Teaching and Technology

Initially I found it kind of cool how tech friendly my Adoption law professor was, what with her use of text messaging and g-chat and everything. It was like she was a real person. As opposed to the many professors who either have their assistants type up their handwritten notes or still morn the loss of word perfect and refuse to learn how to use Microsoft products out of spite.*

Now I'm wondering whether there is something nice about the Luddites. Because now I'll wander over to G-chat and see her status updates. The last few which have been about grading. You see, one of the nice things with the end of a class is that you send in your final tests and papers, and then just let go. There isn't anything you can do to change things now, so you may as well relax until grades come in.

Seeing real time evidence that those tests and papers didn't magically disappear to be turned into letters is a little unnerving. I don't want to have to interpret what "grading, not as bad as feared..." means. Stop destroying my illusions. 


*In fairness, most of them are fairly tech friendly, at least as far as e-mail and power point go, and that's really all I need.  And none of them hand write things to have them typed up latter by assistants. No, to the best of my knowledge only Chief Justice Roberts is that out of it.