After reading a few posts on only WEEK ONE of the new POTCERT my brain hurts from trying to decipher the different new terms and jargon here.
I am a musician and we certainly have our own special terms and jargon. Here is a brief excerpt from one of my favorite books on musical tunings.
“Each tone is thus comprised of a major and a minor semitone, and as in Tosi’s 55-division, Mozart describes the octave as consisting of “5 tuoni, e 2 semitoni grandi.” Attwood himself annotates the table of intervals that includes the enharmonic variations saying, “These tones the Harpsichord has not, but other Instruments have.” The inescapable conclusion is that Mozart differentiated keyboard and non-keyboard tuning, and regarded the standard non-keyboard tuning to include higher flatted notes and lower sharped notes.” – How Equal Temperament Ruined Harmony (and Why You Should Care), Ross W. Duffin
Now, I have many glorious geek-filled moments reading Mr. Duffin’s book. And, I remember fondly sitting in my grad study advanced theory and analysis courses feeling elated when my composer/theory/musicologist colleagues and I could hear the German augments 6th harmonies creating new and delayed cadences in Beethoven’s music, but I cannot expect my students to have any idea what I or Mr. Duffin is talking about.
Please let us not forget that we are teachers first, right?!? No matter what course in my discipline I teach, I always start by asking the students to define the most basic terms…like the word ‘music’ for instance. We all have preconceived notions about online teaching and learning so why not start there and let the conversation grow.
Please note that I am not criticizing anyone’s specific post. I was just finding myself confused and thought new members might be as well.
I return to my guilty geek pleasure of equal temperament tuning versus just intonation tuning.
Peace
12 thoughts on “Thoughts for new (ok, and old) POTCERTers on the strange jargon of online teaching”
What an authentic issue open for discussion in this new community 🙂
Thanks Jean, for the kick-off.
Bonnie
My whimsical mood today makes me want to say, “Ah but Jean, Ego utor jargon; ergo sum.” (with my apologies to Latin scholars & Descartes) Maybe I am so insecure as to doubt my very existence if I do not speak in the glossolalia of tech jargon.
Seriously, you make a very good point. I will try to, in my pursuit of the perfect word for the exact shade of meaning, also make sure it is intelligible for my audience. Trouble is, my audience is unclear out there beyond the blinding footlights, and the chance there may be tech gurus present makes me want to make sure they recognize me as a serious wanna-be…
Hello. Great post and nice reflection. You has avoided that I make the comment in a few days.
Just to confirm it, it is even worse for me (non native english speaker). Why? Because I don´t really know if they are technical matters or really a english contractions.
It drove me crazy looking for translations 😉
Yikes Xavier! I did not even consider how tough it would be for non-English speakers. I guess what I have learned is it is always important to know one’s audience and that there is a place for a more advanced discourse, but it may not be the purpose of this course.
Thanks for this reminder! Having been steeped in tech- and teaching-related stuff for the last few years, it’s easy to forget about the fact that this sort of stuff is full of jargon.
Now, I have many glorious geek-filled moments reading Mr. Duffin’s book. And, I remember fondly sitting in my grad study advanced theory and analysis courses feeling elated when my composer/theory/musicologist colleagues and I could hear the German augments 6th harmonies creating new and delayed cadences in Beethoven’s music, but I cannot expect my students to have any idea what I or Mr. Duffin is talking about.
What an authentic issue open for discussion in this new community 🙂
Thanks Jean, for the kick-off.
Bonnie
My whimsical mood today makes me want to say, “Ah but Jean, Ego utor jargon; ergo sum.” (with my apologies to Latin scholars & Descartes) Maybe I am so insecure as to doubt my very existence if I do not speak in the glossolalia of tech jargon.
Seriously, you make a very good point. I will try to, in my pursuit of the perfect word for the exact shade of meaning, also make sure it is intelligible for my audience. Trouble is, my audience is unclear out there beyond the blinding footlights, and the chance there may be tech gurus present makes me want to make sure they recognize me as a serious wanna-be…
Hi there! Good post. Great reminder. Perspective is always good. I have almost no idea what Mr. Duffin was talking about. Thanks. 🙂
Thank goodness you quoted from Duffin. Being a fan of Isacoff’s Temperament is grounds for ostracism 🙂
Also, why Implete hydrias?
You can take one of my classes and find out Jason.
Why post the communion for Epiphany 2 just after the fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost?
I get it now. Apparently my brain needed a few hours of sleep to process the analogy.
Hello. Great post and nice reflection. You has avoided that I make the comment in a few days.
Just to confirm it, it is even worse for me (non native english speaker). Why? Because I don´t really know if they are technical matters or really a english contractions.
It drove me crazy looking for translations 😉
See you online.
It is just an image Jason.
Yikes Xavier! I did not even consider how tough it would be for non-English speakers. I guess what I have learned is it is always important to know one’s audience and that there is a place for a more advanced discourse, but it may not be the purpose of this course.
Thanks for this reminder! Having been steeped in tech- and teaching-related stuff for the last few years, it’s easy to forget about the fact that this sort of stuff is full of jargon.