Use sufi, policy, education, technology, communications, GlobalVillage School
A traditional book has covers, a table of
contents, chapters so is linear and fixed in time and space. An electric
book has search engines and is not limited in content therefore is non-linear
and not fixed in time or space.
Welcome to SYNERGY
NET NEWS PAGE ONE D
The NEWS Page D
January 11, 1996 Thursday AM
It's the dawn not the
twilight
zone...
TO THE START
page 
Send feedback to: pflaump@cfl.rpflaump@cfl.rpflaump@cfl.rpflaump@cfl.rr.comto:pflaump@cfl.pflaump@cfl.pflaump@cfl.pflaump@cfl.rr.comign="bottom" width="45" height="52">
Dr. Peter Pflaum
Directions to the NEWS and Synergy Network Pages
Each week or so, the comments, ideas and suggestions on the FIRST
page become the NEWS page. the last NEWS page becomes doc5.htm,
the doc5.htm, etc.
THIS WEEKS FIRST PAGE
PAGE ONE
PAGE FOUR
PAGE THREE
PAGE TWO
The New Newbie Page - a
good start on the internet
Sometimes works better
than //metro.
The URL is 204.250.87.44 (Metro) and 204.250.87.46
for (emporium).
When you enter there is the index page.
which contains this page first.htm, the News page, the Starrt page
(above) open-me, and synergy.
There are also the document files; the main files is /document
and under synergy documents several files /documents/pathos/
,
(feelings and psychology, mind body materials); ETHOS
(education, morals, values and being a person with character -
the heart of education ) and LOGOS
( the rational and policy papers about organizations,
management,
government, theories of collective behavior)
Note: IF these links don't work go back to / (Index)
and do it by hand - open /document or /synergy and it works.
I don't know why sometimes the links work and sometimes they
don't.
RE: Illusion vs. Reality (and the Telecommunications Bill)
The BUDGET dead lock ?
Madison designed the system so ambition matches ambition,
power balances power. (Federalist Papers 10 and 51)
The system
was designed to protect people FROM government not make it
democratic
or effective.
The idea was to protect minorities.
The minority
they had in mind were the RICH, property owning people who
carried
off the coup called the American Revolution or the rebellion of
the American Colonies. Since God so loves the poor he made many
of them - Democracy would cause social envy, leveling,
redistribution
of wealth and all the evils of "popular" demagogue. (As
it had in Ancient Greece). And Madison's design sort of works
- DEADLOCK is designed to protect minorities so it takes a long
term overwhelming majority to do anything good or bad.
SO WHAT IS THE ISSUE: Two little words "normal and
usual"
rather than "reasonable and proper". This opened the
federal check book to Medicare. Other entitlement depend on the
"needs" of the beneficiary, which can be tightly drawn.
It does depend on "need" but is limited to set
payments.
Health care followed the pattern set by Blue Cross, which just
pays the bill.
The client does not get the benefit but the
services
given as designed by the doctors and are paid by a third party.
The emergency room decides to put three little stitches in a
small
cut on Blaine's foot.
The bill is over $300.00 for separate
services
(
The doctors, the hospital, supplies etc). If this is outrageous
it is "normal and usual" to be outrageous.
The check
book is open "Send us your BILLS".
The Social Security Act of 1936, was to cover the emergencies
of life, unemployment, retirement, poverty, disability, and
sickness.
The politics is that a "program for the poor would be a poor
program" so there was no means test for Retirement.
The
medical
establishment blocked health care for 50 years. Now they find
they like the open check book system, along with 15% of the
economy
- hospitals, equipment, supplies, drugs, and a vast health care
industry all doing good and doing very well.
HOW TO CLOSE THE CHECKBOOK that will (is) bankrupting the
government.
There are two things that have been PERFECTLY CLEAR
since 1982. One, there must be a fixed limit on payments.
The
simplest method is HMO's which are paid a fixed fee per client.
The second is some sort of means test. "Get according to
your needs, pay according to your means". This will happen
but... doesn't win many votes. People want a free lunch and any
medical service they or their doctors can invent. Here is where
Madison's design breaks down. We have enough democracy so people
expect too much from the government and don't want to pay. We
have enough elitism so well funded groups can block reform. WE
have dead lock and the check book remains open. (Like in the
S&L
crisis)
Fix the system, not the blame means a more responsible
government.
(See Reform).
There are several ways to make the system more responsible.
Concurrent
elections rather than so many fractured constituencies. Party
responsibility, with national parties holding the central
authority.
Until the system is fixed the problem will go on, and on, and
on. Some buck will be passed to the States.
The budget will not
be balanced in 7 years or 70 years by the current political
system.
Sometime in the next ten years this will become so clear that
even the "media," and professors of government will
notice.
SEE the news including tips on hypertext, the future of
inactive
education, and lots of goods references and ideas on the NEWS
PAGE THE LAST FIRST
Page from
last week. What we do here is explore, using interaction and
cooperation.
( Unstable technology - see below ). A general tip on the web
- try several times.
The URL's have to be found and placed in
the server. Sometimes the server need to do this more then once.
If you don't get a fairly fast - found - waiting but it keeps
looking - don't wait try again. I use more than one browser page
at a time ( on Windows 95 ) and flip back and fourth if it's slow.
One reason I don't have an Index.htm page is to give you practice
in open files and how they work.
I've looked at the pages with a freenet http (text only),
AoL, Compuserve, Prodigy, MS Internet Explorer, Netscape, Hot
Java, and they all are different. What I see and experience is
not the same as what you see and experience. I depend on your
feedback.
In the files you will find sample pages,
along with icons, and
other materials for making your own home pages. A lot more
information
is on the week before first's page now doc1.htm
in the htm files.
This is a place to visit more than once and spend enough time
to discover our meaning. It is not completely user friendly -
we are working on it. Have a nice visit and let me know what you
think ?
(Please use the following address for me from now on:
pkirby@umsa7.umd.edu. Even though you see another one on this
message, it should be deleted and changed.)
Has anyone taught students directly about their own learning
styles as a topic of inquiry and discussion, i.e., what style is
and isn't, how to capitalize on our style strengths and
compensate for missing styles or style segments, how to survive
mismatch with instructor or course topic
or course format, etc.?
I am now involved in a small grant to do this with another
educator in my office here and would be interested in any
experiences you could share.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Patricia Kirby, Ed.D.
Rm 3219 SFSC
University College, U. of Md.
University Blvd. at Adelphi Rd.
College Park, MD 20742+1616
301-985-7897
We teach a Freshman Seminar to over 1,000 students who are
predominantly
in technological programs.
The challenge: to make 1,000 (or as
close to
it as possible) have good classroom experiences as possible, and
to get
them to conceptualize and grow academically.
Staff size: 2.
Howthehell can we do that? We got volunteer teachers from
student
services, AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, we also got the commitment of 140
or so
undergraduate student leaders to come participate in the classes.
Each
class of 35 is staffed by one instructor and 5 undergraduate team
leaders.
The classes are taught much like corporate training. Students
work in 5
teams of seven, each led by a team leader, under the direction of
the
instructor. Much of the class is teamwork doing analysis, or
problem-solving or presentations. Grading is done predominantly
by team
leaders who go by the guidelines assigned by the instructor.
It's all
much more than this, but I have to tell you, using the
undergraduates was a
real moment of truth for us.
Will they blow this off? Will they use this
as an opportunity to slander the program? Will we two be looking
for new
jobs directly?
Answer: no.
Students do a hellofa job for the most part.
Yes, there is an occasional slackard. But probably less than 1%.
The rest
are outstanding leaders who are given academic credit for taking
"Foundations of Leadership," a class that teaches the concepts
of
leadership and illustrates them by using their team leadership
jobs as
examples.
They also can take practicum hours and other classes
to get a
certificate in Leadership (the equivalent of a minor, here). I
commend
using undergraduates to help in the classroom.
They are capable
of more
than you'd believe.
----------------------------------------------------------
Joann Ward, Ed.S., LPC, NCC Assistant Director
Georgia Tech, Success Programs
Student Services Building, Suite 227
Atlanta, GA 30332-0285
joann.ward@vpss.gatech.edu
PH: (404) 894+1970
FAX: (404) 894+1980
Not my words, but those of a new Canadian user who chanced upon
the
ICDL distance education database!
But don't take anyone's word for it - try for yourself by
accessing
the new, free, online version released on January 8.
There is a vast quantity of information on the literature of
distance
education (over 8,000 entries), on distance teaching institutions
worldwide (over 850 of them), and on courses and programmes
taught at a
distance (over 30,000) by institutions in the UK and other
Commonwealth countries including Australia, Canada, India, New
Zealand
and South Africa.
Searching is better than ever, too. Our software has been
enhanced in
several important areas.
You can reach the database by Telnet from anywhere in the world.
Telnet to acsvax.open.ac.uk
At the welcome message please login to the Open University VAX
cluster
with the Username: ICDL
We would then like you to access the database using your country
name
as Account code. Please enter this without any spaces.
The
Password is
then just AAA
You need to be using a VT100 terminal
If you have any difficulty or want to comment, please send e-mail
to
icdl-enquiries@open.ac.uk
The database is also issued on CD-ROM. I'll be happy to provide
details of the next CD-ROM, which will be available at the end of
January.
Keith Harry
Director, International Centre for Distance Learning
The Open University
Walton Hall
Milton Keynes MK7 6AA
Telephone: +44 1908 653537
Fax: +44 1908 654173
E-mail: k.w.harry@open.ac.uk
WWW: http://acacia.open.ac.uk/
Gopher: rowan.open.ac.uk
Agreed! At times we "educators" must become the "guide on the
side"
instead of the "sage on the stage." Students of all ages must be
allowed/encouraged/required to be responsible for their own
learning.
On Sun, 14 Jan 1996, Thomas Leal wrote:
At 05:31 PM 1/14/96 -0500, you wrote:
People learn best by constructing their own knowledge base.
They
do
this by discussing concepts, arguing about problem solutions and
advocating
for
their positions. This reflects what companies are looking for in
their
employees. This type of interaction does not take place in the
lecture class.
Many companies find that they need to train or retrain new
engineers. If
universities promoted cooperative learning at all levels they
would produce
more
effective graduates, people ready to function well in the real
world.
I agree wholeheartedly! This applies, I would be bold enough to
say, in all
courses, regardless of subject matter. I teach marketing to
undergraduates
at three universities in the San Francisco area. One has
students almost
entirely from other countries, primarily France in my classes.
Somehow over time we professors got the idea that we were the
great fonts of
all wisdom and knowledge. We seemed to forget that the root of
the word
"education" means "to lead out of" or "to lead fourth." Of
course, most of
us learned by sitting passively in front of a lecturer who
droned on for
hours without interacting with us. We soaked up what we could,
then squeezed
it out onto paper at exam time. Retention? Only until the final.
So now we find highly educated people in business who can't make
decisions.
They absorbed facts and figures, but never learned what to do
with any of
that. I don't give my students answers, I give them questions.
If they leave
my course knowing what questions to ask and how to go about
finding answers,
they will be able to apply their learning in the world outside
the academe.
If, instead, they leave with answers, they'll have yesterday's
news.
They'll
find themselves looking backwards in their efforts to succeed,
trying to
recall something from a class long ago. That's like driving a
car by looking
only in the rear view mirror.
We ought to prepare students to be able to figure out where
they're headed,
determine what's happening around them, and to look back now and
then to see
what's behind. And we ought to develop their skills for doing
all this
without our guidance. We ought to bring out their talents for
solving their
own problems.
The more I let go of being in charge of my classes and push the
students to
take more responsibility for their learning experience, the
better they seem
to do. And, may I add, they indicate greater appreciation for
what I've done
in their evaluations of the course and teacher (all my schools
require
students to complete an evaluation for each course).
Thomas Leal
The Synergy Group
48 Mathews Place, Suite 8, Alamo CA 94507-2600
Phone: 510 / 938-7748 FAX: 510 / 943-7034
Internet: tomleal@synergygroup.com
"Bringing out the best in people, their ideas, and their
companies."
Hi Peter:
I don't have all the answers, but take a look at how
http://www.match.com
works -- I know it's rather far from the type of information you
will be
processing but the way they do it is pretty cool. It seems as
though their
CGI scripts take much of the work out of managing the site.
Being able to automatically categorize the information and make
'matches'
based on parameters in a personal profile could be applied to
what you're up
against.
The greatest thing about the Internet is the amount of
information available.
The greatest problem with the Internet is the amount of
information available.
A large part of the choice will be made for you in what your ISP
will
provide. Some allow user-developed CGI scripts, most do not. If
your
provider has a Windows NT server, much can be done in Visual
Basic. What
would be nice is to have an SQL Server database on the server
with a VB
script to drive the client end. You could get some very
impressive stuff
running in this configuration.
Ideally, you'd need an Internet version of a Lotus Notes type of
product. I
haven't seen anything quite like that yet -- maybe I should
develop one...
I'll keep looking and let you know if I find anything suitable.
Cheers! Marty...
----------------------------------------------
| Marty R. Milette, P.Prog. mmilette@magi.com
| http://www.magi.com/~mmilette/
| If you always do what you did,
| you'll always get what you got.
----------------------------------------------
RE: New Highly Complex Systems tend to be unstable:
Working with Windows 95 and the INTERNET over the last few
years and being very interested in human nature and behavior -
There seems to be an analogy about things not working very well:
complex systems are unstable - things work, then they don't -
WHY ?
The current model of "Human Beings" is about 40,000
years old and the INTERNET is about 30 years of age. Both are
complex systems made up of sub-systems and parts that all don't
fit perfectly or work smoothly together.
The body-mind, (plant,
reptile, mammal) and all our "selves", emotional,
passionate,
rational elements, are so blended and mixed with "the stuff
that dreams are make of," that dreams, illusions and reality
become so mixed as to become one blended element.
The result of
this complex blend often involves conflict within ourselves and
with others. Clearly we are a new experimental design, a work
in process, that has not had the time to work out all the bugs.
The same instability applies to all collections of complex
systems,
Use sufi, policy, education, technology, communications, GlobalVillage School
A traditional book has covers, a table of
contents, chapters so is linear and fixed in time and space. An electric
book has search engines and is not limited in content therefore is non-linear
and not fixed in time or space.
Welcome to SYNERGY
NET NEWS PAGE ONE D
The NEWS Page D
January 11, 1996 Thursday AM
It's the dawn not the
twilight
zone...
TO THE START
page
Send feedback to: pflaump@cfl.rpflaump@cfl.rpflaump@cfl.rpflaump@cfl.rr.comto:pflaump@cfl.pflaump@cfl.pflaump@cfl.pflaump@cfl.rr.comign="bottom" width="45" height="52">
Dr. Peter Pflaum
Directions to the NEWS and Synergy Network Pages
Each week or so, the comments, ideas and suggestions on the FIRST
page become the NEWS page. the last NEWS page becomes doc5.htm,
the doc5.htm, etc.
THIS WEEKS FIRST PAGE
PAGE ONE
PAGE FOUR
PAGE THREE
PAGE TWO
The New Newbie Page - a
good start on the internet
Sometimes works better
than //metro.
The URL is 204.250.87.44 (Metro) and 204.250.87.46
for (emporium).
When you enter there is the index page.
which contains this page first.htm, the News page, the Starrt page
(above) open-me, and synergy.
There are also the document files; the main files is /document
and under synergy documents several files /documents/pathos/
,
(feelings and psychology, mind body materials); ETHOS
(education, morals, values and being a person with character -
the heart of education ) and LOGOS
( the rational and policy papers about organizations,
management,
government, theories of collective behavior)
Note: IF these links don't work go back to / (Index)
and do it by hand - open /document or /synergy and it works.
I don't know why sometimes the links work and sometimes they
don't.
RE: Illusion vs. Reality (and the Telecommunications Bill)
The BUDGET dead lock ?
Madison designed the system so ambition matches ambition,
power balances power. (Federalist Papers 10 and 51)
The system
was designed to protect people FROM government not make it
democratic
or effective.
The idea was to protect minorities.
The minority
they had in mind were the RICH, property owning people who
carried
off the coup called the American Revolution or the rebellion of
the American Colonies. Since God so loves the poor he made many
of them - Democracy would cause social envy, leveling,
redistribution
of wealth and all the evils of "popular" demagogue. (As
it had in Ancient Greece). And Madison's design sort of works
- DEADLOCK is designed to protect minorities so it takes a long
term overwhelming majority to do anything good or bad.
SO WHAT IS THE ISSUE: Two little words "normal and
usual"
rather than "reasonable and proper". This opened the
federal check book to Medicare. Other entitlement depend on the
"needs" of the beneficiary, which can be tightly drawn.
It does depend on "need" but is limited to set
payments.
Health care followed the pattern set by Blue Cross, which just
pays the bill.
The client does not get the benefit but the
services
given as designed by the doctors and are paid by a third party.
The emergency room decides to put three little stitches in a
small
cut on Blaine's foot.
The bill is over $300.00 for separate
services
(
The doctors, the hospital, supplies etc). If this is outrageous
it is "normal and usual" to be outrageous.
The check
book is open "Send us your BILLS".
The Social Security Act of 1936, was to cover the emergencies
of life, unemployment, retirement, poverty, disability, and
sickness.
The politics is that a "program for the poor would be a poor
program" so there was no means test for Retirement.
The
medical
establishment blocked health care for 50 years. Now they find
they like the open check book system, along with 15% of the
economy
- hospitals, equipment, supplies, drugs, and a vast health care
industry all doing good and doing very well.
HOW TO CLOSE THE CHECKBOOK that will (is) bankrupting the
government.
There are two things that have been PERFECTLY CLEAR
since 1982. One, there must be a fixed limit on payments.
The
simplest method is HMO's which are paid a fixed fee per client.
The second is some sort of means test. "Get according to
your needs, pay according to your means". This will happen
but... doesn't win many votes. People want a free lunch and any
medical service they or their doctors can invent. Here is where
Madison's design breaks down. We have enough democracy so people
expect too much from the government and don't want to pay. We
have enough elitism so well funded groups can block reform. WE
have dead lock and the check book remains open. (Like in the
S&L
crisis)
Fix the system, not the blame means a more responsible
government.
(See Reform).
There are several ways to make the system more responsible.
Concurrent
elections rather than so many fractured constituencies. Party
responsibility, with national parties holding the central
authority.
Until the system is fixed the problem will go on, and on, and
on. Some buck will be passed to the States.
The budget will not
be balanced in 7 years or 70 years by the current political
system.
Sometime in the next ten years this will become so clear that
even the "media," and professors of government will
notice.
SEE the news including tips on hypertext, the future of
inactive
education, and lots of goods references and ideas on the NEWS
PAGE THE LAST FIRST
Page from
last week. What we do here is explore, using interaction and
cooperation.
( Unstable technology - see below ). A general tip on the web
- try several times.
The URL's have to be found and placed in
the server. Sometimes the server need to do this more then once.
If you don't get a fairly fast - found - waiting but it keeps
looking - don't wait try again. I use more than one browser page
at a time ( on Windows 95 ) and flip back and fourth if it's slow.
One reason I don't have an Index.htm page is to give you practice
in open files and how they work.
I've looked at the pages with a freenet http (text only),
AoL, Compuserve, Prodigy, MS Internet Explorer, Netscape, Hot
Java, and they all are different. What I see and experience is
not the same as what you see and experience. I depend on your
feedback.
In the files you will find sample pages,
along with icons, and
other materials for making your own home pages. A lot more
information
is on the week before first's page now doc1.htm
in the htm files.
This is a place to visit more than once and spend enough time
to discover our meaning. It is not completely user friendly -
we are working on it. Have a nice visit and let me know what you
think ?
(Please use the following address for me from now on:
pkirby@umsa7.umd.edu. Even though you see another one on this
message, it should be deleted and changed.)
Has anyone taught students directly about their own learning
styles as a topic of inquiry and discussion, i.e., what style is
and isn't, how to capitalize on our style strengths and
compensate for missing styles or style segments, how to survive
mismatch with instructor or course topic
or course format, etc.?
I am now involved in a small grant to do this with another
educator in my office here and would be interested in any
experiences you could share.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Patricia Kirby, Ed.D.
Rm 3219 SFSC
University College, U. of Md.
University Blvd. at Adelphi Rd.
College Park, MD 20742+1616
301-985-7897
We teach a Freshman Seminar to over 1,000 students who are
predominantly
in technological programs.
The challenge: to make 1,000 (or as
close to
it as possible) have good classroom experiences as possible, and
to get
them to conceptualize and grow academically.
Staff size: 2.
Howthehell can we do that? We got volunteer teachers from
student
services, AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, we also got the commitment of 140
or so
undergraduate student leaders to come participate in the classes.
Each
class of 35 is staffed by one instructor and 5 undergraduate team
leaders.
The classes are taught much like corporate training. Students
work in 5
teams of seven, each led by a team leader, under the direction of
the
instructor. Much of the class is teamwork doing analysis, or
problem-solving or presentations. Grading is done predominantly
by team
leaders who go by the guidelines assigned by the instructor.
It's all
much more than this, but I have to tell you, using the
undergraduates was a
real moment of truth for us.
Will they blow this off? Will they use this
as an opportunity to slander the program? Will we two be looking
for new
jobs directly?
Answer: no.
Students do a hellofa job for the most part.
Yes, there is an occasional slackard. But probably less than 1%.
The rest
are outstanding leaders who are given academic credit for taking
"Foundations of Leadership," a class that teaches the concepts
of
leadership and illustrates them by using their team leadership
jobs as
examples.
They also can take practicum hours and other classes
to get a
certificate in Leadership (the equivalent of a minor, here). I
commend
using undergraduates to help in the classroom.
They are capable
of more
than you'd believe.
----------------------------------------------------------
Joann Ward, Ed.S., LPC, NCC Assistant Director
Georgia Tech, Success Programs
Student Services Building, Suite 227
Atlanta, GA 30332-0285
joann.ward@vpss.gatech.edu
PH: (404) 894+1970
FAX: (404) 894+1980
Not my words, but those of a new Canadian user who chanced upon
the
ICDL distance education database!
But don't take anyone's word for it - try for yourself by
accessing
the new, free, online version released on January 8.
There is a vast quantity of information on the literature of
distance
education (over 8,000 entries), on distance teaching institutions
worldwide (over 850 of them), and on courses and programmes
taught at a
distance (over 30,000) by institutions in the UK and other
Commonwealth countries including Australia, Canada, India, New
Zealand
and South Africa.
Searching is better than ever, too. Our software has been
enhanced in
several important areas.
You can reach the database by Telnet from anywhere in the world.
Telnet to acsvax.open.ac.uk
At the welcome message please login to the Open University VAX
cluster
with the Username: ICDL
We would then like you to access the database using your country
name
as Account code. Please enter this without any spaces.
The
Password is
then just AAA
You need to be using a VT100 terminal
If you have any difficulty or want to comment, please send e-mail
to
icdl-enquiries@open.ac.uk
The database is also issued on CD-ROM. I'll be happy to provide
details of the next CD-ROM, which will be available at the end of
January.
Keith Harry
Director, International Centre for Distance Learning
The Open University
Walton Hall
Milton Keynes MK7 6AA
Telephone: +44 1908 653537
Fax: +44 1908 654173
E-mail: k.w.harry@open.ac.uk
WWW: http://acacia.open.ac.uk/
Gopher: rowan.open.ac.uk
Agreed! At times we "educators" must become the "guide on the
side"
instead of the "sage on the stage." Students of all ages must be
allowed/encouraged/required to be responsible for their own
learning.
On Sun, 14 Jan 1996, Thomas Leal wrote:
At 05:31 PM 1/14/96 -0500, you wrote:
People learn best by constructing their own knowledge base.
They
do
this by discussing concepts, arguing about problem solutions and
advocating
for
their positions. This reflects what companies are looking for in
their
employees. This type of interaction does not take place in the
lecture class.
Many companies find that they need to train or retrain new
engineers. If
universities promoted cooperative learning at all levels they
would produce
more
effective graduates, people ready to function well in the real
world.
I agree wholeheartedly! This applies, I would be bold enough to
say, in all
courses, regardless of subject matter. I teach marketing to
undergraduates
at three universities in the San Francisco area. One has
students almost
entirely from other countries, primarily France in my classes.
Somehow over time we professors got the idea that we were the
great fonts of
all wisdom and knowledge. We seemed to forget that the root of
the word
"education" means "to lead out of" or "to lead fourth." Of
course, most of
us learned by sitting passively in front of a lecturer who
droned on for
hours without interacting with us. We soaked up what we could,
then squeezed
it out onto paper at exam time. Retention? Only until the final.
So now we find highly educated people in business who can't make
decisions.
They absorbed facts and figures, but never learned what to do
with any of
that. I don't give my students answers, I give them questions.
If they leave
my course knowing what questions to ask and how to go about
finding answers,
they will be able to apply their learning in the world outside
the academe.
If, instead, they leave with answers, they'll have yesterday's
news.
They'll
find themselves looking backwards in their efforts to succeed,
trying to
recall something from a class long ago. That's like driving a
car by looking
only in the rear view mirror.
We ought to prepare students to be able to figure out where
they're headed,
determine what's happening around them, and to look back now and
then to see
what's behind. And we ought to develop their skills for doing
all this
without our guidance. We ought to bring out their talents for
solving their
own problems.
The more I let go of being in charge of my classes and push the
students to
take more responsibility for their learning experience, the
better they seem
to do. And, may I add, they indicate greater appreciation for
what I've done
in their evaluations of the course and teacher (all my schools
require
students to complete an evaluation for each course).
Thomas Leal
The Synergy Group
48 Mathews Place, Suite 8, Alamo CA 94507-2600
Phone: 510 / 938-7748 FAX: 510 / 943-7034
Internet: tomleal@synergygroup.com
"Bringing out the best in people, their ideas, and their
companies."
Hi Peter:
I don't have all the answers, but take a look at how
http://www.match.com
works -- I know it's rather far from the type of information you
will be
processing but the way they do it is pretty cool. It seems as
though their
CGI scripts take much of the work out of managing the site.
Being able to automatically categorize the information and make
'matches'
based on parameters in a personal profile could be applied to
what you're up
against.
The greatest thing about the Internet is the amount of
information available.
The greatest problem with the Internet is the amount of
information available.
A large part of the choice will be made for you in what your ISP
will
provide. Some allow user-developed CGI scripts, most do not. If
your
provider has a Windows NT server, much can be done in Visual
Basic. What
would be nice is to have an SQL Server database on the server
with a VB
script to drive the client end. You could get some very
impressive stuff
running in this configuration.
Ideally, you'd need an Internet version of a Lotus Notes type of
product. I
haven't seen anything quite like that yet -- maybe I should
develop one...
I'll keep looking and let you know if I find anything suitable.
Cheers! Marty...
----------------------------------------------
| Marty R. Milette, P.Prog. mmilette@magi.com
| http://www.magi.com/~mmilette/
| If you always do what you did,
| you'll always get what you got.
----------------------------------------------
RE: New Highly Complex Systems tend to be unstable:
Working with Windows 95 and the INTERNET over the last few
years and being very interested in human nature and behavior -
There seems to be an analogy about things not working very well:
complex systems are unstable - things work, then they don't -
WHY ?
The current model of "Human Beings" is about 40,000
years old and the INTERNET is about 30 years of age. Both are
complex systems made up of sub-systems and parts that all don't
fit perfectly or work smoothly together.
The body-mind, (plant,
reptile, mammal) and all our "selves", emotional,
passionate,
rational elements, are so blended and mixed with "the stuff
that dreams are make of," that dreams, illusions and reality
become so mixed as to become one blended element.
The result of
this complex blend often involves conflict within ourselves and
with others. Clearly we are a new experimental design, a work
in process, that has not had the time to work out all the bugs.
The same instability applies to all collections of complex
systems,
|
|
Use sufi, policy, education, technology, communications, GlobalVillage School
A traditional book has covers, a table of
contents, chapters so is linear and fixed in time and space. An electric
book has search engines and is not limited in content therefore is non-linear
and not fixed in time or space.
Use sufi, policy, education, technology, communications, GlobalVillage School
A traditional book has covers, a table of
contents, chapters so is linear and fixed in time and space. An electric
book has search engines and is not limited in content therefore is non-linear
and not fixed in time or space.
Use sufi, policy, education, technology, communications, GlobalVillage School
A traditional book has covers, a table of
contents, chapters so is linear and fixed in time and space. An electric
book has search engines and is not limited in content therefore is non-linear
and not fixed in time or space.
A traditional book has covers, a table of contents, chapters so is linear and fixed in time and space. An electric book has search engines and is not limited in content therefore is non-linear and not fixed in time or space.
The NEWS Page D
The NEWS Page D
It's the dawn not the
twilight
zone...
TO THE START
page
Send feedback to: pflaump@cfl.rpflaump@cfl.rpflaump@cfl.rpflaump@cfl.rr.comto:pflaump@cfl.pflaump@cfl.pflaump@cfl.pflaump@cfl.rr.comign="bottom" width="45" height="52">
Dr. Peter Pflaum
Directions to the NEWS and Synergy Network Pages
Each week or so, the comments, ideas and suggestions on the FIRST
page become the NEWS page. the last NEWS page becomes doc5.htm,
the doc5.htm, etc.
THIS WEEKS FIRST PAGE
PAGE ONE
PAGE FOUR
PAGE THREE
PAGE TWO
The New Newbie Page - a
good start on the internet
Sometimes works better
than //metro.
The URL is 204.250.87.44 (Metro) and 204.250.87.46
for (emporium).
When you enter there is the index page.
which contains this page first.htm, the News page, the Starrt page
(above) open-me, and synergy.
There are also the document files; the main files is /document
and under synergy documents several files /documents/pathos/
,
(feelings and psychology, mind body materials); ETHOS
(education, morals, values and being a person with character -
the heart of education ) and LOGOS
( the rational and policy papers about organizations,
management,
government, theories of collective behavior)
Note: IF these links don't work go back to / (Index)
and do it by hand - open /document or /synergy and it works.
I don't know why sometimes the links work and sometimes they
don't.
RE: Illusion vs. Reality (and the Telecommunications Bill)
The BUDGET dead lock ?
Madison designed the system so ambition matches ambition,
power balances power. (Federalist Papers 10 and 51)
The system
was designed to protect people FROM government not make it
democratic
or effective.
The idea was to protect minorities.
The minority
they had in mind were the RICH, property owning people who
carried
off the coup called the American Revolution or the rebellion of
the American Colonies. Since God so loves the poor he made many
of them - Democracy would cause social envy, leveling,
redistribution
of wealth and all the evils of "popular" demagogue. (As
it had in Ancient Greece). And Madison's design sort of works
- DEADLOCK is designed to protect minorities so it takes a long
term overwhelming majority to do anything good or bad.
SO WHAT IS THE ISSUE: Two little words "normal and
usual"
rather than "reasonable and proper". This opened the
federal check book to Medicare. Other entitlement depend on the
"needs" of the beneficiary, which can be tightly drawn.
It does depend on "need" but is limited to set
payments.
Health care followed the pattern set by Blue Cross, which just
pays the bill.
The client does not get the benefit but the
services
given as designed by the doctors and are paid by a third party.
The emergency room decides to put three little stitches in a
small
cut on Blaine's foot.
The bill is over $300.00 for separate
services
(
The doctors, the hospital, supplies etc). If this is outrageous
it is "normal and usual" to be outrageous.
The check
book is open "Send us your BILLS".
The Social Security Act of 1936, was to cover the emergencies
of life, unemployment, retirement, poverty, disability, and
sickness.
The politics is that a "program for the poor would be a poor
program" so there was no means test for Retirement.
The
medical
establishment blocked health care for 50 years. Now they find
they like the open check book system, along with 15% of the
economy
- hospitals, equipment, supplies, drugs, and a vast health care
industry all doing good and doing very well.
HOW TO CLOSE THE CHECKBOOK that will (is) bankrupting the
government.
There are two things that have been PERFECTLY CLEAR
since 1982. One, there must be a fixed limit on payments.
The
simplest method is HMO's which are paid a fixed fee per client.
The second is some sort of means test. "Get according to
your needs, pay according to your means". This will happen
but... doesn't win many votes. People want a free lunch and any
medical service they or their doctors can invent. Here is where
Madison's design breaks down. We have enough democracy so people
expect too much from the government and don't want to pay. We
have enough elitism so well funded groups can block reform. WE
have dead lock and the check book remains open. (Like in the
S&L
crisis)
Fix the system, not the blame means a more responsible
government.
(See Reform).
There are several ways to make the system more responsible.
Concurrent
elections rather than so many fractured constituencies. Party
responsibility, with national parties holding the central
authority.
Until the system is fixed the problem will go on, and on, and
on. Some buck will be passed to the States.
The budget will not
be balanced in 7 years or 70 years by the current political
system.
Sometime in the next ten years this will become so clear that
even the "media," and professors of government will
notice.
SEE the news including tips on hypertext, the future of
inactive
education, and lots of goods references and ideas on the NEWS
PAGE THE LAST FIRST
Page from
last week. What we do here is explore, using interaction and
cooperation.
( Unstable technology - see below ). A general tip on the web
- try several times.
The URL's have to be found and placed in
the server. Sometimes the server need to do this more then once.
If you don't get a fairly fast - found - waiting but it keeps
looking - don't wait try again. I use more than one browser page
at a time ( on Windows 95 ) and flip back and fourth if it's slow.
One reason I don't have an Index.htm page is to give you practice
in open files and how they work.
I've looked at the pages with a freenet http (text only),
AoL, Compuserve, Prodigy, MS Internet Explorer, Netscape, Hot
Java, and they all are different. What I see and experience is
not the same as what you see and experience. I depend on your
feedback.
In the files you will find sample pages,
along with icons, and
other materials for making your own home pages. A lot more
information
is on the week before first's page now doc1.htm
in the htm files.
This is a place to visit more than once and spend enough time
to discover our meaning. It is not completely user friendly -
we are working on it. Have a nice visit and let me know what you
think ?
(Please use the following address for me from now on:
pkirby@umsa7.umd.edu. Even though you see another one on this
message, it should be deleted and changed.)
Has anyone taught students directly about their own learning
styles as a topic of inquiry and discussion, i.e., what style is
and isn't, how to capitalize on our style strengths and
compensate for missing styles or style segments, how to survive
mismatch with instructor or course topic
or course format, etc.?
I am now involved in a small grant to do this with another
educator in my office here and would be interested in any
experiences you could share.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Patricia Kirby, Ed.D.
Rm 3219 SFSC
University College, U. of Md.
University Blvd. at Adelphi Rd.
College Park, MD 20742+1616
301-985-7897
We teach a Freshman Seminar to over 1,000 students who are
predominantly
in technological programs.
The challenge: to make 1,000 (or as
close to
it as possible) have good classroom experiences as possible, and
to get
them to conceptualize and grow academically.
Staff size: 2.
Howthehell can we do that? We got volunteer teachers from
student
services, AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, we also got the commitment of 140
or so
undergraduate student leaders to come participate in the classes.
Each
class of 35 is staffed by one instructor and 5 undergraduate team
leaders.
The classes are taught much like corporate training. Students
work in 5
teams of seven, each led by a team leader, under the direction of
the
instructor. Much of the class is teamwork doing analysis, or
problem-solving or presentations. Grading is done predominantly
by team
leaders who go by the guidelines assigned by the instructor.
It's all
much more than this, but I have to tell you, using the
undergraduates was a
real moment of truth for us.
Will they blow this off? Will they use this
as an opportunity to slander the program? Will we two be looking
for new
jobs directly?
Answer: no.
Students do a hellofa job for the most part.
Yes, there is an occasional slackard. But probably less than 1%.
The rest
are outstanding leaders who are given academic credit for taking
"Foundations of Leadership," a class that teaches the concepts
of
leadership and illustrates them by using their team leadership
jobs as
examples.
They also can take practicum hours and other classes
to get a
certificate in Leadership (the equivalent of a minor, here). I
commend
using undergraduates to help in the classroom.
They are capable
of more
than you'd believe.
----------------------------------------------------------
Joann Ward, Ed.S., LPC, NCC Assistant Director
Georgia Tech, Success Programs
Student Services Building, Suite 227
Atlanta, GA 30332-0285
joann.ward@vpss.gatech.edu
PH: (404) 894+1970
FAX: (404) 894+1980
Not my words, but those of a new Canadian user who chanced upon
the
ICDL distance education database!
But don't take anyone's word for it - try for yourself by
accessing
the new, free, online version released on January 8.
There is a vast quantity of information on the literature of
distance
education (over 8,000 entries), on distance teaching institutions
worldwide (over 850 of them), and on courses and programmes
taught at a
distance (over 30,000) by institutions in the UK and other
Commonwealth countries including Australia, Canada, India, New
Zealand
and South Africa.
Searching is better than ever, too. Our software has been
enhanced in
several important areas.
You can reach the database by Telnet from anywhere in the world.
Telnet to acsvax.open.ac.uk
At the welcome message please login to the Open University VAX
cluster
with the Username: ICDL
We would then like you to access the database using your country
name
as Account code. Please enter this without any spaces.
The
Password is
then just AAA
You need to be using a VT100 terminal
If you have any difficulty or want to comment, please send e-mail
to
icdl-enquiries@open.ac.uk
The database is also issued on CD-ROM. I'll be happy to provide
details of the next CD-ROM, which will be available at the end of
January.
Keith Harry
Director, International Centre for Distance Learning
The Open University
Walton Hall
Milton Keynes MK7 6AA
Telephone: +44 1908 653537
Fax: +44 1908 654173
E-mail: k.w.harry@open.ac.uk
WWW: http://acacia.open.ac.uk/
Gopher: rowan.open.ac.uk
Agreed! At times we "educators" must become the "guide on the
side"
instead of the "sage on the stage." Students of all ages must be
allowed/encouraged/required to be responsible for their own
learning.
On Sun, 14 Jan 1996, Thomas Leal wrote:
At 05:31 PM 1/14/96 -0500, you wrote:
People learn best by constructing their own knowledge base.
They
do
this by discussing concepts, arguing about problem solutions and
advocating
for
their positions. This reflects what companies are looking for in
their
employees. This type of interaction does not take place in the
lecture class.
Many companies find that they need to train or retrain new
engineers. If
universities promoted cooperative learning at all levels they
would produce
more
effective graduates, people ready to function well in the real
world.
I agree wholeheartedly! This applies, I would be bold enough to
say, in all
courses, regardless of subject matter. I teach marketing to
undergraduates
at three universities in the San Francisco area. One has
students almost
entirely from other countries, primarily France in my classes.
Somehow over time we professors got the idea that we were the
great fonts of
all wisdom and knowledge. We seemed to forget that the root of
the word
"education" means "to lead out of" or "to lead fourth." Of
course, most of
us learned by sitting passively in front of a lecturer who
droned on for
hours without interacting with us. We soaked up what we could,
then squeezed
it out onto paper at exam time. Retention? Only until the final.
So now we find highly educated people in business who can't make
decisions.
They absorbed facts and figures, but never learned what to do
with any of
that. I don't give my students answers, I give them questions.
If they leave
my course knowing what questions to ask and how to go about
finding answers,
they will be able to apply their learning in the world outside
the academe.
If, instead, they leave with answers, they'll have yesterday's
news.
They'll
find themselves looking backwards in their efforts to succeed,
trying to
recall something from a class long ago. That's like driving a
car by looking
only in the rear view mirror.
We ought to prepare students to be able to figure out where
they're headed,
determine what's happening around them, and to look back now and
then to see
what's behind. And we ought to develop their skills for doing
all this
without our guidance. We ought to bring out their talents for
solving their
own problems.
The more I let go of being in charge of my classes and push the
students to
take more responsibility for their learning experience, the
better they seem
to do. And, may I add, they indicate greater appreciation for
what I've done
in their evaluations of the course and teacher (all my schools
require
students to complete an evaluation for each course).
Thomas Leal
The Synergy Group
48 Mathews Place, Suite 8, Alamo CA 94507-2600
Phone: 510 / 938-7748 FAX: 510 / 943-7034
Internet: tomleal@synergygroup.com
"Bringing out the best in people, their ideas, and their
companies."
Hi Peter:
I don't have all the answers, but take a look at how
http://www.match.com
works -- I know it's rather far from the type of information you
will be
processing but the way they do it is pretty cool. It seems as
though their
CGI scripts take much of the work out of managing the site.
Being able to automatically categorize the information and make
'matches'
based on parameters in a personal profile could be applied to
what you're up
against.
The greatest thing about the Internet is the amount of
information available.
The greatest problem with the Internet is the amount of
information available.
A large part of the choice will be made for you in what your ISP
will
provide. Some allow user-developed CGI scripts, most do not. If
your
provider has a Windows NT server, much can be done in Visual
Basic. What
would be nice is to have an SQL Server database on the server
with a VB
script to drive the client end. You could get some very
impressive stuff
running in this configuration.
Ideally, you'd need an Internet version of a Lotus Notes type of
product. I
haven't seen anything quite like that yet -- maybe I should
develop one...
I'll keep looking and let you know if I find anything suitable.
Cheers! Marty...
----------------------------------------------
| Marty R. Milette, P.Prog. mmilette@magi.com
| http://www.magi.com/~mmilette/
| If you always do what you did,
| you'll always get what you got.
----------------------------------------------
RE: New Highly Complex Systems tend to be unstable:
Working with Windows 95 and the INTERNET over the last few
years and being very interested in human nature and behavior -
There seems to be an analogy about things not working very well:
complex systems are unstable - things work, then they don't -
WHY ?
The current model of "Human Beings" is about 40,000
years old and the INTERNET is about 30 years of age. Both are
complex systems made up of sub-systems and parts that all don't
fit perfectly or work smoothly together.
The body-mind, (plant,
reptile, mammal) and all our "selves", emotional,
passionate,
rational elements, are so blended and mixed with "the stuff
that dreams are make of," that dreams, illusions and reality
become so mixed as to become one blended element.
The result of
this complex blend often involves conflict within ourselves and
with others. Clearly we are a new experimental design, a work
in process, that has not had the time to work out all the bugs.
The same instability applies to all collections of complex
systems,
Each week or so, the comments, ideas and suggestions on the FIRST
page become the NEWS page. the last NEWS page becomes doc5.htm,
the doc5.htm, etc.
THIS WEEKS FIRST PAGE
PAGE ONE
PAGE FOUR
PAGE THREE
PAGE TWO
The New Newbie Page - a
good start on the internet
Sometimes works better
than //metro.
The URL is 204.250.87.44 (Metro) and 204.250.87.46
for (emporium).
When you enter there is the index page.
which contains this page first.htm, the News page, the Starrt page
(above) open-me, and synergy.
There are also the document files; the main files is /document
and under synergy documents several files /documents/pathos/
,
(feelings and psychology, mind body materials); ETHOS
(education, morals, values and being a person with character -
the heart of education ) and LOGOS
( the rational and policy papers about organizations,
management,
government, theories of collective behavior)
Note: IF these links don't work go back to / (Index)
and do it by hand - open /document or /synergy and it works.
I don't know why sometimes the links work and sometimes they
don't.
RE: Illusion vs. Reality (and the Telecommunications Bill)
The BUDGET dead lock ?
Madison designed the system so ambition matches ambition,
power balances power. (Federalist Papers 10 and 51)
The system
was designed to protect people FROM government not make it
democratic
or effective.
The idea was to protect minorities.
The minority
they had in mind were the RICH, property owning people who
carried
off the coup called the American Revolution or the rebellion of
the American Colonies. Since God so loves the poor he made many
of them - Democracy would cause social envy, leveling,
redistribution
of wealth and all the evils of "popular" demagogue. (As
it had in Ancient Greece). And Madison's design sort of works
- DEADLOCK is designed to protect minorities so it takes a long
term overwhelming majority to do anything good or bad.
SO WHAT IS THE ISSUE: Two little words "normal and
usual"
rather than "reasonable and proper". This opened the
federal check book to Medicare. Other entitlement depend on the
"needs" of the beneficiary, which can be tightly drawn.
It does depend on "need" but is limited to set
payments.
Health care followed the pattern set by Blue Cross, which just
pays the bill.
The client does not get the benefit but the
services
given as designed by the doctors and are paid by a third party.
The emergency room decides to put three little stitches in a
small
cut on Blaine's foot.
The bill is over $300.00 for separate
services
(
The doctors, the hospital, supplies etc). If this is outrageous
it is "normal and usual" to be outrageous.
The check
book is open "Send us your BILLS".
The Social Security Act of 1936, was to cover the emergencies
of life, unemployment, retirement, poverty, disability, and
sickness.
The politics is that a "program for the poor would be a poor
program" so there was no means test for Retirement.
The
medical
establishment blocked health care for 50 years. Now they find
they like the open check book system, along with 15% of the
economy
- hospitals, equipment, supplies, drugs, and a vast health care
industry all doing good and doing very well.
HOW TO CLOSE THE CHECKBOOK that will (is) bankrupting the
government.
There are two things that have been PERFECTLY CLEAR
since 1982. One, there must be a fixed limit on payments.
The
simplest method is HMO's which are paid a fixed fee per client.
The second is some sort of means test. "Get according to
your needs, pay according to your means". This will happen
but... doesn't win many votes. People want a free lunch and any
medical service they or their doctors can invent. Here is where
Madison's design breaks down. We have enough democracy so people
expect too much from the government and don't want to pay. We
have enough elitism so well funded groups can block reform. WE
have dead lock and the check book remains open. (Like in the
S&L
crisis)
Fix the system, not the blame means a more responsible
government.
(See Reform).
There are several ways to make the system more responsible.
Concurrent
elections rather than so many fractured constituencies. Party
responsibility, with national parties holding the central
authority.
Until the system is fixed the problem will go on, and on, and
on. Some buck will be passed to the States.
The budget will not
be balanced in 7 years or 70 years by the current political
system.
Sometime in the next ten years this will become so clear that
even the "media," and professors of government will
notice.
SEE the news including tips on hypertext, the future of
inactive
education, and lots of goods references and ideas on the NEWS
PAGE THE LAST FIRST
Page from
last week. What we do here is explore, using interaction and
cooperation.
( Unstable technology - see below ). A general tip on the web
- try several times.
The URL's have to be found and placed in
the server. Sometimes the server need to do this more then once.
If you don't get a fairly fast - found - waiting but it keeps
looking - don't wait try again. I use more than one browser page
at a time ( on Windows 95 ) and flip back and fourth if it's slow.
One reason I don't have an Index.htm page is to give you practice
in open files and how they work.
I've looked at the pages with a freenet http (text only),
AoL, Compuserve, Prodigy, MS Internet Explorer, Netscape, Hot
Java, and they all are different. What I see and experience is
not the same as what you see and experience. I depend on your
feedback.
In the files you will find sample pages,
along with icons, and
other materials for making your own home pages. A lot more
information
is on the week before first's page now doc1.htm
in the htm files.
This is a place to visit more than once and spend enough time
to discover our meaning. It is not completely user friendly -
we are working on it. Have a nice visit and let me know what you
think ?
(Please use the following address for me from now on:
pkirby@umsa7.umd.edu. Even though you see another one on this
message, it should be deleted and changed.)
Has anyone taught students directly about their own learning
styles as a topic of inquiry and discussion, i.e., what style is
and isn't, how to capitalize on our style strengths and
compensate for missing styles or style segments, how to survive
mismatch with instructor or course topic
or course format, etc.?
I am now involved in a small grant to do this with another
educator in my office here and would be interested in any
experiences you could share.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Patricia Kirby, Ed.D.
Rm 3219 SFSC
University College, U. of Md.
University Blvd. at Adelphi Rd.
College Park, MD 20742+1616
301-985-7897
We teach a Freshman Seminar to over 1,000 students who are
predominantly
in technological programs.
The challenge: to make 1,000 (or as
close to
it as possible) have good classroom experiences as possible, and
to get
them to conceptualize and grow academically.
Staff size: 2.
Howthehell can we do that? We got volunteer teachers from
student
services, AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, we also got the commitment of 140
or so
undergraduate student leaders to come participate in the classes.
Each
class of 35 is staffed by one instructor and 5 undergraduate team
leaders.
The classes are taught much like corporate training. Students
work in 5
teams of seven, each led by a team leader, under the direction of
the
instructor. Much of the class is teamwork doing analysis, or
problem-solving or presentations. Grading is done predominantly
by team
leaders who go by the guidelines assigned by the instructor.
It's all
much more than this, but I have to tell you, using the
undergraduates was a
real moment of truth for us.
Will they blow this off? Will they use this
as an opportunity to slander the program? Will we two be looking
for new
jobs directly?
Answer: no.
Students do a hellofa job for the most part.
Yes, there is an occasional slackard. But probably less than 1%.
The rest
are outstanding leaders who are given academic credit for taking
"Foundations of Leadership," a class that teaches the concepts
of
leadership and illustrates them by using their team leadership
jobs as
examples.
They also can take practicum hours and other classes
to get a
certificate in Leadership (the equivalent of a minor, here). I
commend
using undergraduates to help in the classroom.
They are capable
of more
than you'd believe.
----------------------------------------------------------
Joann Ward, Ed.S., LPC, NCC Assistant Director
Georgia Tech, Success Programs
Student Services Building, Suite 227
Atlanta, GA 30332-0285
joann.ward@vpss.gatech.edu
PH: (404) 894+1970
FAX: (404) 894+1980
Not my words, but those of a new Canadian user who chanced upon
the
ICDL distance education database!
But don't take anyone's word for it - try for yourself by
accessing
the new, free, online version released on January 8.
There is a vast quantity of information on the literature of
distance
education (over 8,000 entries), on distance teaching institutions
worldwide (over 850 of them), and on courses and programmes
taught at a
distance (over 30,000) by institutions in the UK and other
Commonwealth countries including Australia, Canada, India, New
Zealand
and South Africa.
Searching is better than ever, too. Our software has been
enhanced in
several important areas.
You can reach the database by Telnet from anywhere in the world.
Telnet to acsvax.open.ac.uk
At the welcome message please login to the Open University VAX
cluster
with the Username: ICDL
We would then like you to access the database using your country
name
as Account code. Please enter this without any spaces.
The
Password is
then just AAA
You need to be using a VT100 terminal
If you have any difficulty or want to comment, please send e-mail
to
icdl-enquiries@open.ac.uk
The database is also issued on CD-ROM. I'll be happy to provide
details of the next CD-ROM, which will be available at the end of
January.
Keith Harry
Director, International Centre for Distance Learning
The Open University
Walton Hall
Milton Keynes MK7 6AA
Telephone: +44 1908 653537
Fax: +44 1908 654173
E-mail: k.w.harry@open.ac.uk
WWW: http://acacia.open.ac.uk/
Gopher: rowan.open.ac.uk
Agreed! At times we "educators" must become the "guide on the
side"
instead of the "sage on the stage." Students of all ages must be
allowed/encouraged/required to be responsible for their own
learning.
On Sun, 14 Jan 1996, Thomas Leal wrote:
At 05:31 PM 1/14/96 -0500, you wrote:
People learn best by constructing their own knowledge base.
They
do
this by discussing concepts, arguing about problem solutions and
advocating
for
their positions. This reflects what companies are looking for in
their
employees. This type of interaction does not take place in the
lecture class.
Many companies find that they need to train or retrain new
engineers. If
universities promoted cooperative learning at all levels they
would produce
more
effective graduates, people ready to function well in the real
world.
I agree wholeheartedly! This applies, I would be bold enough to
say, in all
courses, regardless of subject matter. I teach marketing to
undergraduates
at three universities in the San Francisco area. One has
students almost
entirely from other countries, primarily France in my classes.
Somehow over time we professors got the idea that we were the
great fonts of
all wisdom and knowledge. We seemed to forget that the root of
the word
"education" means "to lead out of" or "to lead fourth." Of
course, most of
us learned by sitting passively in front of a lecturer who
droned on for
hours without interacting with us. We soaked up what we could,
then squeezed
it out onto paper at exam time. Retention? Only until the final.
So now we find highly educated people in business who can't make
decisions.
They absorbed facts and figures, but never learned what to do
with any of
that. I don't give my students answers, I give them questions.
If they leave
my course knowing what questions to ask and how to go about
finding answers,
they will be able to apply their learning in the world outside
the academe.
If, instead, they leave with answers, they'll have yesterday's
news.
They'll
find themselves looking backwards in their efforts to succeed,
trying to
recall something from a class long ago. That's like driving a
car by looking
only in the rear view mirror.
We ought to prepare students to be able to figure out where
they're headed,
determine what's happening around them, and to look back now and
then to see
what's behind. And we ought to develop their skills for doing
all this
without our guidance. We ought to bring out their talents for
solving their
own problems.
The more I let go of being in charge of my classes and push the
students to
take more responsibility for their learning experience, the
better they seem
to do. And, may I add, they indicate greater appreciation for
what I've done
in their evaluations of the course and teacher (all my schools
require
students to complete an evaluation for each course).
Thomas Leal
The Synergy Group
48 Mathews Place, Suite 8, Alamo CA 94507-2600
Phone: 510 / 938-7748 FAX: 510 / 943-7034
Internet: tomleal@synergygroup.com
"Bringing out the best in people, their ideas, and their
companies."
Hi Peter:
I don't have all the answers, but take a look at how
http://www.match.com
works -- I know it's rather far from the type of information you
will be
processing but the way they do it is pretty cool. It seems as
though their
CGI scripts take much of the work out of managing the site.
Being able to automatically categorize the information and make
'matches'
based on parameters in a personal profile could be applied to
what you're up
against.
The greatest thing about the Internet is the amount of
information available.
The greatest problem with the Internet is the amount of
information available.
