From: gil@Gilsys.DIALix.oz.au (Gil Hardwick)
Newsgroups: sci.anthropology
Subject: Distance Education?
Distribution: world
Date: Tue, 06 Oct 92 00:53:54 GMT
Organization: STAFF STRATEGIES - Anthropologists & Training Agents


In article <1992Oct05.135154.23129@rchland.ibm.com> bechdol@vnet.ibm.com writes:

 > I would appreciate any advice and direction in the learning process.
 > However, I must remain the master of my own time.  We must be flexible
 > with the notion of "regularly and on time," for what is timely for me
 > depends on many things.

Certainly, but your tutors taking time out from other work and from
their own recreations to help you learn, ought not to have the use of
that time abused and dictated arbitrarily when you do not care too
much about the topic anyway. Nobody has imposed upon you in any way
whatever to take the unit.

The program as I had proposed is an introduction to tertiary level
study, and to that extent potential students will be regarded as
sufficiently mature to fit in with standard practice. All I am saying
is that students in a particular unit I am tutoring will be required
to have their assignments in by a certain date notified right at the
start of the unit.

 > If an assignment takes me three days or three years should make no
 > difference.

Only to whether I am willing to sit around waiting for three years for
your assignment to arrive. If you want to submit your work within
three days, please feel free to do so. Be mindful, however, that it
will probably sit there for three months until the whole batch has
arrived and I can go over the assignments all at once.

Be mindful also that three days will NOT give you time to read the
reference material, or to respond appropriately to the topic within
the rules of anthropological discourse.

 > What matters is that:
 >  
 > 1. I'm learning.
 > 2. I'm having fun.
 >  
 > Both are equally important.  I don't *need* to learn more about
 > Anthropology, I simply *want* to.  If it's not fun, well then, I'll
 > go learn something else that is.

If you want fun, please do subscribe to any of the many rec., alt. ot
talk. groups on the net. There is a whole smorgasbord of fun and
learning for you there (tried alt.erotica.binaries?), and none of us
here are seeking to deny you in any way whatsoever.

 > Whoever said that education must be stuffy and regimented was likely
 > in a profession which no one else wanted to study. ;-)

I have no idea whoever said any such thing, or whoever might be
proposing a stuffy and regimented education here. I do not even know
what relevance it has here, since I do not care less who else wants
to study what, or how well they want to learn to what end. The
permutations are infinite, when my attention is focussed here on my
own students striving to do justice to their material, and hopefully
bring merit upon themselves which they can carry into their further
studies.

The salient point here in this very particular context is that if
anyone wants to take up an introductory program I have offered in
Anthropology, be it for the previous or any other reasons given, only
to stuff me around submitting any old crap any old time they feel like
it, the material will be deleted from my mail without being read. I do
expect that any other tutors will, ultimately, set similar guidelines.

 > Sorry for going overboard on this issue, but it's an old thorn in my side. ;-)

I know a very good Chinese herbalist here in Perth who would be very
happy to remove the thorn for you, and ease your discomfort a little.
He is very good indeed . . .

Gil

--
Gil Hardwick                                      gil@Gilsys.DIALix.oz.au
Independent Consulting Ethnologist                            3:690/660.6
PERTH, Western Australia                                 (+61 9) 399 2401
   * * Sustainable Community Development & Environmental Education * *
Newsgroups: sci.anthropology