Online vs F2F

In his Rede Lecture, “The Two Cultures” (1959), C.P Snow admitted that “Intellectuals, in particular literary intellectuals, are natural Luddites.” Nothing could be more prophetic, especially when it comes to digital education. A middling few think online can match face to face; and none see it as superior. 

Note M. Edmondson’s Op/Ed in the New York Times, Online Edition: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/20/opinion/the-trouble-with-online-education.html?_r=0

In odd moments, I imagine that opponents such as Edmondson are actually engaged in their own version of Swift’s “A Modest Proposal.” They are dallying in satire that is so subtle, even I, a proponent of online education, don’t notice the hetereglossic play of their words. After all, I think, what could be stranger than someone in the humanities—history, literature, philosophy, or my own discipline, rhetoric—who somehow believes it’s possible to get in touch with someone who lived thousands of years ago through the texts they wrote, not believe they can do the same thing with student writing? How can humanities scholars believe they can enter into Bakhtinian dialogue with those texts (if not the living and breathing person) deny that it’s possible to do the same, and perhaps even more, that is, getting in touch with a living and breathing student through texts they wrote on a blog the night before? 

One would have to buy into the solitary genius theory of literary creation to believe there is any difference.  Let us hope we've left that bit of elitism behind.

So, how about we put this to the test? Take a look at the link below. It will lead you to a blog post written by one of my graduate students. His writing is honest, straightforward, empathetic, in short, full of ethos. Read this and tell me when you get to the end of this brief blog post that you haven’t met this person, haven’t had glimpse into who he is through the text.  

http://fycistheplacetobe.blogspot.com/2015/04/a-leap-of-faith.html

Here’s what blog posts and other texts written by my students tell me: I can meet them without meeting them face to face.

The ability of text to cut through the masks we all carry to make life more livable is why I enjoy reading Plato and Emily Dickenson, two writers who are adept at letting the mask slip. I meet them. Sometimes I enter into dialogue with them. And as ironic as it sounds, that dialogue isn’t always one sided. Plato in particular is rather adept at getting in the last word.