Comments on: ConnectEd: Take 1 http://sites.middlebury.edu/rononmiddlebury/2008/01/30/connected-take-1/ Ron Liebowitz is the 16th president of Middlebury College Wed, 10 Apr 2013 03:40:42 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1 By: ronl http://sites.middlebury.edu/rononmiddlebury/2008/01/30/connected-take-1/comment-page-1/#comment-191 ronl Tue, 05 Feb 2008 17:48:01 +0000 http://rononmiddlebury.wordpress.com/?p=31#comment-191 In response to Kevin’s good point: McNealy was only setting the stage for improving access to education…not that this new method might replace fully what we have today. At least that is how I see the great value in what he was proposing: the ability to build on nothing…to provide access or enhancement to what is already there, which, for many, is not much. The MITs and Middlebury’s (the latter without, yet, access to its curriculum on-line) represent a mode of higher education that is a fraction of the world-wide demand for higher ed. Fewer than 4% of 18-22 year olds attend a residential liberal arts college, and I believe fewer than another 10% attend larger, private institutions like MIT.

So while “place” is important, and can explain why a current Middlebury parent would react strongly against the hint that a college experience might be like what McNealy proposed, the masses who need higher ed are unlikely to be able to benefit from the kind of place we are used to here (at Middlebury). And that is the power of McNealy’s message and approach. We can address Rothkopf’s “super class” in a future post! Ron L.

]]> By: Kevin Hurley http://sites.middlebury.edu/rononmiddlebury/2008/01/30/connected-take-1/comment-page-1/#comment-190 Kevin Hurley Mon, 04 Feb 2008 22:21:30 +0000 http://rononmiddlebury.wordpress.com/?p=31#comment-190 Virtual worlds or Second Life opportunities may be the ideal learning tool for language learning that incorporates cultural learning.

It was interesting that McNealy’s open-source argument came full circle when David Rothkopf, at the end, pointed out that open-source isn’t as much a challenge, e.g., MIT’s entire curriculum is online, as “how we learn”. And, in that context, “place” has a significant role in fostering our values and strengthening our humanity, or “human ties”.

Food for thought.

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