An Online Teacher's Rainy Day Notes

It’s raining to beat the band today in New Orleans. I imagine some parts of the city will flood, and this will give the Corps of Engineers yet another chance to try out their new water pumps.

I want to mention the American Association of Contingent Faculty. According to the notes under the heading “What is AACF?” the Association is designed to give adjuncts a coat of professional varnish. The “Who May Join” section indicates that anyone who “teaches, facilitates, counsels, mentors, or designs instruction for one or more postsecondary universities, colleges, technical schools, or similar institutions on an adjunct, contract, limited-term, or other non-tenured basis” can sign on the dotted line.

Of course, I think and believe that any effort at all to elevate adjuncts from their sweatshop economic status is admirable and worthy of notice.

One of the best features of the site is the list of E-Learning Magazines. There are 198 items in the list. One very good example of an informative webzine is Distance Learning Today.

Distance Learning Today, published by the United States Distance Learning Association (USDLA), is in the list and identifies itself as “A Quarterly Education Supplement to USA Today.”

Distance Learning Today is pretty good, but it simply does not have the zing of the Virtual University Gazette’s Diploma Mill Police service.

I could spend the entire day writing about what I discover in these sometimes outdated publications (several ceased publication two or three years ago), but this piece in eLearn Magazine by Dr. Cynthia L. Corritore, The Reluctant Online Professor, at Creighton University is worth a read.