Online Education...a solution?

                           Online Education...a solution?

      If recent reports are true, that there is a 25.6% drop in first-time California community college students from spring 2009 to spring 2012, then the writing is on the wall. Something has to change in order for the nation's largest public higher education system to thrive once again. 

      The cuts to community colleges has created a situation for the past several years that continues to worsen. These fiscal problems have caused a decrease in the number of sections offered across all of the disciplines. Hardest hit from the fiscal cuts are the arts, such as music courses. These cuts have created hardships for students who can't transfer because they can't get into needed classes. The waitlists for required courses are long, and there is only so much room to add a few students.

      Online education could be the answer to some of these problems. Online courses need to be developed and then implemented to fill the current and future needs of community college students. An educated workforce has many benefits to the state and local community. It could be that some of the drop off in first time community college students has been fueled by the poor economy, with jobs taking over education just to keep afloat financially. Adding insult to injury has been the dire financial situation of our education system. 

     Senate president Pro Tem, Darryl Steinberg, D-Sacramento, has brought a bill for review, which is SB 520. He proposes that a panel of faculty from UC, CSU and the community colleges choose 50 oversubscribed lower-division courses to be taught online, perhaps through private providers such as Udacity, which is working on a faculty-led pilot project at San Jose State. UC, CSU and community college faculty have all expressed concerns about the bill, and there are issues to work out. However, if online courses could unblock the pipeline, especially for CSU and Community College students, then this bill may the the first step in the right direction.

~Kathy~

 *some information was taken from news reports and the Tri-Valley Times*

  

Troubling Trends in Education...

                            Troubling Trends in Education...



   As much as our society seems to promote the idea that pornography and treating women as objects is in poor taste, there are strong currents in the media and elsewhere that are trending in the opposite direction.
   One of the most disturbing realities is that pornography, and the objectification of women is viewed as normal by many in our society today. Sadly, these views, which are degrading to women, are often promoted in public schools by teachers, especially at the college level.

   Recently, one of our daughters, who attends a Community College, sat through a lecture on aesthetics and feminism in which the male instructor verbally belittled the female gender, and promoted the ideas of male superiority. This lecture was in a philosophy class focused on aesthetics. Our daughter came away from that lecture feeling angry and emotionally upset by the ways in which the instructor framed the argument, and skewed it to denigrate women, and promote views of male dominance and superiority.

   As a parent I have to ask myself, is this education? It is more similar to indoctrination, and sexual discrimination. No student, male or female,should ever have to be subjected to gender stereotyping, or lectures that reinforce the putting down of one gender, while raising up another. 

   This isn't my first experience with similar scenarios at other community colleges, and it causes me to question the mindset of the instructor, who gets away with breaking the sexual harassment and discrimination policies of the college that employs him. This type of "lecture" is NOT education, rather it is the foisting of one's views on others. I would call it pollution, because it doesn't seek to raise up, but rather it seeks to bring down. Of particular concern to me is the long-term effects on our communities, and society as a whole, when a teachers' agenda promotes ideas which contribute directly or indirectly to violence against women.

~Kathy~

The Violence Against Women Act

                           The Violence Against Women Act


  The Violence Against Women Act was enacted in 1994, and renewed again last week. What this act purports to do is provide a national strategy to hold offenders accountable, and programs to provide victims with services to achieve safety and rebuild their lives. This is all good, and needed in our society. The fact that this Act is needed is a troubling reminder of the reality that there is so much violence against women in our society.

  However, with the budget impasse and sequestration being implemented by the Federal Government, the very programs that are involved in trying to decrease all kinds of violence against women will experience the effects of the imminent crisis facing our government. 

  The establishment of a National Domestic Violence Hotline (1-800-799-7233) is a step in the right direction, along with specialized training for police officers when dealing with domestic violence issues, along with a large array of other services to help promote the well-being and welfare of women in vulnerable circumstances. Laws and Acts can help, but education is the road to change.

~Kathy~

Reflections on 2012...

