Fall 1998
Vol 7 Issue 1
IN THIS ISSUE...
Signposts for the New Millennium
Year 2000: Same, but Different
Chinese Higher Education, In My Eyes
Fibber McGee's Closet: Peeking Around the Corner into the Next Millennium
SEE ALSO...
The Labyrinth
Maricopa Center for Learning and Instruction
Year 2000: Same, but Different
Naomi Story, DIST
Compiling this issue of the Forum has surprisingly been a struggle for us. The challenge has nothing to do with organization or technical issues. In fact, having John Nelson as our faculty editor has certainly made the planning and structuring of our news journal easier to complete. Also, Tina Emmons' desktop publishing "eye" and talent have made the work of publication simpler. Alan, John, Tina and I contrive to be the epitome of a peak performing cross-functional team. Yet, for the last three months, we have struggled to find people willing to discuss the future.
The theme of "peering into the next millennium" of our educational enterprise is not a simple one. I have been pondering and asking others. "Why has this issue been so difficult to produce?" Some have said that to think of the future is irrelevant because we are going through too many changes today. Others have pointed to the Chancellor's leaving as the catalyst for the uncertainty. Still, others say that we are so bombarded with new information these days--with the help of voice, video, and data technologies--that our discourse and contemplation are full of but or on the other hand. There appears to be so many aspects of developing an argument or rationale for predicting the future that the task becomes overwhelming. Also, lessons from the past and knowledge about future assumptions do not always give any comfort as we determine our new directions. Perhaps this is because we have yet to reckon with the constancy of change or ambiguity in our lives as educators.
My daughter, a college freshman, helped to punctuate this notion of discomfort for me this weekend. While we were preparing Tootsie Pop(TM) ghosts for the tricksters, we discussed the glories and battles of being a first-year college student, especially as an English major (only a mother who was also one would appreciate). She related the facts on the current debate among linguists and grammarians. It seems they are considering whether the split infinitive is proper English language usage. I was appalled. We both bemoaned the demise of communication with such a change.
Then, my younger daughter roller-bladed in and disrupted our stacks of ghosts. Just as the older daughter yelled at the younger "to not skate in the living room," we both looked at each other and laughed.
It used to be that the Fall Labyrinth/Forum was our "welcome back" issue. We can no longer assume that schooling begins in the Fall and ends in May. Learning never ends. And, perhaps the next millennium will be more of the same, only different.