Hello and welcome to my photo gallery. During the past few years more and more of my time, efforts, and research have centered on the use of technology in Asia, more specifically, in Taiwan and China. As some of this research becomes clearer to me, it is likely that the scope of it will expand to include Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, and many other areas of what we term the “Pacific Rim.”
My friends and colleagues in Asia have remarked that I am becoming more Chinese than they…not sure that is really true but clearly, the culture of this region has impacted me deeply.
I enjoy going to Taiwan and China to recruit new master’s degree
students for our Instructional Systems program as well as the associated
Ph.D. and Ed.D. tracks with a technology emphasis. My relationships
with both Taiwan and China span almost three decades so it is natural
that I would have such an interest. Why is this important?
Given the critical mass of population alone, those who speak Chinese,
(Simplified or Traditional, Mandarin or Cantonese), far outnumber
those on Earth who speak any other languages!
I find within Asian cultures, a sense of harmony, peace, caring, and gentleness that is often absent in our frantic North American way of doing things. I also find a responsibility to those of age and those of youth who want and need education. Additionally, I see a discipline in methods used in Asia that, unfortunately, in far too many instances, is missing in our Western cultures. If that is not a sufficient justification, there’s one other thing – I like the people in Taiwan, China, and Japan! They have been and are my dear friends.
Into all of this we then place my American students, for all of whom I have an abiding respect and love. They are our future and as such, I worry sometimes that what they are getting in our classes is not the best, that the motivation levels I see in my students needs help, and above all, that their understanding of and experience with different cultures is, to state it plainly, abysmal!
A random check of my own students reveals that fewer than 2% of them have ever stepped outside of our borders. Even worse, some of my students have yet to explore the mysteries of cities beyond the state line in Florida!
How then, are we to prepare future instructional designers for careers in a world that is increasingly laden with multinational organizations? Herein lays the challenge…and the opportunity!
In the photo links on the right you’ll share some of my more recent travel locales and in each case, the visuals will, I hope, bring new insights as to how very little each of us knows about the other’s culture.
What I present here are images of a more recent vintage, words,
pictures that span several continents, several cultures, and enough
air miles to circle the globe at least three times…all in the past
year!
The lesson to share is that, while we may well be from different cultures, have different ways of eating, teaching, using technology, and enjoying life, there really are more similarities than differences for we are, after all, a world united! Let us continue to remain so! Enjoy these pages and think global, not parochial!
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