                                      Reflections on 2012...                                             



   As New Year's Eve looms ever closer by the hour, and I begin to reflect back on 2012, and look forward to 2013, there are memories which have been joyful, or painful, but all of them have changed me in some way.


   One thing that I have come away from 2012 knowing more surely than ever before is to not take people for granted. Each person is unique and special, and deserves respect, even if we disagree with them politically, or in any other aspect. Our common humanity unites us all, and provides a bridge to understanding all people.


  Another thing that I have had resonate deeply within me in 2012 is the extreme preciousness of the gift of life. This was brought home to me in a special way with the birth of our second granddaughter in August. To be able to hold baby Mary was the highlight of 2012 for me.


  Another thing that I experienced in 2012 was travel, as I flew three times to the East Coast. These trips allowed me to view the landscape of our beautiful country from up above. I saw the Great Salt Lake from the air for the first time, and was in awe of its magnificence. I also got an aerial view of the Rockies, and the farmlands of the Mid-West, along with a distant view of Chicago, my birthplace.

  In 2012 I experienced the beauty of volunteering for a cause I believe strongly in, and have enjoyed becoming more involved in this non-profit these past five months. I have also spent more time in 2012 sewing and knitting and baking for others, and have discovered anew my passion for all of these hobbies, which is fueled by my desire to give them to others.

  Finally, in 2012 I rediscovered the irreplaceable gift of family, and friends and neighbors, without whom my life would be very impoverished. 

  Wishing each of you a very wonderful end to 2012, and new beginnings in 2013!
  
  Happy New Year!

~ Kathy~



  

  

Transhumanism and Posthumanism

                                       Transhumanism and Posthumanism  (Part 1)

  New technologies may soon begin to enhance the biological and physical realities of the human body, potentially creating bodies and minds that transcend human limitations. With such technologies come ethical questions about extended longevity, and re-engineering the human body to expand its functional capacity. 

  Transhumanism and posthumanism are worldviews that strongly favor the development and implementation of technologies which would eventually replace homo sapiens with biologically and technologically superior beings.

  Transhumanism has been defined as "the intellectual and cultural movement that affirms the possibility and desirability of fundamentally improving the human condition through applied reason, especially by using technology to eliminate aging and greatly enhance human intellectual, physical and psychological capacities" (Bostrom, 1999). A posthuman would no longer be a human being, having been so significantly altered as to no longer represent the human species. Underlying this worldview is a core belief that the human species in its current form does not represent the end of our development, but rather its beginning(Bostrom, 1999).

  The tools that transhumanists would use to achieve their ends include genetic manipulation, nanotechnology, cybernetics, pharmacological enhancement, and computer simulation.The most controversial transhumanist vision involves the concept of mind uploading. According to proponents, advances in computing and neurotechnologies will, within several decades, enable individuals to completely read the synaptic connections of the human brain, enabling an exact replica of the brain to exist and function inside a computer. This simulation could then "live" in whatever mechanical body-form it desired (Kurzweil).

  The first assertion of transhumanist thinking is a rejection of the assumption that human nature is a constant (Bostrom, 1999). There is nothing sacred about nature in general, or about human nature in particular. Criticisms of attempts to modify nature as 'playing God" are rejected as inappropriate.

  Katherine Hayles, in her book How We Became Posthuman (1999), describes four characteristic posthuman, or transhuman, assumptions. First, information patterns are more important or essential to the nature of being than any "material instantiation, so that embodiment in a biological substrate is seen as an accident of history rather than an inevitability of life". Second, consciousness is an epiphenomenon. There is no immaterial soul. Thirs, the body is simply a prosthesis, albeit the first one we learn to use and manipulate. Therefore, replacing or enhancing human function with other prostheses is only a natural extension of our fundamental relationship with our begotten bodies.Lastly, the posthuman views the human being as capable of being "seamlessly articulated with intelligent machines. In the posthuman, there are no essential differences or absolute demarcations between bodily existence and computer simulation, cybernetic mechanism and biological organism, robot technology and human goals".

  These world views raise several significant ethical issues, one of which is: should human beings augment or enhance themselves and future generations? 

