Changes in the Nature of College
College has changed in the last 20 years! I know I’m comparing a small, liberal arts college to a community college, and I’m comparing myself as a fresh-out-of-high-school, barely-18-year-old to me as a mom of five who just turned 40! So obviously more than just college itself has changed!!
What I am seeing, though, is how much technology has changed at least my relationship to education and to my professors. Years ago, I was never one to ask questions during class. I still am not. Maybe some of that was and still is shyness, although I don’t think so. At least now, I know that I do not like to interrupt the flow of the professor’s teaching. I do not want to take up lecture time with the thoughts that flit in and out of my head.
But now, in both my Biology and Psychology classes, I find that I have thoughts and questions galore. They still are not ones that I would ask in class, but because of the accessability of my professors through email, I can ask my questions without disturbing them. When something crosses my mind in Biology class, I email my professor. When she has a minute, she answers me. And my understanding of the subject matter is greatly enhanced and expanded by having my personal questions answered, and yet it does not take up the time of the rest of the class. My Psychology class is an online class, anyway, so I can post questions on the discussion board, and I can reply to other peoples’ posts. We all learn from each other. It is like having half of class be a discussion time, except that we all discuss what intersts us and we do it on our own timetable.
Through this different way of making themselves available, my professors seem more like my peers or even friends. Of course, maybe that is because they are both within about 5 years of my age. But I feel like I can relate to them as people, because in a sense, I am “seeing” them outside of the classroom environment. When I email my Biology professor a question, she may reply and add, “I just got back from Johnny’s soccer practice.” And I can relate to her, because I, too, am a soccer mom. I know things about my professors’ personal lives that I would not normally hear in the classroom, and that makes it more interesting for me to listen to what they are teaching me. It is like I am listening to a friend, not to someone who is just there to drill subject matter into my head. And from their angle, I believe that they feel that they are teaching people they care about, as they get to know their students as people through the things we reveal about ourselves–we are not just a GPA or desk #2 on row 3.
I definitely think this is a change for the better!