A large part of the choice will be made for you in what your ISP
will
provide. Some allow user-developed CGI scripts, most do not. If
your
provider has a Windows NT server, much can be done in Visual
Basic. What
would be nice is to have an SQL Server database on the server
with a VB
script to drive the client end. You could get some very
impressive stuff
running in this configuration.
Ideally, you'd need an Internet version of a Lotus Notes type of
product. I
haven't seen anything quite like that yet -- maybe I should
develop one...
I'll keep looking and let you know if I find anything suitable.
Cheers! Marty...
----------------------------------------------
| Marty R. Milette, P.Prog. mmilette@magi.com
| http://www.magi.com/~mmilette/
| If you always do what you did,
| you'll always get what you got.
----------------------------------------------
RE: New Highly Complex Systems tend to be unstable:
Working with Windows 95 and the INTERNET over the last few
years and being very interested in human nature and behavior -
There seems to be an analogy about things not working very well:
complex systems are unstable - things work, then they don't -
WHY ?
The current model of "Human Beings" is about 40,000
years old and the INTERNET is about 30 years of age. Both are
complex systems made up of sub-systems and parts that all don't
fit perfectly or work smoothly together.
The body-mind, (plant,
reptile, mammal) and all our "selves", emotional,
passionate,
rational elements, are so blended and mixed with "the stuff
that dreams are make of," that dreams, illusions and reality
become so mixed as to become one blended element.
The result of
this complex blend often involves conflict within ourselves and
with others. Clearly we are a new experimental design, a work
in process, that has not had the time to work out all the bugs.
The same instability applies to all collections of complex
systems,
THIS WEEKS FIRST PAGE
PAGE ONE
PAGE FOUR
PAGE THREE
PAGE TWO
The New Newbie Page - a
good start on the internet
Sometimes works better
than //metro.
The URL is 204.250.87.44 (Metro) and 204.250.87.46
for (emporium).
When you enter there is the index page.
which contains this page first.htm, the News page, the Starrt page
(above) open-me, and synergy.
There are also the document files; the main files is /document
and under synergy documents several files /documents/pathos/
,
(feelings and psychology, mind body materials); ETHOS
(education, morals, values and being a person with character -
the heart of education ) and LOGOS
( the rational and policy papers about organizations,
management,
government, theories of collective behavior)
Note: IF these links don't work go back to / (Index)
and do it by hand - open /document or /synergy and it works.
I don't know why sometimes the links work and sometimes they
don't.
RE: Illusion vs. Reality (and the Telecommunications Bill)
The BUDGET dead lock ?
Madison designed the system so ambition matches ambition,
power balances power. (Federalist Papers 10 and 51)
The system
was designed to protect people FROM government not make it
democratic
or effective.
The idea was to protect minorities.
The minority
they had in mind were the RICH, property owning people who
carried
off the coup called the American Revolution or the rebellion of
the American Colonies. Since God so loves the poor he made many
of them - Democracy would cause social envy, leveling,
redistribution
of wealth and all the evils of "popular" demagogue. (As
it had in Ancient Greece). And Madison's design sort of works
- DEADLOCK is designed to protect minorities so it takes a long
term overwhelming majority to do anything good or bad.
SO WHAT IS THE ISSUE: Two little words "normal and
usual"
rather than "reasonable and proper". This opened the
federal check book to Medicare. Other entitlement depend on the
"needs" of the beneficiary, which can be tightly drawn.
It does depend on "need" but is limited to set
payments.
Health care followed the pattern set by Blue Cross, which just
pays the bill.
The client does not get the benefit but the
services
given as designed by the doctors and are paid by a third party.
The emergency room decides to put three little stitches in a
small
cut on Blaine's foot.
The bill is over $300.00 for separate
services
(
The doctors, the hospital, supplies etc). If this is outrageous
it is "normal and usual" to be outrageous.
The check
book is open "Send us your BILLS".
The Social Security Act of 1936, was to cover the emergencies
of life, unemployment, retirement, poverty, disability, and
sickness.
The politics is that a "program for the poor would be a poor
program" so there was no means test for Retirement.
The
medical
establishment blocked health care for 50 years. Now they find
they like the open check book system, along with 15% of the
economy
- hospitals, equipment, supplies, drugs, and a vast health care
industry all doing good and doing very well.
HOW TO CLOSE THE CHECKBOOK that will (is) bankrupting the
government.
There are two things that have been PERFECTLY CLEAR
since 1982. One, there must be a fixed limit on payments.
The
simplest method is HMO's which are paid a fixed fee per client.
The second is some sort of means test. "Get according to
your needs, pay according to your means". This will happen
but... doesn't win many votes. People want a free lunch and any
medical service they or their doctors can invent. Here is where
Madison's design breaks down. We have enough democracy so people
expect too much from the government and don't want to pay. We
have enough elitism so well funded groups can block reform. WE
have dead lock and the check book remains open. (Like in the
S&L
crisis)
Fix the system, not the blame means a more responsible
government.
(See Reform).
There are several ways to make the system more responsible.
Concurrent
elections rather than so many fractured constituencies. Party
responsibility, with national parties holding the central
authority.
Until the system is fixed the problem will go on, and on, and
on. Some buck will be passed to the States.
The budget will not
be balanced in 7 years or 70 years by the current political
system.
Sometime in the next ten years this will become so clear that
even the "media," and professors of government will
notice.
SEE the news including tips on hypertext, the future of
inactive
education, and lots of goods references and ideas on the NEWS
PAGE THE LAST FIRST
Page from
last week. What we do here is explore, using interaction and
cooperation.
( Unstable technology - see below ). A general tip on the web
- try several times.
The URL's have to be found and placed in
the server. Sometimes the server need to do this more then once.
If you don't get a fairly fast - found - waiting but it keeps
looking - don't wait try again. I use more than one browser page
at a time ( on Windows 95 ) and flip back and fourth if it's slow.
One reason I don't have an Index.htm page is to give you practice
in open files and how they work.
I've looked at the pages with a freenet http (text only),
AoL, Compuserve, Prodigy, MS Internet Explorer, Netscape, Hot
Java, and they all are different. What I see and experience is
not the same as what you see and experience. I depend on your
feedback.
In the files you will find sample pages,
along with icons, and
other materials for making your own home pages. A lot more
information
is on the week before first's page now doc1.htm
in the htm files.
This is a place to visit more than once and spend enough time
to discover our meaning. It is not completely user friendly -
we are working on it. Have a nice visit and let me know what you
think ?
(Please use the following address for me from now on:
pkirby@umsa7.umd.edu. Even though you see another one on this
message, it should be deleted and changed.)
Has anyone taught students directly about their own learning
styles as a topic of inquiry and discussion, i.e., what style is
and isn't, how to capitalize on our style strengths and
compensate for missing styles or style segments, how to survive
mismatch with instructor or course topic
or course format, etc.?
I am now involved in a small grant to do this with another
educator in my office here and would be interested in any
experiences you could share.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Patricia Kirby, Ed.D.
Rm 3219 SFSC
University College, U. of Md.
University Blvd. at Adelphi Rd.
College Park, MD 20742+1616
301-985-7897
We teach a Freshman Seminar to over 1,000 students who are
predominantly
in technological programs.
The challenge: to make 1,000 (or as
close to
it as possible) have good classroom experiences as possible, and
to get
them to conceptualize and grow academically.
Staff size: 2.
Howthehell can we do that? We got volunteer teachers from
student
services, AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, we also got the commitment of 140
or so
undergraduate student leaders to come participate in the classes.
Each
class of 35 is staffed by one instructor and 5 undergraduate team
leaders.
The classes are taught much like corporate training. Students
work in 5
teams of seven, each led by a team leader, under the direction of
the
instructor. Much of the class is teamwork doing analysis, or
problem-solving or presentations. Grading is done predominantly
by team
leaders who go by the guidelines assigned by the instructor.
It's all
much more than this, but I have to tell you, using the
undergraduates was a
real moment of truth for us.
Will they blow this off? Will they use this
as an opportunity to slander the program? Will we two be looking
for new
jobs directly?
Answer: no.
Students do a hellofa job for the most part.
Yes, there is an occasional slackard. But probably less than 1%.
The rest
are outstanding leaders who are given academic credit for taking
"Foundations of Leadership," a class that teaches the concepts
of
leadership and illustrates them by using their team leadership
jobs as
examples.
They also can take practicum hours and other classes
to get a
certificate in Leadership (the equivalent of a minor, here). I
commend
using undergraduates to help in the classroom.
They are capable
of more
than you'd believe.
----------------------------------------------------------
Joann Ward, Ed.S., LPC, NCC Assistant Director
Georgia Tech, Success Programs
Student Services Building, Suite 227
Atlanta, GA 30332-0285
joann.ward@vpss.gatech.edu
PH: (404) 894+1970
FAX: (404) 894+1980
Not my words, but those of a new Canadian user who chanced upon
the
ICDL distance education database!
But don't take anyone's word for it - try for yourself by
accessing
the new, free, online version released on January 8.
There is a vast quantity of information on the literature of
distance
education (over 8,000 entries), on distance teaching institutions
worldwide (over 850 of them), and on courses and programmes
taught at a
distance (over 30,000) by institutions in the UK and other
Commonwealth countries including Australia, Canada, India, New
Zealand
and South Africa.
Searching is better than ever, too. Our software has been
enhanced in
several important areas.
You can reach the database by Telnet from anywhere in the world.
Telnet to acsvax.open.ac.uk
At the welcome message please login to the Open University VAX
cluster
with the Username: ICDL
We would then like you to access the database using your country
name
as Account code. Please enter this without any spaces.
The
Password is
then just AAA
You need to be using a VT100 terminal
If you have any difficulty or want to comment, please send e-mail
to
icdl-enquiries@open.ac.uk
The database is also issued on CD-ROM. I'll be happy to provide
details of the next CD-ROM, which will be available at the end of
January.
Keith Harry
Director, International Centre for Distance Learning
The Open University
Walton Hall
Milton Keynes MK7 6AA
Telephone: +44 1908 653537
Fax: +44 1908 654173
E-mail: k.w.harry@open.ac.uk
WWW: http://acacia.open.ac.uk/
Gopher: rowan.open.ac.uk
Agreed! At times we "educators" must become the "guide on the
side"
instead of the "sage on the stage." Students of all ages must be
allowed/encouraged/required to be responsible for their own
learning.
On Sun, 14 Jan 1996, Thomas Leal wrote:
At 05:31 PM 1/14/96 -0500, you wrote:
People learn best by constructing their own knowledge base.
They
do
this by discussing concepts, arguing about problem solutions and
advocating
for
their positions. This reflects what companies are looking for in
their
employees. This type of interaction does not take place in the
lecture class.
Many companies find that they need to train or retrain new
engineers. If
universities promoted cooperative learning at all levels they
would produce
more
effective graduates, people ready to function well in the real
world.
I agree wholeheartedly! This applies, I would be bold enough to
say, in all
courses, regardless of subject matter. I teach marketing to
undergraduates
at three universities in the San Francisco area. One has
students almost
entirely from other countries, primarily France in my classes.
Somehow over time we professors got the idea that we were the
great fonts of
all wisdom and knowledge. We seemed to forget that the root of
the word
"education" means "to lead out of" or "to lead fourth." Of
course, most of
us learned by sitting passively in front of a lecturer who
droned on for
hours without interacting with us. We soaked up what we could,
then squeezed
it out onto paper at exam time. Retention? Only until the final.
So now we find highly educated people in business who can't make
decisions.
They absorbed facts and figures, but never learned what to do
with any of
that. I don't give my students answers, I give them questions.
If they leave
my course knowing what questions to ask and how to go about
finding answers,
they will be able to apply their learning in the world outside
the academe.
If, instead, they leave with answers, they'll have yesterday's
news.
They'll
find themselves looking backwards in their efforts to succeed,
trying to
recall something from a class long ago. That's like driving a
car by looking
only in the rear view mirror.
We ought to prepare students to be able to figure out where
they're headed,
determine what's happening around them, and to look back now and
then to see
what's behind. And we ought to develop their skills for doing
all this
without our guidance. We ought to bring out their talents for
solving their
own problems.
The more I let go of being in charge of my classes and push the
students to
take more responsibility for their learning experience, the
better they seem
to do. And, may I add, they indicate greater appreciation for
what I've done
in their evaluations of the course and teacher (all my schools
require
students to complete an evaluation for each course).
Thomas Leal
The Synergy Group
48 Mathews Place, Suite 8, Alamo CA 94507-2600
Phone: 510 / 938-7748 FAX: 510 / 943-7034
Internet: tomleal@synergygroup.com
"Bringing out the best in people, their ideas, and their
companies."
Hi Peter:
I don't have all the answers, but take a look at how
http://www.match.com
works -- I know it's rather far from the type of information you
will be
processing but the way they do it is pretty cool. It seems as
though their
CGI scripts take much of the work out of managing the site.
Being able to automatically categorize the information and make
'matches'
based on parameters in a personal profile could be applied to
what you're up
against.
The greatest thing about the Internet is the amount of
information available.
The greatest problem with the Internet is the amount of
information available.
A large part of the choice will be made for you in what your ISP
will
provide. Some allow user-developed CGI scripts, most do not. If
your
provider has a Windows NT server, much can be done in Visual
Basic. What
would be nice is to have an SQL Server database on the server
with a VB
script to drive the client end. You could get some very
impressive stuff
running in this configuration.
Ideally, you'd need an Internet version of a Lotus Notes type of
product. I
haven't seen anything quite like that yet -- maybe I should
develop one...
I'll keep looking and let you know if I find anything suitable.
Cheers! Marty...
----------------------------------------------
| Marty R. Milette, P.Prog. mmilette@magi.com
| http://www.magi.com/~mmilette/
| If you always do what you did,
| you'll always get what you got.
----------------------------------------------
RE: New Highly Complex Systems tend to be unstable:
Working with Windows 95 and the INTERNET over the last few
years and being very interested in human nature and behavior -
There seems to be an analogy about things not working very well:
complex systems are unstable - things work, then they don't -
WHY ?
The current model of "Human Beings" is about 40,000
years old and the INTERNET is about 30 years of age. Both are
complex systems made up of sub-systems and parts that all don't
fit perfectly or work smoothly together.
The body-mind, (plant,
reptile, mammal) and all our "selves", emotional,
passionate,
rational elements, are so blended and mixed with "the stuff
that dreams are make of," that dreams, illusions and reality
become so mixed as to become one blended element.
The result of
this complex blend often involves conflict within ourselves and
with others. Clearly we are a new experimental design, a work
in process, that has not had the time to work out all the bugs.
The same instability applies to all collections of complex
systems,
PAGE FOUR
PAGE THREE
PAGE TWO
The New Newbie Page - a
good start on the internet
Sometimes works better
than //metro.
The URL is 204.250.87.44 (Metro) and 204.250.87.46
for (emporium).
When you enter there is the index page.
which contains this page first.htm, the News page, the Starrt page
(above) open-me, and synergy.
There are also the document files; the main files is /document
and under synergy documents several files /documents/pathos/
,
(feelings and psychology, mind body materials); ETHOS
(education, morals, values and being a person with character -
the heart of education ) and LOGOS
( the rational and policy papers about organizations,
management,
government, theories of collective behavior)
Note: IF these links don't work go back to / (Index)
and do it by hand - open /document or /synergy and it works.
I don't know why sometimes the links work and sometimes they
don't.
RE: Illusion vs. Reality (and the Telecommunications Bill)
The BUDGET dead lock ?
Madison designed the system so ambition matches ambition,
power balances power. (Federalist Papers 10 and 51)
The system
was designed to protect people FROM government not make it
democratic
or effective.
The idea was to protect minorities.
The minority
they had in mind were the RICH, property owning people who
carried
off the coup called the American Revolution or the rebellion of
the American Colonies. Since God so loves the poor he made many
of them - Democracy would cause social envy, leveling,
redistribution
of wealth and all the evils of "popular" demagogue. (As
it had in Ancient Greece). And Madison's design sort of works
- DEADLOCK is designed to protect minorities so it takes a long
term overwhelming majority to do anything good or bad.
SO WHAT IS THE ISSUE: Two little words "normal and
usual"
rather than "reasonable and proper". This opened the
federal check book to Medicare. Other entitlement depend on the
"needs" of the beneficiary, which can be tightly drawn.
It does depend on "need" but is limited to set
payments.
Health care followed the pattern set by Blue Cross, which just
pays the bill.
The client does not get the benefit but the
services
given as designed by the doctors and are paid by a third party.
The emergency room decides to put three little stitches in a
small
cut on Blaine's foot.
The bill is over $300.00 for separate
services
(
The doctors, the hospital, supplies etc). If this is outrageous
it is "normal and usual" to be outrageous.
The check
book is open "Send us your BILLS".
The Social Security Act of 1936, was to cover the emergencies
of life, unemployment, retirement, poverty, disability, and
sickness.
The politics is that a "program for the poor would be a poor
program" so there was no means test for Retirement.
The
medical
establishment blocked health care for 50 years. Now they find
they like the open check book system, along with 15% of the
economy
- hospitals, equipment, supplies, drugs, and a vast health care
industry all doing good and doing very well.
HOW TO CLOSE THE CHECKBOOK that will (is) bankrupting the
government.
There are two things that have been PERFECTLY CLEAR
since 1982. One, there must be a fixed limit on payments.
The
simplest method is HMO's which are paid a fixed fee per client.
The second is some sort of means test. "Get according to
your needs, pay according to your means". This will happen
but... doesn't win many votes. People want a free lunch and any
medical service they or their doctors can invent. Here is where
Madison's design breaks down. We have enough democracy so people
expect too much from the government and don't want to pay. We
have enough elitism so well funded groups can block reform. WE
have dead lock and the check book remains open. (Like in the
S&L
crisis)
Fix the system, not the blame means a more responsible
government.
(See Reform).
There are several ways to make the system more responsible.
Concurrent
elections rather than so many fractured constituencies. Party
responsibility, with national parties holding the central
authority.
Until the system is fixed the problem will go on, and on, and
on. Some buck will be passed to the States.
The budget will not
be balanced in 7 years or 70 years by the current political
system.
Sometime in the next ten years this will become so clear that
even the "media," and professors of government will
notice.
SEE the news including tips on hypertext, the future of
inactive
education, and lots of goods references and ideas on the NEWS
PAGE THE LAST FIRST
Page from
last week. What we do here is explore, using interaction and
cooperation.
( Unstable technology - see below ). A general tip on the web
- try several times.
The URL's have to be found and placed in
the server. Sometimes the server need to do this more then once.
If you don't get a fairly fast - found - waiting but it keeps
looking - don't wait try again. I use more than one browser page
at a time ( on Windows 95 ) and flip back and fourth if it's slow.
One reason I don't have an Index.htm page is to give you practice
in open files and how they work.
I've looked at the pages with a freenet http (text only),
AoL, Compuserve, Prodigy, MS Internet Explorer, Netscape, Hot
Java, and they all are different. What I see and experience is
not the same as what you see and experience. I depend on your
feedback.
In the files you will find sample pages,
along with icons, and
other materials for making your own home pages. A lot more
information
is on the week before first's page now doc1.htm
in the htm files.
This is a place to visit more than once and spend enough time
to discover our meaning. It is not completely user friendly -
we are working on it. Have a nice visit and let me know what you
think ?
(Please use the following address for me from now on:
pkirby@umsa7.umd.edu. Even though you see another one on this
message, it should be deleted and changed.)
Has anyone taught students directly about their own learning
styles as a topic of inquiry and discussion, i.e., what style is
and isn't, how to capitalize on our style strengths and
compensate for missing styles or style segments, how to survive
mismatch with instructor or course topic
or course format, etc.?
I am now involved in a small grant to do this with another
educator in my office here and would be interested in any
experiences you could share.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Patricia Kirby, Ed.D.
Rm 3219 SFSC
University College, U. of Md.
University Blvd. at Adelphi Rd.
College Park, MD 20742+1616
301-985-7897
We teach a Freshman Seminar to over 1,000 students who are
predominantly
in technological programs.
The challenge: to make 1,000 (or as
close to
it as possible) have good classroom experiences as possible, and
to get
them to conceptualize and grow academically.
Staff size: 2.
Howthehell can we do that? We got volunteer teachers from
student
services, AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, we also got the commitment of 140
or so
undergraduate student leaders to come participate in the classes.
Each
class of 35 is staffed by one instructor and 5 undergraduate team
leaders.
The classes are taught much like corporate training. Students
work in 5
teams of seven, each led by a team leader, under the direction of
the
instructor. Much of the class is teamwork doing analysis, or
problem-solving or presentations. Grading is done predominantly
by team
leaders who go by the guidelines assigned by the instructor.
It's all
much more than this, but I have to tell you, using the
undergraduates was a
real moment of truth for us.
Will they blow this off? Will they use this
as an opportunity to slander the program? Will we two be looking
for new
jobs directly?
Answer: no.
Students do a hellofa job for the most part.
Yes, there is an occasional slackard. But probably less than 1%.
The rest
are outstanding leaders who are given academic credit for taking
"Foundations of Leadership," a class that teaches the concepts
of
leadership and illustrates them by using their team leadership
jobs as
examples.
They also can take practicum hours and other classes
to get a
certificate in Leadership (the equivalent of a minor, here). I
commend
using undergraduates to help in the classroom.
They are capable
of more
than you'd believe.
----------------------------------------------------------
Joann Ward, Ed.S., LPC, NCC Assistant Director
Georgia Tech, Success Programs
Student Services Building, Suite 227
Atlanta, GA 30332-0285
joann.ward@vpss.gatech.edu
PH: (404) 894+1970
FAX: (404) 894+1980
Not my words, but those of a new Canadian user who chanced upon
the
ICDL distance education database!
But don't take anyone's word for it - try for yourself by
accessing
the new, free, online version released on January 8.
There is a vast quantity of information on the literature of
distance
education (over 8,000 entries), on distance teaching institutions
worldwide (over 850 of them), and on courses and programmes
taught at a
distance (over 30,000) by institutions in the UK and other
Commonwealth countries including Australia, Canada, India, New
Zealand
and South Africa.
Searching is better than ever, too. Our software has been
enhanced in
several important areas.
You can reach the database by Telnet from anywhere in the world.
Telnet to acsvax.open.ac.uk
At the welcome message please login to the Open University VAX
cluster
with the Username: ICDL
We would then like you to access the database using your country
name
as Account code. Please enter this without any spaces.
The
Password is
then just AAA
You need to be using a VT100 terminal
If you have any difficulty or want to comment, please send e-mail
to
icdl-enquiries@open.ac.uk
The database is also issued on CD-ROM. I'll be happy to provide
details of the next CD-ROM, which will be available at the end of
January.
Keith Harry
Director, International Centre for Distance Learning
The Open University
Walton Hall
Milton Keynes MK7 6AA
Telephone: +44 1908 653537
Fax: +44 1908 654173
E-mail: k.w.harry@open.ac.uk
WWW: http://acacia.open.ac.uk/
Gopher: rowan.open.ac.uk
Agreed! At times we "educators" must become the "guide on the
side"
instead of the "sage on the stage." Students of all ages must be
allowed/encouraged/required to be responsible for their own
learning.
On Sun, 14 Jan 1996, Thomas Leal wrote:
At 05:31 PM 1/14/96 -0500, you wrote:
People learn best by constructing their own knowledge base.
They
do
this by discussing concepts, arguing about problem solutions and
advocating
for
their positions. This reflects what companies are looking for in
their
employees. This type of interaction does not take place in the
lecture class.
Many companies find that they need to train or retrain new
engineers. If
universities promoted cooperative learning at all levels they
would produce
more
effective graduates, people ready to function well in the real
world.
I agree wholeheartedly! This applies, I would be bold enough to
say, in all
courses, regardless of subject matter. I teach marketing to
undergraduates
at three universities in the San Francisco area. One has
students almost
entirely from other countries, primarily France in my classes.
Somehow over time we professors got the idea that we were the
great fonts of
all wisdom and knowledge. We seemed to forget that the root of
the word
"education" means "to lead out of" or "to lead fourth." Of
course, most of
us learned by sitting passively in front of a lecturer who
droned on for
hours without interacting with us. We soaked up what we could,
then squeezed
it out onto paper at exam time. Retention? Only until the final.
So now we find highly educated people in business who can't make
decisions.
They absorbed facts and figures, but never learned what to do
with any of
that. I don't give my students answers, I give them questions.
If they leave
my course knowing what questions to ask and how to go about
finding answers,
they will be able to apply their learning in the world outside
the academe.
If, instead, they leave with answers, they'll have yesterday's
news.
They'll
find themselves looking backwards in their efforts to succeed,
trying to
recall something from a class long ago. That's like driving a
car by looking
only in the rear view mirror.
We ought to prepare students to be able to figure out where
they're headed,
determine what's happening around them, and to look back now and
then to see
what's behind. And we ought to develop their skills for doing
all this
without our guidance. We ought to bring out their talents for
solving their
own problems.
The more I let go of being in charge of my classes and push the
students to
take more responsibility for their learning experience, the
better they seem
to do. And, may I add, they indicate greater appreciation for
what I've done
in their evaluations of the course and teacher (all my schools
require
students to complete an evaluation for each course).
Thomas Leal
The Synergy Group
48 Mathews Place, Suite 8, Alamo CA 94507-2600
Phone: 510 / 938-7748 FAX: 510 / 943-7034
Internet: tomleal@synergygroup.com
"Bringing out the best in people, their ideas, and their
companies."
Hi Peter:
I don't have all the answers, but take a look at how
http://www.match.com
works -- I know it's rather far from the type of information you
will be
processing but the way they do it is pretty cool. It seems as
though their
CGI scripts take much of the work out of managing the site.
Being able to automatically categorize the information and make
'matches'
based on parameters in a personal profile could be applied to
what you're up
against.
The greatest thing about the Internet is the amount of
information available.
The greatest problem with the Internet is the amount of
information available.
A large part of the choice will be made for you in what your ISP
will
provide. Some allow user-developed CGI scripts, most do not. If
your
provider has a Windows NT server, much can be done in Visual
Basic. What
would be nice is to have an SQL Server database on the server
with a VB
script to drive the client end. You could get some very
impressive stuff
running in this configuration.
Ideally, you'd need an Internet version of a Lotus Notes type of
product. I
haven't seen anything quite like that yet -- maybe I should
develop one...
I'll keep looking and let you know if I find anything suitable.
Cheers! Marty...
----------------------------------------------
| Marty R. Milette, P.Prog. mmilette@magi.com
| http://www.magi.com/~mmilette/
| If you always do what you did,
| you'll always get what you got.
----------------------------------------------
RE: New Highly Complex Systems tend to be unstable:
Working with Windows 95 and the INTERNET over the last few
years and being very interested in human nature and behavior -
There seems to be an analogy about things not working very well:
complex systems are unstable - things work, then they don't -
WHY ?
The current model of "Human Beings" is about 40,000
years old and the INTERNET is about 30 years of age. Both are
complex systems made up of sub-systems and parts that all don't
fit perfectly or work smoothly together.
The body-mind, (plant,
reptile, mammal) and all our "selves", emotional,
passionate,
rational elements, are so blended and mixed with "the stuff
that dreams are make of," that dreams, illusions and reality
become so mixed as to become one blended element.
The result of
this complex blend often involves conflict within ourselves and
with others. Clearly we are a new experimental design, a work
in process, that has not had the time to work out all the bugs.
The same instability applies to all collections of complex
systems,
PAGE TWO
The New Newbie Page - a
good start on the internet
Sometimes works better
than //metro.
The URL is 204.250.87.44 (Metro) and 204.250.87.46
for (emporium).
When you enter there is the index page.
which contains this page first.htm, the News page, the Starrt page
(above) open-me, and synergy.
There are also the document files; the main files is /document
and under synergy documents several files /documents/pathos/
,
(feelings and psychology, mind body materials); ETHOS
(education, morals, values and being a person with character -
the heart of education ) and LOGOS
( the rational and policy papers about organizations,
management,
government, theories of collective behavior)
Note: IF these links don't work go back to / (Index)
and do it by hand - open /document or /synergy and it works.
I don't know why sometimes the links work and sometimes they
don't.
RE: Illusion vs. Reality (and the Telecommunications Bill)
The BUDGET dead lock ?
Madison designed the system so ambition matches ambition,
power balances power. (Federalist Papers 10 and 51)
The system
was designed to protect people FROM government not make it
democratic
or effective.
The idea was to protect minorities.
The minority
they had in mind were the RICH, property owning people who
carried
off the coup called the American Revolution or the rebellion of
the American Colonies. Since God so loves the poor he made many
of them - Democracy would cause social envy, leveling,
redistribution
of wealth and all the evils of "popular" demagogue. (As
it had in Ancient Greece). And Madison's design sort of works
- DEADLOCK is designed to protect minorities so it takes a long
term overwhelming majority to do anything good or bad.
SO WHAT IS THE ISSUE: Two little words "normal and
usual"
rather than "reasonable and proper". This opened the
federal check book to Medicare. Other entitlement depend on the
"needs" of the beneficiary, which can be tightly drawn.
It does depend on "need" but is limited to set
payments.
Health care followed the pattern set by Blue Cross, which just
pays the bill.
The client does not get the benefit but the
services
given as designed by the doctors and are paid by a third party.
The emergency room decides to put three little stitches in a
small
cut on Blaine's foot.
The bill is over $300.00 for separate
services
(
The doctors, the hospital, supplies etc). If this is outrageous
it is "normal and usual" to be outrageous.
The check
book is open "Send us your BILLS".
The Social Security Act of 1936, was to cover the emergencies
of life, unemployment, retirement, poverty, disability, and
sickness.
The politics is that a "program for the poor would be a poor
program" so there was no means test for Retirement.
The
medical
establishment blocked health care for 50 years. Now they find
they like the open check book system, along with 15% of the
economy
- hospitals, equipment, supplies, drugs, and a vast health care
industry all doing good and doing very well.
HOW TO CLOSE THE CHECKBOOK that will (is) bankrupting the
government.
There are two things that have been PERFECTLY CLEAR
since 1982. One, there must be a fixed limit on payments.
The
simplest method is HMO's which are paid a fixed fee per client.
The second is some sort of means test. "Get according to
your needs, pay according to your means". This will happen
but... doesn't win many votes. People want a free lunch and any
medical service they or their doctors can invent. Here is where
Madison's design breaks down. We have enough democracy so people
expect too much from the government and don't want to pay. We
have enough elitism so well funded groups can block reform. WE
have dead lock and the check book remains open. (Like in the
S&L
crisis)
Fix the system, not the blame means a more responsible
government.
(See Reform).
There are several ways to make the system more responsible.
Concurrent
elections rather than so many fractured constituencies. Party
responsibility, with national parties holding the central
authority.
Until the system is fixed the problem will go on, and on, and
on. Some buck will be passed to the States.
The budget will not
be balanced in 7 years or 70 years by the current political
system.
Sometime in the next ten years this will become so clear that
even the "media," and professors of government will
notice.
SEE the news including tips on hypertext, the future of
inactive
education, and lots of goods references and ideas on the NEWS
PAGE THE LAST FIRST
Page from
last week. What we do here is explore, using interaction and
cooperation.
( Unstable technology - see below ). A general tip on the web
- try several times.
The URL's have to be found and placed in
the server. Sometimes the server need to do this more then once.
If you don't get a fairly fast - found - waiting but it keeps
looking - don't wait try again. I use more than one browser page
at a time ( on Windows 95 ) and flip back and fourth if it's slow.
One reason I don't have an Index.htm page is to give you practice
in open files and how they work.
I've looked at the pages with a freenet http (text only),
AoL, Compuserve, Prodigy, MS Internet Explorer, Netscape, Hot
Java, and they all are different. What I see and experience is
not the same as what you see and experience. I depend on your
feedback.
In the files you will find sample pages,
along with icons, and
other materials for making your own home pages. A lot more
information
is on the week before first's page now doc1.htm
in the htm files.
This is a place to visit more than once and spend enough time
to discover our meaning. It is not completely user friendly -
we are working on it. Have a nice visit and let me know what you
think ?
(Please use the following address for me from now on:
pkirby@umsa7.umd.edu. Even though you see another one on this
message, it should be deleted and changed.)
Has anyone taught students directly about their own learning
styles as a topic of inquiry and discussion, i.e., what style is
and isn't, how to capitalize on our style strengths and
compensate for missing styles or style segments, how to survive
mismatch with instructor or course topic
or course format, etc.?
I am now involved in a small grant to do this with another
educator in my office here and would be interested in any
experiences you could share.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Patricia Kirby, Ed.D.
Rm 3219 SFSC
University College, U. of Md.
University Blvd. at Adelphi Rd.
College Park, MD 20742+1616
301-985-7897
We teach a Freshman Seminar to over 1,000 students who are
predominantly
in technological programs.
The challenge: to make 1,000 (or as
close to
it as possible) have good classroom experiences as possible, and
to get
them to conceptualize and grow academically.
Staff size: 2.
Howthehell can we do that? We got volunteer teachers from
student
services, AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, we also got the commitment of 140
or so
undergraduate student leaders to come participate in the classes.
Each
class of 35 is staffed by one instructor and 5 undergraduate team
leaders.
The classes are taught much like corporate training. Students
work in 5
teams of seven, each led by a team leader, under the direction of
the
instructor. Much of the class is teamwork doing analysis, or
problem-solving or presentations. Grading is done predominantly
by team
leaders who go by the guidelines assigned by the instructor.
It's all
much more than this, but I have to tell you, using the
undergraduates was a
real moment of truth for us.
Will they blow this off? Will they use this
as an opportunity to slander the program? Will we two be looking
for new
jobs directly?
Answer: no.
Students do a hellofa job for the most part.
Yes, there is an occasional slackard. But probably less than 1%.
The rest
are outstanding leaders who are given academic credit for taking
"Foundations of Leadership," a class that teaches the concepts
of
leadership and illustrates them by using their team leadership
jobs as
examples.
They also can take practicum hours and other classes
to get a
certificate in Leadership (the equivalent of a minor, here). I
commend
using undergraduates to help in the classroom.
They are capable
of more
than you'd believe.
----------------------------------------------------------
Joann Ward, Ed.S., LPC, NCC Assistant Director
Georgia Tech, Success Programs
Student Services Building, Suite 227
Atlanta, GA 30332-0285
joann.ward@vpss.gatech.edu
PH: (404) 894+1970
FAX: (404) 894+1980
Not my words, but those of a new Canadian user who chanced upon
the
ICDL distance education database!
But don't take anyone's word for it - try for yourself by
accessing
the new, free, online version released on January 8.
There is a vast quantity of information on the literature of
distance
education (over 8,000 entries), on distance teaching institutions
worldwide (over 850 of them), and on courses and programmes
taught at a
distance (over 30,000) by institutions in the UK and other
Commonwealth countries including Australia, Canada, India, New
Zealand
and South Africa.
Searching is better than ever, too. Our software has been
enhanced in
several important areas.
You can reach the database by Telnet from anywhere in the world.
Telnet to acsvax.open.ac.uk
At the welcome message please login to the Open University VAX
cluster
with the Username: ICDL
We would then like you to access the database using your country
name
as Account code. Please enter this without any spaces.
The
Password is
then just AAA
You need to be using a VT100 terminal
If you have any difficulty or want to comment, please send e-mail
to
icdl-enquiries@open.ac.uk
The database is also issued on CD-ROM. I'll be happy to provide
details of the next CD-ROM, which will be available at the end of
January.
Keith Harry
Director, International Centre for Distance Learning
The Open University
Walton Hall
Milton Keynes MK7 6AA
Telephone: +44 1908 653537
Fax: +44 1908 654173
E-mail: k.w.harry@open.ac.uk
WWW: http://acacia.open.ac.uk/
Gopher: rowan.open.ac.uk
Agreed! At times we "educators" must become the "guide on the
side"
instead of the "sage on the stage." Students of all ages must be
allowed/encouraged/required to be responsible for their own
learning.
On Sun, 14 Jan 1996, Thomas Leal wrote:
At 05:31 PM 1/14/96 -0500, you wrote:
People learn best by constructing their own knowledge base.
They
do
this by discussing concepts, arguing about problem solutions and
advocating
for
their positions. This reflects what companies are looking for in
their
employees. This type of interaction does not take place in the
lecture class.
Many companies find that they need to train or retrain new
engineers. If
universities promoted cooperative learning at all levels they
would produce
more
effective graduates, people ready to function well in the real
world.
I agree wholeheartedly! This applies, I would be bold enough to
say, in all
courses, regardless of subject matter. I teach marketing to
undergraduates
at three universities in the San Francisco area. One has
students almost
entirely from other countries, primarily France in my classes.
Somehow over time we professors got the idea that we were the
great fonts of
all wisdom and knowledge. We seemed to forget that the root of
the word
"education" means "to lead out of" or "to lead fourth." Of
course, most of
us learned by sitting passively in front of a lecturer who
droned on for
hours without interacting with us. We soaked up what we could,
then squeezed
it out onto paper at exam time. Retention? Only until the final.
So now we find highly educated people in business who can't make
decisions.
They absorbed facts and figures, but never learned what to do
with any of
that. I don't give my students answers, I give them questions.
If they leave
my course knowing what questions to ask and how to go about
finding answers,
they will be able to apply their learning in the world outside
the academe.
If, instead, they leave with answers, they'll have yesterday's
news.
They'll
find themselves looking backwards in their efforts to succeed,
trying to
recall something from a class long ago. That's like driving a
car by looking
only in the rear view mirror.
We ought to prepare students to be able to figure out where
they're headed,
determine what's happening around them, and to look back now and
then to see
what's behind. And we ought to develop their skills for doing
all this
without our guidance. We ought to bring out their talents for
solving their
own problems.
The more I let go of being in charge of my classes and push the
students to
take more responsibility for their learning experience, the
better they seem
to do. And, may I add, they indicate greater appreciation for
what I've done
in their evaluations of the course and teacher (all my schools
require
students to complete an evaluation for each course).
Thomas Leal
The Synergy Group
48 Mathews Place, Suite 8, Alamo CA 94507-2600
Phone: 510 / 938-7748 FAX: 510 / 943-7034
Internet: tomleal@synergygroup.com
"Bringing out the best in people, their ideas, and their
companies."
Hi Peter:
I don't have all the answers, but take a look at how
http://www.match.com
works -- I know it's rather far from the type of information you
will be
processing but the way they do it is pretty cool. It seems as
though their
CGI scripts take much of the work out of managing the site.
Being able to automatically categorize the information and make
'matches'
based on parameters in a personal profile could be applied to
what you're up
against.
The greatest thing about the Internet is the amount of
information available.
The greatest problem with the Internet is the amount of
information available.
A large part of the choice will be made for you in what your ISP
will
provide. Some allow user-developed CGI scripts, most do not. If
your
provider has a Windows NT server, much can be done in Visual
Basic. What
would be nice is to have an SQL Server database on the server
with a VB
script to drive the client end. You could get some very
impressive stuff
running in this configuration.
Ideally, you'd need an Internet version of a Lotus Notes type of
product. I
haven't seen anything quite like that yet -- maybe I should
develop one...
I'll keep looking and let you know if I find anything suitable.
Cheers! Marty...
----------------------------------------------
| Marty R. Milette, P.Prog. mmilette@magi.com
| http://www.magi.com/~mmilette/
| If you always do what you did,
| you'll always get what you got.
----------------------------------------------
RE: New Highly Complex Systems tend to be unstable:
Working with Windows 95 and the INTERNET over the last few
years and being very interested in human nature and behavior -
There seems to be an analogy about things not working very well:
complex systems are unstable - things work, then they don't -
WHY ?
The current model of "Human Beings" is about 40,000
years old and the INTERNET is about 30 years of age. Both are
complex systems made up of sub-systems and parts that all don't
fit perfectly or work smoothly together.
The body-mind, (plant,
reptile, mammal) and all our "selves", emotional,
passionate,
rational elements, are so blended and mixed with "the stuff
that dreams are make of," that dreams, illusions and reality
become so mixed as to become one blended element.
The result of
this complex blend often involves conflict within ourselves and
with others. Clearly we are a new experimental design, a work
in process, that has not had the time to work out all the bugs.
The same instability applies to all collections of complex
systems,
The New Newbie Page - a
good start on the internet
Sometimes works better
than //metro.
The URL is 204.250.87.44 (Metro) and 204.250.87.46
for (emporium).
When you enter there is the index page.
which contains this page first.htm, the News page, the Starrt page
(above) open-me, and synergy.
There are also the document files; the main files is /document
and under synergy documents several files /documents/pathos/
,
(feelings and psychology, mind body materials); ETHOS
(education, morals, values and being a person with character -
the heart of education ) and LOGOS
( the rational and policy papers about organizations,
management,
government, theories of collective behavior)
Note: IF these links don't work go back to / (Index)
and do it by hand - open /document or /synergy and it works.
I don't know why sometimes the links work and sometimes they
don't.
RE: Illusion vs. Reality (and the Telecommunications Bill)
The BUDGET dead lock ?
Madison designed the system so ambition matches ambition,
power balances power. (Federalist Papers 10 and 51)
The system
was designed to protect people FROM government not make it
democratic
or effective.
The idea was to protect minorities.
The minority
they had in mind were the RICH, property owning people who
carried
off the coup called the American Revolution or the rebellion of
the American Colonies. Since God so loves the poor he made many
of them - Democracy would cause social envy, leveling,
redistribution
of wealth and all the evils of "popular" demagogue. (As
it had in Ancient Greece). And Madison's design sort of works
- DEADLOCK is designed to protect minorities so it takes a long
term overwhelming majority to do anything good or bad.
SO WHAT IS THE ISSUE: Two little words "normal and
usual"
rather than "reasonable and proper". This opened the
federal check book to Medicare. Other entitlement depend on the
"needs" of the beneficiary, which can be tightly drawn.
It does depend on "need" but is limited to set
payments.
Health care followed the pattern set by Blue Cross, which just
pays the bill.
The client does not get the benefit but the
services
given as designed by the doctors and are paid by a third party.
The emergency room decides to put three little stitches in a
small
cut on Blaine's foot.
The bill is over $300.00 for separate
services
(
The doctors, the hospital, supplies etc). If this is outrageous
it is "normal and usual" to be outrageous.
The check
book is open "Send us your BILLS".
The Social Security Act of 1936, was to cover the emergencies
of life, unemployment, retirement, poverty, disability, and
sickness.
The politics is that a "program for the poor would be a poor
program" so there was no means test for Retirement.
The
medical
establishment blocked health care for 50 years. Now they find
they like the open check book system, along with 15% of the
economy
- hospitals, equipment, supplies, drugs, and a vast health care
industry all doing good and doing very well.
HOW TO CLOSE THE CHECKBOOK that will (is) bankrupting the
government.
There are two things that have been PERFECTLY CLEAR
since 1982. One, there must be a fixed limit on payments.
The
simplest method is HMO's which are paid a fixed fee per client.
The second is some sort of means test. "Get according to
your needs, pay according to your means". This will happen
but... doesn't win many votes. People want a free lunch and any
medical service they or their doctors can invent. Here is where
Madison's design breaks down. We have enough democracy so people
expect too much from the government and don't want to pay. We
have enough elitism so well funded groups can block reform. WE
have dead lock and the check book remains open. (Like in the
S&L
crisis)
Fix the system, not the blame means a more responsible
government.
(See Reform).
There are several ways to make the system more responsible.
Concurrent
elections rather than so many fractured constituencies. Party
responsibility, with national parties holding the central
authority.
Until the system is fixed the problem will go on, and on, and
on. Some buck will be passed to the States.
The budget will not
be balanced in 7 years or 70 years by the current political
system.
Sometime in the next ten years this will become so clear that
even the "media," and professors of government will
notice.
SEE the news including tips on hypertext, the future of
inactive
education, and lots of goods references and ideas on the NEWS
PAGE THE LAST FIRST
Page from
last week. What we do here is explore, using interaction and
cooperation.
( Unstable technology - see below ). A general tip on the web
- try several times.
The URL's have to be found and placed in
the server. Sometimes the server need to do this more then once.
If you don't get a fairly fast - found - waiting but it keeps
looking - don't wait try again. I use more than one browser page
at a time ( on Windows 95 ) and flip back and fourth if it's slow.
One reason I don't have an Index.htm page is to give you practice
in open files and how they work.
I've looked at the pages with a freenet http (text only),
AoL, Compuserve, Prodigy, MS Internet Explorer, Netscape, Hot
Java, and they all are different. What I see and experience is
not the same as what you see and experience. I depend on your
feedback.
In the files you will find sample pages,
along with icons, and
other materials for making your own home pages. A lot more
information
is on the week before first's page now doc1.htm
in the htm files.
This is a place to visit more than once and spend enough time
to discover our meaning. It is not completely user friendly -
we are working on it. Have a nice visit and let me know what you
think ?
(Please use the following address for me from now on:
pkirby@umsa7.umd.edu. Even though you see another one on this
message, it should be deleted and changed.)
Has anyone taught students directly about their own learning
styles as a topic of inquiry and discussion, i.e., what style is
and isn't, how to capitalize on our style strengths and
compensate for missing styles or style segments, how to survive
mismatch with instructor or course topic
or course format, etc.?
I am now involved in a small grant to do this with another
educator in my office here and would be interested in any
experiences you could share.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Patricia Kirby, Ed.D.
Rm 3219 SFSC
University College, U. of Md.
University Blvd. at Adelphi Rd.
College Park, MD 20742+1616
301-985-7897
We teach a Freshman Seminar to over 1,000 students who are
predominantly
in technological programs.
The challenge: to make 1,000 (or as
close to
it as possible) have good classroom experiences as possible, and
to get
them to conceptualize and grow academically.
Staff size: 2.
Howthehell can we do that? We got volunteer teachers from
student
services, AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, we also got the commitment of 140
or so
undergraduate student leaders to come participate in the classes.
Each
class of 35 is staffed by one instructor and 5 undergraduate team
leaders.
The classes are taught much like corporate training. Students
work in 5
teams of seven, each led by a team leader, under the direction of
the
instructor. Much of the class is teamwork doing analysis, or
problem-solving or presentations. Grading is done predominantly
by team
leaders who go by the guidelines assigned by the instructor.
It's all
much more than this, but I have to tell you, using the
undergraduates was a
real moment of truth for us.
Will they blow this off? Will they use this
as an opportunity to slander the program? Will we two be looking
for new
jobs directly?
Answer: no.
Students do a hellofa job for the most part.
Yes, there is an occasional slackard. But probably less than 1%.
The rest
are outstanding leaders who are given academic credit for taking
"Foundations of Leadership," a class that teaches the concepts
of
leadership and illustrates them by using their team leadership
jobs as
examples.
They also can take practicum hours and other classes
to get a
certificate in Leadership (the equivalent of a minor, here). I
commend
using undergraduates to help in the classroom.
They are capable
of more
than you'd believe.
----------------------------------------------------------
Joann Ward, Ed.S., LPC, NCC Assistant Director
Georgia Tech, Success Programs
Student Services Building, Suite 227
Atlanta, GA 30332-0285
joann.ward@vpss.gatech.edu
PH: (404) 894+1970
FAX: (404) 894+1980
Not my words, but those of a new Canadian user who chanced upon
the
ICDL distance education database!
But don't take anyone's word for it - try for yourself by
accessing
the new, free, online version released on January 8.
There is a vast quantity of information on the literature of
distance
education (over 8,000 entries), on distance teaching institutions
worldwide (over 850 of them), and on courses and programmes
taught at a
distance (over 30,000) by institutions in the UK and other
Commonwealth countries including Australia, Canada, India, New
Zealand
and South Africa.
Searching is better than ever, too. Our software has been
enhanced in
several important areas.
You can reach the database by Telnet from anywhere in the world.
Telnet to acsvax.open.ac.uk
At the welcome message please login to the Open University VAX
cluster
with the Username: ICDL
We would then like you to access the database using your country
name
as Account code. Please enter this without any spaces.
The
Password is
then just AAA
You need to be using a VT100 terminal
If you have any difficulty or want to comment, please send e-mail
to
icdl-enquiries@open.ac.uk
The database is also issued on CD-ROM. I'll be happy to provide
details of the next CD-ROM, which will be available at the end of
January.
Keith Harry
Director, International Centre for Distance Learning
The Open University
Walton Hall
Milton Keynes MK7 6AA
Telephone: +44 1908 653537
Fax: +44 1908 654173
E-mail: k.w.harry@open.ac.uk
WWW: http://acacia.open.ac.uk/
Gopher: rowan.open.ac.uk
Agreed! At times we "educators" must become the "guide on the
side"
instead of the "sage on the stage." Students of all ages must be
allowed/encouraged/required to be responsible for their own
learning.
On Sun, 14 Jan 1996, Thomas Leal wrote:
At 05:31 PM 1/14/96 -0500, you wrote:
People learn best by constructing their own knowledge base.
They
do
this by discussing concepts, arguing about problem solutions and
advocating
for
their positions. This reflects what companies are looking for in
their
employees. This type of interaction does not take place in the
lecture class.
Many companies find that they need to train or retrain new
engineers. If
universities promoted cooperative learning at all levels they
would produce
more
effective graduates, people ready to function well in the real
world.
I agree wholeheartedly! This applies, I would be bold enough to
say, in all
courses, regardless of subject matter. I teach marketing to
undergraduates
at three universities in the San Francisco area. One has
students almost
entirely from other countries, primarily France in my classes.
Somehow over time we professors got the idea that we were the
great fonts of
all wisdom and knowledge. We seemed to forget that the root of
the word
"education" means "to lead out of" or "to lead fourth." Of
course, most of
us learned by sitting passively in front of a lecturer who
droned on for
hours without interacting with us. We soaked up what we could,
then squeezed
it out onto paper at exam time. Retention? Only until the final.
So now we find highly educated people in business who can't make
decisions.
They absorbed facts and figures, but never learned what to do
with any of
that. I don't give my students answers, I give them questions.
If they leave
my course knowing what questions to ask and how to go about
finding answers,
they will be able to apply their learning in the world outside
the academe.
If, instead, they leave with answers, they'll have yesterday's
news.
They'll
find themselves looking backwards in their efforts to succeed,
trying to
recall something from a class long ago. That's like driving a
car by looking
only in the rear view mirror.
We ought to prepare students to be able to figure out where
they're headed,
determine what's happening around them, and to look back now and
then to see
what's behind. And we ought to develop their skills for doing
all this
without our guidance. We ought to bring out their talents for
solving their
own problems.
The more I let go of being in charge of my classes and push the
students to
take more responsibility for their learning experience, the
better they seem
to do. And, may I add, they indicate greater appreciation for
what I've done
in their evaluations of the course and teacher (all my schools
require
students to complete an evaluation for each course).
Thomas Leal
The Synergy Group
48 Mathews Place, Suite 8, Alamo CA 94507-2600
Phone: 510 / 938-7748 FAX: 510 / 943-7034
Internet: tomleal@synergygroup.com
"Bringing out the best in people, their ideas, and their
companies."
Hi Peter:
I don't have all the answers, but take a look at how
http://www.match.com
works -- I know it's rather far from the type of information you
will be
processing but the way they do it is pretty cool. It seems as
though their
CGI scripts take much of the work out of managing the site.
Being able to automatically categorize the information and make
'matches'
based on parameters in a personal profile could be applied to
what you're up
against.
The greatest thing about the Internet is the amount of
information available.
The greatest problem with the Internet is the amount of
information available.
A large part of the choice will be made for you in what your ISP
will
provide. Some allow user-developed CGI scripts, most do not. If
your
provider has a Windows NT server, much can be done in Visual
Basic. What
would be nice is to have an SQL Server database on the server
with a VB
script to drive the client end. You could get some very
impressive stuff
running in this configuration.
Ideally, you'd need an Internet version of a Lotus Notes type of
product. I
haven't seen anything quite like that yet -- maybe I should
develop one...
I'll keep looking and let you know if I find anything suitable.
Cheers! Marty...
----------------------------------------------
| Marty R. Milette, P.Prog. mmilette@magi.com
| http://www.magi.com/~mmilette/
| If you always do what you did,
| you'll always get what you got.
----------------------------------------------
RE: New Highly Complex Systems tend to be unstable:
Working with Windows 95 and the INTERNET over the last few
years and being very interested in human nature and behavior -
There seems to be an analogy about things not working very well:
complex systems are unstable - things work, then they don't -
WHY ?
The current model of "Human Beings" is about 40,000
years old and the INTERNET is about 30 years of age. Both are
complex systems made up of sub-systems and parts that all don't
fit perfectly or work smoothly together.
The body-mind, (plant,
reptile, mammal) and all our "selves", emotional,
passionate,
rational elements, are so blended and mixed with "the stuff
that dreams are make of," that dreams, illusions and reality
become so mixed as to become one blended element.
The result of
this complex blend often involves conflict within ourselves and
with others. Clearly we are a new experimental design, a work
in process, that has not had the time to work out all the bugs.
The same instability applies to all collections of complex
systems,
Sometimes works better
than //metro.
The URL is 204.250.87.44 (Metro) and 204.250.87.46
for (emporium).
When you enter there is the index page.
which contains this page first.htm, the News page, the Starrt page
(above) open-me, and synergy.
There are also the document files; the main files is /document
and under synergy documents several files /documents/pathos/
,
(feelings and psychology, mind body materials); ETHOS
(education, morals, values and being a person with character -
the heart of education ) and LOGOS
( the rational and policy papers about organizations,
management,
government, theories of collective behavior)
Note: IF these links don't work go back to / (Index)
and do it by hand - open /document or /synergy and it works.
I don't know why sometimes the links work and sometimes they
don't.
RE: Illusion vs. Reality (and the Telecommunications Bill)
The BUDGET dead lock ?
