- The discussion is shaping up nicely. Thanks to the presenters. It's a little more structured this time which is to the good as it makes it easier to follow the logical progression of people's thuoghts. I wonder if we are going to come to a natural synthesis as we did last time. Perhaps not, which is not surprising to me as the parameters of the assignment--'discuss NSC 68 and Korean War--are looser.
- There are a lot of important threads in this unit which don't figure directly (or haven't yet anyway) into the discussion: the origins of Containment, the Marshall Plan, Kennan's Long Telegram, Stalin's role in the outbreak of the Korean War. All of these are covered in the unit contents in which some Learning Objects ask you to consider something (example: LO3 'Comparing Truman and Marshall' says 'Consider the audience being addressed in each case in these two speeches. What similarities and/or differences do you detect in the tone and focus of each?'). Are you considering these things? You should be even if you do not post your thoughts on your blog. This is a 'meaty' unit with a lot to take on board. I expect that you will be au fait with these concepts, that you know what the Truman Doctrine was and how it related to the Marshall Plan, to pick an example, as we go forward. It's important.
- Blogs--not much traffic lately. This is a shame. I know it can be difficult to post something lengthy when you've got a zillion other things to do. As you can see from my own neglected blog I can sympathize. Try posting short comments and updates. Let me tell you how it helps me. With my 'analog' students on campus I usually have a gut-feeling for how they are doing. I see them on the street or in the hallway and I deduce from the fact that they are standing upright that they are alive and at least physically present. I see them in class and deduce from the presence (or absence) of dark circles around eyes, caffeine jitters and nicotine stained fingers whether or not they are feeling stressed about assignments etc. Here, I have much fewer cues as to your mental state. In short, help me out by giving me more cues on blogs.
- In that vein, I take note of several quite interesting digressions in the discussion forum which I'd really rather took place in the blogs.
More later...
Ps. I am feeling a little stressed myself today. I must rush off now to lead a seminar on Vietnam, Beirut and the Weinberger Doctrine. It's a very interesting subject but I'm feeling a slight crunch as I change mental gears from early to late Cold War.
5 comments:
Okay, okay, I promise to try to keep my random posts to a minimum. I get over-excited when I read the word 'discuss' and there is no indication of control measure as I don't often see that kind of freedom of action in my line of work.
I tend to read the message boards in my office when I have a spare couple of minutes and then, intoxicated by the exhilarating discussion, I find myself getting caught up in the moment, one thing leads to another...
I'll try to apply some kind of personal message board prophilaxis to prevent any further cerebral ejaculate from entering the system and impregnating your students with my illigitimate ideas.
David,
As you will have seen from my comment on your previous blog - I am now fully familiar with pressing the "right buttons".
Some more on the word "dense" if I may distract you a little. My script may have been described as "dense" due to the complexity of ideas therein and of the difficulty in understanding them but it could be the reader who is "dense" if the script isn't actually that "dense" in the first place - if you see my point. Of course, it may have been the writer who was "dense" and this could have been your original meaning. Oh, the English language!
More to the point - I am still alive, still kicking and thoroughly enjoying my studies. The only real input I have at this time is to say that I find the reading workload quite heavy but I am getting through it and hopefully remmebering most of it. I do have the time to dig around in the general texts and other suggested reading. As I am not currently working this is probably easier for me than those holding down "serious" jobs. I've had enough of those to know but, having made a guest appearence in the "real world", I found that I didn't like it, which is why I am now here in Sierra Leone following my partner in her own trial of the "real world". I have concluded that those who do not have the time (or inclination - due to whatever extraneous influences) to do all of the reading all of the time, can "feed off" the input of those who do have the time. The module discussions, should therefore be seen as a real team effort and not perceived as an individual competition to see who can contribute the most. This, to my mind, should be fine as long as we all make our greater contributions when we can. I fully expect that at some point in the next three years my need for dollars will necessitate me earning a crust and me, at times, then feeding off the contributions of others. No one should feel "pressurized" in this respect. Writing the essays maybe but that is a different thing. Incidentally, I welcomed Nick's point about us voluntarily posting our essays on our blogs. We all want to be awarded a "Masters" and we can each help each other even though we may never actually "know" each other. You are our "leader" and therefore our success is also your success. We need to ensure thta we continue, for that is how we have started, to work as a team to reach our goal in that way we will all get there and not lose people "along the way" because of "pressure" that simply should not be there. I know that you have already covered a bit of this sore of "stuff" before but I felt the "urge" to add my own views.
Pip
David,
As you will have seen from my comment on your previous blog - I am now fully familiar with pressing the "right buttons".
Some more on the word "dense" if I may distract you a little. My script may have been described as "dense" due to the complexity of ideas therein and of the difficulty in understanding them but it could be the reader who is "dense" if the script isn't actually that "dense" in the first place - if you see my point. Of course, it may have been the writer who was "dense" and this could have been your original meaning. Oh, the English language!
More to the point - I am still alive, still kicking and thoroughly enjoying my studies. The only real input I have at this time is to say that I find the reading workload quite heavy but I am getting through it and hopefully remmebering most of it. I do have the time to dig around in the general texts and other suggested reading. As I am not currently working this is probably easier for me than those holding down "serious" jobs. I've had enough of those to know but, having made a guest appearence in the "real world", I found that I didn't like it, which is why I am now here in Sierra Leone following my partner in her own trial of the "real world". I have concluded that those who do not have the time (or inclination - due to whatever extraneous influences) to do all of the reading all of the time, can "feed off" the input of those who do have the time. The module discussions, should therefore be seen as a real team effort and not perceived as an individual competition to see who can contribute the most. This, to my mind, should be fine as long as we all make our greater contributions when we can. I fully expect that at some point in the next three years my need for dollars will necessitate me earning a crust and me, at times, then feeding off the contributions of others. No one should feel "pressurized" in this respect. Writing the essays maybe but that is a different thing. Incidentally, I welcomed Nick's point about us voluntarily posting our essays on our blogs. We all want to be awarded a "Masters" and we can each help each other even though we may never actually "know" each other. You are our "leader" and therefore our success is also your success. We need to ensure thta we continue, for that is how we have started, to work as a team to reach our goal in that way we will all get there and not lose people "along the way" because of "pressure" that simply should not be there. I know that you have already covered a bit of this sore of "stuff" before but I felt the "urge" to add my own views.
Pip
Thanks, Nick. I have a mental image of you with a rubber cap pulled over your head to prevent accidental discharge from your cerebellum. First, I laughed. Then I shuddered. Then I laughed. Now I'm shuddering again...
You are right, however, that 'discuss' does seem like rather an open door.
Pip, I meant dense in the most positive way, lots of rich detail requiring a good deal of concentration to process. I am glad of the things you have said about teamwork and building on the efforts of others. You are indeed doing a lot of 'heavy lifting' to judge from your post which referred in detail to the literature. I'm grateful for that and so too should be your colleagues who benefit from it.
Pip has hightlighted something here that I was going to keep to myself but being an honest kind of chap....
Sometimes it is going to be tricky to do all of the reading etc but still remain fully engaged with the course. We may have to be slightly selective on occasion. I have to admit that I have struggled to stay on the learning curve a bit this week and so I have allowed myself to be carried along on the detailed information contained in others' posts. I don't think that there is anything terribly wrong in this and I see it as a kind of reciprical thing. I intend to catch up but more importantly I intend to make a point of adding even more value later, when my work-load allows. The real danger is in it being 'the slippery slope' towards disengagement and simply doing the minimum all of the time. This is why this course in particular might require a greater degree of personal discipline.
Post a Comment