Category Archives: Education

Feb 16 1 comments
Community, Economics, Education, Media Outlets, Personal Rants

Why We Still Need the Boston Globe

The Boston Globe is currently running a 7-part series, “Ted Kennedy,” chronicling the history of Sen. Edward Kennedy (D, MA).

The special on Ted Kennedy demonstrates the unparalleled resources of a major newspaper. The institutional history and the access it took to produce the series remain the province of the Fourth Estate, something that must not go unnoticed in this time of “the great print struggles.” More so, the piece shows how, with carefully allocated time and resources, the Globe and other newspapers can take full advantage of the platform of the web.

The videos are excellently produced, and the links to archive photos, headlines, and related documentation serve the goals of the story admirably. A community discussion forum would have brought the piece full circle and made for a resounding win, but I still see the piece as a triumphant display that the newspapers do “get it.” It’s a matter of bringing the financial models in line with a new approach to doing news, os that features like this appear with greater frequency.

I am not, in any way, trying to diminish the importance of citizen journalism. Its contributions to the way we understand our world cannot–and should not–be dismissed as in some way ‘limited,’ or as wobbly in its journalistic commitment or ethics. It is simply a different, equally significant process. Putting it into ‘competition’ with traditional media does neither form justice. I think at times it is easy to embrace citizen journalism as the underdog, and to champion it, at times, to the detriment of the respect for traditional press. The Boston Globe’s Ted Kennedy series, however, reminds us how very important traditional news outlets are to our history, and that, when given the appropriate resources, they can get it right. Ultimately the series demonstrates the rich potential for the news to unite its unique (reputation-based) level of access and traditional models of reporting with new media tools to educate and preserve in a way that, quite simply, no other institution can.

May 29 3 comments
Education, Emerson College, Urban Life

Lessons from a purple alien fetus

“I’d say it was a setup for disaster, but, it’s so much more than that. It’s my routine.”

Last Friday I fell. I fell hard.

I was sprinting down the stairs of the Central Square subway station when it happened. In typical Aubree Lawrence fashion I was listening to my iPod, reading an academic paper (marking it up with my favorite red pen), and hurrying down the stairs on my way to a meeting at Emerson. Yes. Listening to music, reading, writing, and hurrying. I’d say it was a setup for disaster, but, it’s so much more than that. It’s my routine.

I’ve pretty much pieced together what happened. At the bottom of the stairs I took a long stride toward the gate—not realizing I still had (at least) one more stair to go. When the floor didn’t meet me with it’s usual timing I pitched forward out of control. My confused right foot twisted on impact, bringing the rest of me down off-kilter. The resulting blow to my left knee has since blossomed into something resembling a subcutaneous purple alien fetus—summer fashions are on hold. My body stressed every muscle in panic. The next second I had the first of many sharp chest pains that (after stopping into the meeting to “touch base” first, of course) sent me to MGH fearing a (fourth!) lung collapse.

I don’t need to learn the same lesson twice. I’m done rushing. Rushing, scrambling, hurrying, hightailing it—whatever you want to call it, I’m over it. Yes, this means I will need to learn to leave on time. If I fail and end up being late somewhere then it will just have to be an (albeit public) important reminder to practice diligent time management. Not only that, I’m DONE multitasking as I walk place to place. True, I was harried, but with my adept skill paying attention to everything other than my surroundings the fact is, this accident could have happened at any time. (I must admit, though… for dramatic purposes I’m rather glad I was at least nobly risking life, limb and, um—knees, to get to a meeting when it happened. ::sigh:: Anything for a good story.)

Being a person of intelligence, and bearing the bruises (to knee and ego) of my fall from grace (sorry), I am henceforth resolved:

  1. I will not listen to my iPod for walks under 10 minutes long.
  2. I will no longer read papers, books, Spare Change News, or the Improper Bostonian while walking.
  3. I will not check my email on my cell, nor reply to text messages. (I still need to check texts in case someone is writing to say “meeting’s canceled, go back home and finish that half-eaten yogurt,” but I’ll stop and step to the side to do so.)
  4. I will not place phone calls. I hate talking on the phone anyway.

Only maybe worth noting: I will probably continue to drink coffee while walking; I am still a grad student/”human” after all!

Up until now I just cruised through the world in hopeless distraction. And why? “Efficient use of time! Productivity!” goes the argument… But seriously, could I really take good notes while walking? Compose a respectable email? How many times have I had to reread a paragraph after a near-stumble? Gods and callers alike know I can’t hear a damned thing on the phone with all the city’s street noise in the background!

I’ve been practicing my new walking-life philosophy for three days. I’m shocked to realize how much of the world I was missing, everything from the lilacs I didn’t see because I was always looking down, to snippets of some seriously eves-drop-worthy conversations that now leave me alternating between laughing and realizing humanity is a lost cause (which is to say alternating between laughing, and laughing even harder). The change has been surprisingly rewarding.

I suppose I shouldn’t make it sound so simple. It’s rewarding and all, but it’s also really hard. At this point I’m fighting well-honed habits, acts in which I once took pride! Seconds after I exit to fresh air I instinctively reach for my cell to have it fetch my email. The phone buzzes with a text message (most likely a Facebook Mobile status update) and I have to resist. I no sooner correct myself for going for my cell, and I’m already I’m shifting my bag to reach my iPod. But I have stay strong. I have to be patient and just keep reminding myself: Slow down. Breathe. Look around. Listen. Take notice of the world. Be radical and give a go at actually participating in it. And most importantly—don’t fall down.

Mar 30 0 comments
CCTV, Community, Education, Second Life, Virtual Worlds

Learning a Second Language in Second Life

Teaching SL/RL
(Above: (top) Ms. Chianti Carmichael hangs out at an assessment station on SL English, while (bottom) Ms. Aubree Lawrence instructs an ESOL class for BA&CE, circa 2005)

Second Life is has incredible potential as a learning platform. I was excited to read on Forbes.com that an English language school in Germany has launched an island “Second Life English.” The island is dedicated to offering FREE (yes, you read that right, FREE) resources for learning English, including virtual ESOL lessons. According to the article, Educator (and island owner) Kip Boahn “feels a new medium calls for a new way of teaching language. Even using the game’s English interface gives students a chance to practice what they’ve learned.” I couldn’t agree more! I enjoy his approach:

During workshops, he uses a team of teachers to present students with different linguistic tasks, which could include anything from asking for directions to bargaining to buy a knickknack. To do those tasks, Boahn and his colleagues use “holodecks,” rooms that can flip through as many as 40 different scenes at the mere click of a mouse. Want to practice ordering American fast food? Just switch the holodeck to Dara’s Diner and line up at the counter.

This sort of flexibility means that, as a teacher, you can cover a lot of ground teaching culture, in addition to language, by creating situational enactments that are difficult to do in a classroom. I used to teach ESOL at the Brookline Adult and Community Education Center in classrooms at Brookline High School. I laugh to think of the many ways we rearranged the classroom to mimic check-out lines, banks, cafes, and even a car dealership! I can’t help but think of how much more efficient it would be to change one setting to the next with a simple click. On the other hand, there is a lot to be said for group exercises in imagination, not to mention the language exercised just coordinating the effort! It is truly an interesting example of the sort of gain/compromise tensions that arise when you move real life activities into virtual settings.

Examples like Boahn’s are important as more and more people begin to investigate the potential for education options in Second Life and other virtual worlds. It helps to remind people of the kind of good that can come from a free platform like Second Life, and gets us all thinking about the ramifications of adopting virtual education models. It is certainly useful on the broader scale to consider what SL teaching opportunities might exist for CCTV, and the Cambridge community at-large!