Madison designed the system so ambition matches ambition,
power balances power. (Federalist Papers 10 and 51)
The system
was designed to protect people FROM government not make it
democratic
or effective.
The idea was to protect minorities.
The minority
they had in mind were the RICH, property owning people who
carried
off the coup called the American Revolution or the rebellion of
the American Colonies. Since God so loves the poor he made many
of them - Democracy would cause social envy, leveling,
redistribution
of wealth and all the evils of "popular" demagogue. (As
it had in Ancient Greece). And Madison's design sort of works
- DEADLOCK is designed to protect minorities so it takes a long
term overwhelming majority to do anything good or bad.
SO WHAT IS THE ISSUE: Two little words "normal and
usual"
rather than "reasonable and proper". This opened the
federal check book to Medicare. Other entitlement depend on the
"needs" of the beneficiary, which can be tightly drawn.
It does depend on "need" but is limited to set
payments.
Health care followed the pattern set by Blue Cross, which just
pays the bill.
The client does not get the benefit but the
services
given as designed by the doctors and are paid by a third party.
The emergency room decides to put three little stitches in a
small
cut on Blaine's foot.
The bill is over $300.00 for separate
services
(
The doctors, the hospital, supplies etc). If this is outrageous
it is "normal and usual" to be outrageous.
The check
book is open "Send us your BILLS".
The Social Security Act of 1936, was to cover the emergencies
of life, unemployment, retirement, poverty, disability, and
sickness.
The politics is that a "program for the poor would be a poor
program" so there was no means test for Retirement.
The
medical
establishment blocked health care for 50 years. Now they find
they like the open check book system, along with 15% of the
economy
- hospitals, equipment, supplies, drugs, and a vast health care
industry all doing good and doing very well.
HOW TO CLOSE THE CHECKBOOK that will (is) bankrupting the
government.
There are two things that have been PERFECTLY CLEAR
since 1982. One, there must be a fixed limit on payments.
The
simplest method is HMO's which are paid a fixed fee per client.
The second is some sort of means test. "Get according to
your needs, pay according to your means". This will happen
but... doesn't win many votes. People want a free lunch and any
medical service they or their doctors can invent. Here is where
Madison's design breaks down. We have enough democracy so people
expect too much from the government and don't want to pay. We
have enough elitism so well funded groups can block reform. WE
have dead lock and the check book remains open. (Like in the
S&L
crisis)
Fix the system, not the blame means a more responsible
government.
(See Reform).
There are several ways to make the system more responsible.
Concurrent
elections rather than so many fractured constituencies. Party
responsibility, with national parties holding the central
authority.
Until the system is fixed the problem will go on, and on, and
on. Some buck will be passed to the States.
The budget will not
be balanced in 7 years or 70 years by the current political
system.
Sometime in the next ten years this will become so clear that
even the "media," and professors of government will
notice.
SEE the news including tips on hypertext, the future of
inactive
education, and lots of goods references and ideas on the NEWS
PAGE THE LAST FIRST
Page from
last week. What we do here is explore, using interaction and
cooperation.
( Unstable technology - see below ). A general tip on the web
- try several times.
The URL's have to be found and placed in
the server. Sometimes the server need to do this more then once.
If you don't get a fairly fast - found - waiting but it keeps
looking - don't wait try again. I use more than one browser page
at a time ( on Windows 95 ) and flip back and fourth if it's slow.
One reason I don't have an Index.htm page is to give you practice
in open files and how they work.
I've looked at the pages with a freenet http (text only),
AoL, Compuserve, Prodigy, MS Internet Explorer, Netscape, Hot
Java, and they all are different. What I see and experience is
not the same as what you see and experience. I depend on your
feedback.
In the files you will find sample pages,
along with icons, and
other materials for making your own home pages. A lot more
information
is on the week before first's page now doc1.htm
in the htm files.
This is a place to visit more than once and spend enough time
to discover our meaning. It is not completely user friendly -
we are working on it. Have a nice visit and let me know what you
think ?
(Please use the following address for me from now on:
pkirby@umsa7.umd.edu. Even though you see another one on this
message, it should be deleted and changed.)
Has anyone taught students directly about their own learning
styles as a topic of inquiry and discussion, i.e., what style is
and isn't, how to capitalize on our style strengths and
compensate for missing styles or style segments, how to survive
mismatch with instructor or course topic
or course format, etc.?
I am now involved in a small grant to do this with another
educator in my office here and would be interested in any
experiences you could share.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Patricia Kirby, Ed.D.
Rm 3219 SFSC
University College, U. of Md.
University Blvd. at Adelphi Rd.
College Park, MD 20742+1616
301-985-7897
We teach a Freshman Seminar to over 1,000 students who are
predominantly
in technological programs.
The challenge: to make 1,000 (or as
close to
it as possible) have good classroom experiences as possible, and
to get
them to conceptualize and grow academically.
Staff size: 2.
Howthehell can we do that? We got volunteer teachers from
student
services, AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, we also got the commitment of 140
or so
undergraduate student leaders to come participate in the classes.
Each
class of 35 is staffed by one instructor and 5 undergraduate team
leaders.
The classes are taught much like corporate training. Students
work in 5
teams of seven, each led by a team leader, under the direction of
the
instructor. Much of the class is teamwork doing analysis, or
problem-solving or presentations. Grading is done predominantly
by team
leaders who go by the guidelines assigned by the instructor.
It's all
much more than this, but I have to tell you, using the
undergraduates was a
real moment of truth for us.
Will they blow this off? Will they use this
as an opportunity to slander the program? Will we two be looking
for new
jobs directly?
Answer: no.
Students do a hellofa job for the most part.
Yes, there is an occasional slackard. But probably less than 1%.
The rest
are outstanding leaders who are given academic credit for taking
"Foundations of Leadership," a class that teaches the concepts
of
leadership and illustrates them by using their team leadership
jobs as
examples.
They also can take practicum hours and other classes
to get a
certificate in Leadership (the equivalent of a minor, here). I
commend
using undergraduates to help in the classroom.
They are capable
of more
than you'd believe.
----------------------------------------------------------
Joann Ward, Ed.S., LPC, NCC Assistant Director
Georgia Tech, Success Programs
Student Services Building, Suite 227
Atlanta, GA 30332-0285
joann.ward@vpss.gatech.edu
PH: (404) 894+1970
FAX: (404) 894+1980
Not my words, but those of a new Canadian user who chanced upon
the
ICDL distance education database!
But don't take anyone's word for it - try for yourself by
accessing
the new, free, online version released on January 8.
There is a vast quantity of information on the literature of
distance
education (over 8,000 entries), on distance teaching institutions
worldwide (over 850 of them), and on courses and programmes
taught at a
distance (over 30,000) by institutions in the UK and other
Commonwealth countries including Australia, Canada, India, New
Zealand
and South Africa.
Searching is better than ever, too. Our software has been
enhanced in
several important areas.
You can reach the database by Telnet from anywhere in the world.
Telnet to acsvax.open.ac.uk
At the welcome message please login to the Open University VAX
cluster
with the Username: ICDL
We would then like you to access the database using your country
name
as Account code. Please enter this without any spaces.
The
Password is
then just AAA
You need to be using a VT100 terminal
If you have any difficulty or want to comment, please send e-mail
to
icdl-enquiries@open.ac.uk
The database is also issued on CD-ROM. I'll be happy to provide
details of the next CD-ROM, which will be available at the end of
January.
Keith Harry
Director, International Centre for Distance Learning
The Open University
Walton Hall
Milton Keynes MK7 6AA
Telephone: +44 1908 653537
Fax: +44 1908 654173
E-mail: k.w.harry@open.ac.uk
WWW: http://acacia.open.ac.uk/
Gopher: rowan.open.ac.uk
Agreed! At times we "educators" must become the "guide on the
side"
instead of the "sage on the stage." Students of all ages must be
allowed/encouraged/required to be responsible for their own
learning.
On Sun, 14 Jan 1996, Thomas Leal wrote:
At 05:31 PM 1/14/96 -0500, you wrote:
People learn best by constructing their own knowledge base.
They
do
this by discussing concepts, arguing about problem solutions and
advocating
for
their positions. This reflects what companies are looking for in
their
employees. This type of interaction does not take place in the
lecture class.
Many companies find that they need to train or retrain new
engineers. If
universities promoted cooperative learning at all levels they
would produce
more
effective graduates, people ready to function well in the real
world.
I agree wholeheartedly! This applies, I would be bold enough to
say, in all
courses, regardless of subject matter. I teach marketing to
undergraduates
at three universities in the San Francisco area. One has
students almost
entirely from other countries, primarily France in my classes.
Somehow over time we professors got the idea that we were the
great fonts of
all wisdom and knowledge. We seemed to forget that the root of
the word
"education" means "to lead out of" or "to lead fourth." Of
course, most of
us learned by sitting passively in front of a lecturer who
droned on for
hours without interacting with us. We soaked up what we could,
then squeezed
it out onto paper at exam time. Retention? Only until the final.
So now we find highly educated people in business who can't make
decisions.
They absorbed facts and figures, but never learned what to do
with any of
that. I don't give my students answers, I give them questions.
If they leave
my course knowing what questions to ask and how to go about
finding answers,
they will be able to apply their learning in the world outside
the academe.
If, instead, they leave with answers, they'll have yesterday's
news.
They'll
find themselves looking backwards in their efforts to succeed,
trying to
recall something from a class long ago. That's like driving a
car by looking
only in the rear view mirror.
We ought to prepare students to be able to figure out where
they're headed,
determine what's happening around them, and to look back now and
then to see
what's behind. And we ought to develop their skills for doing
all this
without our guidance. We ought to bring out their talents for
solving their
own problems.
The more I let go of being in charge of my classes and push the
students to
take more responsibility for their learning experience, the
better they seem
to do. And, may I add, they indicate greater appreciation for
what I've done
in their evaluations of the course and teacher (all my schools
require
students to complete an evaluation for each course).
Thomas Leal
The Synergy Group
48 Mathews Place, Suite 8, Alamo CA 94507-2600
Phone: 510 / 938-7748 FAX: 510 / 943-7034
Internet: tomleal@synergygroup.com
"Bringing out the best in people, their ideas, and their
companies."
Hi Peter:
I don't have all the answers, but take a look at how
http://www.match.com
works -- I know it's rather far from the type of information you
will be
processing but the way they do it is pretty cool. It seems as
though their
CGI scripts take much of the work out of managing the site.
Being able to automatically categorize the information and make
'matches'
based on parameters in a personal profile could be applied to
what you're up
against.
The greatest thing about the Internet is the amount of
information available.
The greatest problem with the Internet is the amount of
information available.
A large part of the choice will be made for you in what your ISP
will
provide. Some allow user-developed CGI scripts, most do not. If
your
provider has a Windows NT server, much can be done in Visual
Basic. What
would be nice is to have an SQL Server database on the server
with a VB
script to drive the client end. You could get some very
impressive stuff
running in this configuration.
Ideally, you'd need an Internet version of a Lotus Notes type of
product. I
haven't seen anything quite like that yet -- maybe I should
develop one...
I'll keep looking and let you know if I find anything suitable.
Cheers! Marty...
----------------------------------------------
| Marty R. Milette, P.Prog. mmilette@magi.com
| http://www.magi.com/~mmilette/
| If you always do what you did,
| you'll always get what you got.
----------------------------------------------
RE: New Highly Complex Systems tend to be unstable:
Working with Windows 95 and the INTERNET over the last few
years and being very interested in human nature and behavior -
There seems to be an analogy about things not working very well:
complex systems are unstable - things work, then they don't -
WHY ?
The current model of "Human Beings" is about 40,000
years old and the INTERNET is about 30 years of age. Both are
complex systems made up of sub-systems and parts that all don't
fit perfectly or work smoothly together.
The body-mind, (plant,
reptile, mammal) and all our "selves", emotional,
passionate,
rational elements, are so blended and mixed with "the stuff
that dreams are make of," that dreams, illusions and reality
become so mixed as to become one blended element.
The result of
this complex blend often involves conflict within ourselves and
with others. Clearly we are a new experimental design, a work
in process, that has not had the time to work out all the bugs.
The same instability applies to all collections of complex
systems,
When you enter there is the index page.
which contains this page first.htm, the News page, the Starrt page
(above) open-me, and synergy.
There are also the document files; the main files is /document
and under synergy documents several files /documents/pathos/
,
(feelings and psychology, mind body materials); ETHOS
(education, morals, values and being a person with character -
the heart of education ) and LOGOS
( the rational and policy papers about organizations,
management,
government, theories of collective behavior)
Note: IF these links don't work go back to / (Index)
and do it by hand - open /document or /synergy and it works.
I don't know why sometimes the links work and sometimes they
don't.
RE: Illusion vs. Reality (and the Telecommunications Bill)
The BUDGET dead lock ?
Madison designed the system so ambition matches ambition,
power balances power. (Federalist Papers 10 and 51)
The system
was designed to protect people FROM government not make it
democratic
or effective.
The idea was to protect minorities.
The minority
they had in mind were the RICH, property owning people who
carried
off the coup called the American Revolution or the rebellion of
the American Colonies. Since God so loves the poor he made many
of them - Democracy would cause social envy, leveling,
redistribution
of wealth and all the evils of "popular" demagogue. (As
it had in Ancient Greece). And Madison's design sort of works
- DEADLOCK is designed to protect minorities so it takes a long
term overwhelming majority to do anything good or bad.
SO WHAT IS THE ISSUE: Two little words "normal and
usual"
rather than "reasonable and proper". This opened the
federal check book to Medicare. Other entitlement depend on the
"needs" of the beneficiary, which can be tightly drawn.
It does depend on "need" but is limited to set
payments.
Health care followed the pattern set by Blue Cross, which just
pays the bill.
The client does not get the benefit but the
services
given as designed by the doctors and are paid by a third party.
The emergency room decides to put three little stitches in a
small
cut on Blaine's foot.
The bill is over $300.00 for separate
services
(
The doctors, the hospital, supplies etc). If this is outrageous
it is "normal and usual" to be outrageous.
The check
book is open "Send us your BILLS".
The Social Security Act of 1936, was to cover the emergencies
of life, unemployment, retirement, poverty, disability, and
sickness.
The politics is that a "program for the poor would be a poor
program" so there was no means test for Retirement.
The
medical
establishment blocked health care for 50 years. Now they find
they like the open check book system, along with 15% of the
economy
- hospitals, equipment, supplies, drugs, and a vast health care
industry all doing good and doing very well.
HOW TO CLOSE THE CHECKBOOK that will (is) bankrupting the
government.
There are two things that have been PERFECTLY CLEAR
since 1982. One, there must be a fixed limit on payments.
The
simplest method is HMO's which are paid a fixed fee per client.
The second is some sort of means test. "Get according to
your needs, pay according to your means". This will happen
but... doesn't win many votes. People want a free lunch and any
medical service they or their doctors can invent. Here is where
Madison's design breaks down. We have enough democracy so people
expect too much from the government and don't want to pay. We
have enough elitism so well funded groups can block reform. WE
have dead lock and the check book remains open. (Like in the
S&L
crisis)
Fix the system, not the blame means a more responsible
government.
(See Reform).
There are several ways to make the system more responsible.
Concurrent
elections rather than so many fractured constituencies. Party
responsibility, with national parties holding the central
authority.
Until the system is fixed the problem will go on, and on, and
on. Some buck will be passed to the States.
The budget will not
be balanced in 7 years or 70 years by the current political
system.
Sometime in the next ten years this will become so clear that
even the "media," and professors of government will
notice.
SEE the news including tips on hypertext, the future of
inactive
education, and lots of goods references and ideas on the NEWS
PAGE THE LAST FIRST
Page from
last week. What we do here is explore, using interaction and
cooperation.
( Unstable technology - see below ). A general tip on the web
- try several times.
The URL's have to be found and placed in
the server. Sometimes the server need to do this more then once.
If you don't get a fairly fast - found - waiting but it keeps
looking - don't wait try again. I use more than one browser page
at a time ( on Windows 95 ) and flip back and fourth if it's slow.
One reason I don't have an Index.htm page is to give you practice
in open files and how they work.
I've looked at the pages with a freenet http (text only),
AoL, Compuserve, Prodigy, MS Internet Explorer, Netscape, Hot
Java, and they all are different. What I see and experience is
not the same as what you see and experience. I depend on your
feedback.
In the files you will find sample pages,
along with icons, and
other materials for making your own home pages. A lot more
information
is on the week before first's page now doc1.htm
in the htm files.
This is a place to visit more than once and spend enough time
to discover our meaning. It is not completely user friendly -
we are working on it. Have a nice visit and let me know what you
think ?
(Please use the following address for me from now on:
pkirby@umsa7.umd.edu. Even though you see another one on this
message, it should be deleted and changed.)
Has anyone taught students directly about their own learning
styles as a topic of inquiry and discussion, i.e., what style is
and isn't, how to capitalize on our style strengths and
compensate for missing styles or style segments, how to survive
mismatch with instructor or course topic
or course format, etc.?
I am now involved in a small grant to do this with another
educator in my office here and would be interested in any
experiences you could share.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Patricia Kirby, Ed.D.
Rm 3219 SFSC
University College, U. of Md.
University Blvd. at Adelphi Rd.
College Park, MD 20742+1616
301-985-7897
We teach a Freshman Seminar to over 1,000 students who are
predominantly
in technological programs.
The challenge: to make 1,000 (or as
close to
it as possible) have good classroom experiences as possible, and
to get
them to conceptualize and grow academically.
Staff size: 2.
Howthehell can we do that? We got volunteer teachers from
student
services, AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, we also got the commitment of 140
or so
undergraduate student leaders to come participate in the classes.
Each
class of 35 is staffed by one instructor and 5 undergraduate team
leaders.
The classes are taught much like corporate training. Students
work in 5
teams of seven, each led by a team leader, under the direction of
the
instructor. Much of the class is teamwork doing analysis, or
problem-solving or presentations. Grading is done predominantly
by team
leaders who go by the guidelines assigned by the instructor.
It's all
much more than this, but I have to tell you, using the
undergraduates was a
real moment of truth for us.
Will they blow this off? Will they use this
as an opportunity to slander the program? Will we two be looking
for new
jobs directly?
Answer: no.
Students do a hellofa job for the most part.
Yes, there is an occasional slackard. But probably less than 1%.
The rest
are outstanding leaders who are given academic credit for taking
"Foundations of Leadership," a class that teaches the concepts
of
leadership and illustrates them by using their team leadership
jobs as
examples.
They also can take practicum hours and other classes
to get a
certificate in Leadership (the equivalent of a minor, here). I
commend
using undergraduates to help in the classroom.
They are capable
of more
than you'd believe.
----------------------------------------------------------
Joann Ward, Ed.S., LPC, NCC Assistant Director
Georgia Tech, Success Programs
Student Services Building, Suite 227
Atlanta, GA 30332-0285
joann.ward@vpss.gatech.edu
PH: (404) 894+1970
FAX: (404) 894+1980
Not my words, but those of a new Canadian user who chanced upon
the
ICDL distance education database!
But don't take anyone's word for it - try for yourself by
accessing
the new, free, online version released on January 8.
There is a vast quantity of information on the literature of
distance
education (over 8,000 entries), on distance teaching institutions
worldwide (over 850 of them), and on courses and programmes
taught at a
distance (over 30,000) by institutions in the UK and other
Commonwealth countries including Australia, Canada, India, New
Zealand
and South Africa.
Searching is better than ever, too. Our software has been
enhanced in
several important areas.
You can reach the database by Telnet from anywhere in the world.
Telnet to acsvax.open.ac.uk
At the welcome message please login to the Open University VAX
cluster
with the Username: ICDL
We would then like you to access the database using your country
name
as Account code. Please enter this without any spaces.
The
Password is
then just AAA
You need to be using a VT100 terminal
If you have any difficulty or want to comment, please send e-mail
to
icdl-enquiries@open.ac.uk
The database is also issued on CD-ROM. I'll be happy to provide
details of the next CD-ROM, which will be available at the end of
January.
Keith Harry
Director, International Centre for Distance Learning
The Open University
Walton Hall
Milton Keynes MK7 6AA
Telephone: +44 1908 653537
Fax: +44 1908 654173
E-mail: k.w.harry@open.ac.uk
WWW: http://acacia.open.ac.uk/
Gopher: rowan.open.ac.uk
Agreed! At times we "educators" must become the "guide on the
side"
instead of the "sage on the stage." Students of all ages must be
allowed/encouraged/required to be responsible for their own
learning.
On Sun, 14 Jan 1996, Thomas Leal wrote:
At 05:31 PM 1/14/96 -0500, you wrote:
People learn best by constructing their own knowledge base.
They
do
this by discussing concepts, arguing about problem solutions and
advocating
for
their positions. This reflects what companies are looking for in
their
employees. This type of interaction does not take place in the
lecture class.
Many companies find that they need to train or retrain new
engineers. If
universities promoted cooperative learning at all levels they
would produce
more
effective graduates, people ready to function well in the real
world.
I agree wholeheartedly! This applies, I would be bold enough to
say, in all
courses, regardless of subject matter. I teach marketing to
undergraduates
at three universities in the San Francisco area. One has
students almost
entirely from other countries, primarily France in my classes.
Somehow over time we professors got the idea that we were the
great fonts of
all wisdom and knowledge. We seemed to forget that the root of
the word
"education" means "to lead out of" or "to lead fourth." Of
course, most of
us learned by sitting passively in front of a lecturer who
droned on for
hours without interacting with us. We soaked up what we could,
then squeezed
it out onto paper at exam time. Retention? Only until the final.
So now we find highly educated people in business who can't make
decisions.
They absorbed facts and figures, but never learned what to do
with any of
that. I don't give my students answers, I give them questions.
If they leave
my course knowing what questions to ask and how to go about
finding answers,
they will be able to apply their learning in the world outside
the academe.
If, instead, they leave with answers, they'll have yesterday's
news.
They'll
find themselves looking backwards in their efforts to succeed,
trying to
recall something from a class long ago. That's like driving a
car by looking
only in the rear view mirror.
We ought to prepare students to be able to figure out where
they're headed,
determine what's happening around them, and to look back now and
then to see
what's behind. And we ought to develop their skills for doing
all this
without our guidance. We ought to bring out their talents for
solving their
own problems.
The more I let go of being in charge of my classes and push the
students to
take more responsibility for their learning experience, the
better they seem
to do. And, may I add, they indicate greater appreciation for
what I've done
in their evaluations of the course and teacher (all my schools
require
students to complete an evaluation for each course).
Thomas Leal
The Synergy Group
48 Mathews Place, Suite 8, Alamo CA 94507-2600
Phone: 510 / 938-7748 FAX: 510 / 943-7034
Internet: tomleal@synergygroup.com
"Bringing out the best in people, their ideas, and their
companies."
Hi Peter:
I don't have all the answers, but take a look at how
http://www.match.com
works -- I know it's rather far from the type of information you
will be
processing but the way they do it is pretty cool. It seems as
though their
CGI scripts take much of the work out of managing the site.
Being able to automatically categorize the information and make
'matches'
based on parameters in a personal profile could be applied to
what you're up
against.
The greatest thing about the Internet is the amount of
information available.
The greatest problem with the Internet is the amount of
information available.
A large part of the choice will be made for you in what your ISP
will
provide. Some allow user-developed CGI scripts, most do not. If
your
provider has a Windows NT server, much can be done in Visual
Basic. What
would be nice is to have an SQL Server database on the server
with a VB
script to drive the client end. You could get some very
impressive stuff
running in this configuration.
Ideally, you'd need an Internet version of a Lotus Notes type of
product. I
haven't seen anything quite like that yet -- maybe I should
develop one...
I'll keep looking and let you know if I find anything suitable.
Cheers! Marty...
----------------------------------------------
| Marty R. Milette, P.Prog. mmilette@magi.com
| http://www.magi.com/~mmilette/
| If you always do what you did,
| you'll always get what you got.
----------------------------------------------
RE: New Highly Complex Systems tend to be unstable:
Working with Windows 95 and the INTERNET over the last few
years and being very interested in human nature and behavior -
There seems to be an analogy about things not working very well:
complex systems are unstable - things work, then they don't -
WHY ?
The current model of "Human Beings" is about 40,000
years old and the INTERNET is about 30 years of age. Both are
complex systems made up of sub-systems and parts that all don't
fit perfectly or work smoothly together.
The body-mind, (plant,
reptile, mammal) and all our "selves", emotional,
passionate,
rational elements, are so blended and mixed with "the stuff
that dreams are make of," that dreams, illusions and reality
become so mixed as to become one blended element.
The result of
this complex blend often involves conflict within ourselves and
with others. Clearly we are a new experimental design, a work
in process, that has not had the time to work out all the bugs.
The same instability applies to all collections of complex
systems,
,
(feelings and psychology, mind body materials); ETHOS
(education, morals, values and being a person with character -
the heart of education ) and LOGOS
( the rational and policy papers about organizations,
management,
government, theories of collective behavior)
Note: IF these links don't work go back to / (Index)
and do it by hand - open /document or /synergy and it works.
I don't know why sometimes the links work and sometimes they
don't.
RE: Illusion vs. Reality (and the Telecommunications Bill)
The BUDGET dead lock ?
Madison designed the system so ambition matches ambition,
power balances power. (Federalist Papers 10 and 51)
The system
was designed to protect people FROM government not make it
democratic
or effective.
The idea was to protect minorities.
The minority
they had in mind were the RICH, property owning people who
carried
off the coup called the American Revolution or the rebellion of
the American Colonies. Since God so loves the poor he made many
of them - Democracy would cause social envy, leveling,
redistribution
of wealth and all the evils of "popular" demagogue. (As
it had in Ancient Greece). And Madison's design sort of works
- DEADLOCK is designed to protect minorities so it takes a long
term overwhelming majority to do anything good or bad.
SO WHAT IS THE ISSUE: Two little words "normal and
usual"
rather than "reasonable and proper". This opened the
federal check book to Medicare. Other entitlement depend on the
"needs" of the beneficiary, which can be tightly drawn.
It does depend on "need" but is limited to set
payments.
Health care followed the pattern set by Blue Cross, which just
pays the bill.
The client does not get the benefit but the
services
given as designed by the doctors and are paid by a third party.
The emergency room decides to put three little stitches in a
small
cut on Blaine's foot.
The bill is over $300.00 for separate
services
(
The doctors, the hospital, supplies etc). If this is outrageous
it is "normal and usual" to be outrageous.
The check
book is open "Send us your BILLS".
The Social Security Act of 1936, was to cover the emergencies
of life, unemployment, retirement, poverty, disability, and
sickness.
The politics is that a "program for the poor would be a poor
program" so there was no means test for Retirement.
The
medical
establishment blocked health care for 50 years. Now they find
they like the open check book system, along with 15% of the
economy
- hospitals, equipment, supplies, drugs, and a vast health care
industry all doing good and doing very well.
HOW TO CLOSE THE CHECKBOOK that will (is) bankrupting the
government.
There are two things that have been PERFECTLY CLEAR
since 1982. One, there must be a fixed limit on payments.
The
simplest method is HMO's which are paid a fixed fee per client.
The second is some sort of means test. "Get according to
your needs, pay according to your means". This will happen
but... doesn't win many votes. People want a free lunch and any
medical service they or their doctors can invent. Here is where
Madison's design breaks down. We have enough democracy so people
expect too much from the government and don't want to pay. We
have enough elitism so well funded groups can block reform. WE
have dead lock and the check book remains open. (Like in the
S&L
crisis)
Fix the system, not the blame means a more responsible
government.
(See Reform).
There are several ways to make the system more responsible.
Concurrent
elections rather than so many fractured constituencies. Party
responsibility, with national parties holding the central
authority.
Until the system is fixed the problem will go on, and on, and
on. Some buck will be passed to the States.
The budget will not
be balanced in 7 years or 70 years by the current political
system.
Sometime in the next ten years this will become so clear that
even the "media," and professors of government will
notice.
SEE the news including tips on hypertext, the future of
inactive
education, and lots of goods references and ideas on the NEWS
PAGE THE LAST FIRST
Page from
last week. What we do here is explore, using interaction and
cooperation.
( Unstable technology - see below ). A general tip on the web
- try several times.
The URL's have to be found and placed in
the server. Sometimes the server need to do this more then once.
If you don't get a fairly fast - found - waiting but it keeps
looking - don't wait try again. I use more than one browser page
at a time ( on Windows 95 ) and flip back and fourth if it's slow.
One reason I don't have an Index.htm page is to give you practice
in open files and how they work.
I've looked at the pages with a freenet http (text only),
AoL, Compuserve, Prodigy, MS Internet Explorer, Netscape, Hot
Java, and they all are different. What I see and experience is
not the same as what you see and experience. I depend on your
feedback.
In the files you will find sample pages,
along with icons, and
other materials for making your own home pages. A lot more
information
is on the week before first's page now doc1.htm
in the htm files.
This is a place to visit more than once and spend enough time
to discover our meaning. It is not completely user friendly -
we are working on it. Have a nice visit and let me know what you
think ?
(Please use the following address for me from now on:
pkirby@umsa7.umd.edu. Even though you see another one on this
message, it should be deleted and changed.)
Has anyone taught students directly about their own learning
styles as a topic of inquiry and discussion, i.e., what style is
and isn't, how to capitalize on our style strengths and
compensate for missing styles or style segments, how to survive
mismatch with instructor or course topic
or course format, etc.?
I am now involved in a small grant to do this with another
educator in my office here and would be interested in any
experiences you could share.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Patricia Kirby, Ed.D.
Rm 3219 SFSC
University College, U. of Md.
University Blvd. at Adelphi Rd.
College Park, MD 20742+1616
301-985-7897
We teach a Freshman Seminar to over 1,000 students who are
predominantly
in technological programs.
The challenge: to make 1,000 (or as
close to
it as possible) have good classroom experiences as possible, and
to get
them to conceptualize and grow academically.
Staff size: 2.
Howthehell can we do that? We got volunteer teachers from
student
services, AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, we also got the commitment of 140
or so
undergraduate student leaders to come participate in the classes.
Each
class of 35 is staffed by one instructor and 5 undergraduate team
leaders.
The classes are taught much like corporate training. Students
work in 5
teams of seven, each led by a team leader, under the direction of
the
instructor. Much of the class is teamwork doing analysis, or
problem-solving or presentations. Grading is done predominantly
by team
leaders who go by the guidelines assigned by the instructor.
It's all
much more than this, but I have to tell you, using the
undergraduates was a
real moment of truth for us.
Will they blow this off? Will they use this
as an opportunity to slander the program? Will we two be looking
for new
jobs directly?
Answer: no.
Students do a hellofa job for the most part.
Yes, there is an occasional slackard. But probably less than 1%.
The rest
are outstanding leaders who are given academic credit for taking
"Foundations of Leadership," a class that teaches the concepts
of
leadership and illustrates them by using their team leadership
jobs as
examples.
They also can take practicum hours and other classes
to get a
certificate in Leadership (the equivalent of a minor, here). I
commend
using undergraduates to help in the classroom.
They are capable
of more
than you'd believe.
----------------------------------------------------------
Joann Ward, Ed.S., LPC, NCC Assistant Director
Georgia Tech, Success Programs
Student Services Building, Suite 227
Atlanta, GA 30332-0285
joann.ward@vpss.gatech.edu
PH: (404) 894+1970
FAX: (404) 894+1980
Not my words, but those of a new Canadian user who chanced upon
the
ICDL distance education database!
But don't take anyone's word for it - try for yourself by
accessing
the new, free, online version released on January 8.
There is a vast quantity of information on the literature of
distance
education (over 8,000 entries), on distance teaching institutions
worldwide (over 850 of them), and on courses and programmes
taught at a
distance (over 30,000) by institutions in the UK and other
Commonwealth countries including Australia, Canada, India, New
Zealand
and South Africa.
Searching is better than ever, too. Our software has been
enhanced in
several important areas.
You can reach the database by Telnet from anywhere in the world.
Telnet to acsvax.open.ac.uk
At the welcome message please login to the Open University VAX
cluster
with the Username: ICDL
We would then like you to access the database using your country
name
as Account code. Please enter this without any spaces.
The
Password is
then just AAA
You need to be using a VT100 terminal
If you have any difficulty or want to comment, please send e-mail
to
icdl-enquiries@open.ac.uk
The database is also issued on CD-ROM. I'll be happy to provide
details of the next CD-ROM, which will be available at the end of
January.
Keith Harry
Director, International Centre for Distance Learning
The Open University
Walton Hall
Milton Keynes MK7 6AA
Telephone: +44 1908 653537
Fax: +44 1908 654173
E-mail: k.w.harry@open.ac.uk
WWW: http://acacia.open.ac.uk/
Gopher: rowan.open.ac.uk
Agreed! At times we "educators" must become the "guide on the
side"
instead of the "sage on the stage." Students of all ages must be
allowed/encouraged/required to be responsible for their own
learning.
On Sun, 14 Jan 1996, Thomas Leal wrote:
At 05:31 PM 1/14/96 -0500, you wrote:
People learn best by constructing their own knowledge base.
They
do
this by discussing concepts, arguing about problem solutions and
advocating
for
their positions. This reflects what companies are looking for in
their
employees. This type of interaction does not take place in the
lecture class.
Many companies find that they need to train or retrain new
engineers. If
universities promoted cooperative learning at all levels they
would produce
more
effective graduates, people ready to function well in the real
world.
I agree wholeheartedly! This applies, I would be bold enough to
say, in all
courses, regardless of subject matter. I teach marketing to
undergraduates
at three universities in the San Francisco area. One has
students almost
entirely from other countries, primarily France in my classes.
Somehow over time we professors got the idea that we were the
great fonts of
all wisdom and knowledge. We seemed to forget that the root of
the word
"education" means "to lead out of" or "to lead fourth." Of
course, most of
us learned by sitting passively in front of a lecturer who
droned on for
hours without interacting with us. We soaked up what we could,
then squeezed
it out onto paper at exam time. Retention? Only until the final.
So now we find highly educated people in business who can't make
decisions.
They absorbed facts and figures, but never learned what to do
with any of
that. I don't give my students answers, I give them questions.
If they leave
my course knowing what questions to ask and how to go about
finding answers,
they will be able to apply their learning in the world outside
the academe.
If, instead, they leave with answers, they'll have yesterday's
news.
They'll
find themselves looking backwards in their efforts to succeed,
trying to
recall something from a class long ago. That's like driving a
car by looking
only in the rear view mirror.
We ought to prepare students to be able to figure out where
they're headed,
determine what's happening around them, and to look back now and
then to see
what's behind. And we ought to develop their skills for doing
all this
without our guidance. We ought to bring out their talents for
solving their
own problems.
The more I let go of being in charge of my classes and push the
students to
take more responsibility for their learning experience, the
better they seem
to do. And, may I add, they indicate greater appreciation for
what I've done
in their evaluations of the course and teacher (all my schools
require
students to complete an evaluation for each course).
Thomas Leal
The Synergy Group
48 Mathews Place, Suite 8, Alamo CA 94507-2600
Phone: 510 / 938-7748 FAX: 510 / 943-7034
Internet: tomleal@synergygroup.com
"Bringing out the best in people, their ideas, and their
companies."
Hi Peter:
I don't have all the answers, but take a look at how
http://www.match.com
works -- I know it's rather far from the type of information you
will be
processing but the way they do it is pretty cool. It seems as
though their
CGI scripts take much of the work out of managing the site.
Being able to automatically categorize the information and make
'matches'
based on parameters in a personal profile could be applied to
what you're up
against.
The greatest thing about the Internet is the amount of
information available.
The greatest problem with the Internet is the amount of
information available.
A large part of the choice will be made for you in what your ISP
will
provide. Some allow user-developed CGI scripts, most do not. If
your
provider has a Windows NT server, much can be done in Visual
Basic. What
would be nice is to have an SQL Server database on the server
with a VB
script to drive the client end. You could get some very
impressive stuff
running in this configuration.
Ideally, you'd need an Internet version of a Lotus Notes type of
product. I
haven't seen anything quite like that yet -- maybe I should
develop one...
I'll keep looking and let you know if I find anything suitable.
Cheers! Marty...
----------------------------------------------
| Marty R. Milette, P.Prog. mmilette@magi.com
| http://www.magi.com/~mmilette/
| If you always do what you did,
| you'll always get what you got.
----------------------------------------------
RE: New Highly Complex Systems tend to be unstable:
Working with Windows 95 and the INTERNET over the last few
years and being very interested in human nature and behavior -
There seems to be an analogy about things not working very well:
complex systems are unstable - things work, then they don't -
WHY ?
The current model of "Human Beings" is about 40,000
years old and the INTERNET is about 30 years of age. Both are
complex systems made up of sub-systems and parts that all don't
fit perfectly or work smoothly together.
The body-mind, (plant,
reptile, mammal) and all our "selves", emotional,
passionate,
rational elements, are so blended and mixed with "the stuff
that dreams are make of," that dreams, illusions and reality
become so mixed as to become one blended element.
The result of
this complex blend often involves conflict within ourselves and
with others. Clearly we are a new experimental design, a work
in process, that has not had the time to work out all the bugs.
The same instability applies to all collections of complex
systems,
Note: IF these links don't work go back to / (Index)
and do it by hand - open /document or /synergy and it works.
I don't know why sometimes the links work and sometimes they
don't.
RE: Illusion vs. Reality (and the Telecommunications Bill)
The BUDGET dead lock ?
Madison designed the system so ambition matches ambition,
power balances power. (Federalist Papers 10 and 51)
The system
was designed to protect people FROM government not make it
democratic
or effective.
The idea was to protect minorities.
The minority
they had in mind were the RICH, property owning people who
carried
off the coup called the American Revolution or the rebellion of
the American Colonies. Since God so loves the poor he made many
of them - Democracy would cause social envy, leveling,
redistribution
of wealth and all the evils of "popular" demagogue. (As
it had in Ancient Greece). And Madison's design sort of works
- DEADLOCK is designed to protect minorities so it takes a long
term overwhelming majority to do anything good or bad.
SO WHAT IS THE ISSUE: Two little words "normal and
usual"
rather than "reasonable and proper". This opened the
federal check book to Medicare. Other entitlement depend on the
"needs" of the beneficiary, which can be tightly drawn.
It does depend on "need" but is limited to set
payments.
Health care followed the pattern set by Blue Cross, which just
pays the bill.
The client does not get the benefit but the
services
given as designed by the doctors and are paid by a third party.
The emergency room decides to put three little stitches in a
small
cut on Blaine's foot.
The bill is over $300.00 for separate
services
(
The doctors, the hospital, supplies etc). If this is outrageous
it is "normal and usual" to be outrageous.
The check
book is open "Send us your BILLS".
The Social Security Act of 1936, was to cover the emergencies
of life, unemployment, retirement, poverty, disability, and
sickness.
The politics is that a "program for the poor would be a poor
program" so there was no means test for Retirement.
The
medical
establishment blocked health care for 50 years. Now they find
they like the open check book system, along with 15% of the
economy
- hospitals, equipment, supplies, drugs, and a vast health care
industry all doing good and doing very well.
HOW TO CLOSE THE CHECKBOOK that will (is) bankrupting the
government.
There are two things that have been PERFECTLY CLEAR
since 1982. One, there must be a fixed limit on payments.
The
simplest method is HMO's which are paid a fixed fee per client.
The second is some sort of means test. "Get according to
your needs, pay according to your means". This will happen
but... doesn't win many votes. People want a free lunch and any
medical service they or their doctors can invent. Here is where
Madison's design breaks down. We have enough democracy so people
expect too much from the government and don't want to pay. We
have enough elitism so well funded groups can block reform. WE
have dead lock and the check book remains open. (Like in the
S&L
crisis)
Fix the system, not the blame means a more responsible
government.
(See Reform).
There are several ways to make the system more responsible.
Concurrent
elections rather than so many fractured constituencies. Party
responsibility, with national parties holding the central
authority.
Until the system is fixed the problem will go on, and on, and
on. Some buck will be passed to the States.
The budget will not
be balanced in 7 years or 70 years by the current political
system.
Sometime in the next ten years this will become so clear that
even the "media," and professors of government will
notice.
SEE the news including tips on hypertext, the future of
inactive
education, and lots of goods references and ideas on the NEWS
PAGE THE LAST FIRST
Page from
last week. What we do here is explore, using interaction and
cooperation.
( Unstable technology - see below ). A general tip on the web
- try several times.
The URL's have to be found and placed in
the server. Sometimes the server need to do this more then once.
If you don't get a fairly fast - found - waiting but it keeps
looking - don't wait try again. I use more than one browser page
at a time ( on Windows 95 ) and flip back and fourth if it's slow.
One reason I don't have an Index.htm page is to give you practice
in open files and how they work.
I've looked at the pages with a freenet http (text only),
AoL, Compuserve, Prodigy, MS Internet Explorer, Netscape, Hot
Java, and they all are different. What I see and experience is
not the same as what you see and experience. I depend on your
feedback.
In the files you will find sample pages,
along with icons, and
other materials for making your own home pages. A lot more
information
is on the week before first's page now doc1.htm
in the htm files.
This is a place to visit more than once and spend enough time
to discover our meaning. It is not completely user friendly -
we are working on it. Have a nice visit and let me know what you
think ?
(Please use the following address for me from now on:
pkirby@umsa7.umd.edu. Even though you see another one on this
message, it should be deleted and changed.)
Has anyone taught students directly about their own learning
styles as a topic of inquiry and discussion, i.e., what style is
and isn't, how to capitalize on our style strengths and
compensate for missing styles or style segments, how to survive
mismatch with instructor or course topic
or course format, etc.?
I am now involved in a small grant to do this with another
educator in my office here and would be interested in any
experiences you could share.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Patricia Kirby, Ed.D.
Rm 3219 SFSC
University College, U. of Md.
University Blvd. at Adelphi Rd.
College Park, MD 20742+1616
301-985-7897
We teach a Freshman Seminar to over 1,000 students who are
predominantly
in technological programs.
The challenge: to make 1,000 (or as
close to
it as possible) have good classroom experiences as possible, and
to get
them to conceptualize and grow academically.
Staff size: 2.
Howthehell can we do that? We got volunteer teachers from
student
services, AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, we also got the commitment of 140
or so
undergraduate student leaders to come participate in the classes.
Each
class of 35 is staffed by one instructor and 5 undergraduate team
leaders.
The classes are taught much like corporate training. Students
work in 5
teams of seven, each led by a team leader, under the direction of
the
instructor. Much of the class is teamwork doing analysis, or
problem-solving or presentations. Grading is done predominantly
by team
leaders who go by the guidelines assigned by the instructor.
It's all
much more than this, but I have to tell you, using the
undergraduates was a
real moment of truth for us.
Will they blow this off? Will they use this
as an opportunity to slander the program? Will we two be looking
for new
jobs directly?
Answer: no.
Students do a hellofa job for the most part.
Yes, there is an occasional slackard. But probably less than 1%.
The rest
are outstanding leaders who are given academic credit for taking
"Foundations of Leadership," a class that teaches the concepts
of
leadership and illustrates them by using their team leadership
jobs as
examples.
They also can take practicum hours and other classes
to get a
certificate in Leadership (the equivalent of a minor, here). I
commend
using undergraduates to help in the classroom.
They are capable
of more
than you'd believe.
----------------------------------------------------------
Joann Ward, Ed.S., LPC, NCC Assistant Director
Georgia Tech, Success Programs
Student Services Building, Suite 227
Atlanta, GA 30332-0285
joann.ward@vpss.gatech.edu
PH: (404) 894+1970
FAX: (404) 894+1980
Not my words, but those of a new Canadian user who chanced upon
the
ICDL distance education database!
But don't take anyone's word for it - try for yourself by
accessing
the new, free, online version released on January 8.
There is a vast quantity of information on the literature of
distance
education (over 8,000 entries), on distance teaching institutions
worldwide (over 850 of them), and on courses and programmes
taught at a
distance (over 30,000) by institutions in the UK and other
Commonwealth countries including Australia, Canada, India, New
Zealand
and South Africa.
Searching is better than ever, too. Our software has been
enhanced in
several important areas.
You can reach the database by Telnet from anywhere in the world.
Telnet to acsvax.open.ac.uk
At the welcome message please login to the Open University VAX
cluster
with the Username: ICDL
We would then like you to access the database using your country
name
as Account code. Please enter this without any spaces.
The
Password is
then just AAA
You need to be using a VT100 terminal
If you have any difficulty or want to comment, please send e-mail
to
icdl-enquiries@open.ac.uk
The database is also issued on CD-ROM. I'll be happy to provide
details of the next CD-ROM, which will be available at the end of
January.
Keith Harry
Director, International Centre for Distance Learning
The Open University
Walton Hall
Milton Keynes MK7 6AA
Telephone: +44 1908 653537
Fax: +44 1908 654173
E-mail: k.w.harry@open.ac.uk
WWW: http://acacia.open.ac.uk/
Gopher: rowan.open.ac.uk
Agreed! At times we "educators" must become the "guide on the
side"
instead of the "sage on the stage." Students of all ages must be
allowed/encouraged/required to be responsible for their own
learning.
On Sun, 14 Jan 1996, Thomas Leal wrote:
At 05:31 PM 1/14/96 -0500, you wrote:
People learn best by constructing their own knowledge base.
They
do
this by discussing concepts, arguing about problem solutions and
advocating
for
their positions. This reflects what companies are looking for in
their
employees. This type of interaction does not take place in the
lecture class.
Many companies find that they need to train or retrain new
engineers. If
universities promoted cooperative learning at all levels they
would produce
more
effective graduates, people ready to function well in the real
world.
I agree wholeheartedly! This applies, I would be bold enough to
say, in all
courses, regardless of subject matter. I teach marketing to
undergraduates
at three universities in the San Francisco area. One has
students almost
entirely from other countries, primarily France in my classes.
Somehow over time we professors got the idea that we were the
great fonts of
all wisdom and knowledge. We seemed to forget that the root of
the word
"education" means "to lead out of" or "to lead fourth." Of
course, most of
us learned by sitting passively in front of a lecturer who
droned on for
hours without interacting with us. We soaked up what we could,
then squeezed
it out onto paper at exam time. Retention? Only until the final.
So now we find highly educated people in business who can't make
decisions.
They absorbed facts and figures, but never learned what to do
with any of
that. I don't give my students answers, I give them questions.
If they leave
my course knowing what questions to ask and how to go about
finding answers,
they will be able to apply their learning in the world outside
the academe.
If, instead, they leave with answers, they'll have yesterday's
news.
They'll
find themselves looking backwards in their efforts to succeed,
trying to
recall something from a class long ago. That's like driving a
car by looking
only in the rear view mirror.
We ought to prepare students to be able to figure out where
they're headed,
determine what's happening around them, and to look back now and
then to see
what's behind. And we ought to develop their skills for doing
all this
without our guidance. We ought to bring out their talents for
solving their
own problems.
The more I let go of being in charge of my classes and push the
students to
take more responsibility for their learning experience, the
better they seem
to do. And, may I add, they indicate greater appreciation for
what I've done
in their evaluations of the course and teacher (all my schools
require
students to complete an evaluation for each course).
Thomas Leal
The Synergy Group
48 Mathews Place, Suite 8, Alamo CA 94507-2600
Phone: 510 / 938-7748 FAX: 510 / 943-7034
Internet: tomleal@synergygroup.com
"Bringing out the best in people, their ideas, and their
companies."
Hi Peter:
I don't have all the answers, but take a look at how
http://www.match.com
works -- I know it's rather far from the type of information you
will be
processing but the way they do it is pretty cool. It seems as
though their
CGI scripts take much of the work out of managing the site.
Being able to automatically categorize the information and make
'matches'
based on parameters in a personal profile could be applied to
what you're up
against.
The greatest thing about the Internet is the amount of
information available.
The greatest problem with the Internet is the amount of
information available.
A large part of the choice will be made for you in what your ISP
will
provide. Some allow user-developed CGI scripts, most do not. If
your
provider has a Windows NT server, much can be done in Visual
Basic. What
would be nice is to have an SQL Server database on the server
with a VB
script to drive the client end. You could get some very
impressive stuff
running in this configuration.
Ideally, you'd need an Internet version of a Lotus Notes type of
product. I
haven't seen anything quite like that yet -- maybe I should
develop one...
I'll keep looking and let you know if I find anything suitable.
Cheers! Marty...
----------------------------------------------
| Marty R. Milette, P.Prog. mmilette@magi.com
| http://www.magi.com/~mmilette/
| If you always do what you did,
| you'll always get what you got.
----------------------------------------------
RE: New Highly Complex Systems tend to be unstable:
Working with Windows 95 and the INTERNET over the last few
years and being very interested in human nature and behavior -
There seems to be an analogy about things not working very well:
complex systems are unstable - things work, then they don't -
WHY ?
The current model of "Human Beings" is about 40,000
years old and the INTERNET is about 30 years of age. Both are
complex systems made up of sub-systems and parts that all don't
fit perfectly or work smoothly together.
The body-mind, (plant,
reptile, mammal) and all our "selves", emotional,
passionate,
rational elements, are so blended and mixed with "the stuff
that dreams are make of," that dreams, illusions and reality
become so mixed as to become one blended element.
The result of
this complex blend often involves conflict within ourselves and
with others. Clearly we are a new experimental design, a work
in process, that has not had the time to work out all the bugs.
The same instability applies to all collections of complex
systems,
RE: Illusion vs. Reality (and the Telecommunications Bill)
The BUDGET dead lock ?
Madison designed the system so ambition matches ambition,
power balances power. (Federalist Papers 10 and 51)
The system
was designed to protect people FROM government not make it
democratic
or effective.
The idea was to protect minorities.
The minority
they had in mind were the RICH, property owning people who
carried
off the coup called the American Revolution or the rebellion of
the American Colonies. Since God so loves the poor he made many
of them - Democracy would cause social envy, leveling,
redistribution
of wealth and all the evils of "popular" demagogue. (As
it had in Ancient Greece). And Madison's design sort of works
- DEADLOCK is designed to protect minorities so it takes a long
term overwhelming majority to do anything good or bad.
SO WHAT IS THE ISSUE: Two little words "normal and
usual"
rather than "reasonable and proper". This opened the
federal check book to Medicare. Other entitlement depend on the
"needs" of the beneficiary, which can be tightly drawn.
It does depend on "need" but is limited to set
payments.
Health care followed the pattern set by Blue Cross, which just
pays the bill.
The client does not get the benefit but the
services
given as designed by the doctors and are paid by a third party.
The emergency room decides to put three little stitches in a
small
cut on Blaine's foot.
The bill is over $300.00 for separate
services
(
The doctors, the hospital, supplies etc). If this is outrageous
it is "normal and usual" to be outrageous.
The check
book is open "Send us your BILLS".
The Social Security Act of 1936, was to cover the emergencies
of life, unemployment, retirement, poverty, disability, and
sickness.
The politics is that a "program for the poor would be a poor
program" so there was no means test for Retirement.
The
medical
establishment blocked health care for 50 years. Now they find
they like the open check book system, along with 15% of the
economy
- hospitals, equipment, supplies, drugs, and a vast health care
industry all doing good and doing very well.
HOW TO CLOSE THE CHECKBOOK that will (is) bankrupting the
government.
There are two things that have been PERFECTLY CLEAR
since 1982. One, there must be a fixed limit on payments.
The
simplest method is HMO's which are paid a fixed fee per client.
The second is some sort of means test. "Get according to
your needs, pay according to your means". This will happen
but... doesn't win many votes. People want a free lunch and any
medical service they or their doctors can invent. Here is where
Madison's design breaks down. We have enough democracy so people
expect too much from the government and don't want to pay. We
have enough elitism so well funded groups can block reform. WE
have dead lock and the check book remains open. (Like in the
S&L
crisis)
Fix the system, not the blame means a more responsible
government.
(See Reform).
There are several ways to make the system more responsible.
Concurrent
elections rather than so many fractured constituencies. Party
responsibility, with national parties holding the central
authority.
Until the system is fixed the problem will go on, and on, and
on. Some buck will be passed to the States.
The budget will not
be balanced in 7 years or 70 years by the current political
system.
Sometime in the next ten years this will become so clear that
even the "media," and professors of government will
notice.
SEE the news including tips on hypertext, the future of
inactive
education, and lots of goods references and ideas on the NEWS
PAGE THE LAST FIRST
Page from
last week. What we do here is explore, using interaction and
cooperation.
( Unstable technology - see below ). A general tip on the web
- try several times.
The URL's have to be found and placed in
the server. Sometimes the server need to do this more then once.
If you don't get a fairly fast - found - waiting but it keeps
looking - don't wait try again. I use more than one browser page
at a time ( on Windows 95 ) and flip back and fourth if it's slow.
One reason I don't have an Index.htm page is to give you practice
in open files and how they work.
I've looked at the pages with a freenet http (text only),
AoL, Compuserve, Prodigy, MS Internet Explorer, Netscape, Hot
Java, and they all are different. What I see and experience is
not the same as what you see and experience. I depend on your
feedback.
In the files you will find sample pages,
along with icons, and
other materials for making your own home pages. A lot more
information
is on the week before first's page now doc1.htm
in the htm files.
This is a place to visit more than once and spend enough time
to discover our meaning. It is not completely user friendly -
we are working on it. Have a nice visit and let me know what you
think ?
(Please use the following address for me from now on:
pkirby@umsa7.umd.edu. Even though you see another one on this
message, it should be deleted and changed.)
Has anyone taught students directly about their own learning
styles as a topic of inquiry and discussion, i.e., what style is
and isn't, how to capitalize on our style strengths and
compensate for missing styles or style segments, how to survive
mismatch with instructor or course topic
or course format, etc.?
I am now involved in a small grant to do this with another
educator in my office here and would be interested in any
experiences you could share.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Patricia Kirby, Ed.D.
