State of General Educ LO7015

JOHNWFIELD@aol.com
Sun, 28 Apr 1996 09:36:47 -0400

Replying to LO7000 --

Ivan said:

> I believe that universities, an especially some programs such as
>Buisiness programs, are losing their own future in a very slow process
>filled with arrogance and lack of "true awarness" of what is goiong here!
>I have said it so many times that the structured classes, class materials
>(textbooks), the classroom, the 3 hour-credit course, etc., have become so
>universally accepted as necessary for education to take place that we
>failed to recognize and accept the fact that learning is not constrained
>to any of those factors or dimensions. We have failed to reciognize how
>meaningles the whole thing has become. It is possible that in some fields
>of knowledge the traditional univeristy environment is the most
>appropriate way of learning. But I am sure that there are many other
>fields of knowledge where the traditional structure has served as a
>deterrent to advancement. This list is much dynamic, meaningful, rich in
>terms of the diversity of views, etc.

I believe strongly that what Ivan said is true. I have been studying a
concept called "The Great University" off and on since 1980, and have
accumulated a lot of disconnected ideas. Now I am putting them together
into a document that I call "The Wandwaver Solution". This document will
say how I would change the university if I could do so by waving a magic
wand. But after that is done, I will say next why I think it is
technically and economically feasible to make such changes. And then I
will say why I think they must be made if the university is going to
survive as an institution for much longer. Finally I will say how to go
about making them.

As you can see, I think I have all the answers, but just in case I don't,
I am asking people on this list to send me just the single best idea they
have for the Wandwaver Solution. I promise for sure to keep track of who
said what, and to incorporate what they say (in original, or if absolutely
necessary, in condensed form) in my document.

Everything that I am contributing to the Wandwaver Solution has already
been said in print. If you send ideas I haven't seen, your concepts will
be protected by the absence of prior contribution.

Moreover, unless I get a mammoth set of ideas (which I don't expect), I
will ultimately mail free to the contributors the first draft of the
Wandwaver Solution; but ONLY if you send me a snail mail address with the
original contribution.

The receptacle for these contributions is:

jnwarfield@aol.com

Please DO NOT send them to my normal LO list address, because this will
give me a sorting problem that I can do without. The receptacle mentioned
receives almost no email.

Thanks for any help you will give.

John N. Warfield
Johnwfield@aol.com

-- 

JOHNWFIELD@aol.com

Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>