrets from each other and those secrets influence their behavior through this case.
Kunzmann shows us a South Africa in which history and old wounds piercethe present. The characters are credible and they fight a criminal who is mythic and uses his knowledge of tribal religion and healing and his own unusual appearance to construct a persona that frightens and controls the local population.
Kunzmann has a new book, Salamander Cotton, coming out which features Harry Mason again. It is being published in the U in mid-November.
Another South African author to explore is Deon Meyer who has had 3 books translated into English and published in the US. They include: Heart of the Hunter, Dead before Dying and Dead at Daybreak. Heart of the Hunter is particularly interesting because it touchesthe history of South Africa in the Cold War. Tiny, the lead character, the nickname for Thobela Mpayipheli, is a former anti-apartheid operative trained by the KGB. He races across the country to honor a promise he had made to an old friend. He is a wonderful character, a now-peaceful man who has to reach back into his old life and old skills to survive to fulfill his promise.
Both of these authors are worth reading--they have much to author as thriller writers but also as guides to an unfamiliar place and history.
Labels:
books,
International mysteries,
South Africa
Why this blog?
I am in my third career and in graduate school for the second time. I bring to both of those years of education, professional experience and lifelong interests which makes my experience of my new career and my new graduate school experience slightly different from my colleagues in work and school.
After undergraduate school (BA in Anthropology) I worked at a family therapy clinic. However, it was not just a family therapy clinic but one of the best in the world and clinicians came from all over the world to train there. It was a fascinating experience and taught me about people, families, and how one could love one's work. And, it taught me about video which was my actual job.
I took a Master's in Technical and Scientific Communications and went to work at AT&T Bell Laboratories--I stayed at Bell Labs for 18 years through the various permutations of AT&T, finally retiring from Lucent Technologies. There, I learned more about people, organization, organizations, how to write books and how to manage people who wrote them.
Now, I am getting a Master's in Library Science and am working at a library in central New Jersey where I live. All of my lessons from the past are useful here and add to those a life-time love of reading and an interest in applying technology to make information accessible to people and I feel like I have arrived at the right time in the right profession.
This blog will be about libraries, graduate school, what I am reading and trends that I think can and should be applied to libraries and it is an opportunity to continue writing because communication is an important part of any job or school program.
After undergraduate school (BA in Anthropology) I worked at a family therapy clinic. However, it was not just a family therapy clinic but one of the best in the world and clinicians came from all over the world to train there. It was a fascinating experience and taught me about people, families, and how one could love one's work. And, it taught me about video which was my actual job.
I took a Master's in Technical and Scientific Communications and went to work at AT&T Bell Laboratories--I stayed at Bell Labs for 18 years through the various permutations of AT&T, finally retiring from Lucent Technologies. There, I learned more about people, organization, organizations, how to write books and how to manage people who wrote them.
Now, I am getting a Master's in Library Science and am working at a library in central New Jersey where I live. All of my lessons from the past are useful here and add to those a life-time love of reading and an interest in applying technology to make information accessible to people and I feel like I have arrived at the right time in the right profession.
This blog will be about libraries, graduate school, what I am reading and trends that I think can and should be applied to libraries and it is an opportunity to continue writing because communication is an important part of any job or school program.
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