Rm 3219 SFSC
University College, U. of Md.
University Blvd. at Adelphi Rd.
College Park, MD 20742+1616
301-985-7897
We teach a Freshman Seminar to over 1,000 students who are
predominantly
in technological programs.
The challenge: to make 1,000 (or as
close to
it as possible) have good classroom experiences as possible, and
to get
them to conceptualize and grow academically.
Staff size: 2.
Howthehell can we do that? We got volunteer teachers from
student
services, AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, we also got the commitment of 140
or so
undergraduate student leaders to come participate in the classes.
Each
class of 35 is staffed by one instructor and 5 undergraduate team
leaders.
The classes are taught much like corporate training. Students
work in 5
teams of seven, each led by a team leader, under the direction of
the
instructor. Much of the class is teamwork doing analysis, or
problem-solving or presentations. Grading is done predominantly
by team
leaders who go by the guidelines assigned by the instructor.
It's all
much more than this, but I have to tell you, using the
undergraduates was a
real moment of truth for us.
Will they blow this off? Will they use this
as an opportunity to slander the program? Will we two be looking
for new
jobs directly?
Answer: no.
Students do a hellofa job for the most part.
Yes, there is an occasional slackard. But probably less than 1%.
The rest
are outstanding leaders who are given academic credit for taking
"Foundations of Leadership," a class that teaches the concepts
of
leadership and illustrates them by using their team leadership
jobs as
examples.
They also can take practicum hours and other classes
to get a
certificate in Leadership (the equivalent of a minor, here). I
commend
using undergraduates to help in the classroom.
They are capable
of more
than you'd believe.
----------------------------------------------------------
Joann Ward, Ed.S., LPC, NCC Assistant Director
Georgia Tech, Success Programs
Student Services Building, Suite 227
Atlanta, GA 30332-0285
joann.ward@vpss.gatech.edu
PH: (404) 894+1970
FAX: (404) 894+1980
Not my words, but those of a new Canadian user who chanced upon
the
ICDL distance education database!
But don't take anyone's word for it - try for yourself by
accessing
the new, free, online version released on January 8.
There is a vast quantity of information on the literature of
distance
education (over 8,000 entries), on distance teaching institutions
worldwide (over 850 of them), and on courses and programmes
taught at a
distance (over 30,000) by institutions in the UK and other
Commonwealth countries including Australia, Canada, India, New
Zealand
and South Africa.
Searching is better than ever, too. Our software has been
enhanced in
several important areas.
You can reach the database by Telnet from anywhere in the world.
Telnet to acsvax.open.ac.uk
At the welcome message please login to the Open University VAX
cluster
with the Username: ICDL
We would then like you to access the database using your country
name
as Account code. Please enter this without any spaces.
The
Password is
then just AAA
You need to be using a VT100 terminal
If you have any difficulty or want to comment, please send e-mail
to
icdl-enquiries@open.ac.uk
The database is also issued on CD-ROM. I'll be happy to provide
details of the next CD-ROM, which will be available at the end of
January.
Keith Harry
Director, International Centre for Distance Learning
The Open University
Walton Hall
Milton Keynes MK7 6AA
Telephone: +44 1908 653537
Fax: +44 1908 654173
E-mail: k.w.harry@open.ac.uk
WWW: http://acacia.open.ac.uk/
Gopher: rowan.open.ac.uk
Agreed! At times we "educators" must become the "guide on the
side"
instead of the "sage on the stage." Students of all ages must be
allowed/encouraged/required to be responsible for their own
learning.
On Sun, 14 Jan 1996, Thomas Leal wrote:
At 05:31 PM 1/14/96 -0500, you wrote:
People learn best by constructing their own knowledge base.
They
do
this by discussing concepts, arguing about problem solutions and
advocating
for
their positions. This reflects what companies are looking for in
their
employees. This type of interaction does not take place in the
lecture class.
Many companies find that they need to train or retrain new
engineers. If
universities promoted cooperative learning at all levels they
would produce
more
effective graduates, people ready to function well in the real
world.
I agree wholeheartedly! This applies, I would be bold enough to
say, in all
courses, regardless of subject matter. I teach marketing to
undergraduates
at three universities in the San Francisco area. One has
students almost
entirely from other countries, primarily France in my classes.
Somehow over time we professors got the idea that we were the
great fonts of
all wisdom and knowledge. We seemed to forget that the root of
the word
"education" means "to lead out of" or "to lead fourth." Of
course, most of
us learned by sitting passively in front of a lecturer who
droned on for
hours without interacting with us. We soaked up what we could,
then squeezed
it out onto paper at exam time. Retention? Only until the final.
So now we find highly educated people in business who can't make
decisions.
They absorbed facts and figures, but never learned what to do
with any of
that. I don't give my students answers, I give them questions.
If they leave
my course knowing what questions to ask and how to go about
finding answers,
they will be able to apply their learning in the world outside
the academe.
If, instead, they leave with answers, they'll have yesterday's
news.
They'll
find themselves looking backwards in their efforts to succeed,
trying to
recall something from a class long ago. That's like driving a
car by looking
only in the rear view mirror.
We ought to prepare students to be able to figure out where
they're headed,
determine what's happening around them, and to look back now and
then to see
what's behind. And we ought to develop their skills for doing
all this
without our guidance. We ought to bring out their talents for
solving their
own problems.
The more I let go of being in charge of my classes and push the
students to
take more responsibility for their learning experience, the
better they seem
to do. And, may I add, they indicate greater appreciation for
what I've done
in their evaluations of the course and teacher (all my schools
require
students to complete an evaluation for each course).
Thomas Leal
The Synergy Group
48 Mathews Place, Suite 8, Alamo CA 94507-2600
Phone: 510 / 938-7748 FAX: 510 / 943-7034
Internet: tomleal@synergygroup.com
"Bringing out the best in people, their ideas, and their
companies."
Hi Peter:
I don't have all the answers, but take a look at how
http://www.match.com
works -- I know it's rather far from the type of information you
will be
processing but the way they do it is pretty cool. It seems as
though their
CGI scripts take much of the work out of managing the site.
Being able to automatically categorize the information and make
'matches'
based on parameters in a personal profile could be applied to
what you're up
against.
The greatest thing about the Internet is the amount of
information available.
The greatest problem with the Internet is the amount of
information available.
A large part of the choice will be made for you in what your ISP
will
provide. Some allow user-developed CGI scripts, most do not. If
your
provider has a Windows NT server, much can be done in Visual
Basic. What
would be nice is to have an SQL Server database on the server
with a VB
script to drive the client end. You could get some very
impressive stuff
running in this configuration.
Ideally, you'd need an Internet version of a Lotus Notes type of
product. I
haven't seen anything quite like that yet -- maybe I should
develop one...
I'll keep looking and let you know if I find anything suitable.
Cheers! Marty...
----------------------------------------------
| Marty R. Milette, P.Prog. mmilette@magi.com
| http://www.magi.com/~mmilette/
| If you always do what you did,
| you'll always get what you got.
----------------------------------------------
RE: New Highly Complex Systems tend to be unstable:
Working with Windows 95 and the INTERNET over the last few
years and being very interested in human nature and behavior -
There seems to be an analogy about things not working very well:
complex systems are unstable - things work, then they don't -
WHY ?
The current model of "Human Beings" is about 40,000
years old and the INTERNET is about 30 years of age. Both are
complex systems made up of sub-systems and parts that all don't
fit perfectly or work smoothly together.
The body-mind, (plant,
reptile, mammal) and all our "selves", emotional,
passionate,
rational elements, are so blended and mixed with "the stuff
that dreams are make of," that dreams, illusions and reality
become so mixed as to become one blended element.
The result of
this complex blend often involves conflict within ourselves and
with others. Clearly we are a new experimental design, a work
in process, that has not had the time to work out all the bugs.
The same instability applies to all collections of complex
systems,
The system
was designed to protect people FROM government not make it
democratic
or effective.
The idea was to protect minorities.
The minority
they had in mind were the RICH, property owning people who
carried
off the coup called the American Revolution or the rebellion of
the American Colonies. Since God so loves the poor he made many
of them - Democracy would cause social envy, leveling,
redistribution
of wealth and all the evils of "popular" demagogue. (As
it had in Ancient Greece). And Madison's design sort of works
- DEADLOCK is designed to protect minorities so it takes a long
term overwhelming majority to do anything good or bad.
SO WHAT IS THE ISSUE: Two little words "normal and
usual"
rather than "reasonable and proper". This opened the
federal check book to Medicare. Other entitlement depend on the
"needs" of the beneficiary, which can be tightly drawn.
It does depend on "need" but is limited to set
payments.
Health care followed the pattern set by Blue Cross, which just
pays the bill.
The client does not get the benefit but the
services
given as designed by the doctors and are paid by a third party.
The emergency room decides to put three little stitches in a
small
cut on Blaine's foot.
The bill is over $300.00 for separate
services
(
The doctors, the hospital, supplies etc). If this is outrageous
it is "normal and usual" to be outrageous.
The check
book is open "Send us your BILLS".
The Social Security Act of 1936, was to cover the emergencies
of life, unemployment, retirement, poverty, disability, and
sickness.
The politics is that a "program for the poor would be a poor
program" so there was no means test for Retirement.
The
medical
establishment blocked health care for 50 years. Now they find
they like the open check book system, along with 15% of the
economy
- hospitals, equipment, supplies, drugs, and a vast health care
industry all doing good and doing very well.
HOW TO CLOSE THE CHECKBOOK that will (is) bankrupting the
government.
There are two things that have been PERFECTLY CLEAR
since 1982. One, there must be a fixed limit on payments.
The
simplest method is HMO's which are paid a fixed fee per client.
The second is some sort of means test. "Get according to
your needs, pay according to your means". This will happen
but... doesn't win many votes. People want a free lunch and any
medical service they or their doctors can invent. Here is where
Madison's design breaks down. We have enough democracy so people
expect too much from the government and don't want to pay. We
have enough elitism so well funded groups can block reform. WE
have dead lock and the check book remains open. (Like in the
S&L
crisis)
Fix the system, not the blame means a more responsible
government.
(See Reform).
There are several ways to make the system more responsible.
Concurrent
elections rather than so many fractured constituencies. Party
responsibility, with national parties holding the central
authority.
Until the system is fixed the problem will go on, and on, and
on. Some buck will be passed to the States.
The budget will not
be balanced in 7 years or 70 years by the current political
system.
Sometime in the next ten years this will become so clear that
even the "media," and professors of government will
notice.
SEE the news including tips on hypertext, the future of
inactive
education, and lots of goods references and ideas on the NEWS
PAGE THE LAST FIRST
Page from
last week. What we do here is explore, using interaction and
cooperation.
( Unstable technology - see below ). A general tip on the web
- try several times.
The URL's have to be found and placed in
the server. Sometimes the server need to do this more then once.
If you don't get a fairly fast - found - waiting but it keeps
looking - don't wait try again. I use more than one browser page
at a time ( on Windows 95 ) and flip back and fourth if it's slow.
One reason I don't have an Index.htm page is to give you practice
in open files and how they work.
I've looked at the pages with a freenet http (text only),
AoL, Compuserve, Prodigy, MS Internet Explorer, Netscape, Hot
Java, and they all are different. What I see and experience is
not the same as what you see and experience. I depend on your
feedback.
In the files you will find sample pages,
along with icons, and
other materials for making your own home pages. A lot more
information
is on the week before first's page now doc1.htm
in the htm files.
This is a place to visit more than once and spend enough time
to discover our meaning. It is not completely user friendly -
we are working on it. Have a nice visit and let me know what you
think ?
(Please use the following address for me from now on:
pkirby@umsa7.umd.edu. Even though you see another one on this
message, it should be deleted and changed.)
Has anyone taught students directly about their own learning
styles as a topic of inquiry and discussion, i.e., what style is
and isn't, how to capitalize on our style strengths and
compensate for missing styles or style segments, how to survive
mismatch with instructor or course topic
or course format, etc.?
I am now involved in a small grant to do this with another
educator in my office here and would be interested in any
experiences you could share.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Patricia Kirby, Ed.D.
Rm 3219 SFSC
University College, U. of Md.
University Blvd. at Adelphi Rd.
College Park, MD 20742+1616
301-985-7897
We teach a Freshman Seminar to over 1,000 students who are
predominantly
in technological programs.
The challenge: to make 1,000 (or as
close to
it as possible) have good classroom experiences as possible, and
to get
them to conceptualize and grow academically.
Staff size: 2.
Howthehell can we do that? We got volunteer teachers from
student
services, AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, we also got the commitment of 140
or so
undergraduate student leaders to come participate in the classes.
Each
class of 35 is staffed by one instructor and 5 undergraduate team
leaders.
The classes are taught much like corporate training. Students
work in 5
teams of seven, each led by a team leader, under the direction of
the
instructor. Much of the class is teamwork doing analysis, or
problem-solving or presentations. Grading is done predominantly
by team
leaders who go by the guidelines assigned by the instructor.
It's all
much more than this, but I have to tell you, using the
undergraduates was a
real moment of truth for us.
Will they blow this off? Will they use this
as an opportunity to slander the program? Will we two be looking
for new
jobs directly?
Answer: no.
Students do a hellofa job for the most part.
Yes, there is an occasional slackard. But probably less than 1%.
The rest
are outstanding leaders who are given academic credit for taking
"Foundations of Leadership," a class that teaches the concepts
of
leadership and illustrates them by using their team leadership
jobs as
examples.
They also can take practicum hours and other classes
to get a
certificate in Leadership (the equivalent of a minor, here). I
commend
using undergraduates to help in the classroom.
They are capable
of more
than you'd believe.
----------------------------------------------------------
Joann Ward, Ed.S., LPC, NCC Assistant Director
Georgia Tech, Success Programs
Student Services Building, Suite 227
Atlanta, GA 30332-0285
joann.ward@vpss.gatech.edu
PH: (404) 894+1970
FAX: (404) 894+1980
Not my words, but those of a new Canadian user who chanced upon
the
ICDL distance education database!
But don't take anyone's word for it - try for yourself by
accessing
the new, free, online version released on January 8.
There is a vast quantity of information on the literature of
distance
education (over 8,000 entries), on distance teaching institutions
worldwide (over 850 of them), and on courses and programmes
taught at a
distance (over 30,000) by institutions in the UK and other
Commonwealth countries including Australia, Canada, India, New
Zealand
and South Africa.
Searching is better than ever, too. Our software has been
enhanced in
several important areas.
You can reach the database by Telnet from anywhere in the world.
Telnet to acsvax.open.ac.uk
At the welcome message please login to the Open University VAX
cluster
with the Username: ICDL
We would then like you to access the database using your country
name
as Account code. Please enter this without any spaces.
The
Password is
then just AAA
You need to be using a VT100 terminal
If you have any difficulty or want to comment, please send e-mail
to
icdl-enquiries@open.ac.uk
The database is also issued on CD-ROM. I'll be happy to provide
details of the next CD-ROM, which will be available at the end of
January.
Keith Harry
Director, International Centre for Distance Learning
The Open University
Walton Hall
Milton Keynes MK7 6AA
Telephone: +44 1908 653537
Fax: +44 1908 654173
E-mail: k.w.harry@open.ac.uk
WWW: http://acacia.open.ac.uk/
Gopher: rowan.open.ac.uk
Agreed! At times we "educators" must become the "guide on the
side"
instead of the "sage on the stage." Students of all ages must be
allowed/encouraged/required to be responsible for their own
learning.
On Sun, 14 Jan 1996, Thomas Leal wrote:
At 05:31 PM 1/14/96 -0500, you wrote:
People learn best by constructing their own knowledge base.
They
do
this by discussing concepts, arguing about problem solutions and
advocating
for
their positions. This reflects what companies are looking for in
their
employees. This type of interaction does not take place in the
lecture class.
Many companies find that they need to train or retrain new
engineers. If
universities promoted cooperative learning at all levels they
would produce
more
effective graduates, people ready to function well in the real
world.
I agree wholeheartedly! This applies, I would be bold enough to
say, in all
courses, regardless of subject matter. I teach marketing to
undergraduates
at three universities in the San Francisco area. One has
students almost
entirely from other countries, primarily France in my classes.
Somehow over time we professors got the idea that we were the
great fonts of
all wisdom and knowledge. We seemed to forget that the root of
the word
"education" means "to lead out of" or "to lead fourth." Of
course, most of
us learned by sitting passively in front of a lecturer who
droned on for
hours without interacting with us. We soaked up what we could,
then squeezed
it out onto paper at exam time. Retention? Only until the final.
So now we find highly educated people in business who can't make
decisions.
They absorbed facts and figures, but never learned what to do
with any of
that. I don't give my students answers, I give them questions.
If they leave
my course knowing what questions to ask and how to go about
finding answers,
they will be able to apply their learning in the world outside
the academe.
If, instead, they leave with answers, they'll have yesterday's
news.
They'll
find themselves looking backwards in their efforts to succeed,
trying to
recall something from a class long ago. That's like driving a
car by looking
only in the rear view mirror.
We ought to prepare students to be able to figure out where
they're headed,
determine what's happening around them, and to look back now and
then to see
what's behind. And we ought to develop their skills for doing
all this
without our guidance. We ought to bring out their talents for
solving their
own problems.
The more I let go of being in charge of my classes and push the
students to
take more responsibility for their learning experience, the
better they seem
to do. And, may I add, they indicate greater appreciation for
what I've done
in their evaluations of the course and teacher (all my schools
require
students to complete an evaluation for each course).
Thomas Leal
The Synergy Group
48 Mathews Place, Suite 8, Alamo CA 94507-2600
Phone: 510 / 938-7748 FAX: 510 / 943-7034
Internet: tomleal@synergygroup.com
"Bringing out the best in people, their ideas, and their
companies."
Hi Peter:
I don't have all the answers, but take a look at how
http://www.match.com
works -- I know it's rather far from the type of information you
will be
processing but the way they do it is pretty cool. It seems as
though their
CGI scripts take much of the work out of managing the site.
Being able to automatically categorize the information and make
'matches'
based on parameters in a personal profile could be applied to
what you're up
against.
The greatest thing about the Internet is the amount of
information available.
The greatest problem with the Internet is the amount of
information available.
A large part of the choice will be made for you in what your ISP
will
provide. Some allow user-developed CGI scripts, most do not. If
your
provider has a Windows NT server, much can be done in Visual
Basic. What
would be nice is to have an SQL Server database on the server
with a VB
script to drive the client end. You could get some very
impressive stuff
running in this configuration.
Ideally, you'd need an Internet version of a Lotus Notes type of
product. I
haven't seen anything quite like that yet -- maybe I should
develop one...
I'll keep looking and let you know if I find anything suitable.
Cheers! Marty...
----------------------------------------------
| Marty R. Milette, P.Prog. mmilette@magi.com
| http://www.magi.com/~mmilette/
| If you always do what you did,
| you'll always get what you got.
----------------------------------------------
RE: New Highly Complex Systems tend to be unstable:
Working with Windows 95 and the INTERNET over the last few
years and being very interested in human nature and behavior -
There seems to be an analogy about things not working very well:
complex systems are unstable - things work, then they don't -
WHY ?
The current model of "Human Beings" is about 40,000
years old and the INTERNET is about 30 years of age. Both are
complex systems made up of sub-systems and parts that all don't
fit perfectly or work smoothly together.
The body-mind, (plant,
reptile, mammal) and all our "selves", emotional,
passionate,
rational elements, are so blended and mixed with "the stuff
that dreams are make of," that dreams, illusions and reality
become so mixed as to become one blended element.
The result of
this complex blend often involves conflict within ourselves and
with others. Clearly we are a new experimental design, a work
in process, that has not had the time to work out all the bugs.
The same instability applies to all collections of complex
systems,
The minority they had in mind were the RICH, property owning people who carried off the coup called the American Revolution or the rebellion of the American Colonies. Since God so loves the poor he made many of them - Democracy would cause social envy, leveling, redistribution of wealth and all the evils of "popular" demagogue. (As it had in Ancient Greece). And Madison's design sort of works - DEADLOCK is designed to protect minorities so it takes a long term overwhelming majority to do anything good or bad.
SO WHAT IS THE ISSUE: Two little words "normal and
usual"
rather than "reasonable and proper". This opened the
federal check book to Medicare. Other entitlement depend on the
"needs" of the beneficiary, which can be tightly drawn.
It does depend on "need" but is limited to set
payments.
Health care followed the pattern set by Blue Cross, which just
pays the bill.
The client does not get the benefit but the
services
given as designed by the doctors and are paid by a third party.
The emergency room decides to put three little stitches in a
small
cut on Blaine's foot.
The bill is over $300.00 for separate
services
(
The doctors, the hospital, supplies etc). If this is outrageous
it is "normal and usual" to be outrageous.
The check
book is open "Send us your BILLS".
The Social Security Act of 1936, was to cover the emergencies
of life, unemployment, retirement, poverty, disability, and
sickness.
The politics is that a "program for the poor would be a poor
program" so there was no means test for Retirement.
The
medical
establishment blocked health care for 50 years. Now they find
they like the open check book system, along with 15% of the
economy
- hospitals, equipment, supplies, drugs, and a vast health care
industry all doing good and doing very well.
HOW TO CLOSE THE CHECKBOOK that will (is) bankrupting the
government.
There are two things that have been PERFECTLY CLEAR
since 1982. One, there must be a fixed limit on payments.
The
simplest method is HMO's which are paid a fixed fee per client.
The second is some sort of means test. "Get according to
your needs, pay according to your means". This will happen
but... doesn't win many votes. People want a free lunch and any
medical service they or their doctors can invent. Here is where
Madison's design breaks down. We have enough democracy so people
expect too much from the government and don't want to pay. We
have enough elitism so well funded groups can block reform. WE
have dead lock and the check book remains open. (Like in the
S&L
crisis)
Fix the system, not the blame means a more responsible
government.
(See Reform).
There are several ways to make the system more responsible.
Concurrent
elections rather than so many fractured constituencies. Party
responsibility, with national parties holding the central
authority.
Until the system is fixed the problem will go on, and on, and
on. Some buck will be passed to the States.
The budget will not
be balanced in 7 years or 70 years by the current political
system.
Sometime in the next ten years this will become so clear that
even the "media," and professors of government will
notice.
SEE the news including tips on hypertext, the future of
inactive
education, and lots of goods references and ideas on the NEWS
PAGE THE LAST FIRST
Page from
last week. What we do here is explore, using interaction and
cooperation.
( Unstable technology - see below ). A general tip on the web
- try several times.
The URL's have to be found and placed in
the server. Sometimes the server need to do this more then once.
If you don't get a fairly fast - found - waiting but it keeps
looking - don't wait try again. I use more than one browser page
at a time ( on Windows 95 ) and flip back and fourth if it's slow.
One reason I don't have an Index.htm page is to give you practice
in open files and how they work.
I've looked at the pages with a freenet http (text only),
AoL, Compuserve, Prodigy, MS Internet Explorer, Netscape, Hot
Java, and they all are different. What I see and experience is
not the same as what you see and experience. I depend on your
feedback.
In the files you will find sample pages,
along with icons, and
other materials for making your own home pages. A lot more
information
is on the week before first's page now doc1.htm
in the htm files.
This is a place to visit more than once and spend enough time
to discover our meaning. It is not completely user friendly -
we are working on it. Have a nice visit and let me know what you
think ?
(Please use the following address for me from now on:
pkirby@umsa7.umd.edu. Even though you see another one on this
message, it should be deleted and changed.)
Has anyone taught students directly about their own learning
styles as a topic of inquiry and discussion, i.e., what style is
and isn't, how to capitalize on our style strengths and
compensate for missing styles or style segments, how to survive
mismatch with instructor or course topic
or course format, etc.?
I am now involved in a small grant to do this with another
educator in my office here and would be interested in any
experiences you could share.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Patricia Kirby, Ed.D.
Rm 3219 SFSC
University College, U. of Md.
University Blvd. at Adelphi Rd.
College Park, MD 20742+1616
301-985-7897
We teach a Freshman Seminar to over 1,000 students who are
predominantly
in technological programs.
The challenge: to make 1,000 (or as
close to
it as possible) have good classroom experiences as possible, and
to get
them to conceptualize and grow academically.
Staff size: 2.
Howthehell can we do that? We got volunteer teachers from
student
services, AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, we also got the commitment of 140
or so
undergraduate student leaders to come participate in the classes.
Each
class of 35 is staffed by one instructor and 5 undergraduate team
leaders.
The classes are taught much like corporate training. Students
work in 5
teams of seven, each led by a team leader, under the direction of
the
instructor. Much of the class is teamwork doing analysis, or
problem-solving or presentations. Grading is done predominantly
by team
leaders who go by the guidelines assigned by the instructor.
It's all
much more than this, but I have to tell you, using the
undergraduates was a
real moment of truth for us.
Will they blow this off? Will they use this
as an opportunity to slander the program? Will we two be looking
for new
jobs directly?
Answer: no.
Students do a hellofa job for the most part.
Yes, there is an occasional slackard. But probably less than 1%.
The rest
are outstanding leaders who are given academic credit for taking
"Foundations of Leadership," a class that teaches the concepts
of
leadership and illustrates them by using their team leadership
jobs as
examples.
They also can take practicum hours and other classes
to get a
certificate in Leadership (the equivalent of a minor, here). I
commend
using undergraduates to help in the classroom.
They are capable
of more
than you'd believe.
----------------------------------------------------------
Joann Ward, Ed.S., LPC, NCC Assistant Director
Georgia Tech, Success Programs
Student Services Building, Suite 227
Atlanta, GA 30332-0285
joann.ward@vpss.gatech.edu
PH: (404) 894+1970
FAX: (404) 894+1980
Not my words, but those of a new Canadian user who chanced upon
the
ICDL distance education database!
But don't take anyone's word for it - try for yourself by
accessing
the new, free, online version released on January 8.
There is a vast quantity of information on the literature of
distance
education (over 8,000 entries), on distance teaching institutions
worldwide (over 850 of them), and on courses and programmes
taught at a
distance (over 30,000) by institutions in the UK and other
Commonwealth countries including Australia, Canada, India, New
Zealand
and South Africa.
Searching is better than ever, too. Our software has been
enhanced in
several important areas.
You can reach the database by Telnet from anywhere in the world.
Telnet to acsvax.open.ac.uk
At the welcome message please login to the Open University VAX
cluster
with the Username: ICDL
We would then like you to access the database using your country
name
as Account code. Please enter this without any spaces.
The
Password is
then just AAA
You need to be using a VT100 terminal
If you have any difficulty or want to comment, please send e-mail
to
icdl-enquiries@open.ac.uk
The database is also issued on CD-ROM. I'll be happy to provide
details of the next CD-ROM, which will be available at the end of
January.
Keith Harry
Director, International Centre for Distance Learning
The Open University
Walton Hall
Milton Keynes MK7 6AA
Telephone: +44 1908 653537
Fax: +44 1908 654173
E-mail: k.w.harry@open.ac.uk
WWW: http://acacia.open.ac.uk/
Gopher: rowan.open.ac.uk
Agreed! At times we "educators" must become the "guide on the
side"
instead of the "sage on the stage." Students of all ages must be
allowed/encouraged/required to be responsible for their own
learning.
On Sun, 14 Jan 1996, Thomas Leal wrote:
At 05:31 PM 1/14/96 -0500, you wrote:
People learn best by constructing their own knowledge base.
They
do
this by discussing concepts, arguing about problem solutions and
advocating
for
their positions. This reflects what companies are looking for in
their
employees. This type of interaction does not take place in the
lecture class.
Many companies find that they need to train or retrain new
engineers. If
universities promoted cooperative learning at all levels they
would produce
more
effective graduates, people ready to function well in the real
world.
I agree wholeheartedly! This applies, I would be bold enough to
say, in all
courses, regardless of subject matter. I teach marketing to
undergraduates
at three universities in the San Francisco area. One has
students almost
entirely from other countries, primarily France in my classes.
Somehow over time we professors got the idea that we were the
great fonts of
all wisdom and knowledge. We seemed to forget that the root of
the word
"education" means "to lead out of" or "to lead fourth." Of
course, most of
us learned by sitting passively in front of a lecturer who
droned on for
hours without interacting with us. We soaked up what we could,
then squeezed
it out onto paper at exam time. Retention? Only until the final.
So now we find highly educated people in business who can't make
decisions.
They absorbed facts and figures, but never learned what to do
with any of
that. I don't give my students answers, I give them questions.
If they leave
my course knowing what questions to ask and how to go about
finding answers,
they will be able to apply their learning in the world outside
the academe.
If, instead, they leave with answers, they'll have yesterday's
news.
They'll
find themselves looking backwards in their efforts to succeed,
trying to
recall something from a class long ago. That's like driving a
car by looking
only in the rear view mirror.
We ought to prepare students to be able to figure out where
they're headed,
determine what's happening around them, and to look back now and
then to see
what's behind. And we ought to develop their skills for doing
all this
without our guidance. We ought to bring out their talents for
solving their
own problems.
The more I let go of being in charge of my classes and push the
students to
take more responsibility for their learning experience, the
better they seem
to do. And, may I add, they indicate greater appreciation for
what I've done
in their evaluations of the course and teacher (all my schools
require
students to complete an evaluation for each course).
Thomas Leal
The Synergy Group
48 Mathews Place, Suite 8, Alamo CA 94507-2600
Phone: 510 / 938-7748 FAX: 510 / 943-7034
Internet: tomleal@synergygroup.com
"Bringing out the best in people, their ideas, and their
companies."
Hi Peter:
I don't have all the answers, but take a look at how
http://www.match.com
works -- I know it's rather far from the type of information you
will be
processing but the way they do it is pretty cool. It seems as
though their
CGI scripts take much of the work out of managing the site.
Being able to automatically categorize the information and make
'matches'
based on parameters in a personal profile could be applied to
what you're up
against.
The greatest thing about the Internet is the amount of
information available.
The greatest problem with the Internet is the amount of
information available.
A large part of the choice will be made for you in what your ISP
will
provide. Some allow user-developed CGI scripts, most do not. If
your
provider has a Windows NT server, much can be done in Visual
Basic. What
would be nice is to have an SQL Server database on the server
with a VB
script to drive the client end. You could get some very
impressive stuff
running in this configuration.
Ideally, you'd need an Internet version of a Lotus Notes type of
product. I
haven't seen anything quite like that yet -- maybe I should
develop one...
I'll keep looking and let you know if I find anything suitable.
Cheers! Marty...
----------------------------------------------
| Marty R. Milette, P.Prog. mmilette@magi.com
| http://www.magi.com/~mmilette/
| If you always do what you did,
| you'll always get what you got.
----------------------------------------------
RE: New Highly Complex Systems tend to be unstable:
Working with Windows 95 and the INTERNET over the last few
years and being very interested in human nature and behavior -
There seems to be an analogy about things not working very well:
complex systems are unstable - things work, then they don't -
WHY ?
The current model of "Human Beings" is about 40,000
years old and the INTERNET is about 30 years of age. Both are
complex systems made up of sub-systems and parts that all don't
fit perfectly or work smoothly together.
The body-mind, (plant,
reptile, mammal) and all our "selves", emotional,
passionate,
rational elements, are so blended and mixed with "the stuff
that dreams are make of," that dreams, illusions and reality
become so mixed as to become one blended element.
The result of
this complex blend often involves conflict within ourselves and
with others. Clearly we are a new experimental design, a work
in process, that has not had the time to work out all the bugs.
The same instability applies to all collections of complex
systems,
The emergency room decides to put three little stitches in a
small
cut on Blaine's foot.
The bill is over $300.00 for separate
services
(
The doctors, the hospital, supplies etc). If this is outrageous
it is "normal and usual" to be outrageous.
The check
book is open "Send us your BILLS".
The Social Security Act of 1936, was to cover the emergencies
of life, unemployment, retirement, poverty, disability, and
sickness.
The politics is that a "program for the poor would be a poor
program" so there was no means test for Retirement.
The
medical
establishment blocked health care for 50 years. Now they find
they like the open check book system, along with 15% of the
economy
- hospitals, equipment, supplies, drugs, and a vast health care
industry all doing good and doing very well.
HOW TO CLOSE THE CHECKBOOK that will (is) bankrupting the
government.
There are two things that have been PERFECTLY CLEAR
since 1982. One, there must be a fixed limit on payments.
The
simplest method is HMO's which are paid a fixed fee per client.
The second is some sort of means test. "Get according to
your needs, pay according to your means". This will happen
but... doesn't win many votes. People want a free lunch and any
medical service they or their doctors can invent. Here is where
Madison's design breaks down. We have enough democracy so people
expect too much from the government and don't want to pay. We
have enough elitism so well funded groups can block reform. WE
have dead lock and the check book remains open. (Like in the
S&L
crisis)
Fix the system, not the blame means a more responsible
government.
(See Reform).
There are several ways to make the system more responsible.
Concurrent
elections rather than so many fractured constituencies. Party
responsibility, with national parties holding the central
authority.
Until the system is fixed the problem will go on, and on, and
on. Some buck will be passed to the States.
The budget will not
be balanced in 7 years or 70 years by the current political
system.
Sometime in the next ten years this will become so clear that
even the "media," and professors of government will
notice.
SEE the news including tips on hypertext, the future of
inactive
education, and lots of goods references and ideas on the NEWS
PAGE THE LAST FIRST
Page from
last week. What we do here is explore, using interaction and
cooperation.
( Unstable technology - see below ). A general tip on the web
- try several times.
The URL's have to be found and placed in
the server. Sometimes the server need to do this more then once.
If you don't get a fairly fast - found - waiting but it keeps
looking - don't wait try again. I use more than one browser page
at a time ( on Windows 95 ) and flip back and fourth if it's slow.
One reason I don't have an Index.htm page is to give you practice
in open files and how they work.
I've looked at the pages with a freenet http (text only),
AoL, Compuserve, Prodigy, MS Internet Explorer, Netscape, Hot
Java, and they all are different. What I see and experience is
not the same as what you see and experience. I depend on your
feedback.
In the files you will find sample pages,
along with icons, and
other materials for making your own home pages. A lot more
information
is on the week before first's page now doc1.htm
in the htm files.
This is a place to visit more than once and spend enough time
to discover our meaning. It is not completely user friendly -
we are working on it. Have a nice visit and let me know what you
think ?
(Please use the following address for me from now on:
pkirby@umsa7.umd.edu. Even though you see another one on this
message, it should be deleted and changed.)
Has anyone taught students directly about their own learning
styles as a topic of inquiry and discussion, i.e., what style is
and isn't, how to capitalize on our style strengths and
compensate for missing styles or style segments, how to survive
mismatch with instructor or course topic
or course format, etc.?
I am now involved in a small grant to do this with another
educator in my office here and would be interested in any
experiences you could share.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Patricia Kirby, Ed.D.
Rm 3219 SFSC
University College, U. of Md.
University Blvd. at Adelphi Rd.
College Park, MD 20742+1616
301-985-7897
We teach a Freshman Seminar to over 1,000 students who are
predominantly
in technological programs.
The challenge: to make 1,000 (or as
close to
it as possible) have good classroom experiences as possible, and
to get
them to conceptualize and grow academically.
Staff size: 2.
Howthehell can we do that? We got volunteer teachers from
student
services, AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, we also got the commitment of 140
or so
undergraduate student leaders to come participate in the classes.
Each
class of 35 is staffed by one instructor and 5 undergraduate team
leaders.
The classes are taught much like corporate training. Students
work in 5
teams of seven, each led by a team leader, under the direction of
the
instructor. Much of the class is teamwork doing analysis, or
problem-solving or presentations. Grading is done predominantly
by team
leaders who go by the guidelines assigned by the instructor.
It's all
much more than this, but I have to tell you, using the
undergraduates was a
real moment of truth for us.
Will they blow this off? Will they use this
as an opportunity to slander the program? Will we two be looking
for new
jobs directly?
Answer: no.
Students do a hellofa job for the most part.
Yes, there is an occasional slackard. But probably less than 1%.
The rest
are outstanding leaders who are given academic credit for taking
"Foundations of Leadership," a class that teaches the concepts
of
leadership and illustrates them by using their team leadership
jobs as
examples.
They also can take practicum hours and other classes
to get a
certificate in Leadership (the equivalent of a minor, here). I
commend
using undergraduates to help in the classroom.
They are capable
of more
than you'd believe.
----------------------------------------------------------
Joann Ward, Ed.S., LPC, NCC Assistant Director
Georgia Tech, Success Programs
Student Services Building, Suite 227
Atlanta, GA 30332-0285
joann.ward@vpss.gatech.edu
PH: (404) 894+1970
FAX: (404) 894+1980
Not my words, but those of a new Canadian user who chanced upon
the
ICDL distance education database!
But don't take anyone's word for it - try for yourself by
accessing
the new, free, online version released on January 8.
There is a vast quantity of information on the literature of
distance
education (over 8,000 entries), on distance teaching institutions
worldwide (over 850 of them), and on courses and programmes
taught at a
distance (over 30,000) by institutions in the UK and other
Commonwealth countries including Australia, Canada, India, New
Zealand
and South Africa.
Searching is better than ever, too. Our software has been
enhanced in
several important areas.
You can reach the database by Telnet from anywhere in the world.
Telnet to acsvax.open.ac.uk
At the welcome message please login to the Open University VAX
cluster
with the Username: ICDL
We would then like you to access the database using your country
name
as Account code. Please enter this without any spaces.
The
Password is
then just AAA
You need to be using a VT100 terminal
If you have any difficulty or want to comment, please send e-mail
to
icdl-enquiries@open.ac.uk
The database is also issued on CD-ROM. I'll be happy to provide
details of the next CD-ROM, which will be available at the end of
January.
Keith Harry
Director, International Centre for Distance Learning
The Open University
Walton Hall
Milton Keynes MK7 6AA
Telephone: +44 1908 653537
Fax: +44 1908 654173
E-mail: k.w.harry@open.ac.uk
WWW: http://acacia.open.ac.uk/
Gopher: rowan.open.ac.uk
Agreed! At times we "educators" must become the "guide on the
side"
instead of the "sage on the stage." Students of all ages must be
allowed/encouraged/required to be responsible for their own
learning.
On Sun, 14 Jan 1996, Thomas Leal wrote:
At 05:31 PM 1/14/96 -0500, you wrote:
People learn best by constructing their own knowledge base.
They
do
this by discussing concepts, arguing about problem solutions and
advocating
for
their positions. This reflects what companies are looking for in
their
employees. This type of interaction does not take place in the
lecture class.
Many companies find that they need to train or retrain new
engineers. If
universities promoted cooperative learning at all levels they
would produce
more
effective graduates, people ready to function well in the real
world.
I agree wholeheartedly! This applies, I would be bold enough to
say, in all
courses, regardless of subject matter. I teach marketing to
undergraduates
at three universities in the San Francisco area. One has
students almost
entirely from other countries, primarily France in my classes.
Somehow over time we professors got the idea that we were the
great fonts of
all wisdom and knowledge. We seemed to forget that the root of
the word
"education" means "to lead out of" or "to lead fourth." Of
course, most of
us learned by sitting passively in front of a lecturer who
droned on for
hours without interacting with us. We soaked up what we could,
then squeezed
it out onto paper at exam time. Retention? Only until the final.
So now we find highly educated people in business who can't make
decisions.
They absorbed facts and figures, but never learned what to do
with any of
that. I don't give my students answers, I give them questions.
If they leave
my course knowing what questions to ask and how to go about
finding answers,
they will be able to apply their learning in the world outside
the academe.
If, instead, they leave with answers, they'll have yesterday's
news.
They'll
find themselves looking backwards in their efforts to succeed,
trying to
recall something from a class long ago. That's like driving a
car by looking
only in the rear view mirror.
We ought to prepare students to be able to figure out where
they're headed,
determine what's happening around them, and to look back now and
then to see
what's behind. And we ought to develop their skills for doing
all this
without our guidance. We ought to bring out their talents for
solving their
own problems.
The more I let go of being in charge of my classes and push the
students to
take more responsibility for their learning experience, the
better they seem
to do. And, may I add, they indicate greater appreciation for
what I've done
in their evaluations of the course and teacher (all my schools
require
students to complete an evaluation for each course).
Thomas Leal
The Synergy Group
48 Mathews Place, Suite 8, Alamo CA 94507-2600
Phone: 510 / 938-7748 FAX: 510 / 943-7034
Internet: tomleal@synergygroup.com
"Bringing out the best in people, their ideas, and their
companies."
Hi Peter:
I don't have all the answers, but take a look at how
http://www.match.com
works -- I know it's rather far from the type of information you
will be
processing but the way they do it is pretty cool. It seems as
though their
CGI scripts take much of the work out of managing the site.
Being able to automatically categorize the information and make
'matches'
based on parameters in a personal profile could be applied to
what you're up
against.
The greatest thing about the Internet is the amount of
information available.
The greatest problem with the Internet is the amount of
information available.
A large part of the choice will be made for you in what your ISP
will
provide. Some allow user-developed CGI scripts, most do not. If
your
provider has a Windows NT server, much can be done in Visual
Basic. What
would be nice is to have an SQL Server database on the server
with a VB
script to drive the client end. You could get some very
impressive stuff
running in this configuration.
Ideally, you'd need an Internet version of a Lotus Notes type of
product. I
haven't seen anything quite like that yet -- maybe I should
develop one...
I'll keep looking and let you know if I find anything suitable.
Cheers! Marty...
----------------------------------------------
| Marty R. Milette, P.Prog. mmilette@magi.com
| http://www.magi.com/~mmilette/
| If you always do what you did,
| you'll always get what you got.
----------------------------------------------
RE: New Highly Complex Systems tend to be unstable:
Working with Windows 95 and the INTERNET over the last few
years and being very interested in human nature and behavior -
There seems to be an analogy about things not working very well:
complex systems are unstable - things work, then they don't -
WHY ?
The current model of "Human Beings" is about 40,000
years old and the INTERNET is about 30 years of age. Both are
complex systems made up of sub-systems and parts that all don't
fit perfectly or work smoothly together.
The body-mind, (plant,
reptile, mammal) and all our "selves", emotional,
passionate,
rational elements, are so blended and mixed with "the stuff
that dreams are make of," that dreams, illusions and reality
become so mixed as to become one blended element.
The result of
this complex blend often involves conflict within ourselves and
with others. Clearly we are a new experimental design, a work
in process, that has not had the time to work out all the bugs.
The same instability applies to all collections of complex
systems,
The doctors, the hospital, supplies etc). If this is outrageous
it is "normal and usual" to be outrageous.
The check
book is open "Send us your BILLS".
The Social Security Act of 1936, was to cover the emergencies
of life, unemployment, retirement, poverty, disability, and
sickness.
The politics is that a "program for the poor would be a poor
program" so there was no means test for Retirement.
The
medical
establishment blocked health care for 50 years. Now they find
they like the open check book system, along with 15% of the
economy
- hospitals, equipment, supplies, drugs, and a vast health care
industry all doing good and doing very well.
HOW TO CLOSE THE CHECKBOOK that will (is) bankrupting the
government.
There are two things that have been PERFECTLY CLEAR
since 1982. One, there must be a fixed limit on payments.
The
simplest method is HMO's which are paid a fixed fee per client.
The second is some sort of means test. "Get according to
your needs, pay according to your means". This will happen
but... doesn't win many votes. People want a free lunch and any
medical service they or their doctors can invent. Here is where
Madison's design breaks down. We have enough democracy so people
expect too much from the government and don't want to pay. We
have enough elitism so well funded groups can block reform. WE
have dead lock and the check book remains open. (Like in the
S&L
crisis)
Fix the system, not the blame means a more responsible
government.
(See Reform).
There are several ways to make the system more responsible.
Concurrent
elections rather than so many fractured constituencies. Party
responsibility, with national parties holding the central
authority.
Until the system is fixed the problem will go on, and on, and
on. Some buck will be passed to the States.
The budget will not
be balanced in 7 years or 70 years by the current political
system.
Sometime in the next ten years this will become so clear that
even the "media," and professors of government will
notice.
SEE the news including tips on hypertext, the future of
inactive
education, and lots of goods references and ideas on the NEWS
PAGE THE LAST FIRST
Page from
last week. What we do here is explore, using interaction and
cooperation.
( Unstable technology - see below ). A general tip on the web
- try several times.
The URL's have to be found and placed in
the server. Sometimes the server need to do this more then once.
If you don't get a fairly fast - found - waiting but it keeps
looking - don't wait try again. I use more than one browser page
at a time ( on Windows 95 ) and flip back and fourth if it's slow.
One reason I don't have an Index.htm page is to give you practice
in open files and how they work.
I've looked at the pages with a freenet http (text only),
AoL, Compuserve, Prodigy, MS Internet Explorer, Netscape, Hot
Java, and they all are different. What I see and experience is
not the same as what you see and experience. I depend on your
feedback.
In the files you will find sample pages,
along with icons, and
other materials for making your own home pages. A lot more
information
is on the week before first's page now doc1.htm
in the htm files.
This is a place to visit more than once and spend enough time
to discover our meaning. It is not completely user friendly -
we are working on it. Have a nice visit and let me know what you
think ?
(Please use the following address for me from now on:
pkirby@umsa7.umd.edu. Even though you see another one on this
message, it should be deleted and changed.)
Has anyone taught students directly about their own learning
styles as a topic of inquiry and discussion, i.e., what style is
and isn't, how to capitalize on our style strengths and
compensate for missing styles or style segments, how to survive
mismatch with instructor or course topic
or course format, etc.?
I am now involved in a small grant to do this with another
educator in my office here and would be interested in any
experiences you could share.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Patricia Kirby, Ed.D.
Rm 3219 SFSC
University College, U. of Md.
University Blvd. at Adelphi Rd.
College Park, MD 20742+1616
301-985-7897
We teach a Freshman Seminar to over 1,000 students who are
predominantly
in technological programs.
The challenge: to make 1,000 (or as
close to
it as possible) have good classroom experiences as possible, and
to get
them to conceptualize and grow academically.
Staff size: 2.
Howthehell can we do that? We got volunteer teachers from
student
services, AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, we also got the commitment of 140
or so
undergraduate student leaders to come participate in the classes.
Each
class of 35 is staffed by one instructor and 5 undergraduate team
leaders.
The classes are taught much like corporate training. Students
work in 5
teams of seven, each led by a team leader, under the direction of
the
instructor. Much of the class is teamwork doing analysis, or
problem-solving or presentations. Grading is done predominantly
by team
leaders who go by the guidelines assigned by the instructor.
It's all
much more than this, but I have to tell you, using the
undergraduates was a
real moment of truth for us.
Will they blow this off? Will they use this
as an opportunity to slander the program? Will we two be looking
for new
jobs directly?
Answer: no.
Students do a hellofa job for the most part.
Yes, there is an occasional slackard. But probably less than 1%.
The rest
are outstanding leaders who are given academic credit for taking
"Foundations of Leadership," a class that teaches the concepts
of
leadership and illustrates them by using their team leadership
jobs as
examples.
They also can take practicum hours and other classes
to get a
certificate in Leadership (the equivalent of a minor, here). I
commend
using undergraduates to help in the classroom.
They are capable
of more
than you'd believe.
----------------------------------------------------------
Joann Ward, Ed.S., LPC, NCC Assistant Director
Georgia Tech, Success Programs
Student Services Building, Suite 227
Atlanta, GA 30332-0285
joann.ward@vpss.gatech.edu
PH: (404) 894+1970
FAX: (404) 894+1980
Not my words, but those of a new Canadian user who chanced upon
the
ICDL distance education database!
But don't take anyone's word for it - try for yourself by
accessing
the new, free, online version released on January 8.
There is a vast quantity of information on the literature of
distance
education (over 8,000 entries), on distance teaching institutions
worldwide (over 850 of them), and on courses and programmes
taught at a
distance (over 30,000) by institutions in the UK and other
Commonwealth countries including Australia, Canada, India, New
Zealand
and South Africa.
Searching is better than ever, too. Our software has been
enhanced in
several important areas.
You can reach the database by Telnet from anywhere in the world.
Telnet to acsvax.open.ac.uk
At the welcome message please login to the Open University VAX
cluster
with the Username: ICDL
We would then like you to access the database using your country
name
as Account code. Please enter this without any spaces.
The
Password is
then just AAA
You need to be using a VT100 terminal
If you have any difficulty or want to comment, please send e-mail
to
icdl-enquiries@open.ac.uk
The database is also issued on CD-ROM. I'll be happy to provide
details of the next CD-ROM, which will be available at the end of
January.
Keith Harry
Director, International Centre for Distance Learning
The Open University
Walton Hall
Milton Keynes MK7 6AA
Telephone: +44 1908 653537
Fax: +44 1908 654173
E-mail: k.w.harry@open.ac.uk
WWW: http://acacia.open.ac.uk/
Gopher: rowan.open.ac.uk
Agreed! At times we "educators" must become the "guide on the
side"
instead of the "sage on the stage." Students of all ages must be
allowed/encouraged/required to be responsible for their own
learning.
On Sun, 14 Jan 1996, Thomas Leal wrote:
At 05:31 PM 1/14/96 -0500, you wrote:
People learn best by constructing their own knowledge base.
They
do
this by discussing concepts, arguing about problem solutions and
advocating
for
their positions. This reflects what companies are looking for in
their
employees. This type of interaction does not take place in the
lecture class.
Many companies find that they need to train or retrain new
engineers. If
universities promoted cooperative learning at all levels they
would produce
more
effective graduates, people ready to function well in the real
world.
I agree wholeheartedly! This applies, I would be bold enough to
say, in all
courses, regardless of subject matter. I teach marketing to
undergraduates
at three universities in the San Francisco area. One has
students almost
entirely from other countries, primarily France in my classes.
Somehow over time we professors got the idea that we were the
great fonts of
all wisdom and knowledge. We seemed to forget that the root of
the word
"education" means "to lead out of" or "to lead fourth." Of
course, most of
us learned by sitting passively in front of a lecturer who
droned on for
hours without interacting with us. We soaked up what we could,
then squeezed
it out onto paper at exam time. Retention? Only until the final.
So now we find highly educated people in business who can't make
decisions.
They absorbed facts and figures, but never learned what to do
with any of
that. I don't give my students answers, I give them questions.
If they leave
my course knowing what questions to ask and how to go about
finding answers,
they will be able to apply their learning in the world outside
the academe.
If, instead, they leave with answers, they'll have yesterday's
news.
They'll
find themselves looking backwards in their efforts to succeed,
trying to
recall something from a class long ago. That's like driving a
car by looking
only in the rear view mirror.
We ought to prepare students to be able to figure out where
they're headed,
determine what's happening around them, and to look back now and
then to see
what's behind. And we ought to develop their skills for doing
all this
without our guidance. We ought to bring out their talents for
solving their
own problems.
The more I let go of being in charge of my classes and push the
students to
take more responsibility for their learning experience, the
better they seem
to do. And, may I add, they indicate greater appreciation for
what I've done
in their evaluations of the course and teacher (all my schools
require
students to complete an evaluation for each course).
Thomas Leal
The Synergy Group
48 Mathews Place, Suite 8, Alamo CA 94507-2600
Phone: 510 / 938-7748 FAX: 510 / 943-7034
Internet: tomleal@synergygroup.com
"Bringing out the best in people, their ideas, and their
companies."
Hi Peter:
I don't have all the answers, but take a look at how
http://www.match.com
works -- I know it's rather far from the type of information you
will be
processing but the way they do it is pretty cool. It seems as
though their
CGI scripts take much of the work out of managing the site.
Being able to automatically categorize the information and make
'matches'
based on parameters in a personal profile could be applied to
what you're up
against.
The greatest thing about the Internet is the amount of
information available.
The greatest problem with the Internet is the amount of
information available.
A large part of the choice will be made for you in what your ISP
will
provide. Some allow user-developed CGI scripts, most do not. If
your
provider has a Windows NT server, much can be done in Visual
Basic. What
would be nice is to have an SQL Server database on the server
with a VB
script to drive the client end. You could get some very
impressive stuff
running in this configuration.
Ideally, you'd need an Internet version of a Lotus Notes type of
product. I
haven't seen anything quite like that yet -- maybe I should
develop one...
I'll keep looking and let you know if I find anything suitable.
Cheers! Marty...
----------------------------------------------
| Marty R. Milette, P.Prog. mmilette@magi.com
| http://www.magi.com/~mmilette/
| If you always do what you did,
| you'll always get what you got.
----------------------------------------------
RE: New Highly Complex Systems tend to be unstable:
Working with Windows 95 and the INTERNET over the last few
years and being very interested in human nature and behavior -
There seems to be an analogy about things not working very well:
complex systems are unstable - things work, then they don't -
WHY ?
The current model of "Human Beings" is about 40,000
years old and the INTERNET is about 30 years of age. Both are
complex systems made up of sub-systems and parts that all don't
fit perfectly or work smoothly together.
The body-mind, (plant,
reptile, mammal) and all our "selves", emotional,
passionate,
rational elements, are so blended and mixed with "the stuff
that dreams are make of," that dreams, illusions and reality
become so mixed as to become one blended element.
The result of
this complex blend often involves conflict within ourselves and
with others. Clearly we are a new experimental design, a work
in process, that has not had the time to work out all the bugs.
The same instability applies to all collections of complex
systems,
The Social Security Act of 1936, was to cover the emergencies
of life, unemployment, retirement, poverty, disability, and
sickness.
The politics is that a "program for the poor would be a poor
program" so there was no means test for Retirement.
The
medical
establishment blocked health care for 50 years. Now they find
they like the open check book system, along with 15% of the
economy
- hospitals, equipment, supplies, drugs, and a vast health care
industry all doing good and doing very well.
