Well said. I remember memorizing landline numbers, must have had nearly 20 of them committed. At some point it became muscle memory; the buttons of my mom’s old touch-tone phone had wonderful tactile response. Today the only number I really remember is my wife’s and only because I have to put her number into online forms when ordering stuff for her. :p
I like your external versus internal memory argument. It sounds like science fiction, but I think we’ll eventually achieve the vision that Google’s founders had. Direct brain access to all the data on the web. At that point, what purpose is there to memorize anything? Why bother learning simple math either, when you can presumably have similar access to Wolfram Alpha… At some point humans will be totally helpless without this technology, and the people who bother to learn such things will be seen in the same light as modern day survivalists who take classes on how to survive in the wilderness with primitive technology.
I guess there is no point in worrying as we literally cannot stop this. One of the readings was talking about the fear that the Gutenberg press would destroy the mental discipline of scholars, but it didn’t matter because the press was so incredibly valuable, it couldn’t be ignored. Same goes for external silicon memory – it is so powerful, that the people who eschew it cannot compete. We really have no choice. Resistance is futile…
Author: alexpfp17
Comment on Multitasking does not exist by alexpfp17
I think it snuck into our lives via recreation. Listening to music while working, then maybe surfing the web while watching TV, then browsing your phone at social gatherings. “Multitasking” is part of how we do everything, so why not work too?
I try to avoid it, but I have such a short attention span I find myself painfully bored when forced to concentrate on one thing. How the heck did I get through middle-school without a smart phone to distract me from boring classes…?
I guess I just lack discipline and need to work on that. I have occasionally perused parenting books looking for how to teach a kid discipline, hoping I could apply the same techniques to myself. But I usually get bored reading them. :/ Seriously though, I wonder what it will do to our society at large.
Peace and long life.
Comment on Critical Pedagogy: Education as Emancipation . . . or . . . Teach for the Sky by alexpfp17
I really like the second equality versus equity cartoon, especially since this is the first time I’ve ever seen it with the third frame (“removing the source of the inequality”). The multiple perspective image is also perfect!
Comment on The What and the How of Critical Pedagogy by alexpfp17
Agreed. Rigidity is incredibly detrimental. But flexibility in teaching is easier said than done. It takes incredible planning, and I would guess experience. It’s something we should always strive for, but likely will never fully attain.
Comment on Won’t We Need to be Able of Critical Thinking Ourselves? by alexpfp17
Armani’s example is such a tricky situation. Clearly the lack of critical examination of the problems is hindering the student, but accommodating such disabilities is one of the most significant roles for a teacher. How was it resolved?
Comment on Left Turn on Red by alexpfp17
I am also concerned by the responsibility of navigating such discussions. Despite the good guidelines, a small error on the part of the instructor could cause a significant problem in the classroom. I am kind of glad that most of my work is objective / computational work without much uncomfortable dialogue. Though to be honest, I do model infectious diseases, and talking about some of them (e.g. HIV) can be uncomfortable…
Comment on My Story by alexpfp17
Good to hear Wejdan.
And Qichao, I get the same feeling – we Americans are representing our country to the visiting students. It is easy to turn on the television and see ugliness in the American news- but hopefully the foreign grad students, who do return home, have fond memories of their American colleagues. ?
Comment on Taking teaching into the next level by alexpfp17
Well said. It is an invaluable trait, especially in an academic setting. Speaking of President Sands, his administration has done some great things to increase diversity. They really put a lot of work into the strategic plan: https://inclusive.vt.edu/resources/dsp.html
It turns out that among peer institutions, VT has one of the poorest records in attracting diversity. We even have one of the smallest scholarship funds for this task. It seems to be a major focus of President Sand’s attention, so I suspect we’ll be fixing this soon…
Comment on If Only by alexpfp17
Excellent post. We must remember that it is not just a diversity of ideas and experiences we are dealing with, but also a diversity in the manner by which students process information. We cannot force them all through the same pedagogical mold.
Comment on If Only by alexpfp17
Well said. But this makes designing a course orders of magnitude more difficult… but it is the only way to maintain that diversity of thought throughout the educational system. One could force everyone through the same mold, but we’d be doing a disservice to society.
I guess the burden falls on us teachers, not to do so…
