The Classroom Part 2. Technology

It is possible that our higher educational system has become a bit dependent on technology. I, of course, do not really think so because that would mean admitting that I personally am overdependent on technology and that just is not going to happen. However, I am getting one hell of a crash course on what a professional life with minimal technology is like. In the United States pretty much the first thing that happens when you enroll in a University is that you get an email address. We use that email address for corresponding with the school, with professors, and for pretty much everything really. We use system likes Blackboard and TWEN to manage assignments and online classes. Here they are not using email systems like that. In fact, when I required my students to write down their email addresses for me so I could contact them about 1/3 of them did not have an email address of any kind. The remaining students did not know their email addresses by memory. This means the only reliable way I have of contacting my students is by phone, which I do not consider a choice at all. It is odd, the Chinese classroom is a combination both of a disregard for available teaching technology and an utter dependence on technology for some other aspects of teaching. The primary teaching method used in the University is the power point. Oh excuse me, I mean the ppt. If you say power point they will look at you like you sprouted a third head off your nose. When I say dependence, that is EXACTLY what I mean. A complete and utter dependence on ppt files. Teachers are required by the administration to use ppt files in their lecture and I have discovered that students have a real issue digesting material lectured to them in any form that does not involved a power point. This is my greatest challenge and the biggest point of contestation I have here. I loathe powerpoints. I loathe them with every fiber of my educational being. I consider them to be the laziest, most boring, and most useless method of conveying educational material that the evil demon gods of ivory tower ever conjured up. I think anything that can be told with a powerpoint could be told better in a different method. BUT, I have little recourse in the matter. I do not even have access to a printer and photocopier so I could use handouts. So, I do the best that I can and grumble and grouse every chance that I get about how terrible this is for the Chinese university system. (I truly do believe it is absolutely killing the ability of the Chinese University student to do any critical thinking.) Oh, and another thing, what makes having to use all those power point files so frustrating is the fact that the freaking computers processing power would be stretched playing a rousing game of pong. Firstly, a problem exists because, well, you know, the computers are in Chinese. This is a bit of a hurdle if you do not read it. Fortunately for me I have spent so many hours in front of a computer that not being able to read the OS does not really hamper me from doing whatever I want to do. Being able to navigate the Chinese computer may actually be the only thing I have done thus far that has impressed my students, but I digress. The problem is truly that this computers have just worked to hard and to long to still put off their job easily. So, everyday is an adventure. Everyday you get something new here and anytime a problem comes up you get to try new and exciting ways to express a complete technological issue with grunting and hand gestures because its a certainty the tech guy will not speak English, and unless he has some beer with him that I can ask to drink my Chinese will be pretty useless. Thus, such is life. Tis never boring.