HOW TO CLOSE THE CHECKBOOK that will (is) bankrupting the
government.
There are two things that have been PERFECTLY CLEAR
since 1982. One, there must be a fixed limit on payments.
The
simplest method is HMO's which are paid a fixed fee per client.
The second is some sort of means test. "Get according to
your needs, pay according to your means". This will happen
but... doesn't win many votes. People want a free lunch and any
medical service they or their doctors can invent. Here is where
Madison's design breaks down. We have enough democracy so people
expect too much from the government and don't want to pay. We
have enough elitism so well funded groups can block reform. WE
have dead lock and the check book remains open. (Like in the
S&L
crisis)
Fix the system, not the blame means a more responsible
government.
(See Reform).
There are several ways to make the system more responsible.
Concurrent
elections rather than so many fractured constituencies. Party
responsibility, with national parties holding the central
authority.
Until the system is fixed the problem will go on, and on, and
on. Some buck will be passed to the States.
The budget will not
be balanced in 7 years or 70 years by the current political
system.
Sometime in the next ten years this will become so clear that
even the "media," and professors of government will
notice.
SEE the news including tips on hypertext, the future of
inactive
education, and lots of goods references and ideas on the NEWS
PAGE THE LAST FIRST
Page from
last week. What we do here is explore, using interaction and
cooperation.
( Unstable technology - see below ). A general tip on the web
- try several times.
The URL's have to be found and placed in
the server. Sometimes the server need to do this more then once.
If you don't get a fairly fast - found - waiting but it keeps
looking - don't wait try again. I use more than one browser page
at a time ( on Windows 95 ) and flip back and fourth if it's slow.
One reason I don't have an Index.htm page is to give you practice
in open files and how they work.
I've looked at the pages with a freenet http (text only),
AoL, Compuserve, Prodigy, MS Internet Explorer, Netscape, Hot
Java, and they all are different. What I see and experience is
not the same as what you see and experience. I depend on your
feedback.
In the files you will find sample pages,
along with icons, and
other materials for making your own home pages. A lot more
information
is on the week before first's page now doc1.htm
in the htm files.
This is a place to visit more than once and spend enough time
to discover our meaning. It is not completely user friendly -
we are working on it. Have a nice visit and let me know what you
think ?
(Please use the following address for me from now on:
pkirby@umsa7.umd.edu. Even though you see another one on this
message, it should be deleted and changed.)
Has anyone taught students directly about their own learning
styles as a topic of inquiry and discussion, i.e., what style is
and isn't, how to capitalize on our style strengths and
compensate for missing styles or style segments, how to survive
mismatch with instructor or course topic
or course format, etc.?
I am now involved in a small grant to do this with another
educator in my office here and would be interested in any
experiences you could share.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Patricia Kirby, Ed.D.
Rm 3219 SFSC
University College, U. of Md.
University Blvd. at Adelphi Rd.
College Park, MD 20742+1616
301-985-7897
We teach a Freshman Seminar to over 1,000 students who are
predominantly
in technological programs.
The challenge: to make 1,000 (or as
close to
it as possible) have good classroom experiences as possible, and
to get
them to conceptualize and grow academically.
Staff size: 2.
Howthehell can we do that? We got volunteer teachers from
student
services, AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, we also got the commitment of 140
or so
undergraduate student leaders to come participate in the classes.
Each
class of 35 is staffed by one instructor and 5 undergraduate team
leaders.
The classes are taught much like corporate training. Students
work in 5
teams of seven, each led by a team leader, under the direction of
the
instructor. Much of the class is teamwork doing analysis, or
problem-solving or presentations. Grading is done predominantly
by team
leaders who go by the guidelines assigned by the instructor.
It's all
much more than this, but I have to tell you, using the
undergraduates was a
real moment of truth for us.
Will they blow this off? Will they use this
as an opportunity to slander the program? Will we two be looking
for new
jobs directly?
Answer: no.
Students do a hellofa job for the most part.
Yes, there is an occasional slackard. But probably less than 1%.
The rest
are outstanding leaders who are given academic credit for taking
"Foundations of Leadership," a class that teaches the concepts
of
leadership and illustrates them by using their team leadership
jobs as
examples.
They also can take practicum hours and other classes
to get a
certificate in Leadership (the equivalent of a minor, here). I
commend
using undergraduates to help in the classroom.
They are capable
of more
than you'd believe.
----------------------------------------------------------
Joann Ward, Ed.S., LPC, NCC Assistant Director
Georgia Tech, Success Programs
Student Services Building, Suite 227
Atlanta, GA 30332-0285
joann.ward@vpss.gatech.edu
PH: (404) 894+1970
FAX: (404) 894+1980
Not my words, but those of a new Canadian user who chanced upon
the
ICDL distance education database!
But don't take anyone's word for it - try for yourself by
accessing
the new, free, online version released on January 8.
There is a vast quantity of information on the literature of
distance
education (over 8,000 entries), on distance teaching institutions
worldwide (over 850 of them), and on courses and programmes
taught at a
distance (over 30,000) by institutions in the UK and other
Commonwealth countries including Australia, Canada, India, New
Zealand
and South Africa.
Searching is better than ever, too. Our software has been
enhanced in
several important areas.
You can reach the database by Telnet from anywhere in the world.
Telnet to acsvax.open.ac.uk
At the welcome message please login to the Open University VAX
cluster
with the Username: ICDL
We would then like you to access the database using your country
name
as Account code. Please enter this without any spaces.
The
Password is
then just AAA
You need to be using a VT100 terminal
If you have any difficulty or want to comment, please send e-mail
to
icdl-enquiries@open.ac.uk
The database is also issued on CD-ROM. I'll be happy to provide
details of the next CD-ROM, which will be available at the end of
January.
Keith Harry
Director, International Centre for Distance Learning
The Open University
Walton Hall
Milton Keynes MK7 6AA
Telephone: +44 1908 653537
Fax: +44 1908 654173
E-mail: k.w.harry@open.ac.uk
WWW: http://acacia.open.ac.uk/
Gopher: rowan.open.ac.uk
Agreed! At times we "educators" must become the "guide on the
side"
instead of the "sage on the stage." Students of all ages must be
allowed/encouraged/required to be responsible for their own
learning.
On Sun, 14 Jan 1996, Thomas Leal wrote:
At 05:31 PM 1/14/96 -0500, you wrote:
People learn best by constructing their own knowledge base.
They
do
this by discussing concepts, arguing about problem solutions and
advocating
for
their positions. This reflects what companies are looking for in
their
employees. This type of interaction does not take place in the
lecture class.
Many companies find that they need to train or retrain new
engineers. If
universities promoted cooperative learning at all levels they
would produce
more
effective graduates, people ready to function well in the real
world.
I agree wholeheartedly! This applies, I would be bold enough to
say, in all
courses, regardless of subject matter. I teach marketing to
undergraduates
at three universities in the San Francisco area. One has
students almost
entirely from other countries, primarily France in my classes.
Somehow over time we professors got the idea that we were the
great fonts of
all wisdom and knowledge. We seemed to forget that the root of
the word
"education" means "to lead out of" or "to lead fourth." Of
course, most of
us learned by sitting passively in front of a lecturer who
droned on for
hours without interacting with us. We soaked up what we could,
then squeezed
it out onto paper at exam time. Retention? Only until the final.
So now we find highly educated people in business who can't make
decisions.
They absorbed facts and figures, but never learned what to do
with any of
that. I don't give my students answers, I give them questions.
If they leave
my course knowing what questions to ask and how to go about
finding answers,
they will be able to apply their learning in the world outside
the academe.
If, instead, they leave with answers, they'll have yesterday's
news.
They'll
find themselves looking backwards in their efforts to succeed,
trying to
recall something from a class long ago. That's like driving a
car by looking
only in the rear view mirror.
We ought to prepare students to be able to figure out where
they're headed,
determine what's happening around them, and to look back now and
then to see
what's behind. And we ought to develop their skills for doing
all this
without our guidance. We ought to bring out their talents for
solving their
own problems.
The more I let go of being in charge of my classes and push the
students to
take more responsibility for their learning experience, the
better they seem
to do. And, may I add, they indicate greater appreciation for
what I've done
in their evaluations of the course and teacher (all my schools
require
students to complete an evaluation for each course).
Thomas Leal
The Synergy Group
48 Mathews Place, Suite 8, Alamo CA 94507-2600
Phone: 510 / 938-7748 FAX: 510 / 943-7034
Internet: tomleal@synergygroup.com
"Bringing out the best in people, their ideas, and their
companies."
Hi Peter:
I don't have all the answers, but take a look at how
http://www.match.com
works -- I know it's rather far from the type of information you
will be
processing but the way they do it is pretty cool. It seems as
though their
CGI scripts take much of the work out of managing the site.
Being able to automatically categorize the information and make
'matches'
based on parameters in a personal profile could be applied to
what you're up
against.
The greatest thing about the Internet is the amount of
information available.
The greatest problem with the Internet is the amount of
information available.
A large part of the choice will be made for you in what your ISP
will
provide. Some allow user-developed CGI scripts, most do not. If
your
provider has a Windows NT server, much can be done in Visual
Basic. What
would be nice is to have an SQL Server database on the server
with a VB
script to drive the client end. You could get some very
impressive stuff
running in this configuration.
Ideally, you'd need an Internet version of a Lotus Notes type of
product. I
haven't seen anything quite like that yet -- maybe I should
develop one...
I'll keep looking and let you know if I find anything suitable.
Cheers! Marty...
----------------------------------------------
| Marty R. Milette, P.Prog. mmilette@magi.com
| http://www.magi.com/~mmilette/
| If you always do what you did,
| you'll always get what you got.
----------------------------------------------
RE: New Highly Complex Systems tend to be unstable:
Working with Windows 95 and the INTERNET over the last few
years and being very interested in human nature and behavior -
There seems to be an analogy about things not working very well:
complex systems are unstable - things work, then they don't -
WHY ?
The current model of "Human Beings" is about 40,000
years old and the INTERNET is about 30 years of age. Both are
complex systems made up of sub-systems and parts that all don't
fit perfectly or work smoothly together.
The body-mind, (plant,
reptile, mammal) and all our "selves", emotional,
passionate,
rational elements, are so blended and mixed with "the stuff
that dreams are make of," that dreams, illusions and reality
become so mixed as to become one blended element.
The result of
this complex blend often involves conflict within ourselves and
with others. Clearly we are a new experimental design, a work
in process, that has not had the time to work out all the bugs.
The same instability applies to all collections of complex
systems,
The medical establishment blocked health care for 50 years. Now they find they like the open check book system, along with 15% of the economy - hospitals, equipment, supplies, drugs, and a vast health care industry all doing good and doing very well.
HOW TO CLOSE THE CHECKBOOK that will (is) bankrupting the
government.
There are two things that have been PERFECTLY CLEAR
since 1982. One, there must be a fixed limit on payments.
The
simplest method is HMO's which are paid a fixed fee per client.
The second is some sort of means test. "Get according to
your needs, pay according to your means". This will happen
but... doesn't win many votes. People want a free lunch and any
medical service they or their doctors can invent. Here is where
Madison's design breaks down. We have enough democracy so people
expect too much from the government and don't want to pay. We
have enough elitism so well funded groups can block reform. WE
have dead lock and the check book remains open. (Like in the
S&L
crisis)
Fix the system, not the blame means a more responsible
government.
(See Reform).
There are several ways to make the system more responsible.
Concurrent
elections rather than so many fractured constituencies. Party
responsibility, with national parties holding the central
authority.
Until the system is fixed the problem will go on, and on, and
on. Some buck will be passed to the States.
The budget will not
be balanced in 7 years or 70 years by the current political
system.
Sometime in the next ten years this will become so clear that
even the "media," and professors of government will
notice.
SEE the news including tips on hypertext, the future of
inactive
education, and lots of goods references and ideas on the NEWS
PAGE THE LAST FIRST
Page from
last week. What we do here is explore, using interaction and
cooperation.
( Unstable technology - see below ). A general tip on the web
- try several times.
The URL's have to be found and placed in
the server. Sometimes the server need to do this more then once.
If you don't get a fairly fast - found - waiting but it keeps
looking - don't wait try again. I use more than one browser page
at a time ( on Windows 95 ) and flip back and fourth if it's slow.
One reason I don't have an Index.htm page is to give you practice
in open files and how they work.
I've looked at the pages with a freenet http (text only),
AoL, Compuserve, Prodigy, MS Internet Explorer, Netscape, Hot
Java, and they all are different. What I see and experience is
not the same as what you see and experience. I depend on your
feedback.
In the files you will find sample pages,
along with icons, and
other materials for making your own home pages. A lot more
information
is on the week before first's page now doc1.htm
in the htm files.
This is a place to visit more than once and spend enough time
to discover our meaning. It is not completely user friendly -
we are working on it. Have a nice visit and let me know what you
think ?
(Please use the following address for me from now on:
pkirby@umsa7.umd.edu. Even though you see another one on this
message, it should be deleted and changed.)
Has anyone taught students directly about their own learning
styles as a topic of inquiry and discussion, i.e., what style is
and isn't, how to capitalize on our style strengths and
compensate for missing styles or style segments, how to survive
mismatch with instructor or course topic
or course format, etc.?
I am now involved in a small grant to do this with another
educator in my office here and would be interested in any
experiences you could share.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Patricia Kirby, Ed.D.
Rm 3219 SFSC
University College, U. of Md.
University Blvd. at Adelphi Rd.
College Park, MD 20742+1616
301-985-7897
We teach a Freshman Seminar to over 1,000 students who are
predominantly
in technological programs.
The challenge: to make 1,000 (or as
close to
it as possible) have good classroom experiences as possible, and
to get
them to conceptualize and grow academically.
Staff size: 2.
Howthehell can we do that? We got volunteer teachers from
student
services, AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, we also got the commitment of 140
or so
undergraduate student leaders to come participate in the classes.
Each
class of 35 is staffed by one instructor and 5 undergraduate team
leaders.
The classes are taught much like corporate training. Students
work in 5
teams of seven, each led by a team leader, under the direction of
the
instructor. Much of the class is teamwork doing analysis, or
problem-solving or presentations. Grading is done predominantly
by team
leaders who go by the guidelines assigned by the instructor.
It's all
much more than this, but I have to tell you, using the
undergraduates was a
real moment of truth for us.
Will they blow this off? Will they use this
as an opportunity to slander the program? Will we two be looking
for new
jobs directly?
Answer: no.
Students do a hellofa job for the most part.
Yes, there is an occasional slackard. But probably less than 1%.
The rest
are outstanding leaders who are given academic credit for taking
"Foundations of Leadership," a class that teaches the concepts
of
leadership and illustrates them by using their team leadership
jobs as
examples.
They also can take practicum hours and other classes
to get a
certificate in Leadership (the equivalent of a minor, here). I
commend
using undergraduates to help in the classroom.
They are capable
of more
than you'd believe.
----------------------------------------------------------
Joann Ward, Ed.S., LPC, NCC Assistant Director
Georgia Tech, Success Programs
Student Services Building, Suite 227
Atlanta, GA 30332-0285
joann.ward@vpss.gatech.edu
PH: (404) 894+1970
FAX: (404) 894+1980
Not my words, but those of a new Canadian user who chanced upon
the
ICDL distance education database!
But don't take anyone's word for it - try for yourself by
accessing
the new, free, online version released on January 8.
There is a vast quantity of information on the literature of
distance
education (over 8,000 entries), on distance teaching institutions
worldwide (over 850 of them), and on courses and programmes
taught at a
distance (over 30,000) by institutions in the UK and other
Commonwealth countries including Australia, Canada, India, New
Zealand
and South Africa.
Searching is better than ever, too. Our software has been
enhanced in
several important areas.
You can reach the database by Telnet from anywhere in the world.
Telnet to acsvax.open.ac.uk
At the welcome message please login to the Open University VAX
cluster
with the Username: ICDL
We would then like you to access the database using your country
name
as Account code. Please enter this without any spaces.
The
Password is
then just AAA
You need to be using a VT100 terminal
If you have any difficulty or want to comment, please send e-mail
to
icdl-enquiries@open.ac.uk
The database is also issued on CD-ROM. I'll be happy to provide
details of the next CD-ROM, which will be available at the end of
January.
Keith Harry
Director, International Centre for Distance Learning
The Open University
Walton Hall
Milton Keynes MK7 6AA
Telephone: +44 1908 653537
Fax: +44 1908 654173
E-mail: k.w.harry@open.ac.uk
WWW: http://acacia.open.ac.uk/
Gopher: rowan.open.ac.uk
Agreed! At times we "educators" must become the "guide on the
side"
instead of the "sage on the stage." Students of all ages must be
allowed/encouraged/required to be responsible for their own
learning.
On Sun, 14 Jan 1996, Thomas Leal wrote:
At 05:31 PM 1/14/96 -0500, you wrote:
People learn best by constructing their own knowledge base.
They
do
this by discussing concepts, arguing about problem solutions and
advocating
for
their positions. This reflects what companies are looking for in
their
employees. This type of interaction does not take place in the
lecture class.
Many companies find that they need to train or retrain new
engineers. If
universities promoted cooperative learning at all levels they
would produce
more
effective graduates, people ready to function well in the real
world.
I agree wholeheartedly! This applies, I would be bold enough to
say, in all
courses, regardless of subject matter. I teach marketing to
undergraduates
at three universities in the San Francisco area. One has
students almost
entirely from other countries, primarily France in my classes.
Somehow over time we professors got the idea that we were the
great fonts of
all wisdom and knowledge. We seemed to forget that the root of
the word
"education" means "to lead out of" or "to lead fourth." Of
course, most of
us learned by sitting passively in front of a lecturer who
droned on for
hours without interacting with us. We soaked up what we could,
then squeezed
it out onto paper at exam time. Retention? Only until the final.
So now we find highly educated people in business who can't make
decisions.
They absorbed facts and figures, but never learned what to do
with any of
that. I don't give my students answers, I give them questions.
If they leave
my course knowing what questions to ask and how to go about
finding answers,
they will be able to apply their learning in the world outside
the academe.
If, instead, they leave with answers, they'll have yesterday's
news.
They'll
find themselves looking backwards in their efforts to succeed,
trying to
recall something from a class long ago. That's like driving a
car by looking
only in the rear view mirror.
We ought to prepare students to be able to figure out where
they're headed,
determine what's happening around them, and to look back now and
then to see
what's behind. And we ought to develop their skills for doing
all this
without our guidance. We ought to bring out their talents for
solving their
own problems.
The more I let go of being in charge of my classes and push the
students to
take more responsibility for their learning experience, the
better they seem
to do. And, may I add, they indicate greater appreciation for
what I've done
in their evaluations of the course and teacher (all my schools
require
students to complete an evaluation for each course).
Thomas Leal
The Synergy Group
48 Mathews Place, Suite 8, Alamo CA 94507-2600
Phone: 510 / 938-7748 FAX: 510 / 943-7034
Internet: tomleal@synergygroup.com
"Bringing out the best in people, their ideas, and their
companies."
Hi Peter:
I don't have all the answers, but take a look at how
http://www.match.com
works -- I know it's rather far from the type of information you
will be
processing but the way they do it is pretty cool. It seems as
though their
CGI scripts take much of the work out of managing the site.
Being able to automatically categorize the information and make
'matches'
based on parameters in a personal profile could be applied to
what you're up
against.
The greatest thing about the Internet is the amount of
information available.
The greatest problem with the Internet is the amount of
information available.
A large part of the choice will be made for you in what your ISP
will
provide. Some allow user-developed CGI scripts, most do not. If
your
provider has a Windows NT server, much can be done in Visual
Basic. What
would be nice is to have an SQL Server database on the server
with a VB
script to drive the client end. You could get some very
impressive stuff
running in this configuration.
Ideally, you'd need an Internet version of a Lotus Notes type of
product. I
haven't seen anything quite like that yet -- maybe I should
develop one...
I'll keep looking and let you know if I find anything suitable.
Cheers! Marty...
----------------------------------------------
| Marty R. Milette, P.Prog. mmilette@magi.com
| http://www.magi.com/~mmilette/
| If you always do what you did,
| you'll always get what you got.
----------------------------------------------
RE: New Highly Complex Systems tend to be unstable:
Working with Windows 95 and the INTERNET over the last few
years and being very interested in human nature and behavior -
There seems to be an analogy about things not working very well:
complex systems are unstable - things work, then they don't -
WHY ?
The current model of "Human Beings" is about 40,000
years old and the INTERNET is about 30 years of age. Both are
complex systems made up of sub-systems and parts that all don't
fit perfectly or work smoothly together.
The body-mind, (plant,
reptile, mammal) and all our "selves", emotional,
passionate,
rational elements, are so blended and mixed with "the stuff
that dreams are make of," that dreams, illusions and reality
become so mixed as to become one blended element.
The result of
this complex blend often involves conflict within ourselves and
with others. Clearly we are a new experimental design, a work
in process, that has not had the time to work out all the bugs.
The same instability applies to all collections of complex
systems,
The
simplest method is HMO's which are paid a fixed fee per client.
The second is some sort of means test. "Get according to
your needs, pay according to your means". This will happen
but... doesn't win many votes. People want a free lunch and any
medical service they or their doctors can invent. Here is where
Madison's design breaks down. We have enough democracy so people
expect too much from the government and don't want to pay. We
have enough elitism so well funded groups can block reform. WE
have dead lock and the check book remains open. (Like in the
S&L
crisis)
Fix the system, not the blame means a more responsible
government.
(See Reform).
There are several ways to make the system more responsible.
Concurrent
elections rather than so many fractured constituencies. Party
responsibility, with national parties holding the central
authority.
Until the system is fixed the problem will go on, and on, and
on. Some buck will be passed to the States.
The budget will not
be balanced in 7 years or 70 years by the current political
system.
Sometime in the next ten years this will become so clear that
even the "media," and professors of government will
notice.
SEE the news including tips on hypertext, the future of
inactive
education, and lots of goods references and ideas on the NEWS
PAGE THE LAST FIRST
Page from
last week. What we do here is explore, using interaction and
cooperation.
( Unstable technology - see below ). A general tip on the web
- try several times.
The URL's have to be found and placed in
the server. Sometimes the server need to do this more then once.
If you don't get a fairly fast - found - waiting but it keeps
looking - don't wait try again. I use more than one browser page
at a time ( on Windows 95 ) and flip back and fourth if it's slow.
One reason I don't have an Index.htm page is to give you practice
in open files and how they work.
I've looked at the pages with a freenet http (text only),
AoL, Compuserve, Prodigy, MS Internet Explorer, Netscape, Hot
Java, and they all are different. What I see and experience is
not the same as what you see and experience. I depend on your
feedback.
In the files you will find sample pages,
along with icons, and
other materials for making your own home pages. A lot more
information
is on the week before first's page now doc1.htm
in the htm files.
This is a place to visit more than once and spend enough time
to discover our meaning. It is not completely user friendly -
we are working on it. Have a nice visit and let me know what you
think ?
(Please use the following address for me from now on:
pkirby@umsa7.umd.edu. Even though you see another one on this
message, it should be deleted and changed.)
Has anyone taught students directly about their own learning
styles as a topic of inquiry and discussion, i.e., what style is
and isn't, how to capitalize on our style strengths and
compensate for missing styles or style segments, how to survive
mismatch with instructor or course topic
or course format, etc.?
I am now involved in a small grant to do this with another
educator in my office here and would be interested in any
experiences you could share.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Patricia Kirby, Ed.D.
Rm 3219 SFSC
University College, U. of Md.
University Blvd. at Adelphi Rd.
College Park, MD 20742+1616
301-985-7897
We teach a Freshman Seminar to over 1,000 students who are
predominantly
in technological programs.
The challenge: to make 1,000 (or as
close to
it as possible) have good classroom experiences as possible, and
to get
them to conceptualize and grow academically.
Staff size: 2.
Howthehell can we do that? We got volunteer teachers from
student
services, AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, we also got the commitment of 140
or so
undergraduate student leaders to come participate in the classes.
Each
class of 35 is staffed by one instructor and 5 undergraduate team
leaders.
The classes are taught much like corporate training. Students
work in 5
teams of seven, each led by a team leader, under the direction of
the
instructor. Much of the class is teamwork doing analysis, or
problem-solving or presentations. Grading is done predominantly
by team
leaders who go by the guidelines assigned by the instructor.
It's all
much more than this, but I have to tell you, using the
undergraduates was a
real moment of truth for us.
Will they blow this off? Will they use this
as an opportunity to slander the program? Will we two be looking
for new
jobs directly?
Answer: no.
Students do a hellofa job for the most part.
Yes, there is an occasional slackard. But probably less than 1%.
The rest
are outstanding leaders who are given academic credit for taking
"Foundations of Leadership," a class that teaches the concepts
of
leadership and illustrates them by using their team leadership
jobs as
examples.
They also can take practicum hours and other classes
to get a
certificate in Leadership (the equivalent of a minor, here). I
commend
using undergraduates to help in the classroom.
They are capable
of more
than you'd believe.
----------------------------------------------------------
Joann Ward, Ed.S., LPC, NCC Assistant Director
Georgia Tech, Success Programs
Student Services Building, Suite 227
Atlanta, GA 30332-0285
joann.ward@vpss.gatech.edu
PH: (404) 894+1970
FAX: (404) 894+1980
Not my words, but those of a new Canadian user who chanced upon
the
ICDL distance education database!
But don't take anyone's word for it - try for yourself by
accessing
the new, free, online version released on January 8.
There is a vast quantity of information on the literature of
distance
education (over 8,000 entries), on distance teaching institutions
worldwide (over 850 of them), and on courses and programmes
taught at a
distance (over 30,000) by institutions in the UK and other
Commonwealth countries including Australia, Canada, India, New
Zealand
and South Africa.
Searching is better than ever, too. Our software has been
enhanced in
several important areas.
You can reach the database by Telnet from anywhere in the world.
Telnet to acsvax.open.ac.uk
At the welcome message please login to the Open University VAX
cluster
with the Username: ICDL
We would then like you to access the database using your country
name
as Account code. Please enter this without any spaces.
The
Password is
then just AAA
You need to be using a VT100 terminal
If you have any difficulty or want to comment, please send e-mail
to
icdl-enquiries@open.ac.uk
The database is also issued on CD-ROM. I'll be happy to provide
details of the next CD-ROM, which will be available at the end of
January.
Keith Harry
Director, International Centre for Distance Learning
The Open University
Walton Hall
Milton Keynes MK7 6AA
Telephone: +44 1908 653537
Fax: +44 1908 654173
E-mail: k.w.harry@open.ac.uk
WWW: http://acacia.open.ac.uk/
Gopher: rowan.open.ac.uk
Agreed! At times we "educators" must become the "guide on the
side"
instead of the "sage on the stage." Students of all ages must be
allowed/encouraged/required to be responsible for their own
learning.
On Sun, 14 Jan 1996, Thomas Leal wrote:
At 05:31 PM 1/14/96 -0500, you wrote:
People learn best by constructing their own knowledge base.
They
do
this by discussing concepts, arguing about problem solutions and
advocating
for
their positions. This reflects what companies are looking for in
their
employees. This type of interaction does not take place in the
lecture class.
Many companies find that they need to train or retrain new
engineers. If
universities promoted cooperative learning at all levels they
would produce
more
effective graduates, people ready to function well in the real
world.
I agree wholeheartedly! This applies, I would be bold enough to
say, in all
courses, regardless of subject matter. I teach marketing to
undergraduates
at three universities in the San Francisco area. One has
students almost
entirely from other countries, primarily France in my classes.
Somehow over time we professors got the idea that we were the
great fonts of
all wisdom and knowledge. We seemed to forget that the root of
the word
"education" means "to lead out of" or "to lead fourth." Of
course, most of
us learned by sitting passively in front of a lecturer who
droned on for
hours without interacting with us. We soaked up what we could,
then squeezed
it out onto paper at exam time. Retention? Only until the final.
So now we find highly educated people in business who can't make
decisions.
They absorbed facts and figures, but never learned what to do
with any of
that. I don't give my students answers, I give them questions.
If they leave
my course knowing what questions to ask and how to go about
finding answers,
they will be able to apply their learning in the world outside
the academe.
If, instead, they leave with answers, they'll have yesterday's
news.
They'll
find themselves looking backwards in their efforts to succeed,
trying to
recall something from a class long ago. That's like driving a
car by looking
only in the rear view mirror.
We ought to prepare students to be able to figure out where
they're headed,
determine what's happening around them, and to look back now and
then to see
what's behind. And we ought to develop their skills for doing
all this
without our guidance. We ought to bring out their talents for
solving their
own problems.
The more I let go of being in charge of my classes and push the
students to
take more responsibility for their learning experience, the
better they seem
to do. And, may I add, they indicate greater appreciation for
what I've done
in their evaluations of the course and teacher (all my schools
require
students to complete an evaluation for each course).
Thomas Leal
The Synergy Group
48 Mathews Place, Suite 8, Alamo CA 94507-2600
Phone: 510 / 938-7748 FAX: 510 / 943-7034
Internet: tomleal@synergygroup.com
"Bringing out the best in people, their ideas, and their
companies."
Hi Peter:
I don't have all the answers, but take a look at how
http://www.match.com
works -- I know it's rather far from the type of information you
will be
processing but the way they do it is pretty cool. It seems as
though their
CGI scripts take much of the work out of managing the site.
Being able to automatically categorize the information and make
'matches'
based on parameters in a personal profile could be applied to
what you're up
against.
The greatest thing about the Internet is the amount of
information available.
The greatest problem with the Internet is the amount of
information available.
A large part of the choice will be made for you in what your ISP
will
provide. Some allow user-developed CGI scripts, most do not. If
your
provider has a Windows NT server, much can be done in Visual
Basic. What
would be nice is to have an SQL Server database on the server
with a VB
script to drive the client end. You could get some very
impressive stuff
running in this configuration.
Ideally, you'd need an Internet version of a Lotus Notes type of
product. I
haven't seen anything quite like that yet -- maybe I should
develop one...
I'll keep looking and let you know if I find anything suitable.
Cheers! Marty...
----------------------------------------------
| Marty R. Milette, P.Prog. mmilette@magi.com
| http://www.magi.com/~mmilette/
| If you always do what you did,
| you'll always get what you got.
----------------------------------------------
RE: New Highly Complex Systems tend to be unstable:
Working with Windows 95 and the INTERNET over the last few
years and being very interested in human nature and behavior -
There seems to be an analogy about things not working very well:
complex systems are unstable - things work, then they don't -
WHY ?
The current model of "Human Beings" is about 40,000
years old and the INTERNET is about 30 years of age. Both are
complex systems made up of sub-systems and parts that all don't
fit perfectly or work smoothly together.
The body-mind, (plant,
reptile, mammal) and all our "selves", emotional,
passionate,
rational elements, are so blended and mixed with "the stuff
that dreams are make of," that dreams, illusions and reality
become so mixed as to become one blended element.
The result of
this complex blend often involves conflict within ourselves and
with others. Clearly we are a new experimental design, a work
in process, that has not had the time to work out all the bugs.
The same instability applies to all collections of complex
systems,
There are several ways to make the system more responsible.
Concurrent
elections rather than so many fractured constituencies. Party
responsibility, with national parties holding the central
authority.
Until the system is fixed the problem will go on, and on, and
on. Some buck will be passed to the States.
The budget will not
be balanced in 7 years or 70 years by the current political
system.
Sometime in the next ten years this will become so clear that
even the "media," and professors of government will
notice.
SEE the news including tips on hypertext, the future of
inactive
education, and lots of goods references and ideas on the NEWS
PAGE THE LAST FIRST
Page from
last week. What we do here is explore, using interaction and
cooperation.
( Unstable technology - see below ). A general tip on the web
- try several times.
The URL's have to be found and placed in
the server. Sometimes the server need to do this more then once.
If you don't get a fairly fast - found - waiting but it keeps
looking - don't wait try again. I use more than one browser page
at a time ( on Windows 95 ) and flip back and fourth if it's slow.
One reason I don't have an Index.htm page is to give you practice
in open files and how they work.
I've looked at the pages with a freenet http (text only),
AoL, Compuserve, Prodigy, MS Internet Explorer, Netscape, Hot
Java, and they all are different. What I see and experience is
not the same as what you see and experience. I depend on your
feedback.
In the files you will find sample pages,
along with icons, and
other materials for making your own home pages. A lot more
information
is on the week before first's page now doc1.htm
in the htm files.
This is a place to visit more than once and spend enough time
to discover our meaning. It is not completely user friendly -
we are working on it. Have a nice visit and let me know what you
think ?
(Please use the following address for me from now on:
pkirby@umsa7.umd.edu. Even though you see another one on this
message, it should be deleted and changed.)
Has anyone taught students directly about their own learning
styles as a topic of inquiry and discussion, i.e., what style is
and isn't, how to capitalize on our style strengths and
compensate for missing styles or style segments, how to survive
mismatch with instructor or course topic
or course format, etc.?
I am now involved in a small grant to do this with another
educator in my office here and would be interested in any
experiences you could share.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Patricia Kirby, Ed.D.
Rm 3219 SFSC
University College, U. of Md.
University Blvd. at Adelphi Rd.
College Park, MD 20742+1616
301-985-7897
We teach a Freshman Seminar to over 1,000 students who are
predominantly
in technological programs.
The challenge: to make 1,000 (or as
close to
it as possible) have good classroom experiences as possible, and
to get
them to conceptualize and grow academically.
Staff size: 2.
Howthehell can we do that? We got volunteer teachers from
student
services, AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, we also got the commitment of 140
or so
undergraduate student leaders to come participate in the classes.
Each
class of 35 is staffed by one instructor and 5 undergraduate team
leaders.
The classes are taught much like corporate training. Students
work in 5
teams of seven, each led by a team leader, under the direction of
the
instructor. Much of the class is teamwork doing analysis, or
problem-solving or presentations. Grading is done predominantly
by team
leaders who go by the guidelines assigned by the instructor.
It's all
much more than this, but I have to tell you, using the
undergraduates was a
real moment of truth for us.
Will they blow this off? Will they use this
as an opportunity to slander the program? Will we two be looking
for new
jobs directly?
Answer: no.
Students do a hellofa job for the most part.
Yes, there is an occasional slackard. But probably less than 1%.
The rest
are outstanding leaders who are given academic credit for taking
"Foundations of Leadership," a class that teaches the concepts
of
leadership and illustrates them by using their team leadership
jobs as
examples.
They also can take practicum hours and other classes
to get a
certificate in Leadership (the equivalent of a minor, here). I
commend
using undergraduates to help in the classroom.
They are capable
of more
than you'd believe.
----------------------------------------------------------
Joann Ward, Ed.S., LPC, NCC Assistant Director
Georgia Tech, Success Programs
Student Services Building, Suite 227
Atlanta, GA 30332-0285
joann.ward@vpss.gatech.edu
PH: (404) 894+1970
FAX: (404) 894+1980
Not my words, but those of a new Canadian user who chanced upon
the
ICDL distance education database!
But don't take anyone's word for it - try for yourself by
accessing
the new, free, online version released on January 8.
There is a vast quantity of information on the literature of
distance
education (over 8,000 entries), on distance teaching institutions
worldwide (over 850 of them), and on courses and programmes
taught at a
distance (over 30,000) by institutions in the UK and other
Commonwealth countries including Australia, Canada, India, New
Zealand
and South Africa.
Searching is better than ever, too. Our software has been
enhanced in
several important areas.
You can reach the database by Telnet from anywhere in the world.
Telnet to acsvax.open.ac.uk
At the welcome message please login to the Open University VAX
cluster
with the Username: ICDL
We would then like you to access the database using your country
name
as Account code. Please enter this without any spaces.
The
Password is
then just AAA
You need to be using a VT100 terminal
If you have any difficulty or want to comment, please send e-mail
to
icdl-enquiries@open.ac.uk
The database is also issued on CD-ROM. I'll be happy to provide
details of the next CD-ROM, which will be available at the end of
January.
Keith Harry
Director, International Centre for Distance Learning
The Open University
Walton Hall
Milton Keynes MK7 6AA
Telephone: +44 1908 653537
Fax: +44 1908 654173
E-mail: k.w.harry@open.ac.uk
WWW: http://acacia.open.ac.uk/
Gopher: rowan.open.ac.uk
Agreed! At times we "educators" must become the "guide on the
side"
instead of the "sage on the stage." Students of all ages must be
allowed/encouraged/required to be responsible for their own
learning.
On Sun, 14 Jan 1996, Thomas Leal wrote:
At 05:31 PM 1/14/96 -0500, you wrote:
People learn best by constructing their own knowledge base.
They
do
this by discussing concepts, arguing about problem solutions and
advocating
for
their positions. This reflects what companies are looking for in
their
employees. This type of interaction does not take place in the
lecture class.
Many companies find that they need to train or retrain new
engineers. If
universities promoted cooperative learning at all levels they
would produce
more
effective graduates, people ready to function well in the real
world.
I agree wholeheartedly! This applies, I would be bold enough to
say, in all
courses, regardless of subject matter. I teach marketing to
undergraduates
at three universities in the San Francisco area. One has
students almost
entirely from other countries, primarily France in my classes.
Somehow over time we professors got the idea that we were the
great fonts of
all wisdom and knowledge. We seemed to forget that the root of
the word
"education" means "to lead out of" or "to lead fourth." Of
course, most of
us learned by sitting passively in front of a lecturer who
droned on for
hours without interacting with us. We soaked up what we could,
then squeezed
it out onto paper at exam time. Retention? Only until the final.
So now we find highly educated people in business who can't make
decisions.
They absorbed facts and figures, but never learned what to do
with any of
that. I don't give my students answers, I give them questions.
If they leave
my course knowing what questions to ask and how to go about
finding answers,
they will be able to apply their learning in the world outside
the academe.
If, instead, they leave with answers, they'll have yesterday's
news.
They'll
find themselves looking backwards in their efforts to succeed,
trying to
recall something from a class long ago. That's like driving a
car by looking
only in the rear view mirror.
We ought to prepare students to be able to figure out where
they're headed,
determine what's happening around them, and to look back now and
then to see
what's behind. And we ought to develop their skills for doing
all this
without our guidance. We ought to bring out their talents for
solving their
own problems.
The more I let go of being in charge of my classes and push the
students to
take more responsibility for their learning experience, the
better they seem
to do. And, may I add, they indicate greater appreciation for
what I've done
in their evaluations of the course and teacher (all my schools
require
students to complete an evaluation for each course).
Thomas Leal
The Synergy Group
48 Mathews Place, Suite 8, Alamo CA 94507-2600
Phone: 510 / 938-7748 FAX: 510 / 943-7034
Internet: tomleal@synergygroup.com
"Bringing out the best in people, their ideas, and their
companies."
Hi Peter:
I don't have all the answers, but take a look at how
http://www.match.com
works -- I know it's rather far from the type of information you
will be
processing but the way they do it is pretty cool. It seems as
though their
CGI scripts take much of the work out of managing the site.
Being able to automatically categorize the information and make
'matches'
based on parameters in a personal profile could be applied to
what you're up
against.
The greatest thing about the Internet is the amount of
information available.
The greatest problem with the Internet is the amount of
information available.
A large part of the choice will be made for you in what your ISP
will
provide. Some allow user-developed CGI scripts, most do not. If
your
provider has a Windows NT server, much can be done in Visual
Basic. What
would be nice is to have an SQL Server database on the server
with a VB
script to drive the client end. You could get some very
impressive stuff
running in this configuration.
Ideally, you'd need an Internet version of a Lotus Notes type of
product. I
haven't seen anything quite like that yet -- maybe I should
develop one...
I'll keep looking and let you know if I find anything suitable.
Cheers! Marty...
----------------------------------------------
| Marty R. Milette, P.Prog. mmilette@magi.com
| http://www.magi.com/~mmilette/
| If you always do what you did,
| you'll always get what you got.
----------------------------------------------
RE: New Highly Complex Systems tend to be unstable:
Working with Windows 95 and the INTERNET over the last few
years and being very interested in human nature and behavior -
There seems to be an analogy about things not working very well:
complex systems are unstable - things work, then they don't -
WHY ?
The current model of "Human Beings" is about 40,000
years old and the INTERNET is about 30 years of age. Both are
complex systems made up of sub-systems and parts that all don't
fit perfectly or work smoothly together.
The body-mind, (plant,
reptile, mammal) and all our "selves", emotional,
passionate,
rational elements, are so blended and mixed with "the stuff
that dreams are make of," that dreams, illusions and reality
become so mixed as to become one blended element.
The result of
this complex blend often involves conflict within ourselves and
with others. Clearly we are a new experimental design, a work
in process, that has not had the time to work out all the bugs.
The same instability applies to all collections of complex
systems,
(Please use the following address for me from now on:
pkirby@umsa7.umd.edu. Even though you see another one on this
message, it should be deleted and changed.)
Has anyone taught students directly about their own learning
styles as a topic of inquiry and discussion, i.e., what style is
and isn't, how to capitalize on our style strengths and
compensate for missing styles or style segments, how to survive
mismatch with instructor or course topic
or course format, etc.?
I am now involved in a small grant to do this with another
educator in my office here and would be interested in any
experiences you could share.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Patricia Kirby, Ed.D.
Rm 3219 SFSC
University College, U. of Md.
University Blvd. at Adelphi Rd.
College Park, MD 20742+1616
301-985-7897
We teach a Freshman Seminar to over 1,000 students who are
predominantly
in technological programs.
The challenge: to make 1,000 (or as
close to
it as possible) have good classroom experiences as possible, and
to get
them to conceptualize and grow academically.
Staff size: 2.
Howthehell can we do that? We got volunteer teachers from
student
services, AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, we also got the commitment of 140
or so
undergraduate student leaders to come participate in the classes.
Each
class of 35 is staffed by one instructor and 5 undergraduate team
leaders.
The classes are taught much like corporate training. Students
work in 5
teams of seven, each led by a team leader, under the direction of
the
instructor. Much of the class is teamwork doing analysis, or
problem-solving or presentations. Grading is done predominantly
by team
leaders who go by the guidelines assigned by the instructor.
It's all
much more than this, but I have to tell you, using the
undergraduates was a
real moment of truth for us.
Will they blow this off? Will they use this
as an opportunity to slander the program? Will we two be looking
for new
jobs directly?
Answer: no.
Students do a hellofa job for the most part.
Yes, there is an occasional slackard. But probably less than 1%.
The rest
are outstanding leaders who are given academic credit for taking
"Foundations of Leadership," a class that teaches the concepts
of
leadership and illustrates them by using their team leadership
jobs as
examples.
They also can take practicum hours and other classes
to get a
certificate in Leadership (the equivalent of a minor, here). I
commend
using undergraduates to help in the classroom.
They are capable
of more
than you'd believe.
----------------------------------------------------------
Joann Ward, Ed.S., LPC, NCC Assistant Director
Georgia Tech, Success Programs
Student Services Building, Suite 227
Atlanta, GA 30332-0285
joann.ward@vpss.gatech.edu
PH: (404) 894+1970
FAX: (404) 894+1980
Not my words, but those of a new Canadian user who chanced upon
the
ICDL distance education database!
But don't take anyone's word for it - try for yourself by
accessing
the new, free, online version released on January 8.
There is a vast quantity of information on the literature of
distance
education (over 8,000 entries), on distance teaching institutions
worldwide (over 850 of them), and on courses and programmes
taught at a
distance (over 30,000) by institutions in the UK and other
Commonwealth countries including Australia, Canada, India, New
Zealand
and South Africa.
Searching is better than ever, too. Our software has been
enhanced in
several important areas.
You can reach the database by Telnet from anywhere in the world.
Telnet to acsvax.open.ac.uk
At the welcome message please login to the Open University VAX
cluster
with the Username: ICDL
We would then like you to access the database using your country
name
as Account code. Please enter this without any spaces.
The
Password is
then just AAA
You need to be using a VT100 terminal
If you have any difficulty or want to comment, please send e-mail
to
icdl-enquiries@open.ac.uk
The database is also issued on CD-ROM. I'll be happy to provide
details of the next CD-ROM, which will be available at the end of
January.
Keith Harry
Director, International Centre for Distance Learning
The Open University
Walton Hall
Milton Keynes MK7 6AA
Telephone: +44 1908 653537
Fax: +44 1908 654173
E-mail: k.w.harry@open.ac.uk
WWW: http://acacia.open.ac.uk/
Gopher: rowan.open.ac.uk
Agreed! At times we "educators" must become the "guide on the
side"
instead of the "sage on the stage." Students of all ages must be
allowed/encouraged/required to be responsible for their own
learning.
On Sun, 14 Jan 1996, Thomas Leal wrote:
At 05:31 PM 1/14/96 -0500, you wrote:
People learn best by constructing their own knowledge base.
They
do
this by discussing concepts, arguing about problem solutions and
advocating
for
their positions. This reflects what companies are looking for in
their
employees. This type of interaction does not take place in the
lecture class.
Many companies find that they need to train or retrain new
engineers. If
universities promoted cooperative learning at all levels they
would produce
more
effective graduates, people ready to function well in the real
world.
I agree wholeheartedly! This applies, I would be bold enough to
say, in all
courses, regardless of subject matter. I teach marketing to
undergraduates
at three universities in the San Francisco area. One has
students almost
entirely from other countries, primarily France in my classes.
Somehow over time we professors got the idea that we were the
great fonts of
all wisdom and knowledge. We seemed to forget that the root of
the word
"education" means "to lead out of" or "to lead fourth." Of
course, most of
us learned by sitting passively in front of a lecturer who
droned on for
hours without interacting with us. We soaked up what we could,
then squeezed
it out onto paper at exam time. Retention? Only until the final.
So now we find highly educated people in business who can't make
decisions.
They absorbed facts and figures, but never learned what to do
with any of
that. I don't give my students answers, I give them questions.
If they leave
my course knowing what questions to ask and how to go about
finding answers,
they will be able to apply their learning in the world outside
the academe.
If, instead, they leave with answers, they'll have yesterday's
news.
They'll
find themselves looking backwards in their efforts to succeed,
trying to
recall something from a class long ago. That's like driving a
car by looking
only in the rear view mirror.
We ought to prepare students to be able to figure out where
they're headed,
determine what's happening around them, and to look back now and
then to see
what's behind. And we ought to develop their skills for doing
all this
without our guidance. We ought to bring out their talents for
solving their
own problems.
The more I let go of being in charge of my classes and push the
students to
take more responsibility for their learning experience, the
better they seem
to do. And, may I add, they indicate greater appreciation for
what I've done
in their evaluations of the course and teacher (all my schools
require
students to complete an evaluation for each course).
Thomas Leal
The Synergy Group
48 Mathews Place, Suite 8, Alamo CA 94507-2600
Phone: 510 / 938-7748 FAX: 510 / 943-7034
Internet: tomleal@synergygroup.com
"Bringing out the best in people, their ideas, and their
companies."
Hi Peter:
I don't have all the answers, but take a look at how
http://www.match.com
works -- I know it's rather far from the type of information you
will be
processing but the way they do it is pretty cool. It seems as
though their
CGI scripts take much of the work out of managing the site.
Being able to automatically categorize the information and make
'matches'
based on parameters in a personal profile could be applied to
what you're up
against.
The greatest thing about the Internet is the amount of
information available.
The greatest problem with the Internet is the amount of
information available.
A large part of the choice will be made for you in what your ISP
will
provide. Some allow user-developed CGI scripts, most do not. If
your
provider has a Windows NT server, much can be done in Visual
Basic. What
would be nice is to have an SQL Server database on the server
with a VB
script to drive the client end. You could get some very
impressive stuff
running in this configuration.
Ideally, you'd need an Internet version of a Lotus Notes type of
product. I
haven't seen anything quite like that yet -- maybe I should
develop one...
I'll keep looking and let you know if I find anything suitable.
Cheers! Marty...
----------------------------------------------
| Marty R. Milette, P.Prog. mmilette@magi.com
| http://www.magi.com/~mmilette/
| If you always do what you did,
| you'll always get what you got.
----------------------------------------------
RE: New Highly Complex Systems tend to be unstable:
Working with Windows 95 and the INTERNET over the last few
years and being very interested in human nature and behavior -
There seems to be an analogy about things not working very well:
complex systems are unstable - things work, then they don't -
WHY ?
The current model of "Human Beings" is about 40,000
years old and the INTERNET is about 30 years of age. Both are
complex systems made up of sub-systems and parts that all don't
fit perfectly or work smoothly together.
The body-mind, (plant,
reptile, mammal) and all our "selves", emotional,
passionate,
rational elements, are so blended and mixed with "the stuff
that dreams are make of," that dreams, illusions and reality
become so mixed as to become one blended element.
The result of
this complex blend often involves conflict within ourselves and
with others. Clearly we are a new experimental design, a work
in process, that has not had the time to work out all the bugs.
The same instability applies to all collections of complex
systems,
I am now involved in a small grant to do this with another
educator in my office here and would be interested in any
experiences you could share.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Patricia Kirby, Ed.D.
Rm 3219 SFSC
University College, U. of Md.
University Blvd. at Adelphi Rd.
College Park, MD 20742+1616
301-985-7897
We teach a Freshman Seminar to over 1,000 students who are
predominantly
in technological programs.
The challenge: to make 1,000 (or as
close to
it as possible) have good classroom experiences as possible, and
to get
them to conceptualize and grow academically.
Staff size: 2.
Howthehell can we do that? We got volunteer teachers from
student
services, AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, we also got the commitment of 140
or so
undergraduate student leaders to come participate in the classes.
Each
class of 35 is staffed by one instructor and 5 undergraduate team
leaders.
The classes are taught much like corporate training. Students
work in 5
teams of seven, each led by a team leader, under the direction of
the
instructor. Much of the class is teamwork doing analysis, or
problem-solving or presentations. Grading is done predominantly
by team
leaders who go by the guidelines assigned by the instructor.
It's all
much more than this, but I have to tell you, using the
undergraduates was a
real moment of truth for us.
Will they blow this off? Will they use this
as an opportunity to slander the program? Will we two be looking
for new
jobs directly?
Answer: no.
Students do a hellofa job for the most part.
Yes, there is an occasional slackard. But probably less than 1%.
The rest
are outstanding leaders who are given academic credit for taking
"Foundations of Leadership," a class that teaches the concepts
of
leadership and illustrates them by using their team leadership
jobs as
examples.
They also can take practicum hours and other classes
to get a
certificate in Leadership (the equivalent of a minor, here). I
commend
using undergraduates to help in the classroom.
They are capable
of more
than you'd believe.
----------------------------------------------------------
Joann Ward, Ed.S., LPC, NCC Assistant Director
Georgia Tech, Success Programs
Student Services Building, Suite 227
Atlanta, GA 30332-0285
joann.ward@vpss.gatech.edu
PH: (404) 894+1970
FAX: (404) 894+1980
Not my words, but those of a new Canadian user who chanced upon
the
ICDL distance education database!
But don't take anyone's word for it - try for yourself by
accessing
the new, free, online version released on January 8.
There is a vast quantity of information on the literature of
distance
education (over 8,000 entries), on distance teaching institutions
worldwide (over 850 of them), and on courses and programmes
taught at a
distance (over 30,000) by institutions in the UK and other
Commonwealth countries including Australia, Canada, India, New
Zealand
and South Africa.
Searching is better than ever, too. Our software has been
enhanced in
several important areas.
You can reach the database by Telnet from anywhere in the world.
Telnet to acsvax.open.ac.uk
At the welcome message please login to the Open University VAX
cluster
with the Username: ICDL
We would then like you to access the database using your country
name
as Account code. Please enter this without any spaces.
The
Password is
then just AAA
You need to be using a VT100 terminal
If you have any difficulty or want to comment, please send e-mail
to
icdl-enquiries@open.ac.uk
The database is also issued on CD-ROM. I'll be happy to provide
details of the next CD-ROM, which will be available at the end of
January.
Keith Harry
Director, International Centre for Distance Learning
The Open University
Walton Hall
Milton Keynes MK7 6AA
Telephone: +44 1908 653537
Fax: +44 1908 654173
E-mail: k.w.harry@open.ac.uk
WWW: http://acacia.open.ac.uk/
Gopher: rowan.open.ac.uk
Agreed! At times we "educators" must become the "guide on the
side"
instead of the "sage on the stage." Students of all ages must be
allowed/encouraged/required to be responsible for their own
learning.
On Sun, 14 Jan 1996, Thomas Leal wrote:
At 05:31 PM 1/14/96 -0500, you wrote:
People learn best by constructing their own knowledge base.
They
do
this by discussing concepts, arguing about problem solutions and
advocating
for
their positions. This reflects what companies are looking for in
their
employees. This type of interaction does not take place in the
lecture class.
Many companies find that they need to train or retrain new
engineers. If
universities promoted cooperative learning at all levels they
would produce
more
effective graduates, people ready to function well in the real
world.
I agree wholeheartedly! This applies, I would be bold enough to
say, in all
courses, regardless of subject matter. I teach marketing to
undergraduates
at three universities in the San Francisco area. One has
students almost
entirely from other countries, primarily France in my classes.
Somehow over time we professors got the idea that we were the
great fonts of
all wisdom and knowledge. We seemed to forget that the root of
the word
"education" means "to lead out of" or "to lead fourth." Of
course, most of
us learned by sitting passively in front of a lecturer who
droned on for
hours without interacting with us. We soaked up what we could,
then squeezed
it out onto paper at exam time. Retention? Only until the final.
So now we find highly educated people in business who can't make
decisions.
They absorbed facts and figures, but never learned what to do
with any of
that. I don't give my students answers, I give them questions.
If they leave
my course knowing what questions to ask and how to go about
finding answers,
they will be able to apply their learning in the world outside
the academe.
If, instead, they leave with answers, they'll have yesterday's
news.