~Kathy~

*To be continued in Part 2

*** Comments appreciated***

Internet Resources:

Bostrom, Nick. 1999. "The Transhumanist FAQ." Available from <http://www.transhumanism.org/resources/faq.html>

Bostrom, Nick. 2001. "What Is Transhumanism?" Available from: <http://www.nickbostrom.com>

Books:

Hayles, N. Katherine. 1999. How We Became Posthuman: Virtual Bodies in Cybernetics, Literature and Informatics. Chicago:University of Chicago Press.

Kurzweil, Ray. 1999. The Age of Spiritual Machines: When Computers Exceed Human Intelligence. New York:Viking.

Thankfulness...

                                  Cultivating Thankfulness...



     In just one week my favorite holiday will be here. Each year it seems that Thanksgiving gets more and more hidden between the plethora of Halloween costumes, and the overabundance of Christmas decorations. I have often thought that stores don't make much money from Thanksgiving, and that is why it seems almost forgotten by the retail industry. Indeed, there is a possibility that as we progress, and technology takes over, that unless there's an app for it, it won't exist. Currently there is a great need in our world to develop appreciation, which goes hand in hand with cultivating thankfulness. 

     If Thanksgiving were to evaporate away in the future, we as a country would lose a vital connection to our early history. The Pilgrims and the Native Americans forged a bond, and it had a connection to eating together. The focus was the sharing of knowledge and food. The tradition of cooking a turkey with stuffing, and having cranberry sauce, along with pumpkin pie stems from the core of the holiday, which is food and friendship. If Thanksgiving eventually fades away, it won't be due to a food shortage, but rather a failure to reflect on all that we have to be thankful for.

    Recently I was working to find housing for a homeless woman, and I felt the desperation and exhaustion that come from a lack of basic needs. It forced me to drive home that day with a renewed gratefulness for what I have. It was a good reality check for me. Sometimes I do take what I have been given for granted. 

   Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday because its not about the gifts, but about family and friends and cooking for them. I also love this holiday because it causes    us to slow down a bit, and reflect on our blessings. The fact that it ends with a piece of pumpkin pie doesn't hurt either.

~Kathy~

Education in California...

                        Education in California...who is to pay?


   Once upon a time, California had two of the top college systems in the United States, with the CSU system and the UC system. Compared to other states, these two systems were very affordable for the quality of education that you were getting. Sadly, times have changed from the 70's, 80's and even 90's or early 2000's. Increasingly, students have had to carry the burden of huge loan debt to pay for a CSU or UC education. According to numerous studies, the average student loan debt by the time a student earns a Bachelor's degree is $26,000. That is astronomically high, and predicted to rise even higher. What can be done?

   Numerous proposals have been made by educators, administrators, the governor and others, but currently it seems that many in the educational field are putting all of their eggs into the basket of Prop. 30. Basically what this Prop. 30 will do is tax those who make over 250,000/year to help fund K-12, community colleges and universities. It is predicted that if Prop. 30 doesn't pass, then a community college will lose $9 million in the current year.This is a dire situation, however, it took years to get into this situation...and Prop. 30 is only a band-aid solution. 

  The real tragedy here are the students, as approximately one in four students at a Bay Area Community College cannot get into an entry-level English or Math class. Many programs have had to cut their course offerings severely  which has resulted in overloaded classes.This delays the ability to transfer to a 4-year college, and increases the costs for the students who are affected by these cutbacks. In addition, overcrowded classes put an extra burden on the instructor, and stretch the amount of time and attention given to the students who may be having difficulty in the course.

  I believe that there are other potential solutions to the budget problem that haven't been put into place as of yet. Rather than asking the wealthy to shoulder the burden to keep our schools from having to make more drastic cuts to education, why not ask the top heavy administration to take salary cuts, and decrease the number of administrators. Surely, that would be more fiscally prudent in the long run.

  To raise taxes on the wealthy to help pay for public education doesn't make logical sense either because many who have the financial means to send their children to private colleges, do just that, bypassing the public education system altogether. So, why would people who are not personally invested in the public educational system feel a desire to be taxed in order to allow it to survive?

~Kathy~