新世纪大学生英语综合教材3Unit5A.docVIP

Education in cyberspace On a recent business trip a man asked me what I did for a living. I replied that I wrote and taught college courses. 1在最近的一次出差途中，有人问及我的职业，我说自己是从事编写和教授大学课程的。Oh? he said. Where do you teach? 2“哦？那在哪儿教书？”他问道。A honest answer came out of my mouth before I could think. Nowhere, I said. 3我不假思索，老老实实地答道：“虚无空间里”。 Its true. Since 1990 I have taught and counseled for what a friend of mine calls keyboard colleges – distance-learning degree programs.?Where I teach is inside that electrically charged space that lies between my phone jack and the home computers of a group of generally older-than-average college students. 4我说的是实情。1990年起，我就在被朋友称作“键盘大 学”里教远程学位教育课程并提供辅导。我的课堂是在充满电荷的空间里，其间一端连着我的电话插座，另一端连着一群年龄偏大的大学生家里的电脑。 In 1990, I designed Americas first online counseling center for distance learners. Since then Ive worked with more than 7,000 learners online. Ive flunked a few of them. Ive never personally met any of them. 51990年，我筹建了美国第一个远程学习者在线辅导中 心。迄今为止，我已在线辅导了700多个学生，其中只有几个人不及格，而我本人却从未与他们谋面。 For want of a clearer explanation of my career situation, I told the man who inquired that I teach in cyberspace. Im a virtual professor, I tried explaining. Distance learning … online degree programs … virtual universities. 6由于无法更清楚地解释我的工作环境，我只能告诉这位问话者：我在虚拟空间教书，“是个虚拟大学的教师。”我试着向他解释“远程教育······在线学位课程······虚拟大学”等 等。 ?The mans face remained as blank as a clear summer sky. I couldnt tell whether he was silent out of respect or keen confusion. I imagined both to be the case , so I settled in to explain what I have to explain frequently these days: the decline of the American college campus and the rise of the American educational mind – as I see it. 7那人的脸上仍旧一片茫然。我不清楚他沉默不语到底是因肃然起敬所致，还是纯粹对此稀里糊涂。我猜想两个原因都有。于是，我就开始解释这些天来经常解释的事情：我认为，美国的大学教育在衰退，而美国的教育新思维正在兴起。 Distance learning, or educational programs where pupil and professor never meet face-to-face, is nothing new. Sir Isaac Pitman of Bath , England, hit upon the idea of having rural residents learn secretarial skills