They'll
find themselves looking backwards in their efforts to succeed,
trying to
recall something from a class long ago. That's like driving a
car by looking
only in the rear view mirror.
We ought to prepare students to be able to figure out where
they're headed,
determine what's happening around them, and to look back now and
then to see
what's behind. And we ought to develop their skills for doing
all this
without our guidance. We ought to bring out their talents for
solving their
own problems.
The more I let go of being in charge of my classes and push the
students to
take more responsibility for their learning experience, the
better they seem
to do. And, may I add, they indicate greater appreciation for
what I've done
in their evaluations of the course and teacher (all my schools
require
students to complete an evaluation for each course).
Thomas Leal
The Synergy Group
48 Mathews Place, Suite 8, Alamo CA 94507-2600
Phone: 510 / 938-7748 FAX: 510 / 943-7034
Internet: tomleal@synergygroup.com
"Bringing out the best in people, their ideas, and their
companies."
Hi Peter:
I don't have all the answers, but take a look at how
http://www.match.com
works -- I know it's rather far from the type of information you
will be
processing but the way they do it is pretty cool. It seems as
though their
CGI scripts take much of the work out of managing the site.
Being able to automatically categorize the information and make
'matches'
based on parameters in a personal profile could be applied to
what you're up
against.
The greatest thing about the Internet is the amount of
information available.
The greatest problem with the Internet is the amount of
information available.
A large part of the choice will be made for you in what your ISP
will
provide. Some allow user-developed CGI scripts, most do not. If
your
provider has a Windows NT server, much can be done in Visual
Basic. What
would be nice is to have an SQL Server database on the server
with a VB
script to drive the client end. You could get some very
impressive stuff
running in this configuration.
Ideally, you'd need an Internet version of a Lotus Notes type of
product. I
haven't seen anything quite like that yet -- maybe I should
develop one...
I'll keep looking and let you know if I find anything suitable.
Cheers! Marty...
----------------------------------------------
| Marty R. Milette, P.Prog. mmilette@magi.com
| http://www.magi.com/~mmilette/
| If you always do what you did,
| you'll always get what you got.
----------------------------------------------
RE: New Highly Complex Systems tend to be unstable:
Working with Windows 95 and the INTERNET over the last few
years and being very interested in human nature and behavior -
There seems to be an analogy about things not working very well:
complex systems are unstable - things work, then they don't -
WHY ?
The current model of "Human Beings" is about 40,000
years old and the INTERNET is about 30 years of age. Both are
complex systems made up of sub-systems and parts that all don't
fit perfectly or work smoothly together.
The body-mind, (plant,
reptile, mammal) and all our "selves", emotional,
passionate,
rational elements, are so blended and mixed with "the stuff
that dreams are make of," that dreams, illusions and reality
become so mixed as to become one blended element.
The result of
this complex blend often involves conflict within ourselves and
with others. Clearly we are a new experimental design, a work
in process, that has not had the time to work out all the bugs.
The same instability applies to all collections of complex
systems,
University College, U. of Md.
University Blvd. at Adelphi Rd.
College Park, MD 20742+1616
301-985-7897
We teach a Freshman Seminar to over 1,000 students who are
predominantly
in technological programs.
The challenge: to make 1,000 (or as
close to
it as possible) have good classroom experiences as possible, and
to get
them to conceptualize and grow academically.
Staff size: 2.
Howthehell can we do that? We got volunteer teachers from
student
services, AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, we also got the commitment of 140
or so
undergraduate student leaders to come participate in the classes.
Each
class of 35 is staffed by one instructor and 5 undergraduate team
leaders.
The classes are taught much like corporate training. Students
work in 5
teams of seven, each led by a team leader, under the direction of
the
instructor. Much of the class is teamwork doing analysis, or
problem-solving or presentations. Grading is done predominantly
by team
leaders who go by the guidelines assigned by the instructor.
It's all
much more than this, but I have to tell you, using the
undergraduates was a
real moment of truth for us.
Will they blow this off? Will they use this
as an opportunity to slander the program? Will we two be looking
for new
jobs directly?
Answer: no.
Students do a hellofa job for the most part.
Yes, there is an occasional slackard. But probably less than 1%.
The rest
are outstanding leaders who are given academic credit for taking
"Foundations of Leadership," a class that teaches the concepts
of
leadership and illustrates them by using their team leadership
jobs as
examples.
They also can take practicum hours and other classes
to get a
certificate in Leadership (the equivalent of a minor, here). I
commend
using undergraduates to help in the classroom.
They are capable
of more
than you'd believe.
----------------------------------------------------------
Joann Ward, Ed.S., LPC, NCC Assistant Director
Georgia Tech, Success Programs
Student Services Building, Suite 227
Atlanta, GA 30332-0285
joann.ward@vpss.gatech.edu
PH: (404) 894+1970
FAX: (404) 894+1980
Not my words, but those of a new Canadian user who chanced upon
the
ICDL distance education database!
But don't take anyone's word for it - try for yourself by
accessing
the new, free, online version released on January 8.
There is a vast quantity of information on the literature of
distance
education (over 8,000 entries), on distance teaching institutions
worldwide (over 850 of them), and on courses and programmes
taught at a
distance (over 30,000) by institutions in the UK and other
Commonwealth countries including Australia, Canada, India, New
Zealand
and South Africa.
Searching is better than ever, too. Our software has been
enhanced in
several important areas.
You can reach the database by Telnet from anywhere in the world.
Telnet to acsvax.open.ac.uk
At the welcome message please login to the Open University VAX
cluster
with the Username: ICDL
We would then like you to access the database using your country
name
as Account code. Please enter this without any spaces.
The
Password is
then just AAA
You need to be using a VT100 terminal
If you have any difficulty or want to comment, please send e-mail
to
icdl-enquiries@open.ac.uk
The database is also issued on CD-ROM. I'll be happy to provide
details of the next CD-ROM, which will be available at the end of
January.
Keith Harry
Director, International Centre for Distance Learning
The Open University
Walton Hall
Milton Keynes MK7 6AA
Telephone: +44 1908 653537
Fax: +44 1908 654173
E-mail: k.w.harry@open.ac.uk
WWW: http://acacia.open.ac.uk/
Gopher: rowan.open.ac.uk
Agreed! At times we "educators" must become the "guide on the
side"
instead of the "sage on the stage." Students of all ages must be
allowed/encouraged/required to be responsible for their own
learning.
On Sun, 14 Jan 1996, Thomas Leal wrote:
At 05:31 PM 1/14/96 -0500, you wrote:
People learn best by constructing their own knowledge base.
They
do
this by discussing concepts, arguing about problem solutions and
advocating
for
their positions. This reflects what companies are looking for in
their
employees. This type of interaction does not take place in the
lecture class.
Many companies find that they need to train or retrain new
engineers. If
universities promoted cooperative learning at all levels they
would produce
more
effective graduates, people ready to function well in the real
world.
I agree wholeheartedly! This applies, I would be bold enough to
say, in all
courses, regardless of subject matter. I teach marketing to
undergraduates
at three universities in the San Francisco area. One has
students almost
entirely from other countries, primarily France in my classes.
Somehow over time we professors got the idea that we were the
great fonts of
all wisdom and knowledge. We seemed to forget that the root of
the word
"education" means "to lead out of" or "to lead fourth." Of
course, most of
us learned by sitting passively in front of a lecturer who
droned on for
hours without interacting with us. We soaked up what we could,
then squeezed
it out onto paper at exam time. Retention? Only until the final.
So now we find highly educated people in business who can't make
decisions.
They absorbed facts and figures, but never learned what to do
with any of
that. I don't give my students answers, I give them questions.
If they leave
my course knowing what questions to ask and how to go about
finding answers,
they will be able to apply their learning in the world outside
the academe.
If, instead, they leave with answers, they'll have yesterday's
news.
They'll
find themselves looking backwards in their efforts to succeed,
trying to
recall something from a class long ago. That's like driving a
car by looking
only in the rear view mirror.
We ought to prepare students to be able to figure out where
they're headed,
determine what's happening around them, and to look back now and
then to see
what's behind. And we ought to develop their skills for doing
all this
without our guidance. We ought to bring out their talents for
solving their
own problems.
The more I let go of being in charge of my classes and push the
students to
take more responsibility for their learning experience, the
better they seem
to do. And, may I add, they indicate greater appreciation for
what I've done
in their evaluations of the course and teacher (all my schools
require
students to complete an evaluation for each course).
Thomas Leal
The Synergy Group
48 Mathews Place, Suite 8, Alamo CA 94507-2600
Phone: 510 / 938-7748 FAX: 510 / 943-7034
Internet: tomleal@synergygroup.com
"Bringing out the best in people, their ideas, and their
companies."
Hi Peter:
I don't have all the answers, but take a look at how
http://www.match.com
works -- I know it's rather far from the type of information you
will be
processing but the way they do it is pretty cool. It seems as
though their
CGI scripts take much of the work out of managing the site.
Being able to automatically categorize the information and make
'matches'
based on parameters in a personal profile could be applied to
what you're up
against.
The greatest thing about the Internet is the amount of
information available.
The greatest problem with the Internet is the amount of
information available.
A large part of the choice will be made for you in what your ISP
will
provide. Some allow user-developed CGI scripts, most do not. If
your
provider has a Windows NT server, much can be done in Visual
Basic. What
would be nice is to have an SQL Server database on the server
with a VB
script to drive the client end. You could get some very
impressive stuff
running in this configuration.
Ideally, you'd need an Internet version of a Lotus Notes type of
product. I
haven't seen anything quite like that yet -- maybe I should
develop one...
I'll keep looking and let you know if I find anything suitable.
Cheers! Marty...
----------------------------------------------
| Marty R. Milette, P.Prog. mmilette@magi.com
| http://www.magi.com/~mmilette/
| If you always do what you did,
| you'll always get what you got.
----------------------------------------------
RE: New Highly Complex Systems tend to be unstable:
Working with Windows 95 and the INTERNET over the last few
years and being very interested in human nature and behavior -
There seems to be an analogy about things not working very well:
complex systems are unstable - things work, then they don't -
WHY ?
The current model of "Human Beings" is about 40,000
years old and the INTERNET is about 30 years of age. Both are
complex systems made up of sub-systems and parts that all don't
fit perfectly or work smoothly together.
The body-mind, (plant,
reptile, mammal) and all our "selves", emotional,
passionate,
rational elements, are so blended and mixed with "the stuff
that dreams are make of," that dreams, illusions and reality
become so mixed as to become one blended element.
The result of
this complex blend often involves conflict within ourselves and
with others. Clearly we are a new experimental design, a work
in process, that has not had the time to work out all the bugs.
The same instability applies to all collections of complex
systems,
We teach a Freshman Seminar to over 1,000 students who are
predominantly
in technological programs.
The challenge: to make 1,000 (or as
close to
it as possible) have good classroom experiences as possible, and
to get
them to conceptualize and grow academically.
Staff size: 2.
Howthehell can we do that? We got volunteer teachers from
student
services, AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, we also got the commitment of 140
or so
undergraduate student leaders to come participate in the classes.
Each
class of 35 is staffed by one instructor and 5 undergraduate team
leaders.
The classes are taught much like corporate training. Students
work in 5
teams of seven, each led by a team leader, under the direction of
the
instructor. Much of the class is teamwork doing analysis, or
problem-solving or presentations. Grading is done predominantly
by team
leaders who go by the guidelines assigned by the instructor.
It's all
much more than this, but I have to tell you, using the
undergraduates was a
real moment of truth for us.
Will they blow this off? Will they use this
as an opportunity to slander the program? Will we two be looking
for new
jobs directly?
Answer: no.
Students do a hellofa job for the most part.
Yes, there is an occasional slackard. But probably less than 1%.
The rest
are outstanding leaders who are given academic credit for taking
"Foundations of Leadership," a class that teaches the concepts
of
leadership and illustrates them by using their team leadership
jobs as
examples.
They also can take practicum hours and other classes
to get a
certificate in Leadership (the equivalent of a minor, here). I
commend
using undergraduates to help in the classroom.
They are capable
of more
than you'd believe.
----------------------------------------------------------
Joann Ward, Ed.S., LPC, NCC Assistant Director
Georgia Tech, Success Programs
Student Services Building, Suite 227
Atlanta, GA 30332-0285
joann.ward@vpss.gatech.edu
PH: (404) 894+1970
FAX: (404) 894+1980
Not my words, but those of a new Canadian user who chanced upon
the
ICDL distance education database!
But don't take anyone's word for it - try for yourself by
accessing
the new, free, online version released on January 8.
There is a vast quantity of information on the literature of
distance
education (over 8,000 entries), on distance teaching institutions
worldwide (over 850 of them), and on courses and programmes
taught at a
distance (over 30,000) by institutions in the UK and other
Commonwealth countries including Australia, Canada, India, New
Zealand
and South Africa.
Searching is better than ever, too. Our software has been
enhanced in
several important areas.
You can reach the database by Telnet from anywhere in the world.
Telnet to acsvax.open.ac.uk
At the welcome message please login to the Open University VAX
cluster
with the Username: ICDL
We would then like you to access the database using your country
name
as Account code. Please enter this without any spaces.
The
Password is
then just AAA
You need to be using a VT100 terminal
If you have any difficulty or want to comment, please send e-mail
to
icdl-enquiries@open.ac.uk
The database is also issued on CD-ROM. I'll be happy to provide
details of the next CD-ROM, which will be available at the end of
January.
Keith Harry
Director, International Centre for Distance Learning
The Open University
Walton Hall
Milton Keynes MK7 6AA
Telephone: +44 1908 653537
Fax: +44 1908 654173
E-mail: k.w.harry@open.ac.uk
WWW: http://acacia.open.ac.uk/
Gopher: rowan.open.ac.uk
Agreed! At times we "educators" must become the "guide on the
side"
instead of the "sage on the stage." Students of all ages must be
allowed/encouraged/required to be responsible for their own
learning.
On Sun, 14 Jan 1996, Thomas Leal wrote:
At 05:31 PM 1/14/96 -0500, you wrote:
People learn best by constructing their own knowledge base.
They
do
this by discussing concepts, arguing about problem solutions and
advocating
for
their positions. This reflects what companies are looking for in
their
employees. This type of interaction does not take place in the
lecture class.
Many companies find that they need to train or retrain new
engineers. If
universities promoted cooperative learning at all levels they
would produce
more
effective graduates, people ready to function well in the real
world.
I agree wholeheartedly! This applies, I would be bold enough to
say, in all
courses, regardless of subject matter. I teach marketing to
undergraduates
at three universities in the San Francisco area. One has
students almost
entirely from other countries, primarily France in my classes.
Somehow over time we professors got the idea that we were the
great fonts of
all wisdom and knowledge. We seemed to forget that the root of
the word
"education" means "to lead out of" or "to lead fourth." Of
course, most of
us learned by sitting passively in front of a lecturer who
droned on for
hours without interacting with us. We soaked up what we could,
then squeezed
it out onto paper at exam time. Retention? Only until the final.
So now we find highly educated people in business who can't make
decisions.
They absorbed facts and figures, but never learned what to do
with any of
that. I don't give my students answers, I give them questions.
If they leave
my course knowing what questions to ask and how to go about
finding answers,
they will be able to apply their learning in the world outside
the academe.
If, instead, they leave with answers, they'll have yesterday's
news.
They'll
find themselves looking backwards in their efforts to succeed,
trying to
recall something from a class long ago. That's like driving a
car by looking
only in the rear view mirror.
We ought to prepare students to be able to figure out where
they're headed,
determine what's happening around them, and to look back now and
then to see
what's behind. And we ought to develop their skills for doing
all this
without our guidance. We ought to bring out their talents for
solving their
own problems.
The more I let go of being in charge of my classes and push the
students to
take more responsibility for their learning experience, the
better they seem
to do. And, may I add, they indicate greater appreciation for
what I've done
in their evaluations of the course and teacher (all my schools
require
students to complete an evaluation for each course).
Thomas Leal
The Synergy Group
48 Mathews Place, Suite 8, Alamo CA 94507-2600
Phone: 510 / 938-7748 FAX: 510 / 943-7034
Internet: tomleal@synergygroup.com
"Bringing out the best in people, their ideas, and their
companies."
Hi Peter:
I don't have all the answers, but take a look at how
http://www.match.com
works -- I know it's rather far from the type of information you
will be
processing but the way they do it is pretty cool. It seems as
though their
CGI scripts take much of the work out of managing the site.
Being able to automatically categorize the information and make
'matches'
based on parameters in a personal profile could be applied to
what you're up
against.
The greatest thing about the Internet is the amount of
information available.
The greatest problem with the Internet is the amount of
information available.
A large part of the choice will be made for you in what your ISP
will
provide. Some allow user-developed CGI scripts, most do not. If
your
provider has a Windows NT server, much can be done in Visual
Basic. What
would be nice is to have an SQL Server database on the server
with a VB
script to drive the client end. You could get some very
impressive stuff
running in this configuration.
Ideally, you'd need an Internet version of a Lotus Notes type of
product. I
haven't seen anything quite like that yet -- maybe I should
develop one...
I'll keep looking and let you know if I find anything suitable.
Cheers! Marty...
----------------------------------------------
| Marty R. Milette, P.Prog. mmilette@magi.com
| http://www.magi.com/~mmilette/
| If you always do what you did,
| you'll always get what you got.
----------------------------------------------
RE: New Highly Complex Systems tend to be unstable:
Working with Windows 95 and the INTERNET over the last few
years and being very interested in human nature and behavior -
There seems to be an analogy about things not working very well:
complex systems are unstable - things work, then they don't -
WHY ?
The current model of "Human Beings" is about 40,000
years old and the INTERNET is about 30 years of age. Both are
complex systems made up of sub-systems and parts that all don't
fit perfectly or work smoothly together.
The body-mind, (plant,
reptile, mammal) and all our "selves", emotional,
passionate,
rational elements, are so blended and mixed with "the stuff
that dreams are make of," that dreams, illusions and reality
become so mixed as to become one blended element.
The result of
this complex blend often involves conflict within ourselves and
with others. Clearly we are a new experimental design, a work
in process, that has not had the time to work out all the bugs.
The same instability applies to all collections of complex
systems,
We teach a Freshman Seminar to over 1,000 students who are
predominantly
in technological programs.
The challenge: to make 1,000 (or as
close to
it as possible) have good classroom experiences as possible, and
to get
them to conceptualize and grow academically.
Staff size: 2.
Howthehell can we do that? We got volunteer teachers from
student
services, AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, we also got the commitment of 140
or so
undergraduate student leaders to come participate in the classes.
Each
class of 35 is staffed by one instructor and 5 undergraduate team
leaders.
The classes are taught much like corporate training. Students
work in 5
teams of seven, each led by a team leader, under the direction of
the
instructor. Much of the class is teamwork doing analysis, or
problem-solving or presentations. Grading is done predominantly
by team
leaders who go by the guidelines assigned by the instructor.
It's all
much more than this, but I have to tell you, using the
undergraduates was a
real moment of truth for us.
Will they blow this off? Will they use this
as an opportunity to slander the program? Will we two be looking
for new
jobs directly?
Answer: no.
Students do a hellofa job for the most part.
Yes, there is an occasional slackard. But probably less than 1%.
The rest
are outstanding leaders who are given academic credit for taking
"Foundations of Leadership," a class that teaches the concepts
of
leadership and illustrates them by using their team leadership
jobs as
examples.
They also can take practicum hours and other classes
to get a
certificate in Leadership (the equivalent of a minor, here). I
commend
using undergraduates to help in the classroom.
They are capable
of more
than you'd believe.
----------------------------------------------------------
Joann Ward, Ed.S., LPC, NCC Assistant Director
Georgia Tech, Success Programs
Student Services Building, Suite 227
Atlanta, GA 30332-0285
joann.ward@vpss.gatech.edu
PH: (404) 894+1970
FAX: (404) 894+1980
Not my words, but those of a new Canadian user who chanced upon
the
ICDL distance education database!
But don't take anyone's word for it - try for yourself by
accessing
the new, free, online version released on January 8.
There is a vast quantity of information on the literature of
distance
education (over 8,000 entries), on distance teaching institutions
worldwide (over 850 of them), and on courses and programmes
taught at a
distance (over 30,000) by institutions in the UK and other
Commonwealth countries including Australia, Canada, India, New
Zealand
and South Africa.
Searching is better than ever, too. Our software has been
enhanced in
several important areas.
You can reach the database by Telnet from anywhere in the world.
Telnet to acsvax.open.ac.uk
At the welcome message please login to the Open University VAX
cluster
with the Username: ICDL
We would then like you to access the database using your country
name
as Account code. Please enter this without any spaces.
The
Password is
then just AAA
You need to be using a VT100 terminal
If you have any difficulty or want to comment, please send e-mail
to
icdl-enquiries@open.ac.uk
The database is also issued on CD-ROM. I'll be happy to provide
details of the next CD-ROM, which will be available at the end of
January.
Keith Harry
Director, International Centre for Distance Learning
The Open University
Walton Hall
Milton Keynes MK7 6AA
Telephone: +44 1908 653537
Fax: +44 1908 654173
E-mail: k.w.harry@open.ac.uk
WWW: http://acacia.open.ac.uk/
Gopher: rowan.open.ac.uk
Agreed! At times we "educators" must become the "guide on the
side"
instead of the "sage on the stage." Students of all ages must be
allowed/encouraged/required to be responsible for their own
learning.
On Sun, 14 Jan 1996, Thomas Leal wrote:
At 05:31 PM 1/14/96 -0500, you wrote:
People learn best by constructing their own knowledge base.
They
do
this by discussing concepts, arguing about problem solutions and
advocating
for
their positions. This reflects what companies are looking for in
their
employees. This type of interaction does not take place in the
lecture class.
Many companies find that they need to train or retrain new
engineers. If
universities promoted cooperative learning at all levels they
would produce
more
effective graduates, people ready to function well in the real
world.
I agree wholeheartedly! This applies, I would be bold enough to
say, in all
courses, regardless of subject matter. I teach marketing to
undergraduates
at three universities in the San Francisco area. One has
students almost
entirely from other countries, primarily France in my classes.
Somehow over time we professors got the idea that we were the
great fonts of
all wisdom and knowledge. We seemed to forget that the root of
the word
"education" means "to lead out of" or "to lead fourth." Of
course, most of
us learned by sitting passively in front of a lecturer who
droned on for
hours without interacting with us. We soaked up what we could,
then squeezed
it out onto paper at exam time. Retention? Only until the final.
So now we find highly educated people in business who can't make
decisions.
They absorbed facts and figures, but never learned what to do
with any of
that. I don't give my students answers, I give them questions.
If they leave
my course knowing what questions to ask and how to go about
finding answers,
they will be able to apply their learning in the world outside
the academe.
If, instead, they leave with answers, they'll have yesterday's
news.
They'll
find themselves looking backwards in their efforts to succeed,
trying to
recall something from a class long ago. That's like driving a
car by looking
only in the rear view mirror.
We ought to prepare students to be able to figure out where
they're headed,
determine what's happening around them, and to look back now and
then to see
what's behind. And we ought to develop their skills for doing
all this
without our guidance. We ought to bring out their talents for
solving their
own problems.
The more I let go of being in charge of my classes and push the
students to
take more responsibility for their learning experience, the
better they seem
to do. And, may I add, they indicate greater appreciation for
what I've done
in their evaluations of the course and teacher (all my schools
require
students to complete an evaluation for each course).
Thomas Leal
The Synergy Group
48 Mathews Place, Suite 8, Alamo CA 94507-2600
Phone: 510 / 938-7748 FAX: 510 / 943-7034
Internet: tomleal@synergygroup.com
"Bringing out the best in people, their ideas, and their
companies."
Hi Peter:
I don't have all the answers, but take a look at how
http://www.match.com
works -- I know it's rather far from the type of information you
will be
processing but the way they do it is pretty cool. It seems as
though their
CGI scripts take much of the work out of managing the site.
Being able to automatically categorize the information and make
'matches'
based on parameters in a personal profile could be applied to
what you're up
against.
The greatest thing about the Internet is the amount of
information available.
The greatest problem with the Internet is the amount of
information available.
A large part of the choice will be made for you in what your ISP
will
provide. Some allow user-developed CGI scripts, most do not. If
your
provider has a Windows NT server, much can be done in Visual
Basic. What
would be nice is to have an SQL Server database on the server
with a VB
script to drive the client end. You could get some very
impressive stuff
running in this configuration.
Ideally, you'd need an Internet version of a Lotus Notes type of
product. I
haven't seen anything quite like that yet -- maybe I should
develop one...
I'll keep looking and let you know if I find anything suitable.
Cheers! Marty...
----------------------------------------------
| Marty R. Milette, P.Prog. mmilette@magi.com
| http://www.magi.com/~mmilette/
| If you always do what you did,
| you'll always get what you got.
----------------------------------------------
RE: New Highly Complex Systems tend to be unstable:
Working with Windows 95 and the INTERNET over the last few
years and being very interested in human nature and behavior -
There seems to be an analogy about things not working very well:
complex systems are unstable - things work, then they don't -
WHY ?
The current model of "Human Beings" is about 40,000
years old and the INTERNET is about 30 years of age. Both are
complex systems made up of sub-systems and parts that all don't
fit perfectly or work smoothly together.
The body-mind, (plant,
reptile, mammal) and all our "selves", emotional,
passionate,
rational elements, are so blended and mixed with "the stuff
that dreams are make of," that dreams, illusions and reality
become so mixed as to become one blended element.
The result of
this complex blend often involves conflict within ourselves and
with others. Clearly we are a new experimental design, a work
in process, that has not had the time to work out all the bugs.
The same instability applies to all collections of complex
systems,
The challenge: to make 1,000 (or as
close to
it as possible) have good classroom experiences as possible, and
to get
them to conceptualize and grow academically.
Staff size: 2.
Howthehell can we do that? We got volunteer teachers from
student
services, AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, we also got the commitment of 140
or so
undergraduate student leaders to come participate in the classes.
Each
class of 35 is staffed by one instructor and 5 undergraduate team
leaders.
The classes are taught much like corporate training. Students
work in 5
teams of seven, each led by a team leader, under the direction of
the
instructor. Much of the class is teamwork doing analysis, or
problem-solving or presentations. Grading is done predominantly
by team
leaders who go by the guidelines assigned by the instructor.
It's all
much more than this, but I have to tell you, using the
undergraduates was a
real moment of truth for us.
Will they blow this off? Will they use this
as an opportunity to slander the program? Will we two be looking
for new
jobs directly?
Answer: no.
Students do a hellofa job for the most part.
Yes, there is an occasional slackard. But probably less than 1%.
The rest
are outstanding leaders who are given academic credit for taking
"Foundations of Leadership," a class that teaches the concepts
of
leadership and illustrates them by using their team leadership
jobs as
examples.
They also can take practicum hours and other classes
to get a
certificate in Leadership (the equivalent of a minor, here). I
commend
using undergraduates to help in the classroom.
They are capable
of more
than you'd believe.
----------------------------------------------------------
Joann Ward, Ed.S., LPC, NCC Assistant Director
Georgia Tech, Success Programs
Student Services Building, Suite 227
Atlanta, GA 30332-0285
joann.ward@vpss.gatech.edu
PH: (404) 894+1970
FAX: (404) 894+1980
Not my words, but those of a new Canadian user who chanced upon
the
ICDL distance education database!
But don't take anyone's word for it - try for yourself by
accessing
the new, free, online version released on January 8.
There is a vast quantity of information on the literature of
distance
education (over 8,000 entries), on distance teaching institutions
worldwide (over 850 of them), and on courses and programmes
taught at a
distance (over 30,000) by institutions in the UK and other
Commonwealth countries including Australia, Canada, India, New
Zealand
and South Africa.
Searching is better than ever, too. Our software has been
enhanced in
several important areas.
You can reach the database by Telnet from anywhere in the world.
Telnet to acsvax.open.ac.uk
At the welcome message please login to the Open University VAX
cluster
with the Username: ICDL
We would then like you to access the database using your country
name
as Account code. Please enter this without any spaces.
The
Password is
then just AAA
You need to be using a VT100 terminal
If you have any difficulty or want to comment, please send e-mail
to
icdl-enquiries@open.ac.uk
The database is also issued on CD-ROM. I'll be happy to provide
details of the next CD-ROM, which will be available at the end of
January.
Keith Harry
Director, International Centre for Distance Learning
The Open University
Walton Hall
Milton Keynes MK7 6AA
Telephone: +44 1908 653537
Fax: +44 1908 654173
E-mail: k.w.harry@open.ac.uk
WWW: http://acacia.open.ac.uk/
Gopher: rowan.open.ac.uk
Agreed! At times we "educators" must become the "guide on the
side"
instead of the "sage on the stage." Students of all ages must be
allowed/encouraged/required to be responsible for their own
learning.
On Sun, 14 Jan 1996, Thomas Leal wrote:
At 05:31 PM 1/14/96 -0500, you wrote:
People learn best by constructing their own knowledge base.
They
do
this by discussing concepts, arguing about problem solutions and
advocating
for
their positions. This reflects what companies are looking for in
their
employees. This type of interaction does not take place in the
lecture class.
Many companies find that they need to train or retrain new
engineers. If
universities promoted cooperative learning at all levels they
would produce
more
effective graduates, people ready to function well in the real
world.
I agree wholeheartedly! This applies, I would be bold enough to
say, in all
courses, regardless of subject matter. I teach marketing to
undergraduates
at three universities in the San Francisco area. One has
students almost
entirely from other countries, primarily France in my classes.
Somehow over time we professors got the idea that we were the
great fonts of
all wisdom and knowledge. We seemed to forget that the root of
the word
"education" means "to lead out of" or "to lead fourth." Of
course, most of
us learned by sitting passively in front of a lecturer who
droned on for
hours without interacting with us. We soaked up what we could,
then squeezed
it out onto paper at exam time. Retention? Only until the final.
So now we find highly educated people in business who can't make
decisions.
They absorbed facts and figures, but never learned what to do
with any of
that. I don't give my students answers, I give them questions.
If they leave
my course knowing what questions to ask and how to go about
finding answers,
they will be able to apply their learning in the world outside
the academe.
If, instead, they leave with answers, they'll have yesterday's
news.
They'll
find themselves looking backwards in their efforts to succeed,
trying to
recall something from a class long ago. That's like driving a
car by looking
only in the rear view mirror.
We ought to prepare students to be able to figure out where
they're headed,
determine what's happening around them, and to look back now and
then to see
what's behind. And we ought to develop their skills for doing
all this
without our guidance. We ought to bring out their talents for
solving their
own problems.
The more I let go of being in charge of my classes and push the
students to
take more responsibility for their learning experience, the
better they seem
to do. And, may I add, they indicate greater appreciation for
what I've done
in their evaluations of the course and teacher (all my schools
require
students to complete an evaluation for each course).
Thomas Leal
The Synergy Group
48 Mathews Place, Suite 8, Alamo CA 94507-2600
Phone: 510 / 938-7748 FAX: 510 / 943-7034
Internet: tomleal@synergygroup.com
"Bringing out the best in people, their ideas, and their
companies."
Hi Peter:
I don't have all the answers, but take a look at how
http://www.match.com
works -- I know it's rather far from the type of information you
will be
processing but the way they do it is pretty cool. It seems as
though their
CGI scripts take much of the work out of managing the site.
Being able to automatically categorize the information and make
'matches'
based on parameters in a personal profile could be applied to
what you're up
against.
The greatest thing about the Internet is the amount of
information available.
The greatest problem with the Internet is the amount of
information available.
A large part of the choice will be made for you in what your ISP
will
provide. Some allow user-developed CGI scripts, most do not. If
your
provider has a Windows NT server, much can be done in Visual
Basic. What
would be nice is to have an SQL Server database on the server
with a VB
script to drive the client end. You could get some very
impressive stuff
running in this configuration.
Ideally, you'd need an Internet version of a Lotus Notes type of
product. I
haven't seen anything quite like that yet -- maybe I should
develop one...
I'll keep looking and let you know if I find anything suitable.
Cheers! Marty...
----------------------------------------------
| Marty R. Milette, P.Prog. mmilette@magi.com
| http://www.magi.com/~mmilette/
| If you always do what you did,
| you'll always get what you got.
----------------------------------------------
RE: New Highly Complex Systems tend to be unstable:
Working with Windows 95 and the INTERNET over the last few
years and being very interested in human nature and behavior -
There seems to be an analogy about things not working very well:
complex systems are unstable - things work, then they don't -
WHY ?
The current model of "Human Beings" is about 40,000
years old and the INTERNET is about 30 years of age. Both are
complex systems made up of sub-systems and parts that all don't
fit perfectly or work smoothly together.
The body-mind, (plant,
reptile, mammal) and all our "selves", emotional,
passionate,
rational elements, are so blended and mixed with "the stuff
that dreams are make of," that dreams, illusions and reality
become so mixed as to become one blended element.
The result of
this complex blend often involves conflict within ourselves and
with others. Clearly we are a new experimental design, a work
in process, that has not had the time to work out all the bugs.
The same instability applies to all collections of complex
systems,
Howthehell can we do that? We got volunteer teachers from
student
services, AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, we also got the commitment of 140
or so
undergraduate student leaders to come participate in the classes.
Each
class of 35 is staffed by one instructor and 5 undergraduate team
leaders.
The classes are taught much like corporate training. Students
work in 5
teams of seven, each led by a team leader, under the direction of
the
instructor. Much of the class is teamwork doing analysis, or
problem-solving or presentations. Grading is done predominantly
by team
leaders who go by the guidelines assigned by the instructor.
It's all
much more than this, but I have to tell you, using the
undergraduates was a
real moment of truth for us.
Will they blow this off? Will they use this
as an opportunity to slander the program? Will we two be looking
for new
jobs directly?
Answer: no.
Students do a hellofa job for the most part.
Yes, there is an occasional slackard. But probably less than 1%.
The rest
are outstanding leaders who are given academic credit for taking
"Foundations of Leadership," a class that teaches the concepts
of
leadership and illustrates them by using their team leadership
jobs as
examples.
They also can take practicum hours and other classes
to get a
certificate in Leadership (the equivalent of a minor, here). I
commend
using undergraduates to help in the classroom.
They are capable
of more
than you'd believe.
----------------------------------------------------------
Joann Ward, Ed.S., LPC, NCC Assistant Director
Georgia Tech, Success Programs
Student Services Building, Suite 227
Atlanta, GA 30332-0285
joann.ward@vpss.gatech.edu
PH: (404) 894+1970
FAX: (404) 894+1980
Not my words, but those of a new Canadian user who chanced upon
the
ICDL distance education database!
But don't take anyone's word for it - try for yourself by
accessing
the new, free, online version released on January 8.
There is a vast quantity of information on the literature of
distance
education (over 8,000 entries), on distance teaching institutions
worldwide (over 850 of them), and on courses and programmes
taught at a
distance (over 30,000) by institutions in the UK and other
Commonwealth countries including Australia, Canada, India, New
Zealand
and South Africa.
Searching is better than ever, too. Our software has been
enhanced in
several important areas.
You can reach the database by Telnet from anywhere in the world.
Telnet to acsvax.open.ac.uk
At the welcome message please login to the Open University VAX
cluster
with the Username: ICDL
We would then like you to access the database using your country
name
as Account code. Please enter this without any spaces.
The
Password is
then just AAA
You need to be using a VT100 terminal
If you have any difficulty or want to comment, please send e-mail
to
icdl-enquiries@open.ac.uk
The database is also issued on CD-ROM. I'll be happy to provide
details of the next CD-ROM, which will be available at the end of
January.
Keith Harry
Director, International Centre for Distance Learning
The Open University
Walton Hall
Milton Keynes MK7 6AA
Telephone: +44 1908 653537
Fax: +44 1908 654173
E-mail: k.w.harry@open.ac.uk
WWW: http://acacia.open.ac.uk/
Gopher: rowan.open.ac.uk
Agreed! At times we "educators" must become the "guide on the
side"
instead of the "sage on the stage." Students of all ages must be
allowed/encouraged/required to be responsible for their own
learning.
On Sun, 14 Jan 1996, Thomas Leal wrote:
At 05:31 PM 1/14/96 -0500, you wrote:
People learn best by constructing their own knowledge base.
They
do
this by discussing concepts, arguing about problem solutions and
advocating
for
their positions. This reflects what companies are looking for in
their
employees. This type of interaction does not take place in the
lecture class.
Many companies find that they need to train or retrain new
engineers. If
universities promoted cooperative learning at all levels they
would produce
more
effective graduates, people ready to function well in the real
world.
I agree wholeheartedly! This applies, I would be bold enough to
say, in all
courses, regardless of subject matter. I teach marketing to
undergraduates
at three universities in the San Francisco area. One has
students almost
entirely from other countries, primarily France in my classes.
Somehow over time we professors got the idea that we were the
great fonts of
all wisdom and knowledge. We seemed to forget that the root of
the word
"education" means "to lead out of" or "to lead fourth." Of
course, most of
us learned by sitting passively in front of a lecturer who
droned on for
hours without interacting with us. We soaked up what we could,
then squeezed
it out onto paper at exam time. Retention? Only until the final.
So now we find highly educated people in business who can't make
decisions.
They absorbed facts and figures, but never learned what to do
with any of
that. I don't give my students answers, I give them questions.
If they leave
my course knowing what questions to ask and how to go about
finding answers,
they will be able to apply their learning in the world outside
the academe.
If, instead, they leave with answers, they'll have yesterday's
news.
They'll
find themselves looking backwards in their efforts to succeed,
trying to
recall something from a class long ago. That's like driving a
car by looking
only in the rear view mirror.
We ought to prepare students to be able to figure out where
they're headed,
determine what's happening around them, and to look back now and
then to see
what's behind. And we ought to develop their skills for doing
all this
without our guidance. We ought to bring out their talents for
solving their
own problems.
The more I let go of being in charge of my classes and push the
students to
take more responsibility for their learning experience, the
better they seem
to do. And, may I add, they indicate greater appreciation for
what I've done
in their evaluations of the course and teacher (all my schools
require
students to complete an evaluation for each course).
Thomas Leal
The Synergy Group
48 Mathews Place, Suite 8, Alamo CA 94507-2600
Phone: 510 / 938-7748 FAX: 510 / 943-7034
Internet: tomleal@synergygroup.com
"Bringing out the best in people, their ideas, and their
companies."
Hi Peter:
I don't have all the answers, but take a look at how
http://www.match.com
works -- I know it's rather far from the type of information you
will be
processing but the way they do it is pretty cool. It seems as
though their
CGI scripts take much of the work out of managing the site.
Being able to automatically categorize the information and make
'matches'
based on parameters in a personal profile could be applied to
what you're up
against.
The greatest thing about the Internet is the amount of
information available.
The greatest problem with the Internet is the amount of
information available.
A large part of the choice will be made for you in what your ISP
will
provide. Some allow user-developed CGI scripts, most do not. If
your
provider has a Windows NT server, much can be done in Visual
Basic. What
would be nice is to have an SQL Server database on the server
with a VB
script to drive the client end. You could get some very
impressive stuff
running in this configuration.
Ideally, you'd need an Internet version of a Lotus Notes type of
product. I
haven't seen anything quite like that yet -- maybe I should
develop one...
I'll keep looking and let you know if I find anything suitable.
Cheers! Marty...
----------------------------------------------
| Marty R. Milette, P.Prog. mmilette@magi.com
| http://www.magi.com/~mmilette/
| If you always do what you did,
| you'll always get what you got.
----------------------------------------------
RE: New Highly Complex Systems tend to be unstable:
Working with Windows 95 and the INTERNET over the last few
years and being very interested in human nature and behavior -
There seems to be an analogy about things not working very well:
complex systems are unstable - things work, then they don't -
WHY ?
The current model of "Human Beings" is about 40,000
years old and the INTERNET is about 30 years of age. Both are
complex systems made up of sub-systems and parts that all don't
fit perfectly or work smoothly together.
The body-mind, (plant,
reptile, mammal) and all our "selves", emotional,
passionate,
rational elements, are so blended and mixed with "the stuff
that dreams are make of," that dreams, illusions and reality
become so mixed as to become one blended element.
The result of
this complex blend often involves conflict within ourselves and
with others. Clearly we are a new experimental design, a work
in process, that has not had the time to work out all the bugs.
The same instability applies to all collections of complex
systems,
Will they blow this off? Will they use this
as an opportunity to slander the program? Will we two be looking
for new
jobs directly?
Answer: no.
Students do a hellofa job for the most part.
Yes, there is an occasional slackard. But probably less than 1%.
The rest
are outstanding leaders who are given academic credit for taking
"Foundations of Leadership," a class that teaches the concepts
of
leadership and illustrates them by using their team leadership
jobs as
examples.
They also can take practicum hours and other classes
to get a
certificate in Leadership (the equivalent of a minor, here). I
commend
using undergraduates to help in the classroom.
They are capable
of more
than you'd believe.
----------------------------------------------------------
Joann Ward, Ed.S., LPC, NCC Assistant Director
Georgia Tech, Success Programs
Student Services Building, Suite 227
Atlanta, GA 30332-0285
joann.ward@vpss.gatech.edu
PH: (404) 894+1970
FAX: (404) 894+1980
Not my words, but those of a new Canadian user who chanced upon
the
ICDL distance education database!
But don't take anyone's word for it - try for yourself by
accessing
the new, free, online version released on January 8.
There is a vast quantity of information on the literature of
distance
education (over 8,000 entries), on distance teaching institutions
worldwide (over 850 of them), and on courses and programmes
taught at a
distance (over 30,000) by institutions in the UK and other
Commonwealth countries including Australia, Canada, India, New
Zealand
and South Africa.
Searching is better than ever, too. Our software has been
enhanced in
several important areas.
You can reach the database by Telnet from anywhere in the world.
Telnet to acsvax.open.ac.uk
At the welcome message please login to the Open University VAX
cluster
with the Username: ICDL
We would then like you to access the database using your country
name
as Account code. Please enter this without any spaces.
The
Password is
then just AAA
You need to be using a VT100 terminal
If you have any difficulty or want to comment, please send e-mail
to
icdl-enquiries@open.ac.uk
The database is also issued on CD-ROM. I'll be happy to provide
details of the next CD-ROM, which will be available at the end of
January.
Keith Harry
Director, International Centre for Distance Learning
The Open University
Walton Hall
Milton Keynes MK7 6AA
Telephone: +44 1908 653537
Fax: +44 1908 654173
E-mail: k.w.harry@open.ac.uk
WWW: http://acacia.open.ac.uk/
Gopher: rowan.open.ac.uk
Agreed! At times we "educators" must become the "guide on the
side"
instead of the "sage on the stage." Students of all ages must be
allowed/encouraged/required to be responsible for their own
learning.
On Sun, 14 Jan 1996, Thomas Leal wrote:
At 05:31 PM 1/14/96 -0500, you wrote:
People learn best by constructing their own knowledge base.
They
do
this by discussing concepts, arguing about problem solutions and
advocating
for
their positions. This reflects what companies are looking for in
their
employees. This type of interaction does not take place in the
lecture class.
Many companies find that they need to train or retrain new
engineers. If
universities promoted cooperative learning at all levels they
would produce
more
effective graduates, people ready to function well in the real
world.
I agree wholeheartedly! This applies, I would be bold enough to
say, in all
courses, regardless of subject matter. I teach marketing to
undergraduates
at three universities in the San Francisco area. One has
students almost
entirely from other countries, primarily France in my classes.
Somehow over time we professors got the idea that we were the
great fonts of
all wisdom and knowledge. We seemed to forget that the root of
the word
"education" means "to lead out of" or "to lead fourth." Of
course, most of
us learned by sitting passively in front of a lecturer who
droned on for
hours without interacting with us. We soaked up what we could,
then squeezed
it out onto paper at exam time. Retention? Only until the final.
So now we find highly educated people in business who can't make
decisions.
They absorbed facts and figures, but never learned what to do
with any of
that. I don't give my students answers, I give them questions.
If they leave
my course knowing what questions to ask and how to go about
finding answers,
they will be able to apply their learning in the world outside
the academe.
If, instead, they leave with answers, they'll have yesterday's
news.
They'll
find themselves looking backwards in their efforts to succeed,
trying to
recall something from a class long ago. That's like driving a
car by looking
only in the rear view mirror.
We ought to prepare students to be able to figure out where
they're headed,
determine what's happening around them, and to look back now and
then to see
what's behind. And we ought to develop their skills for doing
all this
without our guidance. We ought to bring out their talents for
solving their
own problems.
The more I let go of being in charge of my classes and push the
students to
take more responsibility for their learning experience, the
better they seem
to do. And, may I add, they indicate greater appreciation for
what I've done
in their evaluations of the course and teacher (all my schools
require
students to complete an evaluation for each course).
Thomas Leal
The Synergy Group
48 Mathews Place, Suite 8, Alamo CA 94507-2600
Phone: 510 / 938-7748 FAX: 510 / 943-7034
Internet: tomleal@synergygroup.com
"Bringing out the best in people, their ideas, and their
companies."
Hi Peter:
I don't have all the answers, but take a look at how
http://www.match.com
works -- I know it's rather far from the type of information you
will be
processing but the way they do it is pretty cool. It seems as
though their
CGI scripts take much of the work out of managing the site.
Being able to automatically categorize the information and make
'matches'
based on parameters in a personal profile could be applied to
what you're up
against.
The greatest thing about the Internet is the amount of
information available.
The greatest problem with the Internet is the amount of
information available.
A large part of the choice will be made for you in what your ISP
will
provide. Some allow user-developed CGI scripts, most do not. If
your
provider has a Windows NT server, much can be done in Visual
Basic. What
would be nice is to have an SQL Server database on the server
with a VB
script to drive the client end. You could get some very
impressive stuff
running in this configuration.
Ideally, you'd need an Internet version of a Lotus Notes type of
product. I
haven't seen anything quite like that yet -- maybe I should
develop one...
I'll keep looking and let you know if I find anything suitable.
Cheers! Marty...
----------------------------------------------
| Marty R. Milette, P.Prog. mmilette@magi.com
| http://www.magi.com/~mmilette/
| If you always do what you did,
| you'll always get what you got.
----------------------------------------------
RE: New Highly Complex Systems tend to be unstable:
Working with Windows 95 and the INTERNET over the last few
years and being very interested in human nature and behavior -
There seems to be an analogy about things not working very well:
complex systems are unstable - things work, then they don't -
WHY ?
The current model of "Human Beings" is about 40,000
years old and the INTERNET is about 30 years of age. Both are
complex systems made up of sub-systems and parts that all don't
fit perfectly or work smoothly together.
The body-mind, (plant,
reptile, mammal) and all our "selves", emotional,
passionate,
rational elements, are so blended and mixed with "the stuff
that dreams are make of," that dreams, illusions and reality
become so mixed as to become one blended element.
The result of
this complex blend often involves conflict within ourselves and
with others. Clearly we are a new experimental design, a work
in process, that has not had the time to work out all the bugs.
The same instability applies to all collections of complex
systems,
Students do a hellofa job for the most part.
Yes, there is an occasional slackard. But probably less than 1%.
The rest
are outstanding leaders who are given academic credit for taking
"Foundations of Leadership," a class that teaches the concepts
of
leadership and illustrates them by using their team leadership
jobs as
examples.
They also can take practicum hours and other classes
to get a
certificate in Leadership (the equivalent of a minor, here). I
commend
using undergraduates to help in the classroom.
They are capable
of more
than you'd believe.
----------------------------------------------------------
Joann Ward, Ed.S., LPC, NCC Assistant Director
Georgia Tech, Success Programs
Student Services Building, Suite 227
Atlanta, GA 30332-0285
joann.ward@vpss.gatech.edu
PH: (404) 894+1970
FAX: (404) 894+1980
Not my words, but those of a new Canadian user who chanced upon
the
ICDL distance education database!
But don't take anyone's word for it - try for yourself by
accessing
the new, free, online version released on January 8.
There is a vast quantity of information on the literature of
distance
education (over 8,000 entries), on distance teaching institutions
worldwide (over 850 of them), and on courses and programmes
taught at a
distance (over 30,000) by institutions in the UK and other
Commonwealth countries including Australia, Canada, India, New
Zealand
and South Africa.
Searching is better than ever, too. Our software has been
enhanced in
several important areas.
You can reach the database by Telnet from anywhere in the world.
Telnet to acsvax.open.ac.uk
At the welcome message please login to the Open University VAX
cluster
with the Username: ICDL
We would then like you to access the database using your country
name
as Account code. Please enter this without any spaces.
The
Password is
then just AAA
You need to be using a VT100 terminal
If you have any difficulty or want to comment, please send e-mail
to
icdl-enquiries@open.ac.uk
The database is also issued on CD-ROM. I'll be happy to provide
details of the next CD-ROM, which will be available at the end of
January.
Keith Harry
Director, International Centre for Distance Learning
The Open University
Walton Hall
Milton Keynes MK7 6AA
Telephone: +44 1908 653537
Fax: +44 1908 654173
E-mail: k.w.harry@open.ac.uk
WWW: http://acacia.open.ac.uk/
Gopher: rowan.open.ac.uk
Agreed! At times we "educators" must become the "guide on the
side"
instead of the "sage on the stage." Students of all ages must be
allowed/encouraged/required to be responsible for their own
learning.
On Sun, 14 Jan 1996, Thomas Leal wrote:
At 05:31 PM 1/14/96 -0500, you wrote:
People learn best by constructing their own knowledge base.
They
do
this by discussing concepts, arguing about problem solutions and
advocating
for
their positions. This reflects what companies are looking for in
their
employees. This type of interaction does not take place in the
lecture class.
Many companies find that they need to train or retrain new
engineers. If
universities promoted cooperative learning at all levels they
would produce
more
effective graduates, people ready to function well in the real
world.
I agree wholeheartedly! This applies, I would be bold enough to
say, in all
courses, regardless of subject matter. I teach marketing to
undergraduates
at three universities in the San Francisco area. One has
students almost
entirely from other countries, primarily France in my classes.
Somehow over time we professors got the idea that we were the
great fonts of
all wisdom and knowledge. We seemed to forget that the root of
the word
"education" means "to lead out of" or "to lead fourth." Of
course, most of
us learned by sitting passively in front of a lecturer who
droned on for
hours without interacting with us. We soaked up what we could,
then squeezed
it out onto paper at exam time. Retention? Only until the final.
So now we find highly educated people in business who can't make
decisions.
They absorbed facts and figures, but never learned what to do
with any of
that. I don't give my students answers, I give them questions.
If they leave
my course knowing what questions to ask and how to go about
finding answers,
they will be able to apply their learning in the world outside
the academe.
If, instead, they leave with answers, they'll have yesterday's
news.
They'll
find themselves looking backwards in their efforts to succeed,
trying to
recall something from a class long ago. That's like driving a
car by looking
only in the rear view mirror.
We ought to prepare students to be able to figure out where
they're headed,
determine what's happening around them, and to look back now and
then to see
what's behind. And we ought to develop their skills for doing
all this
without our guidance. We ought to bring out their talents for
solving their
own problems.
The more I let go of being in charge of my classes and push the
students to
take more responsibility for their learning experience, the
better they seem
to do. And, may I add, they indicate greater appreciation for
what I've done
in their evaluations of the course and teacher (all my schools
require
students to complete an evaluation for each course).
Thomas Leal
The Synergy Group
48 Mathews Place, Suite 8, Alamo CA 94507-2600
Phone: 510 / 938-7748 FAX: 510 / 943-7034
Internet: tomleal@synergygroup.com
"Bringing out the best in people, their ideas, and their
companies."
Hi Peter:
I don't have all the answers, but take a look at how
http://www.match.com
works -- I know it's rather far from the type of information you
will be
processing but the way they do it is pretty cool. It seems as
though their
CGI scripts take much of the work out of managing the site.
Being able to automatically categorize the information and make
'matches'
based on parameters in a personal profile could be applied to
what you're up
against.
The greatest thing about the Internet is the amount of
information available.
The greatest problem with the Internet is the amount of
information available.
A large part of the choice will be made for you in what your ISP
will
provide. Some allow user-developed CGI scripts, most do not. If
your
provider has a Windows NT server, much can be done in Visual
Basic. What
would be nice is to have an SQL Server database on the server
with a VB
script to drive the client end. You could get some very
impressive stuff
running in this configuration.
Ideally, you'd need an Internet version of a Lotus Notes type of
product. I
haven't seen anything quite like that yet -- maybe I should
develop one...
I'll keep looking and let you know if I find anything suitable.
Cheers! Marty...
----------------------------------------------
| Marty R. Milette, P.Prog. mmilette@magi.com
| http://www.magi.com/~mmilette/
| If you always do what you did,
| you'll always get what you got.
----------------------------------------------
RE: New Highly Complex Systems tend to be unstable:
Working with Windows 95 and the INTERNET over the last few
years and being very interested in human nature and behavior -
There seems to be an analogy about things not working very well:
complex systems are unstable - things work, then they don't -
WHY ?
The current model of "Human Beings" is about 40,000
years old and the INTERNET is about 30 years of age. Both are
complex systems made up of sub-systems and parts that all don't
fit perfectly or work smoothly together.
The body-mind, (plant,
reptile, mammal) and all our "selves", emotional,
passionate,
rational elements, are so blended and mixed with "the stuff
that dreams are make of," that dreams, illusions and reality
become so mixed as to become one blended element.
The result of
this complex blend often involves conflict within ourselves and
with others. Clearly we are a new experimental design, a work
in process, that has not had the time to work out all the bugs.
The same instability applies to all collections of complex
systems,
They also can take practicum hours and other classes
to get a
certificate in Leadership (the equivalent of a minor, here). I
commend
using undergraduates to help in the classroom.
