Marj,

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"Dr. Steve Eskow" <drseskow@cox.net> 05/24/07 10:43 AM >>> <snip> Premise: success in the middle and upper ranks of the work force depend on print literacy. <snip>

Is this really the case - or do the middle and upper ranks communicate verbally while the underlings read the reports and write the position papers? >> I think this matter deserves some formal study, although I suspect much has already been done. Can someone here point to some such research? Another guess: even if true, college graduates probably ought to be prepared to start as "underlings," able to read the reports and write the position papers. <<<In any case, given how quickly life and learning are changing I'd be reluctant to base teaching methods and curriculum on current workplace practices. The problem is how best to prepare students for a lifetime of learning across a number of career and lifestyle choices.>> What's your guess, Marj? How do we "best prepare students for a liretime of learning across a number of career and lifestyle choices?" My guess is this--and I'm assuming we have to guess: What you and I are doing now: communicating across continents asynchronously, using simple text unadorned with images, will continue to be a central mode of communication in the workplace of tomorrow: indeed, as businesses, including the academic business, dematerialize, move out of a bounded location ("campus" in our case), students who need audio and images to communicate will be increasingly handicapped. You and I can read with comprehension at 3,4,600 words a minute, while we can't really understand speech when it's faster than 150 words a minute. Another piece of evidence: the much touted "paperless office" never materialized. Text continues to accumulate, continues to be a (the?) central carrier of information and meaning. In any event, we, like the Brits of the Open University, have to answer the question your raise right now for our institutions, and run the risk of having history show that we were wrong. I have to pass on the koala bit. If you want to study New Age believers in crystals and channeling we'd be happy to have you come to California to study with us. Or: we can put together a pretty good course on The New Age in California and you can settle for what you can learn about us at a distance. Steve Eskow _______________________________________________ The air-l@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org Join the Association of Internet Researchers: http://www.aoir.org/