Friday, May 20, 2011

Sleeping Bear: Hum. for Flow, MIT OCW biology course with programming, Overachievers, WUaS Dancing & Movement to Promote Well-being, New DIALOGUE page

Best ways to build on Reed Humanities-like required course at online World Univ & Sch?

... for 'Flow' ('enjoyment' - absorbed mind per Csikszentmihalyi)

for writing skills, history, democracy, etc. ...


Find overachieving students (ask them what they enjoy),

Fagles' 'The Odyssey,' listenable to in mp3,

BBC's 'Oedipus Rex' & Oresteia (early 1990s)

http://worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/Humanities :)

‎... for WU Law School (http://worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/World_University_Law_School) ... :)

Since ancient Greece, dialogue has been such a/the significant, versatile and enjoyable generator of knowledge, and especially via reason (I think) ... Let's wiki about this :) ...


Friend: Ack. If I had gone to law school online, I would still not have graduated. And I graduated in 1993.


Scott: TV was a big distraction for me in high school in the '70s, and, yet, isn't FOCUS the question? :)


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What fascinating online (probably) MIT OCW biology course,

with a programming component

(write a little program about evolutionary biology and biology every week)

would you suggest?

http://worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/Biology


(These aren't introductory MIT OCW biology courses for MIT students, but they are similar to the biology course I have in mind, because they involve computing:

Computational Biology: Genomes, Networks, Evolution -
http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/electrical-engineering-and-computer-science/6-047-computational-biology-genomes-networks-evolution-fall-2008

Computational Evolutionary Biology
http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/electrical-engineering-and-computer-science/6-877j-computational-evolutionary-biology-fall-2005/),



... would be fun

... and be a first required college freshman science course at WUaS,

leading to the World University Medical School?

(Here's my current Introduction to Biology choice from MIT OCW: http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/biology/7-012-introduction-to-biology-fall-2004/)


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Friend from college, decades ago:

Hey Scottie.
I resolved to check this page more after 50. LOL. Still way too much to catch up on, though. Who'd've thought 25 years ago that we'd be in touch still... I dunno. For me, crossing the Pacific in '85 (to Japan) was perceived as a break, neither malevolent nor bitter... and now trying to catch up on 25 years without much chance of convergence is rather daunting. Blah blah blah. Is there a way to build on Hum? Engaging texts is the best means. There are no substitutes. Having said that, I force students to close read films, and they resist at first. Some flower.


Scott:

M! ... just came from Reed gathering last eve near Stanford :)

Will you attend centennial?

Texts (probably online), yes, for many reasons,

but as a Reed academic 'overachiever,'

what would you say inspires you & your students further to explore rich engagement with such Hum. ideas,

fulsomely & in a sustained way?

(How to cultivate enjoyment with Hum?)


Friend from college, decades ago:

Wow... lucky you. Dunno about the centennial; the timing renders attendance unlikely. Well, the fostering of engagement requires reciprocal engagement over time by a mentor. Hence, two or three 90-minute conferences, with face-to-face time and heated exchange, seems to work best. I still have yet to engage meaningfully with distance learning.


Scott:

You've been away a long, long time ... very glad to hear your journeying, beginning so long ago, has been salutary ...


Friend from college, decades ago:

‎_0_

in a word: dialog.

TIme for sleep now... Sweet dreams



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Since Dancing, Tai Chi & Movement promote & further health and well-being, bodymind-wise, and WUaS college course degrees will probably be done by overachievers from home, World Univ & Sch may require 30 minutes per day of such movement at home with favorite music (with a face-to-face video possibility?) How to articulate 'required' courses (for 18-27 yr olds, & all) with 'flow' (enjoyment - absorbed minds) experiences - the more enjoyable the 'flow' experiences the better? :)

Healthy, fit bodyminds engaging enjoyable learning online from home?


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Dialog with knowledgeable, skillful, connectible-idea-wise mentors for WUaS credit classes, conference style, (with MIT faculty especially on video? - for knowledge & since they've already taught OCW ?), all via virtual worlds with animated avatar faces, but more likely, multiple Skype windows ‎on a screen, for group idea sharing (riffing about 'The Odyssey,' while learning to develop a thesis in writing, or playing instruments together online in the WUaS Music School?) ... so that this process is as fun as playing in a rock band.

How to bring in bliss to the face-to-face digital dialog?



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New 'Dialogue' subject page:
http://worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/Dialogue ?












(http://scott-macleod.blogspot.com/2011/05/sleeping-bear-hum-for-flow-mit-ocw.html - May 20. 2011)

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