They are capable
of more
than you'd believe.
----------------------------------------------------------
Joann Ward, Ed.S., LPC, NCC Assistant Director
Georgia Tech, Success Programs
Student Services Building, Suite 227
Atlanta, GA 30332-0285
joann.ward@vpss.gatech.edu
PH: (404) 894+1970
FAX: (404) 894+1980
Not my words, but those of a new Canadian user who chanced upon
the
ICDL distance education database!
But don't take anyone's word for it - try for yourself by
accessing
the new, free, online version released on January 8.
There is a vast quantity of information on the literature of
distance
education (over 8,000 entries), on distance teaching institutions
worldwide (over 850 of them), and on courses and programmes
taught at a
distance (over 30,000) by institutions in the UK and other
Commonwealth countries including Australia, Canada, India, New
Zealand
and South Africa.
Searching is better than ever, too. Our software has been
enhanced in
several important areas.
You can reach the database by Telnet from anywhere in the world.
Telnet to acsvax.open.ac.uk
At the welcome message please login to the Open University VAX
cluster
with the Username: ICDL
We would then like you to access the database using your country
name
as Account code. Please enter this without any spaces.
The
Password is
then just AAA
You need to be using a VT100 terminal
If you have any difficulty or want to comment, please send e-mail
to
icdl-enquiries@open.ac.uk
The database is also issued on CD-ROM. I'll be happy to provide
details of the next CD-ROM, which will be available at the end of
January.
Keith Harry
Director, International Centre for Distance Learning
The Open University
Walton Hall
Milton Keynes MK7 6AA
Telephone: +44 1908 653537
Fax: +44 1908 654173
E-mail: k.w.harry@open.ac.uk
WWW: http://acacia.open.ac.uk/
Gopher: rowan.open.ac.uk
Agreed! At times we "educators" must become the "guide on the
side"
instead of the "sage on the stage." Students of all ages must be
allowed/encouraged/required to be responsible for their own
learning.
On Sun, 14 Jan 1996, Thomas Leal wrote:
At 05:31 PM 1/14/96 -0500, you wrote:
People learn best by constructing their own knowledge base.
They
do
this by discussing concepts, arguing about problem solutions and
advocating
for
their positions. This reflects what companies are looking for in
their
employees. This type of interaction does not take place in the
lecture class.
Many companies find that they need to train or retrain new
engineers. If
universities promoted cooperative learning at all levels they
would produce
more
effective graduates, people ready to function well in the real
world.
I agree wholeheartedly! This applies, I would be bold enough to
say, in all
courses, regardless of subject matter. I teach marketing to
undergraduates
at three universities in the San Francisco area. One has
students almost
entirely from other countries, primarily France in my classes.
Somehow over time we professors got the idea that we were the
great fonts of
all wisdom and knowledge. We seemed to forget that the root of
the word
"education" means "to lead out of" or "to lead fourth." Of
course, most of
us learned by sitting passively in front of a lecturer who
droned on for
hours without interacting with us. We soaked up what we could,
then squeezed
it out onto paper at exam time. Retention? Only until the final.
So now we find highly educated people in business who can't make
decisions.
They absorbed facts and figures, but never learned what to do
with any of
that. I don't give my students answers, I give them questions.
If they leave
my course knowing what questions to ask and how to go about
finding answers,
they will be able to apply their learning in the world outside
the academe.
If, instead, they leave with answers, they'll have yesterday's
news.
They'll
find themselves looking backwards in their efforts to succeed,
trying to
recall something from a class long ago. That's like driving a
car by looking
only in the rear view mirror.
We ought to prepare students to be able to figure out where
they're headed,
determine what's happening around them, and to look back now and
then to see
what's behind. And we ought to develop their skills for doing
all this
without our guidance. We ought to bring out their talents for
solving their
own problems.
The more I let go of being in charge of my classes and push the
students to
take more responsibility for their learning experience, the
better they seem
to do. And, may I add, they indicate greater appreciation for
what I've done
in their evaluations of the course and teacher (all my schools
require
students to complete an evaluation for each course).
Thomas Leal
The Synergy Group
48 Mathews Place, Suite 8, Alamo CA 94507-2600
Phone: 510 / 938-7748 FAX: 510 / 943-7034
Internet: tomleal@synergygroup.com
"Bringing out the best in people, their ideas, and their
companies."
Hi Peter:
I don't have all the answers, but take a look at how
http://www.match.com
works -- I know it's rather far from the type of information you
will be
processing but the way they do it is pretty cool. It seems as
though their
CGI scripts take much of the work out of managing the site.
Being able to automatically categorize the information and make
'matches'
based on parameters in a personal profile could be applied to
what you're up
against.
The greatest thing about the Internet is the amount of
information available.
The greatest problem with the Internet is the amount of
information available.
A large part of the choice will be made for you in what your ISP
will
provide. Some allow user-developed CGI scripts, most do not. If
your
provider has a Windows NT server, much can be done in Visual
Basic. What
would be nice is to have an SQL Server database on the server
with a VB
script to drive the client end. You could get some very
impressive stuff
running in this configuration.
Ideally, you'd need an Internet version of a Lotus Notes type of
product. I
haven't seen anything quite like that yet -- maybe I should
develop one...
I'll keep looking and let you know if I find anything suitable.
Cheers! Marty...
----------------------------------------------
| Marty R. Milette, P.Prog. mmilette@magi.com
| http://www.magi.com/~mmilette/
| If you always do what you did,
| you'll always get what you got.
----------------------------------------------
RE: New Highly Complex Systems tend to be unstable:
Working with Windows 95 and the INTERNET over the last few
years and being very interested in human nature and behavior -
There seems to be an analogy about things not working very well:
complex systems are unstable - things work, then they don't -
WHY ?
The current model of "Human Beings" is about 40,000
years old and the INTERNET is about 30 years of age. Both are
complex systems made up of sub-systems and parts that all don't
fit perfectly or work smoothly together.
The body-mind, (plant,
reptile, mammal) and all our "selves", emotional,
passionate,
rational elements, are so blended and mixed with "the stuff
that dreams are make of," that dreams, illusions and reality
become so mixed as to become one blended element.
The result of
this complex blend often involves conflict within ourselves and
with others. Clearly we are a new experimental design, a work
in process, that has not had the time to work out all the bugs.
The same instability applies to all collections of complex
systems,
----------------------------------------------------------
Joann Ward, Ed.S., LPC, NCC Assistant Director
Georgia Tech, Success Programs
Student Services Building, Suite 227
Atlanta, GA 30332-0285
joann.ward@vpss.gatech.edu
PH: (404) 894+1970
FAX: (404) 894+1980
Not my words, but those of a new Canadian user who chanced upon
the
ICDL distance education database!
But don't take anyone's word for it - try for yourself by
accessing
the new, free, online version released on January 8.
There is a vast quantity of information on the literature of
distance
education (over 8,000 entries), on distance teaching institutions
worldwide (over 850 of them), and on courses and programmes
taught at a
distance (over 30,000) by institutions in the UK and other
Commonwealth countries including Australia, Canada, India, New
Zealand
and South Africa.
Searching is better than ever, too. Our software has been
enhanced in
several important areas.
You can reach the database by Telnet from anywhere in the world.
Telnet to acsvax.open.ac.uk
At the welcome message please login to the Open University VAX
cluster
with the Username: ICDL
We would then like you to access the database using your country
name
as Account code. Please enter this without any spaces.
The
Password is
then just AAA
You need to be using a VT100 terminal
If you have any difficulty or want to comment, please send e-mail
to
icdl-enquiries@open.ac.uk
The database is also issued on CD-ROM. I'll be happy to provide
details of the next CD-ROM, which will be available at the end of
January.
Keith Harry
Director, International Centre for Distance Learning
The Open University
Walton Hall
Milton Keynes MK7 6AA
Telephone: +44 1908 653537
Fax: +44 1908 654173
E-mail: k.w.harry@open.ac.uk
WWW: http://acacia.open.ac.uk/
Gopher: rowan.open.ac.uk
Agreed! At times we "educators" must become the "guide on the
side"
instead of the "sage on the stage." Students of all ages must be
allowed/encouraged/required to be responsible for their own
learning.
On Sun, 14 Jan 1996, Thomas Leal wrote:
At 05:31 PM 1/14/96 -0500, you wrote:
People learn best by constructing their own knowledge base.
They
do
this by discussing concepts, arguing about problem solutions and
advocating
for
their positions. This reflects what companies are looking for in
their
employees. This type of interaction does not take place in the
lecture class.
Many companies find that they need to train or retrain new
engineers. If
universities promoted cooperative learning at all levels they
would produce
more
effective graduates, people ready to function well in the real
world.
I agree wholeheartedly! This applies, I would be bold enough to
say, in all
courses, regardless of subject matter. I teach marketing to
undergraduates
at three universities in the San Francisco area. One has
students almost
entirely from other countries, primarily France in my classes.
Somehow over time we professors got the idea that we were the
great fonts of
all wisdom and knowledge. We seemed to forget that the root of
the word
"education" means "to lead out of" or "to lead fourth." Of
course, most of
us learned by sitting passively in front of a lecturer who
droned on for
hours without interacting with us. We soaked up what we could,
then squeezed
it out onto paper at exam time. Retention? Only until the final.
So now we find highly educated people in business who can't make
decisions.
They absorbed facts and figures, but never learned what to do
with any of
that. I don't give my students answers, I give them questions.
If they leave
my course knowing what questions to ask and how to go about
finding answers,
they will be able to apply their learning in the world outside
the academe.
If, instead, they leave with answers, they'll have yesterday's
news.
They'll
find themselves looking backwards in their efforts to succeed,
trying to
recall something from a class long ago. That's like driving a
car by looking
only in the rear view mirror.
We ought to prepare students to be able to figure out where
they're headed,
determine what's happening around them, and to look back now and
then to see
what's behind. And we ought to develop their skills for doing
all this
without our guidance. We ought to bring out their talents for
solving their
own problems.
The more I let go of being in charge of my classes and push the
students to
take more responsibility for their learning experience, the
better they seem
to do. And, may I add, they indicate greater appreciation for
what I've done
in their evaluations of the course and teacher (all my schools
require
students to complete an evaluation for each course).
Thomas Leal
The Synergy Group
48 Mathews Place, Suite 8, Alamo CA 94507-2600
Phone: 510 / 938-7748 FAX: 510 / 943-7034
Internet: tomleal@synergygroup.com
"Bringing out the best in people, their ideas, and their
companies."
Hi Peter:
I don't have all the answers, but take a look at how
http://www.match.com
works -- I know it's rather far from the type of information you
will be
processing but the way they do it is pretty cool. It seems as
though their
CGI scripts take much of the work out of managing the site.
Being able to automatically categorize the information and make
'matches'
based on parameters in a personal profile could be applied to
what you're up
against.
The greatest thing about the Internet is the amount of
information available.
The greatest problem with the Internet is the amount of
information available.
A large part of the choice will be made for you in what your ISP
will
provide. Some allow user-developed CGI scripts, most do not. If
your
provider has a Windows NT server, much can be done in Visual
Basic. What
would be nice is to have an SQL Server database on the server
with a VB
script to drive the client end. You could get some very
impressive stuff
running in this configuration.
Ideally, you'd need an Internet version of a Lotus Notes type of
product. I
haven't seen anything quite like that yet -- maybe I should
develop one...
I'll keep looking and let you know if I find anything suitable.
Cheers! Marty...
----------------------------------------------
| Marty R. Milette, P.Prog. mmilette@magi.com
| http://www.magi.com/~mmilette/
| If you always do what you did,
| you'll always get what you got.
----------------------------------------------
RE: New Highly Complex Systems tend to be unstable:
Working with Windows 95 and the INTERNET over the last few
years and being very interested in human nature and behavior -
There seems to be an analogy about things not working very well:
complex systems are unstable - things work, then they don't -
WHY ?
The current model of "Human Beings" is about 40,000
years old and the INTERNET is about 30 years of age. Both are
complex systems made up of sub-systems and parts that all don't
fit perfectly or work smoothly together.
The body-mind, (plant,
reptile, mammal) and all our "selves", emotional,
passionate,
rational elements, are so blended and mixed with "the stuff
that dreams are make of," that dreams, illusions and reality
become so mixed as to become one blended element.
The result of
this complex blend often involves conflict within ourselves and
with others. Clearly we are a new experimental design, a work
in process, that has not had the time to work out all the bugs.
The same instability applies to all collections of complex
systems,
PH: (404) 894+1970
FAX: (404) 894+1980
Not my words, but those of a new Canadian user who chanced upon
the
ICDL distance education database!
But don't take anyone's word for it - try for yourself by
accessing
the new, free, online version released on January 8.
There is a vast quantity of information on the literature of
distance
education (over 8,000 entries), on distance teaching institutions
worldwide (over 850 of them), and on courses and programmes
taught at a
distance (over 30,000) by institutions in the UK and other
Commonwealth countries including Australia, Canada, India, New
Zealand
and South Africa.
Searching is better than ever, too. Our software has been
enhanced in
several important areas.
You can reach the database by Telnet from anywhere in the world.
Telnet to acsvax.open.ac.uk
At the welcome message please login to the Open University VAX
cluster
with the Username: ICDL
We would then like you to access the database using your country
name
as Account code. Please enter this without any spaces.
The
Password is
then just AAA
You need to be using a VT100 terminal
If you have any difficulty or want to comment, please send e-mail
to
icdl-enquiries@open.ac.uk
The database is also issued on CD-ROM. I'll be happy to provide
details of the next CD-ROM, which will be available at the end of
January.
Keith Harry
Director, International Centre for Distance Learning
The Open University
Walton Hall
Milton Keynes MK7 6AA
Telephone: +44 1908 653537
Fax: +44 1908 654173
E-mail: k.w.harry@open.ac.uk
WWW: http://acacia.open.ac.uk/
Gopher: rowan.open.ac.uk
Agreed! At times we "educators" must become the "guide on the
side"
instead of the "sage on the stage." Students of all ages must be
allowed/encouraged/required to be responsible for their own
learning.
On Sun, 14 Jan 1996, Thomas Leal wrote:
At 05:31 PM 1/14/96 -0500, you wrote:
People learn best by constructing their own knowledge base.
They
do
this by discussing concepts, arguing about problem solutions and
advocating
for
their positions. This reflects what companies are looking for in
their
employees. This type of interaction does not take place in the
lecture class.
Many companies find that they need to train or retrain new
engineers. If
universities promoted cooperative learning at all levels they
would produce
more
effective graduates, people ready to function well in the real
world.
I agree wholeheartedly! This applies, I would be bold enough to
say, in all
courses, regardless of subject matter. I teach marketing to
undergraduates
at three universities in the San Francisco area. One has
students almost
entirely from other countries, primarily France in my classes.
Somehow over time we professors got the idea that we were the
great fonts of
all wisdom and knowledge. We seemed to forget that the root of
the word
"education" means "to lead out of" or "to lead fourth." Of
course, most of
us learned by sitting passively in front of a lecturer who
droned on for
hours without interacting with us. We soaked up what we could,
then squeezed
it out onto paper at exam time. Retention? Only until the final.
So now we find highly educated people in business who can't make
decisions.
They absorbed facts and figures, but never learned what to do
with any of
that. I don't give my students answers, I give them questions.
If they leave
my course knowing what questions to ask and how to go about
finding answers,
they will be able to apply their learning in the world outside
the academe.
If, instead, they leave with answers, they'll have yesterday's
news.
They'll
find themselves looking backwards in their efforts to succeed,
trying to
recall something from a class long ago. That's like driving a
car by looking
only in the rear view mirror.
We ought to prepare students to be able to figure out where
they're headed,
determine what's happening around them, and to look back now and
then to see
what's behind. And we ought to develop their skills for doing
all this
without our guidance. We ought to bring out their talents for
solving their
own problems.
The more I let go of being in charge of my classes and push the
students to
take more responsibility for their learning experience, the
better they seem
to do. And, may I add, they indicate greater appreciation for
what I've done
in their evaluations of the course and teacher (all my schools
require
students to complete an evaluation for each course).
Thomas Leal
The Synergy Group
48 Mathews Place, Suite 8, Alamo CA 94507-2600
Phone: 510 / 938-7748 FAX: 510 / 943-7034
Internet: tomleal@synergygroup.com
"Bringing out the best in people, their ideas, and their
companies."
Hi Peter:
I don't have all the answers, but take a look at how
http://www.match.com
works -- I know it's rather far from the type of information you
will be
processing but the way they do it is pretty cool. It seems as
though their
CGI scripts take much of the work out of managing the site.
Being able to automatically categorize the information and make
'matches'
based on parameters in a personal profile could be applied to
what you're up
against.
The greatest thing about the Internet is the amount of
information available.
The greatest problem with the Internet is the amount of
information available.
A large part of the choice will be made for you in what your ISP
will
provide. Some allow user-developed CGI scripts, most do not. If
your
provider has a Windows NT server, much can be done in Visual
Basic. What
would be nice is to have an SQL Server database on the server
with a VB
script to drive the client end. You could get some very
impressive stuff
running in this configuration.
Ideally, you'd need an Internet version of a Lotus Notes type of
product. I
haven't seen anything quite like that yet -- maybe I should
develop one...
I'll keep looking and let you know if I find anything suitable.
Cheers! Marty...
----------------------------------------------
| Marty R. Milette, P.Prog. mmilette@magi.com
| http://www.magi.com/~mmilette/
| If you always do what you did,
| you'll always get what you got.
----------------------------------------------
RE: New Highly Complex Systems tend to be unstable:
Working with Windows 95 and the INTERNET over the last few
years and being very interested in human nature and behavior -
There seems to be an analogy about things not working very well:
complex systems are unstable - things work, then they don't -
WHY ?
The current model of "Human Beings" is about 40,000
years old and the INTERNET is about 30 years of age. Both are
complex systems made up of sub-systems and parts that all don't
fit perfectly or work smoothly together.
The body-mind, (plant,
reptile, mammal) and all our "selves", emotional,
passionate,
rational elements, are so blended and mixed with "the stuff
that dreams are make of," that dreams, illusions and reality
become so mixed as to become one blended element.
The result of
this complex blend often involves conflict within ourselves and
with others. Clearly we are a new experimental design, a work
in process, that has not had the time to work out all the bugs.
The same instability applies to all collections of complex
systems,
Not my words, but those of a new Canadian user who chanced upon
the
ICDL distance education database!
But don't take anyone's word for it - try for yourself by
accessing
the new, free, online version released on January 8.
There is a vast quantity of information on the literature of
distance
education (over 8,000 entries), on distance teaching institutions
worldwide (over 850 of them), and on courses and programmes
taught at a
distance (over 30,000) by institutions in the UK and other
Commonwealth countries including Australia, Canada, India, New
Zealand
and South Africa.
Searching is better than ever, too. Our software has been
enhanced in
several important areas.
You can reach the database by Telnet from anywhere in the world.
Telnet to acsvax.open.ac.uk
At the welcome message please login to the Open University VAX
cluster
with the Username: ICDL
We would then like you to access the database using your country
name
as Account code. Please enter this without any spaces.
The
Password is
then just AAA
You need to be using a VT100 terminal
If you have any difficulty or want to comment, please send e-mail
to
icdl-enquiries@open.ac.uk
The database is also issued on CD-ROM. I'll be happy to provide
details of the next CD-ROM, which will be available at the end of
January.
Keith Harry
Director, International Centre for Distance Learning
The Open University
Walton Hall
Milton Keynes MK7 6AA
Telephone: +44 1908 653537
Fax: +44 1908 654173
E-mail: k.w.harry@open.ac.uk
WWW: http://acacia.open.ac.uk/
Gopher: rowan.open.ac.uk
Agreed! At times we "educators" must become the "guide on the
side"
instead of the "sage on the stage." Students of all ages must be
allowed/encouraged/required to be responsible for their own
learning.
On Sun, 14 Jan 1996, Thomas Leal wrote:
At 05:31 PM 1/14/96 -0500, you wrote:
People learn best by constructing their own knowledge base.
They
do
this by discussing concepts, arguing about problem solutions and
advocating
for
their positions. This reflects what companies are looking for in
their
employees. This type of interaction does not take place in the
lecture class.
Many companies find that they need to train or retrain new
engineers. If
universities promoted cooperative learning at all levels they
would produce
more
effective graduates, people ready to function well in the real
world.
I agree wholeheartedly! This applies, I would be bold enough to
say, in all
courses, regardless of subject matter. I teach marketing to
undergraduates
at three universities in the San Francisco area. One has
students almost
entirely from other countries, primarily France in my classes.
Somehow over time we professors got the idea that we were the
great fonts of
all wisdom and knowledge. We seemed to forget that the root of
the word
"education" means "to lead out of" or "to lead fourth." Of
course, most of
us learned by sitting passively in front of a lecturer who
droned on for
hours without interacting with us. We soaked up what we could,
then squeezed
it out onto paper at exam time. Retention? Only until the final.
So now we find highly educated people in business who can't make
decisions.
They absorbed facts and figures, but never learned what to do
with any of
that. I don't give my students answers, I give them questions.
If they leave
my course knowing what questions to ask and how to go about
finding answers,
they will be able to apply their learning in the world outside
the academe.
If, instead, they leave with answers, they'll have yesterday's
news.
They'll
find themselves looking backwards in their efforts to succeed,
trying to
recall something from a class long ago. That's like driving a
car by looking
only in the rear view mirror.
We ought to prepare students to be able to figure out where
they're headed,
determine what's happening around them, and to look back now and
then to see
what's behind. And we ought to develop their skills for doing
all this
without our guidance. We ought to bring out their talents for
solving their
own problems.
The more I let go of being in charge of my classes and push the
students to
take more responsibility for their learning experience, the
better they seem
to do. And, may I add, they indicate greater appreciation for
what I've done
in their evaluations of the course and teacher (all my schools
require
students to complete an evaluation for each course).
Thomas Leal
The Synergy Group
48 Mathews Place, Suite 8, Alamo CA 94507-2600
Phone: 510 / 938-7748 FAX: 510 / 943-7034
Internet: tomleal@synergygroup.com
"Bringing out the best in people, their ideas, and their
companies."
Hi Peter:
I don't have all the answers, but take a look at how
http://www.match.com
works -- I know it's rather far from the type of information you
will be
processing but the way they do it is pretty cool. It seems as
though their
CGI scripts take much of the work out of managing the site.
Being able to automatically categorize the information and make
'matches'
based on parameters in a personal profile could be applied to
what you're up
against.
The greatest thing about the Internet is the amount of
information available.
The greatest problem with the Internet is the amount of
information available.
A large part of the choice will be made for you in what your ISP
will
provide. Some allow user-developed CGI scripts, most do not. If
your
provider has a Windows NT server, much can be done in Visual
Basic. What
would be nice is to have an SQL Server database on the server
with a VB
script to drive the client end. You could get some very
impressive stuff
running in this configuration.
Ideally, you'd need an Internet version of a Lotus Notes type of
product. I
haven't seen anything quite like that yet -- maybe I should
develop one...
I'll keep looking and let you know if I find anything suitable.
Cheers! Marty...
----------------------------------------------
| Marty R. Milette, P.Prog. mmilette@magi.com
| http://www.magi.com/~mmilette/
| If you always do what you did,
| you'll always get what you got.
----------------------------------------------
RE: New Highly Complex Systems tend to be unstable:
Working with Windows 95 and the INTERNET over the last few
years and being very interested in human nature and behavior -
There seems to be an analogy about things not working very well:
complex systems are unstable - things work, then they don't -
WHY ?
The current model of "Human Beings" is about 40,000
years old and the INTERNET is about 30 years of age. Both are
complex systems made up of sub-systems and parts that all don't
fit perfectly or work smoothly together.
The body-mind, (plant,
reptile, mammal) and all our "selves", emotional,
passionate,
rational elements, are so blended and mixed with "the stuff
that dreams are make of," that dreams, illusions and reality
become so mixed as to become one blended element.
The result of
this complex blend often involves conflict within ourselves and
with others. Clearly we are a new experimental design, a work
in process, that has not had the time to work out all the bugs.
The same instability applies to all collections of complex
systems,
There is a vast quantity of information on the literature of
distance
education (over 8,000 entries), on distance teaching institutions
worldwide (over 850 of them), and on courses and programmes
taught at a
distance (over 30,000) by institutions in the UK and other
Commonwealth countries including Australia, Canada, India, New
Zealand
and South Africa.
Searching is better than ever, too. Our software has been
enhanced in
several important areas.
You can reach the database by Telnet from anywhere in the world.
Telnet to acsvax.open.ac.uk
At the welcome message please login to the Open University VAX
cluster
with the Username: ICDL
We would then like you to access the database using your country
name
as Account code. Please enter this without any spaces.
The
Password is
then just AAA
You need to be using a VT100 terminal
If you have any difficulty or want to comment, please send e-mail
to
icdl-enquiries@open.ac.uk
The database is also issued on CD-ROM. I'll be happy to provide
details of the next CD-ROM, which will be available at the end of
January.
Keith Harry
Director, International Centre for Distance Learning
The Open University
Walton Hall
Milton Keynes MK7 6AA
Telephone: +44 1908 653537
Fax: +44 1908 654173
E-mail: k.w.harry@open.ac.uk
WWW: http://acacia.open.ac.uk/
Gopher: rowan.open.ac.uk
Agreed! At times we "educators" must become the "guide on the
side"
instead of the "sage on the stage." Students of all ages must be
allowed/encouraged/required to be responsible for their own
learning.
On Sun, 14 Jan 1996, Thomas Leal wrote:
At 05:31 PM 1/14/96 -0500, you wrote:
People learn best by constructing their own knowledge base.
They
do
this by discussing concepts, arguing about problem solutions and
advocating
for
their positions. This reflects what companies are looking for in
their
employees. This type of interaction does not take place in the
lecture class.
Many companies find that they need to train or retrain new
engineers. If
universities promoted cooperative learning at all levels they
would produce
more
effective graduates, people ready to function well in the real
world.
I agree wholeheartedly! This applies, I would be bold enough to
say, in all
courses, regardless of subject matter. I teach marketing to
undergraduates
at three universities in the San Francisco area. One has
students almost
entirely from other countries, primarily France in my classes.
Somehow over time we professors got the idea that we were the
great fonts of
all wisdom and knowledge. We seemed to forget that the root of
the word
"education" means "to lead out of" or "to lead fourth." Of
course, most of
us learned by sitting passively in front of a lecturer who
droned on for
hours without interacting with us. We soaked up what we could,
then squeezed
it out onto paper at exam time. Retention? Only until the final.
So now we find highly educated people in business who can't make
decisions.
They absorbed facts and figures, but never learned what to do
with any of
that. I don't give my students answers, I give them questions.
If they leave
my course knowing what questions to ask and how to go about
finding answers,
they will be able to apply their learning in the world outside
the academe.
If, instead, they leave with answers, they'll have yesterday's
news.
They'll
find themselves looking backwards in their efforts to succeed,
trying to
recall something from a class long ago. That's like driving a
car by looking
only in the rear view mirror.
We ought to prepare students to be able to figure out where
they're headed,
determine what's happening around them, and to look back now and
then to see
what's behind. And we ought to develop their skills for doing
all this
without our guidance. We ought to bring out their talents for
solving their
own problems.
The more I let go of being in charge of my classes and push the
students to
take more responsibility for their learning experience, the
better they seem
to do. And, may I add, they indicate greater appreciation for
what I've done
in their evaluations of the course and teacher (all my schools
require
students to complete an evaluation for each course).
Thomas Leal
The Synergy Group
48 Mathews Place, Suite 8, Alamo CA 94507-2600
Phone: 510 / 938-7748 FAX: 510 / 943-7034
Internet: tomleal@synergygroup.com
"Bringing out the best in people, their ideas, and their
companies."
Hi Peter:
I don't have all the answers, but take a look at how
http://www.match.com
works -- I know it's rather far from the type of information you
will be
processing but the way they do it is pretty cool. It seems as
though their
CGI scripts take much of the work out of managing the site.
Being able to automatically categorize the information and make
'matches'
based on parameters in a personal profile could be applied to
what you're up
against.
The greatest thing about the Internet is the amount of
information available.
The greatest problem with the Internet is the amount of
information available.
A large part of the choice will be made for you in what your ISP
will
provide. Some allow user-developed CGI scripts, most do not. If
your
provider has a Windows NT server, much can be done in Visual
Basic. What
would be nice is to have an SQL Server database on the server
with a VB
script to drive the client end. You could get some very
impressive stuff
running in this configuration.
Ideally, you'd need an Internet version of a Lotus Notes type of
product. I
haven't seen anything quite like that yet -- maybe I should
develop one...
I'll keep looking and let you know if I find anything suitable.
Cheers! Marty...
----------------------------------------------
| Marty R. Milette, P.Prog. mmilette@magi.com
| http://www.magi.com/~mmilette/
| If you always do what you did,
| you'll always get what you got.
----------------------------------------------
RE: New Highly Complex Systems tend to be unstable:
Working with Windows 95 and the INTERNET over the last few
years and being very interested in human nature and behavior -
There seems to be an analogy about things not working very well:
complex systems are unstable - things work, then they don't -
WHY ?
The current model of "Human Beings" is about 40,000
years old and the INTERNET is about 30 years of age. Both are
complex systems made up of sub-systems and parts that all don't
fit perfectly or work smoothly together.
The body-mind, (plant,
reptile, mammal) and all our "selves", emotional,
passionate,
rational elements, are so blended and mixed with "the stuff
that dreams are make of," that dreams, illusions and reality
become so mixed as to become one blended element.
The result of
this complex blend often involves conflict within ourselves and
with others. Clearly we are a new experimental design, a work
in process, that has not had the time to work out all the bugs.
The same instability applies to all collections of complex
systems,
Searching is better than ever, too. Our software has been
enhanced in
several important areas.
You can reach the database by Telnet from anywhere in the world.
Telnet to acsvax.open.ac.uk
At the welcome message please login to the Open University VAX
cluster
with the Username: ICDL
We would then like you to access the database using your country
name
as Account code. Please enter this without any spaces.
The
Password is
then just AAA
You need to be using a VT100 terminal
If you have any difficulty or want to comment, please send e-mail
to
icdl-enquiries@open.ac.uk
The database is also issued on CD-ROM. I'll be happy to provide
details of the next CD-ROM, which will be available at the end of
January.
Keith Harry
Director, International Centre for Distance Learning
The Open University
Walton Hall
Milton Keynes MK7 6AA
Telephone: +44 1908 653537
Fax: +44 1908 654173
E-mail: k.w.harry@open.ac.uk
WWW: http://acacia.open.ac.uk/
Gopher: rowan.open.ac.uk
Agreed! At times we "educators" must become the "guide on the
side"
instead of the "sage on the stage." Students of all ages must be
allowed/encouraged/required to be responsible for their own
learning.
On Sun, 14 Jan 1996, Thomas Leal wrote:
At 05:31 PM 1/14/96 -0500, you wrote:
People learn best by constructing their own knowledge base.
They
do
this by discussing concepts, arguing about problem solutions and
advocating
for
their positions. This reflects what companies are looking for in
their
employees. This type of interaction does not take place in the
lecture class.
Many companies find that they need to train or retrain new
engineers. If
universities promoted cooperative learning at all levels they
would produce
more
effective graduates, people ready to function well in the real
world.
I agree wholeheartedly! This applies, I would be bold enough to
say, in all
courses, regardless of subject matter. I teach marketing to
undergraduates
at three universities in the San Francisco area. One has
students almost
entirely from other countries, primarily France in my classes.
Somehow over time we professors got the idea that we were the
great fonts of
all wisdom and knowledge. We seemed to forget that the root of
the word
"education" means "to lead out of" or "to lead fourth." Of
course, most of
us learned by sitting passively in front of a lecturer who
droned on for
hours without interacting with us. We soaked up what we could,
then squeezed
it out onto paper at exam time. Retention? Only until the final.
So now we find highly educated people in business who can't make
decisions.
They absorbed facts and figures, but never learned what to do
with any of
that. I don't give my students answers, I give them questions.
If they leave
my course knowing what questions to ask and how to go about
finding answers,
they will be able to apply their learning in the world outside
the academe.
If, instead, they leave with answers, they'll have yesterday's
news.
They'll
find themselves looking backwards in their efforts to succeed,
trying to
recall something from a class long ago. That's like driving a
car by looking
only in the rear view mirror.
We ought to prepare students to be able to figure out where
they're headed,
determine what's happening around them, and to look back now and
then to see
what's behind. And we ought to develop their skills for doing
all this
without our guidance. We ought to bring out their talents for
solving their
own problems.
The more I let go of being in charge of my classes and push the
students to
take more responsibility for their learning experience, the
better they seem
to do. And, may I add, they indicate greater appreciation for
what I've done
in their evaluations of the course and teacher (all my schools
require
students to complete an evaluation for each course).
Thomas Leal
The Synergy Group
48 Mathews Place, Suite 8, Alamo CA 94507-2600
Phone: 510 / 938-7748 FAX: 510 / 943-7034
Internet: tomleal@synergygroup.com
"Bringing out the best in people, their ideas, and their
companies."
Hi Peter:
I don't have all the answers, but take a look at how
http://www.match.com
works -- I know it's rather far from the type of information you
will be
processing but the way they do it is pretty cool. It seems as
though their
CGI scripts take much of the work out of managing the site.
Being able to automatically categorize the information and make
'matches'
based on parameters in a personal profile could be applied to
what you're up
against.
The greatest thing about the Internet is the amount of
information available.
The greatest problem with the Internet is the amount of
information available.
A large part of the choice will be made for you in what your ISP
will
provide. Some allow user-developed CGI scripts, most do not. If
your
provider has a Windows NT server, much can be done in Visual
Basic. What
would be nice is to have an SQL Server database on the server
with a VB
script to drive the client end. You could get some very
impressive stuff
running in this configuration.
Ideally, you'd need an Internet version of a Lotus Notes type of
product. I
haven't seen anything quite like that yet -- maybe I should
develop one...
I'll keep looking and let you know if I find anything suitable.
Cheers! Marty...
----------------------------------------------
| Marty R. Milette, P.Prog. mmilette@magi.com
| http://www.magi.com/~mmilette/
| If you always do what you did,
| you'll always get what you got.
----------------------------------------------
RE: New Highly Complex Systems tend to be unstable:
Working with Windows 95 and the INTERNET over the last few
years and being very interested in human nature and behavior -
There seems to be an analogy about things not working very well:
complex systems are unstable - things work, then they don't -
WHY ?
The current model of "Human Beings" is about 40,000
years old and the INTERNET is about 30 years of age. Both are
complex systems made up of sub-systems and parts that all don't
fit perfectly or work smoothly together.
The body-mind, (plant,
reptile, mammal) and all our "selves", emotional,
passionate,
rational elements, are so blended and mixed with "the stuff
that dreams are make of," that dreams, illusions and reality
become so mixed as to become one blended element.
The result of
this complex blend often involves conflict within ourselves and
with others. Clearly we are a new experimental design, a work
in process, that has not had the time to work out all the bugs.
The same instability applies to all collections of complex
systems,
We would then like you to access the database using your country
name
as Account code. Please enter this without any spaces.
The
Password is
then just AAA
You need to be using a VT100 terminal
If you have any difficulty or want to comment, please send e-mail
to
icdl-enquiries@open.ac.uk
The database is also issued on CD-ROM. I'll be happy to provide
details of the next CD-ROM, which will be available at the end of
January.
Keith Harry
Director, International Centre for Distance Learning
The Open University
Walton Hall
Milton Keynes MK7 6AA
Telephone: +44 1908 653537
Fax: +44 1908 654173
E-mail: k.w.harry@open.ac.uk
WWW: http://acacia.open.ac.uk/
Gopher: rowan.open.ac.uk
Agreed! At times we "educators" must become the "guide on the
side"
instead of the "sage on the stage." Students of all ages must be
allowed/encouraged/required to be responsible for their own
learning.
On Sun, 14 Jan 1996, Thomas Leal wrote:
At 05:31 PM 1/14/96 -0500, you wrote:
People learn best by constructing their own knowledge base.
They
do
this by discussing concepts, arguing about problem solutions and
advocating
for
their positions. This reflects what companies are looking for in
their
employees. This type of interaction does not take place in the
lecture class.
Many companies find that they need to train or retrain new
engineers. If
universities promoted cooperative learning at all levels they
would produce
more
effective graduates, people ready to function well in the real
world.
I agree wholeheartedly! This applies, I would be bold enough to
say, in all
courses, regardless of subject matter. I teach marketing to
undergraduates
at three universities in the San Francisco area. One has
students almost
entirely from other countries, primarily France in my classes.
Somehow over time we professors got the idea that we were the
great fonts of
all wisdom and knowledge. We seemed to forget that the root of
the word
"education" means "to lead out of" or "to lead fourth." Of
course, most of
us learned by sitting passively in front of a lecturer who
droned on for
hours without interacting with us. We soaked up what we could,
then squeezed
it out onto paper at exam time. Retention? Only until the final.
So now we find highly educated people in business who can't make
decisions.
They absorbed facts and figures, but never learned what to do
with any of
that. I don't give my students answers, I give them questions.
If they leave
my course knowing what questions to ask and how to go about
finding answers,
they will be able to apply their learning in the world outside
the academe.
If, instead, they leave with answers, they'll have yesterday's
news.
They'll
find themselves looking backwards in their efforts to succeed,
trying to
recall something from a class long ago. That's like driving a
car by looking
only in the rear view mirror.
We ought to prepare students to be able to figure out where
they're headed,
determine what's happening around them, and to look back now and
then to see
what's behind. And we ought to develop their skills for doing
all this
without our guidance. We ought to bring out their talents for
solving their
own problems.
The more I let go of being in charge of my classes and push the
students to
take more responsibility for their learning experience, the
better they seem
to do. And, may I add, they indicate greater appreciation for
what I've done
in their evaluations of the course and teacher (all my schools
require
students to complete an evaluation for each course).
Thomas Leal
The Synergy Group
48 Mathews Place, Suite 8, Alamo CA 94507-2600
Phone: 510 / 938-7748 FAX: 510 / 943-7034
Internet: tomleal@synergygroup.com
"Bringing out the best in people, their ideas, and their
companies."
Hi Peter:
I don't have all the answers, but take a look at how
http://www.match.com
works -- I know it's rather far from the type of information you
will be
processing but the way they do it is pretty cool. It seems as
though their
CGI scripts take much of the work out of managing the site.
Being able to automatically categorize the information and make
'matches'
based on parameters in a personal profile could be applied to
what you're up
against.
The greatest thing about the Internet is the amount of
information available.
The greatest problem with the Internet is the amount of
information available.
A large part of the choice will be made for you in what your ISP
will
provide. Some allow user-developed CGI scripts, most do not. If
your
provider has a Windows NT server, much can be done in Visual
Basic. What
would be nice is to have an SQL Server database on the server
with a VB
script to drive the client end. You could get some very
impressive stuff
running in this configuration.
Ideally, you'd need an Internet version of a Lotus Notes type of
product. I
haven't seen anything quite like that yet -- maybe I should
develop one...
I'll keep looking and let you know if I find anything suitable.
Cheers! Marty...
----------------------------------------------
| Marty R. Milette, P.Prog. mmilette@magi.com
| http://www.magi.com/~mmilette/
| If you always do what you did,
| you'll always get what you got.
----------------------------------------------
RE: New Highly Complex Systems tend to be unstable:
Working with Windows 95 and the INTERNET over the last few
years and being very interested in human nature and behavior -
There seems to be an analogy about things not working very well:
complex systems are unstable - things work, then they don't -
WHY ?
The current model of "Human Beings" is about 40,000
years old and the INTERNET is about 30 years of age. Both are
complex systems made up of sub-systems and parts that all don't
fit perfectly or work smoothly together.
The body-mind, (plant,
reptile, mammal) and all our "selves", emotional,
passionate,
rational elements, are so blended and mixed with "the stuff
that dreams are make of," that dreams, illusions and reality
become so mixed as to become one blended element.
The result of
this complex blend often involves conflict within ourselves and
with others. Clearly we are a new experimental design, a work
in process, that has not had the time to work out all the bugs.
The same instability applies to all collections of complex
systems,
You need to be using a VT100 terminal
If you have any difficulty or want to comment, please send e-mail
to
icdl-enquiries@open.ac.uk
The database is also issued on CD-ROM. I'll be happy to provide
details of the next CD-ROM, which will be available at the end of
January.
Keith Harry
Director, International Centre for Distance Learning
The Open University
Walton Hall
Milton Keynes MK7 6AA
Telephone: +44 1908 653537
Fax: +44 1908 654173
E-mail: k.w.harry@open.ac.uk
WWW: http://acacia.open.ac.uk/
Gopher: rowan.open.ac.uk
Agreed! At times we "educators" must become the "guide on the
side"
instead of the "sage on the stage." Students of all ages must be
allowed/encouraged/required to be responsible for their own
learning.
On Sun, 14 Jan 1996, Thomas Leal wrote:
At 05:31 PM 1/14/96 -0500, you wrote:
People learn best by constructing their own knowledge base.
They
do
this by discussing concepts, arguing about problem solutions and
advocating
for
their positions. This reflects what companies are looking for in
their
employees. This type of interaction does not take place in the
lecture class.
Many companies find that they need to train or retrain new
engineers. If
universities promoted cooperative learning at all levels they
would produce
more
effective graduates, people ready to function well in the real
world.
I agree wholeheartedly! This applies, I would be bold enough to
say, in all
courses, regardless of subject matter. I teach marketing to
undergraduates
at three universities in the San Francisco area. One has
students almost
entirely from other countries, primarily France in my classes.
Somehow over time we professors got the idea that we were the
great fonts of
all wisdom and knowledge. We seemed to forget that the root of
the word
"education" means "to lead out of" or "to lead fourth." Of
course, most of
us learned by sitting passively in front of a lecturer who
droned on for
hours without interacting with us. We soaked up what we could,
then squeezed
it out onto paper at exam time. Retention? Only until the final.
So now we find highly educated people in business who can't make
decisions.
They absorbed facts and figures, but never learned what to do
with any of
that. I don't give my students answers, I give them questions.
If they leave
my course knowing what questions to ask and how to go about
finding answers,
they will be able to apply their learning in the world outside
the academe.
If, instead, they leave with answers, they'll have yesterday's
news.
They'll
find themselves looking backwards in their efforts to succeed,
trying to
recall something from a class long ago. That's like driving a
car by looking
only in the rear view mirror.
We ought to prepare students to be able to figure out where
they're headed,
determine what's happening around them, and to look back now and
then to see
what's behind. And we ought to develop their skills for doing
all this
without our guidance. We ought to bring out their talents for
solving their
own problems.
The more I let go of being in charge of my classes and push the
students to
take more responsibility for their learning experience, the
better they seem
to do. And, may I add, they indicate greater appreciation for
what I've done
in their evaluations of the course and teacher (all my schools
require
students to complete an evaluation for each course).
Thomas Leal
The Synergy Group
48 Mathews Place, Suite 8, Alamo CA 94507-2600
Phone: 510 / 938-7748 FAX: 510 / 943-7034
Internet: tomleal@synergygroup.com
"Bringing out the best in people, their ideas, and their
companies."
Hi Peter:
I don't have all the answers, but take a look at how
http://www.match.com
works -- I know it's rather far from the type of information you
will be
processing but the way they do it is pretty cool. It seems as
though their
CGI scripts take much of the work out of managing the site.
Being able to automatically categorize the information and make
'matches'
based on parameters in a personal profile could be applied to
what you're up
against.
The greatest thing about the Internet is the amount of
information available.
The greatest problem with the Internet is the amount of
information available.
A large part of the choice will be made for you in what your ISP
will
provide. Some allow user-developed CGI scripts, most do not. If
your
provider has a Windows NT server, much can be done in Visual
Basic. What
would be nice is to have an SQL Server database on the server
with a VB
script to drive the client end. You could get some very
impressive stuff
running in this configuration.
Ideally, you'd need an Internet version of a Lotus Notes type of
product. I
haven't seen anything quite like that yet -- maybe I should
develop one...
I'll keep looking and let you know if I find anything suitable.
Cheers! Marty...
----------------------------------------------
| Marty R. Milette, P.Prog. mmilette@magi.com
| http://www.magi.com/~mmilette/
| If you always do what you did,
| you'll always get what you got.
----------------------------------------------
RE: New Highly Complex Systems tend to be unstable:
Working with Windows 95 and the INTERNET over the last few
years and being very interested in human nature and behavior -
There seems to be an analogy about things not working very well:
complex systems are unstable - things work, then they don't -
WHY ?
The current model of "Human Beings" is about 40,000
years old and the INTERNET is about 30 years of age. Both are
complex systems made up of sub-systems and parts that all don't
fit perfectly or work smoothly together.
The body-mind, (plant,
reptile, mammal) and all our "selves", emotional,
passionate,
rational elements, are so blended and mixed with "the stuff
that dreams are make of," that dreams, illusions and reality
become so mixed as to become one blended element.
The result of
this complex blend often involves conflict within ourselves and
with others. Clearly we are a new experimental design, a work
in process, that has not had the time to work out all the bugs.
The same instability applies to all collections of complex
systems,
The database is also issued on CD-ROM. I'll be happy to provide
details of the next CD-ROM, which will be available at the end of
January.
Keith Harry
Director, International Centre for Distance Learning
The Open University
Walton Hall
Milton Keynes MK7 6AA
Telephone: +44 1908 653537
Fax: +44 1908 654173
E-mail: k.w.harry@open.ac.uk
WWW: http://acacia.open.ac.uk/
Gopher: rowan.open.ac.uk
Agreed! At times we "educators" must become the "guide on the
side"
instead of the "sage on the stage." Students of all ages must be
allowed/encouraged/required to be responsible for their own
learning.
On Sun, 14 Jan 1996, Thomas Leal wrote:
At 05:31 PM 1/14/96 -0500, you wrote:
People learn best by constructing their own knowledge base.
They
do
this by discussing concepts, arguing about problem solutions and
advocating
for
their positions. This reflects what companies are looking for in
their
employees. This type of interaction does not take place in the
lecture class.
Many companies find that they need to train or retrain new
engineers. If
universities promoted cooperative learning at all levels they
would produce
more
effective graduates, people ready to function well in the real
world.
I agree wholeheartedly! This applies, I would be bold enough to
say, in all
courses, regardless of subject matter. I teach marketing to
undergraduates
at three universities in the San Francisco area. One has
students almost
entirely from other countries, primarily France in my classes.
Somehow over time we professors got the idea that we were the
great fonts of
all wisdom and knowledge. We seemed to forget that the root of
the word
"education" means "to lead out of" or "to lead fourth." Of
course, most of
us learned by sitting passively in front of a lecturer who
droned on for
hours without interacting with us. We soaked up what we could,
then squeezed
it out onto paper at exam time. Retention? Only until the final.
So now we find highly educated people in business who can't make
decisions.
They absorbed facts and figures, but never learned what to do
with any of
that. I don't give my students answers, I give them questions.
If they leave
my course knowing what questions to ask and how to go about
finding answers,
they will be able to apply their learning in the world outside
the academe.
If, instead, they leave with answers, they'll have yesterday's
news.
They'll
find themselves looking backwards in their efforts to succeed,
trying to
recall something from a class long ago. That's like driving a
car by looking
only in the rear view mirror.
We ought to prepare students to be able to figure out where
they're headed,
determine what's happening around them, and to look back now and
then to see
what's behind. And we ought to develop their skills for doing
all this
without our guidance. We ought to bring out their talents for
solving their
own problems.
The more I let go of being in charge of my classes and push the
students to
take more responsibility for their learning experience, the
better they seem
to do. And, may I add, they indicate greater appreciation for
what I've done
in their evaluations of the course and teacher (all my schools
require
students to complete an evaluation for each course).
Thomas Leal
The Synergy Group
48 Mathews Place, Suite 8, Alamo CA 94507-2600
Phone: 510 / 938-7748 FAX: 510 / 943-7034
Internet: tomleal@synergygroup.com
"Bringing out the best in people, their ideas, and their
companies."
Hi Peter:
I don't have all the answers, but take a look at how
http://www.match.com
works -- I know it's rather far from the type of information you
will be
processing but the way they do it is pretty cool. It seems as
though their
CGI scripts take much of the work out of managing the site.
Being able to automatically categorize the information and make
'matches'
based on parameters in a personal profile could be applied to
what you're up
against.
The greatest thing about the Internet is the amount of
information available.
The greatest problem with the Internet is the amount of
information available.
A large part of the choice will be made for you in what your ISP
will
provide. Some allow user-developed CGI scripts, most do not. If
your
provider has a Windows NT server, much can be done in Visual
Basic. What
would be nice is to have an SQL Server database on the server
with a VB
script to drive the client end. You could get some very
impressive stuff
running in this configuration.
Ideally, you'd need an Internet version of a Lotus Notes type of
product. I
haven't seen anything quite like that yet -- maybe I should
develop one...
I'll keep looking and let you know if I find anything suitable.
Cheers! Marty...
----------------------------------------------
| Marty R. Milette, P.Prog. mmilette@magi.com
| http://www.magi.com/~mmilette/
| If you always do what you did,
| you'll always get what you got.
----------------------------------------------
RE: New Highly Complex Systems tend to be unstable:
Working with Windows 95 and the INTERNET over the last few
years and being very interested in human nature and behavior -
There seems to be an analogy about things not working very well:
complex systems are unstable - things work, then they don't -
WHY ?
The current model of "Human Beings" is about 40,000
years old and the INTERNET is about 30 years of age. Both are
complex systems made up of sub-systems and parts that all don't
fit perfectly or work smoothly together.
The body-mind, (plant,
reptile, mammal) and all our "selves", emotional,
passionate,
rational elements, are so blended and mixed with "the stuff
that dreams are make of," that dreams, illusions and reality
become so mixed as to become one blended element.
The result of
this complex blend often involves conflict within ourselves and
with others. Clearly we are a new experimental design, a work
in process, that has not had the time to work out all the bugs.
The same instability applies to all collections of complex
systems,
Keith Harry
Director, International Centre for Distance Learning
The Open University
Walton Hall
Milton Keynes MK7 6AA
Telephone: +44 1908 653537
Fax: +44 1908 654173
E-mail: k.w.harry@open.ac.uk
WWW: http://acacia.open.ac.uk/
Gopher: rowan.open.ac.uk
Agreed! At times we "educators" must become the "guide on the
side"
instead of the "sage on the stage." Students of all ages must be
allowed/encouraged/required to be responsible for their own
learning.
On Sun, 14 Jan 1996, Thomas Leal wrote:
At 05:31 PM 1/14/96 -0500, you wrote:
People learn best by constructing their own knowledge base.
They
do
this by discussing concepts, arguing about problem solutions and
advocating
for
their positions. This reflects what companies are looking for in
their
employees. This type of interaction does not take place in the
lecture class.
Many companies find that they need to train or retrain new
engineers. If
universities promoted cooperative learning at all levels they
would produce
more
effective graduates, people ready to function well in the real
world.
I agree wholeheartedly! This applies, I would be bold enough to
say, in all
courses, regardless of subject matter. I teach marketing to
undergraduates
at three universities in the San Francisco area. One has
students almost
entirely from other countries, primarily France in my classes.
Somehow over time we professors got the idea that we were the
great fonts of
all wisdom and knowledge. We seemed to forget that the root of
the word
"education" means "to lead out of" or "to lead fourth." Of
course, most of
us learned by sitting passively in front of a lecturer who
droned on for
hours without interacting with us. We soaked up what we could,
then squeezed
it out onto paper at exam time. Retention? Only until the final.
So now we find highly educated people in business who can't make
decisions.
They absorbed facts and figures, but never learned what to do
with any of
that. I don't give my students answers, I give them questions.
If they leave
my course knowing what questions to ask and how to go about
finding answers,
they will be able to apply their learning in the world outside
the academe.
If, instead, they leave with answers, they'll have yesterday's
news.
They'll
find themselves looking backwards in their efforts to succeed,
trying to
recall something from a class long ago. That's like driving a
car by looking
only in the rear view mirror.
We ought to prepare students to be able to figure out where
they're headed,
determine what's happening around them, and to look back now and
then to see
what's behind. And we ought to develop their skills for doing
all this
without our guidance. We ought to bring out their talents for
solving their
own problems.
The more I let go of being in charge of my classes and push the
students to
take more responsibility for their learning experience, the
better they seem
to do. And, may I add, they indicate greater appreciation for
what I've done
in their evaluations of the course and teacher (all my schools
require
students to complete an evaluation for each course).
Thomas Leal
The Synergy Group
48 Mathews Place, Suite 8, Alamo CA 94507-2600
Phone: 510 / 938-7748 FAX: 510 / 943-7034
Internet: tomleal@synergygroup.com
"Bringing out the best in people, their ideas, and their
companies."
Hi Peter:
I don't have all the answers, but take a look at how
http://www.match.com
works -- I know it's rather far from the type of information you
will be
processing but the way they do it is pretty cool. It seems as
though their
CGI scripts take much of the work out of managing the site.
Being able to automatically categorize the information and make
'matches'
based on parameters in a personal profile could be applied to
what you're up
against.
The greatest thing about the Internet is the amount of
information available.
The greatest problem with the Internet is the amount of
information available.
A large part of the choice will be made for you in what your ISP
will
provide. Some allow user-developed CGI scripts, most do not. If
your
provider has a Windows NT server, much can be done in Visual
Basic. What
would be nice is to have an SQL Server database on the server
with a VB
script to drive the client end. You could get some very
impressive stuff
running in this configuration.
Ideally, you'd need an Internet version of a Lotus Notes type of
product. I
haven't seen anything quite like that yet -- maybe I should
develop one...
