Re: SEUL: Re: Are teachers really so unwilling to learn?

[bickiia@earlham.edu]

Doug Loss <dloss@csrlink.net> wrote:
>I agree with you that this is something that deserves more attention.
>I didn't intend my short snippets to be final drafts but jumping-off
>points.  Do you (all of you) think the approach I've roughed out is
>worth pursuing?  If so, I'd like to see more people pointing out weak
>points they see and more importantly proposing ways to strengthen those

>points.  If this approach isn't worth pursuing, let's find out and then

>move on.

I think we'd have to be careful not to overlook things that we have
learned easily, but wouldn't be similarly simple for others.

Also, I'm not sure if the fundamentals approach is good either --
starting at bits and working up, for instance.  It's the way
mathematicians like to teach math, and there's an elegance to it.  It's
like teaching Scheme as a first language -- it seems like a good idea,
and for some people or some teachers it might be -- but I'm not sure if
it makes sense for most of the people most of the time.

If we can combine necessary skills -- word processing, web publishing,
etc. -- with the underlying concepts then we'll have something a bit
more appealing.  Maybe the way to go about it is to take HOWTOs and
other skill-based documentation and enrich it a bit.  This would be
redundant information for someone who's already knowledgable in
computers -- and as such, hasn't been regularly included in Linux
documentation -- but could add a lot for people from other perspectives.


  -- Ian