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Re: [xmca] The business of education



Larry

In our curriculum teachers are seen to be  mediators of many things - quite
daunting in fact.  They have about seven roles, and one of them is
"critical" thinking, but teachers are also expected to communicate
attitudes, values and beliefs.  Sure we have a reconstructive curriculum,
given our past, but if you remember your best teacher in some cases like
math, they were brilliant, but otherwise they are teachers who helped
develop your confidence, to challenge you, to always be on the side of the
underdog and so on. Teachers who believed in you when things became taxing
 I can remember all my school teachers, and quite frankly (and I went to a
very small school) I know what I learned though twelve grades, and each
teacher too. It was an Anglican (Episcopalian) school.

Then I went to a very large university -- I know all the lecturers who
taught me, and the ones for whom I really worked because I was inspired by
them . I have a knapsack of memories that travels with me.

Perhaps because this society is rebuilding itself (and when we aching to do
so) that such views are particularly salient. Those of us who fought to
change society before 1990 were totally committed to human rights.

Carol



On 30 July 2013 20:52, Larry Purss <lpscholar2@gmail.com> wrote:

> " replaced by the calculus of perpetual monitoring"
> Promoted as an *ideal* to strive for.
>
> Carol, how central is *teachers mediating ethics and relationships* to
> their role description?
> This article by proposing a particular *solution* and *method* to promote
> *education*has given one answer to your question.
> Larry
>
>
> On Tue, Jul 30, 2013 at 10:46 AM, Huw Lloyd <huw.softdesigns@gmail.com
> >wrote:
>
> > " One definite perk for instuctors: the software does most of the grading
> > for them."
> >
> > Looks like the machine has been there a long time, Carol.
> >
> > Huw
> >
> > On 30 July 2013 17:37, Carol Macdonald <carolmacdon@gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > > We already have young people who only know how to talk to people over
> > their
> > > social media and not those next to them. Now we don't have the teachers
> > > mediating ethics and values in their relationships with their learners.
> > > Perhaps the new generation will only be able to mediate their
> > relationships
> > > of every kind through machines - are those relationships with people
> > going
> > > to survive this assault.
> > >
> > > (The epistemology of learning as linear is a huge problem, but its
> > effects
> > > on relationships that are more dangerous.)
> > >
> > > Carol
> > >
> > > On 30 July 2013 15:26, Wagner Luiz Schmit <wagner.schmit@gmail.com>
> > wrote:
> > >
> > > > Hello,
> > > >
> > > > This just came out:
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > >
> >
> http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=how-big-data-taking-teachers-out-lecturing-business
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > Wagner
> > > >
> > > > On Wed, May 22, 2013 at 10:30 AM, mike cole <lchcmike@gmail.com>
> > wrote:
> > > > > And lots of people marvel at the progress, Helena.
> > > > > bait and switch.... and pay taxes like Apple!
> > > > > :-)
> > > > > mike
> > > > >
> > > > > On Tue, May 21, 2013 at 10:23 AM, Helena Worthen <
> > > > helenaworthen@gmail.com>wrote:
> > > > >
> > > > >> Hello -- the letter from Meister is really worth reading. It
> > explains
> > > > why
> > > > >> MOOCs need the CSU system (and other public higher education
> > > > connections)
> > > > >> more than CSU needs MOOCs.
> > > > >>
> > > > >> Although short-term, the linkup with Coursera to offer MOOCs in
> > > various
> > > > >> disciplines appears to solve the immediate problem of how to
> expand
> > > > access
> > > > >> to already crowded, booked-up, high-tuition face to face
> classrooms,
> > > it
> > > > >> solves a different problem for Coursera and other big MOOC
> > companies.
> > > > >>
> > > > >> That problem is, long-term ‹ and this is an important problem,
> since
> > > > >> Coursera, like the other MOOC companies, is a private company,
> like
> > > > >> Facebook, LinkedIn, Yahoo,  Amazon, etc. -- how to make money.
> Right
> > > now
> > > > >> MOOCs are free, or at least some are free. How can they figure out
> > how
> > > > >> much to charge? How much are they "worth" --?
> > > > >>
> > > > >> The  simplest way to figure that out would be to hook up with a
> > state
> > > > >> university and say, "Our class is worth three credits at San Jose
> > > State,
> > > > >> and tuition at San Jose State for three credits is $2,400, so our
> > > class
> > > > >> should cost $2,400."  But it can get much, much  more fine-grained
> > > than
> > > > >> that, since all kinds of personal information gets collected when
> > > > someone
> > > > >> enrolls in a class.
> > > > >>
> > > > >> Bottom line- without the hookup to established institutions, all
> the
> > > > MOOCs
> > > > >> offer is celebrity teachers doing what are essentially TV shows or
> > > > >> audiotape classes (you may have noticed that the price on Great
> > > > >> Teacher-type audio tapes have crashed from $299 to less than $100
> > > > >> recently). So no matter how celebrated a professor is, it's the
> > hookup
> > > > to
> > > > >> an institution that makes it possible to establish market value.
> And
> > > > make
> > > > >> huge money in the long run.
> > > > >>
> > > > >> Which is basically gutting the public education system and
> > > transferring
> > > > >> its authority to  exchange credits for tuition to a private
> company.
> > > > >>
> > > > >> Another argument for free public higher education -- the only way
> > that
> > > > >> public education can compete against a for-profit system.
> > > > >>
> > > > >>
> > > > >> Helena
> > > > >>
> > > > >>
> > > > >>
> > > > >> On 5/11/13 1:30 PM, "mike cole" <lchcmike@gmail.com> wrote:
> > > > >>
> > > > >> >The following letter from the UC faculty association president
> > seems
> > > > worth
> > > > >> >distributing. Fraught futures.
> > > > >> >mike
> > > > >> >
> > > > >> >
> > > > >> >
> > > > >> >CUCFA President Meister's Open Letter to Coursera Founder Daphne
> > > Koller
> > > > >> > http://cucfa.org/news/2013_may10.php
> > > > >> >
> > > > >> >......
> > > > >>
> > > > >>
> > > > >> >http://cucfa.org/news/2013_may10.ph<
> > > > http://cucfa.org/news/2013_may10.php>
> > > > >> >__________________________________________
> > > > >>
> > > > >>
> > > > >>
> > > > > __________________________________________
> > > > > _____
> > > > > xmca mailing list
> > > > > xmca@weber.ucsd.edu
> > > > > http://dss.ucsd.edu/mailman/listinfo/xmca
> > > >
> > > >
> > >
> > >
> > > --
> > > Carol A  Macdonald Ph D (Edin)
> > > Developmental psycholinguist
> > > Academic, Researcher,  and Editor  *EditLab.net*
> > > Honorary Research Fellow: Department of Linguistics, Unisa
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
>
>


-- 
Carol A  Macdonald Ph D (Edin)
Developmental psycholinguist
Academic, Researcher,  and Editor  *EditLab.net*
Honorary Research Fellow: Department of Linguistics, Unisa