I'll keep looking and let you know if I find anything suitable.
Cheers! Marty...
----------------------------------------------
| Marty R. Milette, P.Prog. mmilette@magi.com
| http://www.magi.com/~mmilette/
| If you always do what you did,
| you'll always get what you got.
----------------------------------------------
RE: New Highly Complex Systems tend to be unstable:
Working with Windows 95 and the INTERNET over the last few
years and being very interested in human nature and behavior -
There seems to be an analogy about things not working very well:
complex systems are unstable - things work, then they don't -
WHY ?
The current model of "Human Beings" is about 40,000
years old and the INTERNET is about 30 years of age. Both are
complex systems made up of sub-systems and parts that all don't
fit perfectly or work smoothly together.
The body-mind, (plant,
reptile, mammal) and all our "selves", emotional,
passionate,
rational elements, are so blended and mixed with "the stuff
that dreams are make of," that dreams, illusions and reality
become so mixed as to become one blended element.
The result of
this complex blend often involves conflict within ourselves and
with others. Clearly we are a new experimental design, a work
in process, that has not had the time to work out all the bugs.
The same instability applies to all collections of complex
systems,
The Open University
Walton Hall
Milton Keynes MK7 6AA
Telephone: +44 1908 653537
Fax: +44 1908 654173
E-mail: k.w.harry@open.ac.uk
WWW: http://acacia.open.ac.uk/
Gopher: rowan.open.ac.uk
Agreed! At times we "educators" must become the "guide on the
side"
instead of the "sage on the stage." Students of all ages must be
allowed/encouraged/required to be responsible for their own
learning.
On Sun, 14 Jan 1996, Thomas Leal wrote:
At 05:31 PM 1/14/96 -0500, you wrote:
People learn best by constructing their own knowledge base.
They
do
this by discussing concepts, arguing about problem solutions and
advocating
for
their positions. This reflects what companies are looking for in
their
employees. This type of interaction does not take place in the
lecture class.
Many companies find that they need to train or retrain new
engineers. If
universities promoted cooperative learning at all levels they
would produce
more
effective graduates, people ready to function well in the real
world.
I agree wholeheartedly! This applies, I would be bold enough to
say, in all
courses, regardless of subject matter. I teach marketing to
undergraduates
at three universities in the San Francisco area. One has
students almost
entirely from other countries, primarily France in my classes.
Somehow over time we professors got the idea that we were the
great fonts of
all wisdom and knowledge. We seemed to forget that the root of
the word
"education" means "to lead out of" or "to lead fourth." Of
course, most of
us learned by sitting passively in front of a lecturer who
droned on for
hours without interacting with us. We soaked up what we could,
then squeezed
it out onto paper at exam time. Retention? Only until the final.
So now we find highly educated people in business who can't make
decisions.
They absorbed facts and figures, but never learned what to do
with any of
that. I don't give my students answers, I give them questions.
If they leave
my course knowing what questions to ask and how to go about
finding answers,
they will be able to apply their learning in the world outside
the academe.
If, instead, they leave with answers, they'll have yesterday's
news.
They'll
find themselves looking backwards in their efforts to succeed,
trying to
recall something from a class long ago. That's like driving a
car by looking
only in the rear view mirror.
We ought to prepare students to be able to figure out where
they're headed,
determine what's happening around them, and to look back now and
then to see
what's behind. And we ought to develop their skills for doing
all this
without our guidance. We ought to bring out their talents for
solving their
own problems.
The more I let go of being in charge of my classes and push the
students to
take more responsibility for their learning experience, the
better they seem
to do. And, may I add, they indicate greater appreciation for
what I've done
in their evaluations of the course and teacher (all my schools
require
students to complete an evaluation for each course).
Thomas Leal
The Synergy Group
48 Mathews Place, Suite 8, Alamo CA 94507-2600
Phone: 510 / 938-7748 FAX: 510 / 943-7034
Internet: tomleal@synergygroup.com
"Bringing out the best in people, their ideas, and their
companies."
Hi Peter:
I don't have all the answers, but take a look at how
http://www.match.com
works -- I know it's rather far from the type of information you
will be
processing but the way they do it is pretty cool. It seems as
though their
CGI scripts take much of the work out of managing the site.
Being able to automatically categorize the information and make
'matches'
based on parameters in a personal profile could be applied to
what you're up
against.
The greatest thing about the Internet is the amount of
information available.
The greatest problem with the Internet is the amount of
information available.
A large part of the choice will be made for you in what your ISP
will
provide. Some allow user-developed CGI scripts, most do not. If
your
provider has a Windows NT server, much can be done in Visual
Basic. What
would be nice is to have an SQL Server database on the server
with a VB
script to drive the client end. You could get some very
impressive stuff
running in this configuration.
Ideally, you'd need an Internet version of a Lotus Notes type of
product. I
haven't seen anything quite like that yet -- maybe I should
develop one...
I'll keep looking and let you know if I find anything suitable.
Cheers! Marty...
----------------------------------------------
| Marty R. Milette, P.Prog. mmilette@magi.com
| http://www.magi.com/~mmilette/
| If you always do what you did,
| you'll always get what you got.
----------------------------------------------
RE: New Highly Complex Systems tend to be unstable:
Working with Windows 95 and the INTERNET over the last few
years and being very interested in human nature and behavior -
There seems to be an analogy about things not working very well:
complex systems are unstable - things work, then they don't -
WHY ?
The current model of "Human Beings" is about 40,000
years old and the INTERNET is about 30 years of age. Both are
complex systems made up of sub-systems and parts that all don't
fit perfectly or work smoothly together.
The body-mind, (plant,
reptile, mammal) and all our "selves", emotional,
passionate,
rational elements, are so blended and mixed with "the stuff
that dreams are make of," that dreams, illusions and reality
become so mixed as to become one blended element.
The result of
this complex blend often involves conflict within ourselves and
with others. Clearly we are a new experimental design, a work
in process, that has not had the time to work out all the bugs.
The same instability applies to all collections of complex
systems,
Agreed! At times we "educators" must become the "guide on the
side"
instead of the "sage on the stage." Students of all ages must be
allowed/encouraged/required to be responsible for their own
learning.
On Sun, 14 Jan 1996, Thomas Leal wrote:
At 05:31 PM 1/14/96 -0500, you wrote:
People learn best by constructing their own knowledge base.
They
do
this by discussing concepts, arguing about problem solutions and
advocating
for
their positions. This reflects what companies are looking for in
their
employees. This type of interaction does not take place in the
lecture class.
Many companies find that they need to train or retrain new
engineers. If
universities promoted cooperative learning at all levels they
would produce
more
effective graduates, people ready to function well in the real
world.
I agree wholeheartedly! This applies, I would be bold enough to
say, in all
courses, regardless of subject matter. I teach marketing to
undergraduates
at three universities in the San Francisco area. One has
students almost
entirely from other countries, primarily France in my classes.
Somehow over time we professors got the idea that we were the
great fonts of
all wisdom and knowledge. We seemed to forget that the root of
the word
"education" means "to lead out of" or "to lead fourth." Of
course, most of
us learned by sitting passively in front of a lecturer who
droned on for
hours without interacting with us. We soaked up what we could,
then squeezed
it out onto paper at exam time. Retention? Only until the final.
So now we find highly educated people in business who can't make
decisions.
They absorbed facts and figures, but never learned what to do
with any of
that. I don't give my students answers, I give them questions.
If they leave
my course knowing what questions to ask and how to go about
finding answers,
they will be able to apply their learning in the world outside
the academe.
If, instead, they leave with answers, they'll have yesterday's
news.
They'll
find themselves looking backwards in their efforts to succeed,
trying to
recall something from a class long ago. That's like driving a
car by looking
only in the rear view mirror.
We ought to prepare students to be able to figure out where
they're headed,
determine what's happening around them, and to look back now and
then to see
what's behind. And we ought to develop their skills for doing
all this
without our guidance. We ought to bring out their talents for
solving their
own problems.
The more I let go of being in charge of my classes and push the
students to
take more responsibility for their learning experience, the
better they seem
to do. And, may I add, they indicate greater appreciation for
what I've done
in their evaluations of the course and teacher (all my schools
require
students to complete an evaluation for each course).
Thomas Leal
The Synergy Group
48 Mathews Place, Suite 8, Alamo CA 94507-2600
Phone: 510 / 938-7748 FAX: 510 / 943-7034
Internet: tomleal@synergygroup.com
"Bringing out the best in people, their ideas, and their
companies."
Hi Peter:
I don't have all the answers, but take a look at how
http://www.match.com
works -- I know it's rather far from the type of information you
will be
processing but the way they do it is pretty cool. It seems as
though their
CGI scripts take much of the work out of managing the site.
Being able to automatically categorize the information and make
'matches'
based on parameters in a personal profile could be applied to
what you're up
against.
The greatest thing about the Internet is the amount of
information available.
The greatest problem with the Internet is the amount of
information available.
A large part of the choice will be made for you in what your ISP
will
provide. Some allow user-developed CGI scripts, most do not. If
your
provider has a Windows NT server, much can be done in Visual
Basic. What
would be nice is to have an SQL Server database on the server
with a VB
script to drive the client end. You could get some very
impressive stuff
running in this configuration.
Ideally, you'd need an Internet version of a Lotus Notes type of
product. I
haven't seen anything quite like that yet -- maybe I should
develop one...
I'll keep looking and let you know if I find anything suitable.
Cheers! Marty...
----------------------------------------------
| Marty R. Milette, P.Prog. mmilette@magi.com
| http://www.magi.com/~mmilette/
| If you always do what you did,
| you'll always get what you got.
----------------------------------------------
RE: New Highly Complex Systems tend to be unstable:
Working with Windows 95 and the INTERNET over the last few
years and being very interested in human nature and behavior -
There seems to be an analogy about things not working very well:
complex systems are unstable - things work, then they don't -
WHY ?
The current model of "Human Beings" is about 40,000
years old and the INTERNET is about 30 years of age. Both are
complex systems made up of sub-systems and parts that all don't
fit perfectly or work smoothly together.
The body-mind, (plant,
reptile, mammal) and all our "selves", emotional,
passionate,
rational elements, are so blended and mixed with "the stuff
that dreams are make of," that dreams, illusions and reality
become so mixed as to become one blended element.
The result of
this complex blend often involves conflict within ourselves and
with others. Clearly we are a new experimental design, a work
in process, that has not had the time to work out all the bugs.
The same instability applies to all collections of complex
systems,
Agreed! At times we "educators" must become the "guide on the
side"
instead of the "sage on the stage." Students of all ages must be
allowed/encouraged/required to be responsible for their own
learning.
On Sun, 14 Jan 1996, Thomas Leal wrote:
At 05:31 PM 1/14/96 -0500, you wrote:
People learn best by constructing their own knowledge base.
They
do
this by discussing concepts, arguing about problem solutions and
advocating
for
their positions. This reflects what companies are looking for in
their
employees. This type of interaction does not take place in the
lecture class.
Many companies find that they need to train or retrain new
engineers. If
universities promoted cooperative learning at all levels they
would produce
more
effective graduates, people ready to function well in the real
world.
I agree wholeheartedly! This applies, I would be bold enough to
say, in all
courses, regardless of subject matter. I teach marketing to
undergraduates
at three universities in the San Francisco area. One has
students almost
entirely from other countries, primarily France in my classes.
Somehow over time we professors got the idea that we were the
great fonts of
all wisdom and knowledge. We seemed to forget that the root of
the word
"education" means "to lead out of" or "to lead fourth." Of
course, most of
us learned by sitting passively in front of a lecturer who
droned on for
hours without interacting with us. We soaked up what we could,
then squeezed
it out onto paper at exam time. Retention? Only until the final.
So now we find highly educated people in business who can't make
decisions.
They absorbed facts and figures, but never learned what to do
with any of
that. I don't give my students answers, I give them questions.
If they leave
my course knowing what questions to ask and how to go about
finding answers,
they will be able to apply their learning in the world outside
the academe.
If, instead, they leave with answers, they'll have yesterday's
news.
They'll
find themselves looking backwards in their efforts to succeed,
trying to
recall something from a class long ago. That's like driving a
car by looking
only in the rear view mirror.
We ought to prepare students to be able to figure out where
they're headed,
determine what's happening around them, and to look back now and
then to see
what's behind. And we ought to develop their skills for doing
all this
without our guidance. We ought to bring out their talents for
solving their
own problems.
The more I let go of being in charge of my classes and push the
students to
take more responsibility for their learning experience, the
better they seem
to do. And, may I add, they indicate greater appreciation for
what I've done
in their evaluations of the course and teacher (all my schools
require
students to complete an evaluation for each course).
Thomas Leal
The Synergy Group
48 Mathews Place, Suite 8, Alamo CA 94507-2600
Phone: 510 / 938-7748 FAX: 510 / 943-7034
Internet: tomleal@synergygroup.com
"Bringing out the best in people, their ideas, and their
companies."
Hi Peter:
I don't have all the answers, but take a look at how
http://www.match.com
works -- I know it's rather far from the type of information you
will be
processing but the way they do it is pretty cool. It seems as
though their
CGI scripts take much of the work out of managing the site.
Being able to automatically categorize the information and make
'matches'
based on parameters in a personal profile could be applied to
what you're up
against.
The greatest thing about the Internet is the amount of
information available.
The greatest problem with the Internet is the amount of
information available.
A large part of the choice will be made for you in what your ISP
will
provide. Some allow user-developed CGI scripts, most do not. If
your
provider has a Windows NT server, much can be done in Visual
Basic. What
would be nice is to have an SQL Server database on the server
with a VB
script to drive the client end. You could get some very
impressive stuff
running in this configuration.
Ideally, you'd need an Internet version of a Lotus Notes type of
product. I
haven't seen anything quite like that yet -- maybe I should
develop one...
I'll keep looking and let you know if I find anything suitable.
Cheers! Marty...
----------------------------------------------
| Marty R. Milette, P.Prog. mmilette@magi.com
| http://www.magi.com/~mmilette/
| If you always do what you did,
| you'll always get what you got.
----------------------------------------------
RE: New Highly Complex Systems tend to be unstable:
Working with Windows 95 and the INTERNET over the last few
years and being very interested in human nature and behavior -
There seems to be an analogy about things not working very well:
complex systems are unstable - things work, then they don't -
WHY ?
The current model of "Human Beings" is about 40,000
years old and the INTERNET is about 30 years of age. Both are
complex systems made up of sub-systems and parts that all don't
fit perfectly or work smoothly together.
The body-mind, (plant,
reptile, mammal) and all our "selves", emotional,
passionate,
rational elements, are so blended and mixed with "the stuff
that dreams are make of," that dreams, illusions and reality
become so mixed as to become one blended element.
The result of
this complex blend often involves conflict within ourselves and
with others. Clearly we are a new experimental design, a work
in process, that has not had the time to work out all the bugs.
The same instability applies to all collections of complex
systems,
At 05:31 PM 1/14/96 -0500, you wrote:
People learn best by constructing their own knowledge base.
They
do
this by discussing concepts, arguing about problem solutions and
advocating
for
their positions. This reflects what companies are looking for in
their
employees. This type of interaction does not take place in the
lecture class.
Many companies find that they need to train or retrain new
engineers. If
universities promoted cooperative learning at all levels they
would produce
more
effective graduates, people ready to function well in the real
world.
I agree wholeheartedly! This applies, I would be bold enough to
say, in all
courses, regardless of subject matter. I teach marketing to
undergraduates
at three universities in the San Francisco area. One has
students almost
entirely from other countries, primarily France in my classes.
Somehow over time we professors got the idea that we were the
great fonts of
all wisdom and knowledge. We seemed to forget that the root of
the word
"education" means "to lead out of" or "to lead fourth." Of
course, most of
us learned by sitting passively in front of a lecturer who
droned on for
hours without interacting with us. We soaked up what we could,
then squeezed
it out onto paper at exam time. Retention? Only until the final.
So now we find highly educated people in business who can't make
decisions.
They absorbed facts and figures, but never learned what to do
with any of
that. I don't give my students answers, I give them questions.
If they leave
my course knowing what questions to ask and how to go about
finding answers,
they will be able to apply their learning in the world outside
the academe.
If, instead, they leave with answers, they'll have yesterday's
news.
They'll
find themselves looking backwards in their efforts to succeed,
trying to
recall something from a class long ago. That's like driving a
car by looking
only in the rear view mirror.
We ought to prepare students to be able to figure out where
they're headed,
determine what's happening around them, and to look back now and
then to see
what's behind. And we ought to develop their skills for doing
all this
without our guidance. We ought to bring out their talents for
solving their
own problems.
The more I let go of being in charge of my classes and push the
students to
take more responsibility for their learning experience, the
better they seem
to do. And, may I add, they indicate greater appreciation for
what I've done
in their evaluations of the course and teacher (all my schools
require
students to complete an evaluation for each course).
Thomas Leal
The Synergy Group
48 Mathews Place, Suite 8, Alamo CA 94507-2600
Phone: 510 / 938-7748 FAX: 510 / 943-7034
Internet: tomleal@synergygroup.com
"Bringing out the best in people, their ideas, and their
companies."
Hi Peter:
I don't have all the answers, but take a look at how
http://www.match.com
works -- I know it's rather far from the type of information you
will be
processing but the way they do it is pretty cool. It seems as
though their
CGI scripts take much of the work out of managing the site.
Being able to automatically categorize the information and make
'matches'
based on parameters in a personal profile could be applied to
what you're up
against.
The greatest thing about the Internet is the amount of
information available.
The greatest problem with the Internet is the amount of
information available.
A large part of the choice will be made for you in what your ISP
will
provide. Some allow user-developed CGI scripts, most do not. If
your
provider has a Windows NT server, much can be done in Visual
Basic. What
would be nice is to have an SQL Server database on the server
with a VB
script to drive the client end. You could get some very
impressive stuff
running in this configuration.
Ideally, you'd need an Internet version of a Lotus Notes type of
product. I
haven't seen anything quite like that yet -- maybe I should
develop one...
I'll keep looking and let you know if I find anything suitable.
Cheers! Marty...
----------------------------------------------
| Marty R. Milette, P.Prog. mmilette@magi.com
| http://www.magi.com/~mmilette/
| If you always do what you did,
| you'll always get what you got.
----------------------------------------------
RE: New Highly Complex Systems tend to be unstable:
Working with Windows 95 and the INTERNET over the last few
years and being very interested in human nature and behavior -
There seems to be an analogy about things not working very well:
complex systems are unstable - things work, then they don't -
WHY ?
The current model of "Human Beings" is about 40,000
years old and the INTERNET is about 30 years of age. Both are
complex systems made up of sub-systems and parts that all don't
fit perfectly or work smoothly together.
The body-mind, (plant,
reptile, mammal) and all our "selves", emotional,
passionate,
rational elements, are so blended and mixed with "the stuff
that dreams are make of," that dreams, illusions and reality
become so mixed as to become one blended element.
The result of
this complex blend often involves conflict within ourselves and
with others. Clearly we are a new experimental design, a work
in process, that has not had the time to work out all the bugs.
The same instability applies to all collections of complex
systems,
Many companies find that they need to train or retrain new
engineers. If
universities promoted cooperative learning at all levels they
would produce
more
effective graduates, people ready to function well in the real
world.
I agree wholeheartedly! This applies, I would be bold enough to
say, in all
courses, regardless of subject matter. I teach marketing to
undergraduates
at three universities in the San Francisco area. One has
students almost
entirely from other countries, primarily France in my classes.
Somehow over time we professors got the idea that we were the
great fonts of
all wisdom and knowledge. We seemed to forget that the root of
the word
"education" means "to lead out of" or "to lead fourth." Of
course, most of
us learned by sitting passively in front of a lecturer who
droned on for
hours without interacting with us. We soaked up what we could,
then squeezed
it out onto paper at exam time. Retention? Only until the final.
So now we find highly educated people in business who can't make
decisions.
They absorbed facts and figures, but never learned what to do
with any of
that. I don't give my students answers, I give them questions.
If they leave
my course knowing what questions to ask and how to go about
finding answers,
they will be able to apply their learning in the world outside
the academe.
If, instead, they leave with answers, they'll have yesterday's
news.
They'll
find themselves looking backwards in their efforts to succeed,
trying to
recall something from a class long ago. That's like driving a
car by looking
only in the rear view mirror.
We ought to prepare students to be able to figure out where
they're headed,
determine what's happening around them, and to look back now and
then to see
what's behind. And we ought to develop their skills for doing
all this
without our guidance. We ought to bring out their talents for
solving their
own problems.
The more I let go of being in charge of my classes and push the
students to
take more responsibility for their learning experience, the
better they seem
to do. And, may I add, they indicate greater appreciation for
what I've done
in their evaluations of the course and teacher (all my schools
require
students to complete an evaluation for each course).
Thomas Leal
The Synergy Group
48 Mathews Place, Suite 8, Alamo CA 94507-2600
Phone: 510 / 938-7748 FAX: 510 / 943-7034
Internet: tomleal@synergygroup.com
"Bringing out the best in people, their ideas, and their
companies."
Hi Peter:
I don't have all the answers, but take a look at how
http://www.match.com
works -- I know it's rather far from the type of information you
will be
processing but the way they do it is pretty cool. It seems as
though their
CGI scripts take much of the work out of managing the site.
Being able to automatically categorize the information and make
'matches'
based on parameters in a personal profile could be applied to
what you're up
against.
The greatest thing about the Internet is the amount of
information available.
The greatest problem with the Internet is the amount of
information available.
A large part of the choice will be made for you in what your ISP
will
provide. Some allow user-developed CGI scripts, most do not. If
your
provider has a Windows NT server, much can be done in Visual
Basic. What
would be nice is to have an SQL Server database on the server
with a VB
script to drive the client end. You could get some very
impressive stuff
running in this configuration.
Ideally, you'd need an Internet version of a Lotus Notes type of
product. I
haven't seen anything quite like that yet -- maybe I should
develop one...
I'll keep looking and let you know if I find anything suitable.
Cheers! Marty...
----------------------------------------------
| Marty R. Milette, P.Prog. mmilette@magi.com
| http://www.magi.com/~mmilette/
| If you always do what you did,
| you'll always get what you got.
----------------------------------------------
RE: New Highly Complex Systems tend to be unstable:
Working with Windows 95 and the INTERNET over the last few
years and being very interested in human nature and behavior -
There seems to be an analogy about things not working very well:
complex systems are unstable - things work, then they don't -
WHY ?
The current model of "Human Beings" is about 40,000
years old and the INTERNET is about 30 years of age. Both are
complex systems made up of sub-systems and parts that all don't
fit perfectly or work smoothly together.
The body-mind, (plant,
reptile, mammal) and all our "selves", emotional,
passionate,
rational elements, are so blended and mixed with "the stuff
that dreams are make of," that dreams, illusions and reality
become so mixed as to become one blended element.
The result of
this complex blend often involves conflict within ourselves and
with others. Clearly we are a new experimental design, a work
in process, that has not had the time to work out all the bugs.
The same instability applies to all collections of complex
systems,
Somehow over time we professors got the idea that we were the
great fonts of
all wisdom and knowledge. We seemed to forget that the root of
the word
"education" means "to lead out of" or "to lead fourth." Of
course, most of
us learned by sitting passively in front of a lecturer who
droned on for
hours without interacting with us. We soaked up what we could,
then squeezed
it out onto paper at exam time. Retention? Only until the final.
So now we find highly educated people in business who can't make
decisions.
They absorbed facts and figures, but never learned what to do
with any of
that. I don't give my students answers, I give them questions.
If they leave
my course knowing what questions to ask and how to go about
finding answers,
they will be able to apply their learning in the world outside
the academe.
If, instead, they leave with answers, they'll have yesterday's
news.
They'll
find themselves looking backwards in their efforts to succeed,
trying to
recall something from a class long ago. That's like driving a
car by looking
only in the rear view mirror.
We ought to prepare students to be able to figure out where
they're headed,
determine what's happening around them, and to look back now and
then to see
what's behind. And we ought to develop their skills for doing
all this
without our guidance. We ought to bring out their talents for
solving their
own problems.
The more I let go of being in charge of my classes and push the
students to
take more responsibility for their learning experience, the
better they seem
to do. And, may I add, they indicate greater appreciation for
what I've done
in their evaluations of the course and teacher (all my schools
require
students to complete an evaluation for each course).
Thomas Leal
The Synergy Group
48 Mathews Place, Suite 8, Alamo CA 94507-2600
Phone: 510 / 938-7748 FAX: 510 / 943-7034
Internet: tomleal@synergygroup.com
"Bringing out the best in people, their ideas, and their
companies."
Hi Peter:
I don't have all the answers, but take a look at how
http://www.match.com
works -- I know it's rather far from the type of information you
will be
processing but the way they do it is pretty cool. It seems as
though their
CGI scripts take much of the work out of managing the site.
Being able to automatically categorize the information and make
'matches'
based on parameters in a personal profile could be applied to
what you're up
against.
The greatest thing about the Internet is the amount of
information available.
The greatest problem with the Internet is the amount of
information available.
A large part of the choice will be made for you in what your ISP
will
provide. Some allow user-developed CGI scripts, most do not. If
your
provider has a Windows NT server, much can be done in Visual
Basic. What
would be nice is to have an SQL Server database on the server
with a VB
script to drive the client end. You could get some very
impressive stuff
running in this configuration.
Ideally, you'd need an Internet version of a Lotus Notes type of
product. I
haven't seen anything quite like that yet -- maybe I should
develop one...
I'll keep looking and let you know if I find anything suitable.
Cheers! Marty...
----------------------------------------------
| Marty R. Milette, P.Prog. mmilette@magi.com
| http://www.magi.com/~mmilette/
| If you always do what you did,
| you'll always get what you got.
----------------------------------------------
RE: New Highly Complex Systems tend to be unstable:
Working with Windows 95 and the INTERNET over the last few
years and being very interested in human nature and behavior -
There seems to be an analogy about things not working very well:
complex systems are unstable - things work, then they don't -
WHY ?
The current model of "Human Beings" is about 40,000
years old and the INTERNET is about 30 years of age. Both are
complex systems made up of sub-systems and parts that all don't
fit perfectly or work smoothly together.
The body-mind, (plant,
reptile, mammal) and all our "selves", emotional,
passionate,
rational elements, are so blended and mixed with "the stuff
that dreams are make of," that dreams, illusions and reality
become so mixed as to become one blended element.
The result of
this complex blend often involves conflict within ourselves and
with others. Clearly we are a new experimental design, a work
in process, that has not had the time to work out all the bugs.
The same instability applies to all collections of complex
systems,
They absorbed facts and figures, but never learned what to do
with any of
that. I don't give my students answers, I give them questions.
If they leave
my course knowing what questions to ask and how to go about
finding answers,
they will be able to apply their learning in the world outside
the academe.
If, instead, they leave with answers, they'll have yesterday's
news.
They'll
find themselves looking backwards in their efforts to succeed,
trying to
recall something from a class long ago. That's like driving a
car by looking
only in the rear view mirror.
We ought to prepare students to be able to figure out where
they're headed,
determine what's happening around them, and to look back now and
then to see
what's behind. And we ought to develop their skills for doing
all this
without our guidance. We ought to bring out their talents for
solving their
own problems.
The more I let go of being in charge of my classes and push the
students to
take more responsibility for their learning experience, the
better they seem
to do. And, may I add, they indicate greater appreciation for
what I've done
in their evaluations of the course and teacher (all my schools
require
students to complete an evaluation for each course).
Thomas Leal
The Synergy Group
48 Mathews Place, Suite 8, Alamo CA 94507-2600
Phone: 510 / 938-7748 FAX: 510 / 943-7034
Internet: tomleal@synergygroup.com
"Bringing out the best in people, their ideas, and their
companies."
Hi Peter:
I don't have all the answers, but take a look at how
http://www.match.com
works -- I know it's rather far from the type of information you
will be
processing but the way they do it is pretty cool. It seems as
though their
CGI scripts take much of the work out of managing the site.
Being able to automatically categorize the information and make
'matches'
based on parameters in a personal profile could be applied to
what you're up
against.
The greatest thing about the Internet is the amount of
information available.
The greatest problem with the Internet is the amount of
information available.
A large part of the choice will be made for you in what your ISP
will
provide. Some allow user-developed CGI scripts, most do not. If
your
provider has a Windows NT server, much can be done in Visual
Basic. What
would be nice is to have an SQL Server database on the server
with a VB
script to drive the client end. You could get some very
impressive stuff
running in this configuration.
Ideally, you'd need an Internet version of a Lotus Notes type of
product. I
haven't seen anything quite like that yet -- maybe I should
develop one...
I'll keep looking and let you know if I find anything suitable.
Cheers! Marty...
----------------------------------------------
| Marty R. Milette, P.Prog. mmilette@magi.com
| http://www.magi.com/~mmilette/
| If you always do what you did,
| you'll always get what you got.
----------------------------------------------
RE: New Highly Complex Systems tend to be unstable:
Working with Windows 95 and the INTERNET over the last few
years and being very interested in human nature and behavior -
There seems to be an analogy about things not working very well:
complex systems are unstable - things work, then they don't -
WHY ?
The current model of "Human Beings" is about 40,000
years old and the INTERNET is about 30 years of age. Both are
complex systems made up of sub-systems and parts that all don't
fit perfectly or work smoothly together.
The body-mind, (plant,
reptile, mammal) and all our "selves", emotional,
passionate,
rational elements, are so blended and mixed with "the stuff
that dreams are make of," that dreams, illusions and reality
become so mixed as to become one blended element.
The result of
this complex blend often involves conflict within ourselves and
with others. Clearly we are a new experimental design, a work
in process, that has not had the time to work out all the bugs.
The same instability applies to all collections of complex
systems,
They'll
find themselves looking backwards in their efforts to succeed,
trying to
recall something from a class long ago. That's like driving a
car by looking
only in the rear view mirror.
We ought to prepare students to be able to figure out where
they're headed,
determine what's happening around them, and to look back now and
then to see
what's behind. And we ought to develop their skills for doing
all this
without our guidance. We ought to bring out their talents for
solving their
own problems.
The more I let go of being in charge of my classes and push the
students to
take more responsibility for their learning experience, the
better they seem
to do. And, may I add, they indicate greater appreciation for
what I've done
in their evaluations of the course and teacher (all my schools
require
students to complete an evaluation for each course).
Thomas Leal
The Synergy Group
48 Mathews Place, Suite 8, Alamo CA 94507-2600
Phone: 510 / 938-7748 FAX: 510 / 943-7034
Internet: tomleal@synergygroup.com
"Bringing out the best in people, their ideas, and their
companies."
Hi Peter:
I don't have all the answers, but take a look at how
http://www.match.com
works -- I know it's rather far from the type of information you
will be
processing but the way they do it is pretty cool. It seems as
though their
CGI scripts take much of the work out of managing the site.
Being able to automatically categorize the information and make
'matches'
based on parameters in a personal profile could be applied to
what you're up
against.
The greatest thing about the Internet is the amount of
information available.
The greatest problem with the Internet is the amount of
information available.
A large part of the choice will be made for you in what your ISP
will
provide. Some allow user-developed CGI scripts, most do not. If
your
provider has a Windows NT server, much can be done in Visual
Basic. What
would be nice is to have an SQL Server database on the server
with a VB
script to drive the client end. You could get some very
impressive stuff
running in this configuration.
Ideally, you'd need an Internet version of a Lotus Notes type of
product. I
haven't seen anything quite like that yet -- maybe I should
develop one...
I'll keep looking and let you know if I find anything suitable.
Cheers! Marty...
----------------------------------------------
| Marty R. Milette, P.Prog. mmilette@magi.com
| http://www.magi.com/~mmilette/
| If you always do what you did,
| you'll always get what you got.
----------------------------------------------
RE: New Highly Complex Systems tend to be unstable:
Working with Windows 95 and the INTERNET over the last few
years and being very interested in human nature and behavior -
There seems to be an analogy about things not working very well:
complex systems are unstable - things work, then they don't -
WHY ?
The current model of "Human Beings" is about 40,000
years old and the INTERNET is about 30 years of age. Both are
complex systems made up of sub-systems and parts that all don't
fit perfectly or work smoothly together.
The body-mind, (plant,
reptile, mammal) and all our "selves", emotional,
passionate,
rational elements, are so blended and mixed with "the stuff
that dreams are make of," that dreams, illusions and reality
become so mixed as to become one blended element.
The result of
this complex blend often involves conflict within ourselves and
with others. Clearly we are a new experimental design, a work
in process, that has not had the time to work out all the bugs.
The same instability applies to all collections of complex
systems,
The more I let go of being in charge of my classes and push the
students to
take more responsibility for their learning experience, the
better they seem
to do. And, may I add, they indicate greater appreciation for
what I've done
in their evaluations of the course and teacher (all my schools
require
students to complete an evaluation for each course).
Thomas Leal
The Synergy Group
48 Mathews Place, Suite 8, Alamo CA 94507-2600
Phone: 510 / 938-7748 FAX: 510 / 943-7034
Internet: tomleal@synergygroup.com
"Bringing out the best in people, their ideas, and their
companies."
Hi Peter:
I don't have all the answers, but take a look at how
http://www.match.com
works -- I know it's rather far from the type of information you
will be
processing but the way they do it is pretty cool. It seems as
though their
CGI scripts take much of the work out of managing the site.
Being able to automatically categorize the information and make
'matches'
based on parameters in a personal profile could be applied to
what you're up
against.
The greatest thing about the Internet is the amount of
information available.
The greatest problem with the Internet is the amount of
information available.
A large part of the choice will be made for you in what your ISP
will
provide. Some allow user-developed CGI scripts, most do not. If
your
provider has a Windows NT server, much can be done in Visual
Basic. What
would be nice is to have an SQL Server database on the server
with a VB
script to drive the client end. You could get some very
impressive stuff
running in this configuration.
Ideally, you'd need an Internet version of a Lotus Notes type of
product. I
haven't seen anything quite like that yet -- maybe I should
develop one...
I'll keep looking and let you know if I find anything suitable.
Cheers! Marty...
----------------------------------------------
| Marty R. Milette, P.Prog. mmilette@magi.com
| http://www.magi.com/~mmilette/
| If you always do what you did,
| you'll always get what you got.
----------------------------------------------
RE: New Highly Complex Systems tend to be unstable:
Working with Windows 95 and the INTERNET over the last few
years and being very interested in human nature and behavior -
There seems to be an analogy about things not working very well:
complex systems are unstable - things work, then they don't -
WHY ?
The current model of "Human Beings" is about 40,000
years old and the INTERNET is about 30 years of age. Both are
complex systems made up of sub-systems and parts that all don't
fit perfectly or work smoothly together.
The body-mind, (plant,
reptile, mammal) and all our "selves", emotional,
passionate,
rational elements, are so blended and mixed with "the stuff
that dreams are make of," that dreams, illusions and reality
become so mixed as to become one blended element.
The result of
this complex blend often involves conflict within ourselves and
with others. Clearly we are a new experimental design, a work
in process, that has not had the time to work out all the bugs.
The same instability applies to all collections of complex
systems,
The Synergy Group
48 Mathews Place, Suite 8, Alamo CA 94507-2600
Phone: 510 / 938-7748 FAX: 510 / 943-7034
Internet: tomleal@synergygroup.com
"Bringing out the best in people, their ideas, and their
companies."
Hi Peter:
I don't have all the answers, but take a look at how
http://www.match.com
works -- I know it's rather far from the type of information you
will be
processing but the way they do it is pretty cool. It seems as
though their
CGI scripts take much of the work out of managing the site.
Being able to automatically categorize the information and make
'matches'
based on parameters in a personal profile could be applied to
what you're up
against.
The greatest thing about the Internet is the amount of
information available.
The greatest problem with the Internet is the amount of
information available.
A large part of the choice will be made for you in what your ISP
will
provide. Some allow user-developed CGI scripts, most do not. If
your
provider has a Windows NT server, much can be done in Visual
Basic. What
would be nice is to have an SQL Server database on the server
with a VB
script to drive the client end. You could get some very
impressive stuff
running in this configuration.
Ideally, you'd need an Internet version of a Lotus Notes type of
product. I
haven't seen anything quite like that yet -- maybe I should
develop one...
I'll keep looking and let you know if I find anything suitable.
Cheers! Marty...
----------------------------------------------
| Marty R. Milette, P.Prog. mmilette@magi.com
| http://www.magi.com/~mmilette/
| If you always do what you did,
| you'll always get what you got.
----------------------------------------------
RE: New Highly Complex Systems tend to be unstable:
Working with Windows 95 and the INTERNET over the last few
years and being very interested in human nature and behavior -
There seems to be an analogy about things not working very well:
complex systems are unstable - things work, then they don't -
WHY ?
The current model of "Human Beings" is about 40,000
years old and the INTERNET is about 30 years of age. Both are
complex systems made up of sub-systems and parts that all don't
fit perfectly or work smoothly together.
The body-mind, (plant,
reptile, mammal) and all our "selves", emotional,
passionate,
rational elements, are so blended and mixed with "the stuff
that dreams are make of," that dreams, illusions and reality
become so mixed as to become one blended element.
The result of
this complex blend often involves conflict within ourselves and
with others. Clearly we are a new experimental design, a work
in process, that has not had the time to work out all the bugs.
The same instability applies to all collections of complex
systems,
48 Mathews Place, Suite 8, Alamo CA 94507-2600
Phone: 510 / 938-7748 FAX: 510 / 943-7034
Internet: tomleal@synergygroup.com
"Bringing out the best in people, their ideas, and their
companies."
Hi Peter:
I don't have all the answers, but take a look at how
http://www.match.com
works -- I know it's rather far from the type of information you
will be
processing but the way they do it is pretty cool. It seems as
though their
CGI scripts take much of the work out of managing the site.
Being able to automatically categorize the information and make
'matches'
based on parameters in a personal profile could be applied to
what you're up
against.
The greatest thing about the Internet is the amount of
information available.
The greatest problem with the Internet is the amount of
information available.
A large part of the choice will be made for you in what your ISP
will
provide. Some allow user-developed CGI scripts, most do not. If
your
provider has a Windows NT server, much can be done in Visual
Basic. What
would be nice is to have an SQL Server database on the server
with a VB
script to drive the client end. You could get some very
impressive stuff
running in this configuration.
Ideally, you'd need an Internet version of a Lotus Notes type of
product. I
haven't seen anything quite like that yet -- maybe I should
develop one...
I'll keep looking and let you know if I find anything suitable.
Cheers! Marty...
----------------------------------------------
| Marty R. Milette, P.Prog. mmilette@magi.com
| http://www.magi.com/~mmilette/
| If you always do what you did,
| you'll always get what you got.
----------------------------------------------
RE: New Highly Complex Systems tend to be unstable:
Working with Windows 95 and the INTERNET over the last few
years and being very interested in human nature and behavior -
There seems to be an analogy about things not working very well:
complex systems are unstable - things work, then they don't -
WHY ?
The current model of "Human Beings" is about 40,000
years old and the INTERNET is about 30 years of age. Both are
complex systems made up of sub-systems and parts that all don't
fit perfectly or work smoothly together.
The body-mind, (plant,
reptile, mammal) and all our "selves", emotional,
passionate,
rational elements, are so blended and mixed with "the stuff
that dreams are make of," that dreams, illusions and reality
become so mixed as to become one blended element.
The result of
this complex blend often involves conflict within ourselves and
with others. Clearly we are a new experimental design, a work
in process, that has not had the time to work out all the bugs.
The same instability applies to all collections of complex
systems,
"Bringing out the best in people, their ideas, and their
companies."
Hi Peter:
I don't have all the answers, but take a look at how
http://www.match.com
works -- I know it's rather far from the type of information you
will be
processing but the way they do it is pretty cool. It seems as
though their
CGI scripts take much of the work out of managing the site.
Being able to automatically categorize the information and make
'matches'
based on parameters in a personal profile could be applied to
what you're up
against.
The greatest thing about the Internet is the amount of
information available.
The greatest problem with the Internet is the amount of
information available.
A large part of the choice will be made for you in what your ISP
will
provide. Some allow user-developed CGI scripts, most do not. If
your
provider has a Windows NT server, much can be done in Visual
Basic. What
would be nice is to have an SQL Server database on the server
with a VB
script to drive the client end. You could get some very
impressive stuff
running in this configuration.
Ideally, you'd need an Internet version of a Lotus Notes type of
product. I
haven't seen anything quite like that yet -- maybe I should
develop one...
I'll keep looking and let you know if I find anything suitable.
Cheers! Marty...
----------------------------------------------
| Marty R. Milette, P.Prog. mmilette@magi.com
| http://www.magi.com/~mmilette/
| If you always do what you did,
| you'll always get what you got.
----------------------------------------------
RE: New Highly Complex Systems tend to be unstable:
Working with Windows 95 and the INTERNET over the last few
years and being very interested in human nature and behavior -
There seems to be an analogy about things not working very well:
complex systems are unstable - things work, then they don't -
WHY ?
The current model of "Human Beings" is about 40,000
years old and the INTERNET is about 30 years of age. Both are
complex systems made up of sub-systems and parts that all don't
fit perfectly or work smoothly together.
The body-mind, (plant,
reptile, mammal) and all our "selves", emotional,
passionate,
rational elements, are so blended and mixed with "the stuff
that dreams are make of," that dreams, illusions and reality
become so mixed as to become one blended element.
The result of
this complex blend often involves conflict within ourselves and
with others. Clearly we are a new experimental design, a work
in process, that has not had the time to work out all the bugs.
The same instability applies to all collections of complex
systems,
Hi Peter:
I don't have all the answers, but take a look at how
http://www.match.com
works -- I know it's rather far from the type of information you
will be
processing but the way they do it is pretty cool. It seems as
though their
CGI scripts take much of the work out of managing the site.
Being able to automatically categorize the information and make
'matches'
based on parameters in a personal profile could be applied to
what you're up
against.
The greatest thing about the Internet is the amount of
information available.
The greatest problem with the Internet is the amount of
information available.
A large part of the choice will be made for you in what your ISP
will
provide. Some allow user-developed CGI scripts, most do not. If
your
provider has a Windows NT server, much can be done in Visual
Basic. What
would be nice is to have an SQL Server database on the server
with a VB
script to drive the client end. You could get some very
impressive stuff
running in this configuration.
Ideally, you'd need an Internet version of a Lotus Notes type of
product. I
haven't seen anything quite like that yet -- maybe I should
develop one...
I'll keep looking and let you know if I find anything suitable.
Cheers! Marty...
----------------------------------------------
| Marty R. Milette, P.Prog. mmilette@magi.com
| http://www.magi.com/~mmilette/
| If you always do what you did,
| you'll always get what you got.
----------------------------------------------
RE: New Highly Complex Systems tend to be unstable:
Working with Windows 95 and the INTERNET over the last few
years and being very interested in human nature and behavior -
There seems to be an analogy about things not working very well:
complex systems are unstable - things work, then they don't -
WHY ?
The current model of "Human Beings" is about 40,000
years old and the INTERNET is about 30 years of age. Both are
complex systems made up of sub-systems and parts that all don't
fit perfectly or work smoothly together.
The body-mind, (plant,
reptile, mammal) and all our "selves", emotional,
passionate,
rational elements, are so blended and mixed with "the stuff
that dreams are make of," that dreams, illusions and reality
become so mixed as to become one blended element.
The result of
this complex blend often involves conflict within ourselves and
with others. Clearly we are a new experimental design, a work
in process, that has not had the time to work out all the bugs.
The same instability applies to all collections of complex
systems,
I don't have all the answers, but take a look at how
http://www.match.com
works -- I know it's rather far from the type of information you
will be
processing but the way they do it is pretty cool. It seems as
though their
CGI scripts take much of the work out of managing the site.
Being able to automatically categorize the information and make
'matches'
based on parameters in a personal profile could be applied to
what you're up
against.
The greatest thing about the Internet is the amount of
information available.
The greatest problem with the Internet is the amount of
information available.
A large part of the choice will be made for you in what your ISP
will
provide. Some allow user-developed CGI scripts, most do not. If
your
provider has a Windows NT server, much can be done in Visual
Basic. What
would be nice is to have an SQL Server database on the server
with a VB
script to drive the client end. You could get some very
impressive stuff
running in this configuration.
Ideally, you'd need an Internet version of a Lotus Notes type of
product. I
haven't seen anything quite like that yet -- maybe I should
develop one...
I'll keep looking and let you know if I find anything suitable.
Cheers! Marty...
----------------------------------------------
| Marty R. Milette, P.Prog. mmilette@magi.com
| http://www.magi.com/~mmilette/
| If you always do what you did,
| you'll always get what you got.
----------------------------------------------
RE: New Highly Complex Systems tend to be unstable:
Working with Windows 95 and the INTERNET over the last few
years and being very interested in human nature and behavior -
There seems to be an analogy about things not working very well:
complex systems are unstable - things work, then they don't -
WHY ?
The current model of "Human Beings" is about 40,000
years old and the INTERNET is about 30 years of age. Both are
complex systems made up of sub-systems and parts that all don't
fit perfectly or work smoothly together.
The body-mind, (plant,
reptile, mammal) and all our "selves", emotional,
passionate,
rational elements, are so blended and mixed with "the stuff
that dreams are make of," that dreams, illusions and reality
become so mixed as to become one blended element.
The result of
this complex blend often involves conflict within ourselves and
with others. Clearly we are a new experimental design, a work
in process, that has not had the time to work out all the bugs.
The same instability applies to all collections of complex
systems,
The greatest thing about the Internet is the amount of
information available.
The greatest problem with the Internet is the amount of
information available.
A large part of the choice will be made for you in what your ISP
will
provide. Some allow user-developed CGI scripts, most do not. If
your
provider has a Windows NT server, much can be done in Visual
Basic. What
would be nice is to have an SQL Server database on the server
with a VB
script to drive the client end. You could get some very
impressive stuff
running in this configuration.
Ideally, you'd need an Internet version of a Lotus Notes type of
product. I
haven't seen anything quite like that yet -- maybe I should
develop one...
I'll keep looking and let you know if I find anything suitable.
Cheers! Marty...
----------------------------------------------
| Marty R. Milette, P.Prog. mmilette@magi.com
| http://www.magi.com/~mmilette/
| If you always do what you did,
| you'll always get what you got.
----------------------------------------------
RE: New Highly Complex Systems tend to be unstable:
Working with Windows 95 and the INTERNET over the last few
years and being very interested in human nature and behavior -
There seems to be an analogy about things not working very well:
complex systems are unstable - things work, then they don't -
WHY ?
The current model of "Human Beings" is about 40,000
years old and the INTERNET is about 30 years of age. Both are
complex systems made up of sub-systems and parts that all don't
fit perfectly or work smoothly together.
The body-mind, (plant,
reptile, mammal) and all our "selves", emotional,
passionate,
rational elements, are so blended and mixed with "the stuff
that dreams are make of," that dreams, illusions and reality
become so mixed as to become one blended element.
The result of
this complex blend often involves conflict within ourselves and
with others. Clearly we are a new experimental design, a work
in process, that has not had the time to work out all the bugs.
The same instability applies to all collections of complex
systems,
The greatest problem with the Internet is the amount of
information available.
A large part of the choice will be made for you in what your ISP
will
provide. Some allow user-developed CGI scripts, most do not. If
your
provider has a Windows NT server, much can be done in Visual
Basic. What
would be nice is to have an SQL Server database on the server
with a VB
script to drive the client end. You could get some very
impressive stuff
running in this configuration.
Ideally, you'd need an Internet version of a Lotus Notes type of
product. I
haven't seen anything quite like that yet -- maybe I should
develop one...
I'll keep looking and let you know if I find anything suitable.
Cheers! Marty...
----------------------------------------------
| Marty R. Milette, P.Prog. mmilette@magi.com
| http://www.magi.com/~mmilette/
| If you always do what you did,
| you'll always get what you got.
----------------------------------------------
RE: New Highly Complex Systems tend to be unstable:
Working with Windows 95 and the INTERNET over the last few
years and being very interested in human nature and behavior -
There seems to be an analogy about things not working very well:
complex systems are unstable - things work, then they don't -
WHY ?
The current model of "Human Beings" is about 40,000
years old and the INTERNET is about 30 years of age. Both are
complex systems made up of sub-systems and parts that all don't
fit perfectly or work smoothly together.
The body-mind, (plant,
reptile, mammal) and all our "selves", emotional,
passionate,
rational elements, are so blended and mixed with "the stuff
that dreams are make of," that dreams, illusions and reality
become so mixed as to become one blended element.
The result of
this complex blend often involves conflict within ourselves and
with others. Clearly we are a new experimental design, a work
in process, that has not had the time to work out all the bugs.
The same instability applies to all collections of complex
systems,
Ideally, you'd need an Internet version of a Lotus Notes type of
product. I
haven't seen anything quite like that yet -- maybe I should
develop one...
I'll keep looking and let you know if I find anything suitable.
Cheers! Marty...
----------------------------------------------
| Marty R. Milette, P.Prog. mmilette@magi.com
| http://www.magi.com/~mmilette/
| If you always do what you did,
| you'll always get what you got.
----------------------------------------------
RE: New Highly Complex Systems tend to be unstable:
Working with Windows 95 and the INTERNET over the last few
years and being very interested in human nature and behavior -
There seems to be an analogy about things not working very well:
complex systems are unstable - things work, then they don't -
WHY ?
The current model of "Human Beings" is about 40,000
years old and the INTERNET is about 30 years of age. Both are
complex systems made up of sub-systems and parts that all don't
fit perfectly or work smoothly together.
The body-mind, (plant,
reptile, mammal) and all our "selves", emotional,
passionate,
rational elements, are so blended and mixed with "the stuff
that dreams are make of," that dreams, illusions and reality
become so mixed as to become one blended element.
The result of
this complex blend often involves conflict within ourselves and
with others. Clearly we are a new experimental design, a work
in process, that has not had the time to work out all the bugs.
The same instability applies to all collections of complex
systems,
Cheers! Marty...
----------------------------------------------
| Marty R. Milette, P.Prog. mmilette@magi.com
| http://www.magi.com/~mmilette/
| If you always do what you did,
| you'll always get what you got.
----------------------------------------------
RE: New Highly Complex Systems tend to be unstable:
Working with Windows 95 and the INTERNET over the last few
years and being very interested in human nature and behavior -
There seems to be an analogy about things not working very well:
complex systems are unstable - things work, then they don't -
WHY ?
The current model of "Human Beings" is about 40,000
years old and the INTERNET is about 30 years of age. Both are
complex systems made up of sub-systems and parts that all don't
fit perfectly or work smoothly together.
The body-mind, (plant,
reptile, mammal) and all our "selves", emotional,
passionate,
rational elements, are so blended and mixed with "the stuff
that dreams are make of," that dreams, illusions and reality
become so mixed as to become one blended element.
The result of
this complex blend often involves conflict within ourselves and
with others. Clearly we are a new experimental design, a work
in process, that has not had the time to work out all the bugs.
The same instability applies to all collections of complex
systems,
| http://www.magi.com/~mmilette/
| If you always do what you did,
| you'll always get what you got.
----------------------------------------------
RE: New Highly Complex Systems tend to be unstable:
Working with Windows 95 and the INTERNET over the last few
years and being very interested in human nature and behavior -
There seems to be an analogy about things not working very well:
complex systems are unstable - things work, then they don't -
WHY ?
The current model of "Human Beings" is about 40,000
years old and the INTERNET is about 30 years of age. Both are
complex systems made up of sub-systems and parts that all don't
fit perfectly or work smoothly together.
The body-mind, (plant,
reptile, mammal) and all our "selves", emotional,
passionate,
rational elements, are so blended and mixed with "the stuff
that dreams are make of," that dreams, illusions and reality
become so mixed as to become one blended element.
The result of
this complex blend often involves conflict within ourselves and
with others. Clearly we are a new experimental design, a work
in process, that has not had the time to work out all the bugs.
The same instability applies to all collections of complex
systems,
| you'll always get what you got.
----------------------------------------------
RE: New Highly Complex Systems tend to be unstable:
Working with Windows 95 and the INTERNET over the last few
years and being very interested in human nature and behavior -
There seems to be an analogy about things not working very well:
complex systems are unstable - things work, then they don't -
WHY ?
The current model of "Human Beings" is about 40,000
years old and the INTERNET is about 30 years of age. Both are
complex systems made up of sub-systems and parts that all don't
fit perfectly or work smoothly together.
The body-mind, (plant,
reptile, mammal) and all our "selves", emotional,
passionate,
rational elements, are so blended and mixed with "the stuff
that dreams are make of," that dreams, illusions and reality
become so mixed as to become one blended element.
The result of
this complex blend often involves conflict within ourselves and
with others. Clearly we are a new experimental design, a work
in process, that has not had the time to work out all the bugs.
The same instability applies to all collections of complex
systems,
RE: New Highly Complex Systems tend to be unstable:
Working with Windows 95 and the INTERNET over the last few
years and being very interested in human nature and behavior -
There seems to be an analogy about things not working very well:
complex systems are unstable - things work, then they don't -
WHY ?
The current model of "Human Beings" is about 40,000
years old and the INTERNET is about 30 years of age. Both are
complex systems made up of sub-systems and parts that all don't
fit perfectly or work smoothly together.
The body-mind, (plant,
reptile, mammal) and all our "selves", emotional,
passionate,
rational elements, are so blended and mixed with "the stuff
that dreams are make of," that dreams, illusions and reality
become so mixed as to become one blended element.
The result of
this complex blend often involves conflict within ourselves and
with others. Clearly we are a new experimental design, a work
in process, that has not had the time to work out all the bugs.
The same instability applies to all collections of complex
systems,