[game_edu] Online-only degrees (was Re: Where to post academic job offers?)

[Stacey Simmons]

HA Scott!

You made me smile- let me know if there are any openings chez vous!!!!

Stacey




On Mar 30, 2008, at 2:37 PM, Roberts, Scott wrote:


> Stacey, if all academia was as bad as you make it out to be I sure  

> wouldn’t be there, and if your school is really that bad you should  

> get out quick!

>

>

>

> With all the obvious exceptions like CMU, Georgia Tech, USC, RIT,  

> MSU, UCF, SMU, Simon Fraser, UCSD, NC State, etc. (sorry to leave  

> anyone out, this is just off the top of my head), these broad  

> stereotypes are better suited for the world of Dean Wormer.

>

>

>

> Scott

>

>

>

> Scott Roberts

>

> Associate Professor

>

> DePaul University

>

> sroberts at cti.depaul.edu

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

> From: game_edu-bounces at igda.org [mailto:game_edu-bounces at igda.org]  

> On Behalf Of Stacey Simmons

> Sent: Sunday, March 30, 2008 1:08 PM

> To: IGDA Game Education Listserv

> Subject: Re: [game_edu] Online-only degrees (was Re: Where to post  

> academic job offers?)

>

>

>

> Hi Ian!

>

>

>

> Speaking as someone who lives in the world of academics, and deals  

> with online education- I can honestly say that there is a built in  

> bias on the part of academics against online degree programs.  To  

> me this is somewhat faulty- but I think I can briefly address the  

> good and the bad.

>

>

>

> > Universities idealize themselves as a place where discourse  

> advances the course of knowledge.  Therefore the idea of a student  

> who "takes in" information and regurgitates it back- is against  

> their "ideology" regardless of the fact that- the method used in  

> universities often has exactly this effect.  The opportunity for  

> exchange in most univsersities is more important than the actual  

> method of learning.  And too often students don't have the  

> opportunity to experience this exchange until they are pursuing a  

> graduate degree (if they're lucky).

>

>

>

> > Professors consider themselves to be experts, and they often have  

> a myopic bias about the importance of their contribution, and their  

> role in the discipline.  Therefore, the idea that someone could  

> learn WITHOUT them completely flies in the face of their often very  

> fragile egos.

>

>

>

> > Academics do rightly pride themselves on being the gatekeepers of  

> information.  I say this fully aware that it may send some folks  

> into a tailspin.  However, in academia- whether they are adhered to  

> or not, whether they are considered contributions or detractions,  

> the academic rigor expected of folks who pursue advanced degrees,  

> does create a system that carefully guards (in most cases) the  

> distribution of knowledge.  Please note that for most academics  

> this is knowledge for its own sake (even if it is often myopic, one- 

> sided, or god-forbid, blind).  The idea is that knowledge must be  

> pursued for its own sake, and not for the sake of profit, or as we  

> have seen in the last few years with some for-profit institutions  

> (in the U.S. primarily) profiteering.

>

>

>

> > On the down side, academics also do not give appropriate concern  

> to the "real" world in most instances.  They focus on the  

> theoretical because most of them have never had a job that wasn't  

> somehow connected to their education.  This gives many (not all)  

> academics a bias against the "real world" as they see it as all  

> application and no innovation.  Unfortunately in the game and  

> digital media disciplines this means that many faculty members have  

> isolated themselves, not realizing that a great deal of innovation  

> happens in studios, corporations and developers- and that they'll  

> never have access to it because it is privately held IP- such is  

> the disconnect.

>

>

>

> I know I have not answered your question.  I think that academics  

> will come around- the best opportunity for someone  with a great  

> deal of experience and an online degree is to start publishing  

> papers in academic journals.  That is the standard for academic  

> acceptance.  If you are an academic with a PhD from Harvard and  

> never publish, you will not earn the respect of your peers.  If you  

> have a PhD from Podunkin' University and have published in Science  

> or ACM, you will be respected as a world-leading expert.

>

>

>

> Such is my experience anyway.

>

>

>

> Stacey

>

>

>

>

>

> _______________________________________________

> game_edu mailing list

> game_edu at igda.org

> http://seven.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/game_edu


-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://seven.pairlist.net/pipermail/game_edu/attachments/20080330/a77c3f81/attachment.htm>